Enhancing learning motivational factors in teaching english to efl students in vinh long teacher training college

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES POST-GRADUATE STUDY PROGRAM ENHANCING LEARNING MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO EFL STUD

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

POST-GRADUATE STUDY PROGRAM

ENHANCING LEARNING MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS IN TEACHING ENGLISH

TO EFL STUDENTS IN VINH LONG TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

ENHANCING LEARNING MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS

IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO EFL STUDENTS IN VINH LONG

TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE

In term of the statement of Requirements for Theses

in Master’s Programmes issued by the Higher Degree Committee

Ho Chi Minh City, December 15th, 2005

TRƯƠNG CÔNG TUẤN

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, TRƯƠNG CÔNG TUẤN, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited

in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan, or reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City, December 15th, 2005

TRƯƠNG CÔNG TUẤN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr LÊ THỊ THANH THU, for her whole-hearted guidance, productive and elaborate comments as well as her moral support in the preparation and completion of this thesis

I am sincerely grateful to all lecturers at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, especially to those at the Department of Post-graduate Studies and the Department of English Linguistics and Literature for their interesting and very useful lectures they have given us

I would like to take this opportunity to express my special thanks to all of my colleagues at Vinh Long Teacher Training College, especially to the English teaching staff I am also grateful to my students in the school who have helped me

a lot in collecting the data for my research

Finally, my very sincere thanks are sent to my wife, my children, and my brother, without whose patient support and encouragement I would not complete this thesis

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate whether the EFL (English as a foreign language) students in Vinh Long Teacher Training College are motivated in learning English, their attitudes toward this process and what the key factors that affect their learning are The results showed that overall the students in the school were

to a quite large extent motivated in learning English though they were in a bit higher intrinsic than extrinsic motivation They all have built for themselves proper motives in learning English and most of them had positive attitudes toward this process The results also showed that most of the students in the school were profoundly affected by their teachers, the teaching methods used in the school and their teachers’ recognition on the students’ progress Besides, the school facilities, teachers’ personality and textbooks also had a certain influence on the students’ learning

The effect of genders was quite significant In intrinsic motivation and attitudes toward learning English, female students gave higher indices than their male peers did, whereas male students seemed to be more extrinsically motivated than female ones In study areas, as the results of the study showed, the students of natural sciences distributed poorer indexes than the students of social sciences in all cases: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and in attitudes toward learning English The ages of the students had also distinct influence on learning motivation The study revealed that there was a downward trend of intrinsic motivation and an upward trend of extrinsic motivation in older- aged students The older the students get, the less intrinsically but more extrinsically motivated they are Older-aged students also possessed less positive attitudes toward learning English than the younger-aged students

In this study some recommendations were also given in order to improve the students’ learning motivation and their attitudes toward leaning English

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ……… … 1

1.1 Background for the study……… 2

1.1.1 Vinh Long Teacher Training College …… ………… …….…… 3

1.1.2 Teaching staff……… 5

1.1.3 Students ……… 6

1.1.4 Teaching curriculum ……… 7

1.1.4.1 Objectives ……… 7

1.1.4.2 Course books……… 8

1.2 Research questions……… ……… 9

1.3 Overview of the study……….………… 10

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ……… 11

2.1 Definition of motivation ……… …….……….……… … 13

2.2 Main kinds of motivation……….……… 14

2.2.1 Intrinsic motivation ……… ……… 16

2.2.1.1 Definition of intrinsic motivation ……… ……… 16

2.2.1.2 Factors affecting intrinsic motivation ……… ……… 17

2.2.1.2.1 School facilities ……… …… ……… ……… 17

2.2.1.2.2 Course syllabus ……… 18

2.2.1.2.3 Teachers ……… ………… 19

2.2.1.2.4 Success and failure ……….……… 21

2.2.2 Extrinsic motivation ……… ……… 22

2.2.2.1 Definition of extrinsic motivation ……… ………… 22

2.2.2.2 Integrative motivation ……… 23

2.2.2.3 Instrumental motivation ……… 25

2.2.2.4 Integrative motivation vs instrumental motivation ………… 26

2.2.3 Relations between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation … ………… 28

2.3 Attitudes toward learning English ……… 29

2.3.1 Motives for learning English ……… … 31

2.3.2 Anxiety ……… … 32

2.3.3 Self-esteem ……… … 33

2.3.4 Tolerance of ambiguity ……… 34

2.4 Summary ……… 34

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ……… 36

3.1 Study location ……… 36

3.2 Research design ……… 36

3.2.1 Research method ……… 36

3.2.2 Subject selection ……… 37

3.2.3 Instruments ……… 38

3.3 Data collection procedure ……… 39

CHAPTER IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ……… 41

4.1 Data analysis method ……… 41

4.2 Students’ profile ……… ……… 42

4.3 Students’ motivation ……… 43

4.3.1 Students’ intrinsic orientation to learning English ……… 43

4.3.1.1 Difference between respondents of two genders ………….… 47

4.3.1.2 Difference between respondents of two study areas …….… 48

4.3.1.3 Difference between respondents of three age groups ….…… 49

4.3.2 Students’ extrinsic orientation to learning English ………….…… 50

4.3.2.1 Difference between respondents of two genders ………… 54

4.3.2.2 Difference between respondents of two study areas ……… 55

4.3.2.3 Difference between respondents of three age groups ……… 56

4.4 Motivational factors ……… ……… 57

4.4.1 Human factors ……… 58

4.4.2 Environment factors ……… 59

4.4.3 Textbooks ……… 60

4.4.4 Motivational methods ……… 62

4.4.5 Teacher factors ……… ……… 64

4.4.6 Summary ……… 66

4.5 Students’ attitudes toward learning English ……….……… 68

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION …… 76

5.1 Conclusion ……… 76

5.2 Recommendation ……… 78

5.3 Suggestions for further study ……… 80

REFERENCES ……… … 82

APPENDICES ……… ….……… 86

Appendix 1 (English version) ……….………… …… 86

Appendix 2 (Vietnamese version) ……….………….…… 88

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

1.1 Current professional state of English teaching staff at Vinh Long Teacher

Training College ……… 6

2.1 Diagram of types of extrinsic motivation in language learning …… 24

4.1 The demographic profile of the respondents ……… 42

4.2 Students’ intrinsic motivation ……… 44

4.3 Intrinsically motivational difference between sexes ……… 47

4.4 Difference between respondents of two study areas ……… 48

4.5 Difference between age groups in students’ intrinsic motivation …… 49

4.6 Students’ extrinsic motivation ……… 50

4.7 Difference between sexes in extrinsic motivation ……… 54

4.8 Difference between study areas in extrinsic motivation ……… 55

4.9 Difference between age groups in extrinsic motivation ……… 57

4.10 Human factors affecting students’ learning English ……… 58

4.11 Environment factors affecting students’ learning English ………… 59

4.12 Influence of textbooks on students’ learning English ……… 61

4.13 Influence of different classroom motivational methods ……… 62

4.14 Influence of teacher factors on students’ learning English ……….… 64

4.15 Students’ attitudes toward learning English (positively worded questions) ……… 69

4.16 Students’ attitudes toward learning English (negatively worded questions) ……… 69

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

The notion of motivation has been being used widely so far in almost every field

of life just because of its important role Here is what Brown admitted about motivation:

Motivation is probably the most often used catch-all term for explaining

the success or failure of virtually any complex task It is easily to figure

that success in a task is due simply to the fact that someone is

“motivated” It is easy in second language learning to claim that a learner

will be successful with the proper motivation

(Brown, 1990: 112)

The vividly important role of motivation in our lives cannot be denied In the field

of second language acquisition as well, for a long time researchers have come to the conclusion that one of the most important variables that significantly affect the process and outcome of language learning is the motivation to learn (Finegan, 1994; Harmer, 1991; Crookes & Schmidt, 1991; Brown, 1990) Dörnyei (1997: 261) has stated, “Second language (L2) motivation provides the primary impetus

to initiate the learning behavior and later the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process; that is, all the other factors involved in L2 acquisition presuppose motivation to some extent and, indeed, motivation is usually mentioned in explaining any L2 learning success or failure.”

However, the biggest concern that intrigues many teachers is whether students are well-motivated and willing to learn what they teach; and among various learning

motivational factors, which ones most affect the process and outcome of second language learning, and how to enhance them

In many years of teaching English to my students in Vinh Long Teacher Training College I often wonder why some students are so successful at learning while others are not, though they are in the same conditions of classroom facilities, with the same curriculum framework, under the same teaching methodology (in fact, they have only one teacher) There is certainly something, besides the innate talents the students have, that affects their process of learning a second language

Following Brown’s (1990) and Dörnyei’s (1997) ideas, I consider that it is motivation that may affect my students’ learning In this study I try to investigate whether there was an actual lack of motivation in my students’ English learning,

or whether the thing that some of my students did have poorer results in second language learning than their peers can be attributed to another factor To address these problems I aim to investigate in this research the learners’ motives for learning English, their attitudes to the target language learning, and try to locate the most affective motivational factors in the effort to enhance them in their English learning

1.1 Background for the study

Among the factors that may have influence on our students’ motivation there are the background of our school - the condition of school facilities that has a considerable impact on student performance and teacher effectiveness, the teaching staff, the background of the students, the teaching curriculum and materials we use here In this session of the chapter I would like to present some information related to the matters above for an understanding the issues discussed

in this research

1.1.1 Vinh Long Teacher Training College

Located not far from Vinh Long center in an area of three hectares on the side of the National Road 1A, Vinh Long Teacher Training College has attracted lots of students’ interest because here, after school, they have many opportunities to get relaxed, enjoy different kinds of entertainment, go shopping, or do what they like Students often feel comfortable in this school (and, of cause, they may have good performance in their study as long as they have good attitudes to their learning) However, the city utilitarian way of life in our contemporary society day by day pulls a lot of the students away from school toward social and recreational pursuits which may partly spoil the students’ interest in their learning

There are 33 classrooms, 2 language laboratories, a library, 2 large halls, and 6 other rooms for specific purposes in the school Because all students in our school

in this academic school year study English not as their major subject, the classrooms here are not typical; without any pictures, posters, maps, and what that concerns with English people, culture, habits, or customs Each classroom is about 7.5 meters long and 6 meters wide It is quite small for laying 24 tables and

48 chairs Although the classroom is well-lighted, the classroom temperature is really hot which disturbs our students a lot

We have here in the school two language laboratories, but the chance for our students to attend here is not much: there are only two labs for thirty-six classes In each of the labs there are only thirty cabins, whereas in each class there are at least forty students So what we usually do with normal classes is forcing them to learn

“their English” in their own classrooms except periods for listening skills, and with large classes (where there are up to eighty or more students coming from 2 or

3 normal classes) in large halls where the teacher tries to speak loudly while the students try to listen because of the immense atmosphere

In the school we also have some cassette players Formerly we could sometimes use them, but now we cannot because the leaders of the school think that the noise may disturb the nearby classes

As I mentioned above, the classrooms here are quite small with stable layout of tables and chairs (in 4 lines and 6 rows), for which the application of modern methodology is almost impossible We cannot play language games – the useful tool for creating learning motivation We cannot also usually organize group work, which is the recommended way for providing students with opportunities to use English as the language of communication And, of cause, we cannot use any other sounds but the teacher’s and students’ moderated voices

The biggest disadvantage we have here is in the class size In each class we have

on average forty students, but the teacher often has to face at the same time eighty

or more students who come from two or three classes depending on whether they are in the same academic school-years because there are not enough English teachers in the school It is extremely difficult for us to work with these huge classes We have to try our best to keep the class in order and to pay attention to all of the students, to make them concentrate in their learning, not in their private talking or looking out of the windows

In a word, the teaching facilities in Vinh Long Teacher Training College need urgent improvement for learning English, particularly, and for learning other subjects, in general, because this factor may have a crucial impact on the students’ learning motivation

The disadvantage of our teaching staff is that, among the teachers, there are only seven who graduated from the university of education where they certainly comprehended good knowledge of pedagogy and teaching methodology One of

us graduated from the local “in-service” university; another took the special course

in English in Ho Chi Minh City University of Education These two teachers, of cause, might not have enough training in teaching English methodology

In addition, the majority of the English teachers here graduated from universities

in the 80s when their training at universities did not pay much attention to the development of student motivation; and as a consequence, they may not be familiar with new theories of learning motivation and, of cause, may not use them effectively in their teaching Moreover, some of the teachers in our school almost have no opportunities to attend lectures on motivation or even read books about this issue

In a word, most of the English teachers in Vinh Long Teacher Training College do not have much experience in motivating students What they learned at universities in the 80s may not be used effectively in current situation, sometimes can even undermine the students’ interest in learning The following figure could show out the real state of our English teaching staff

Official course

Special course

In-service course

Methodolo-gy course

Abroad improvement

M.A degree

In the academic school-year 2005-2006, there are 1,355 students studying in two departments of social sciences and natural sciences at Vinh Long Teacher Training College They are all allocated into 33 classes (with more than 40 students per class on average)

Most of the students come from remote districts of Vinh Long, where the economic status and the conditions for learning are generally poor Some students (about 10%) come from Vinh Long town, and the others (about 5%) come from other provinces, mostly from Thai Binh and Thanh Hoa With those students from the North, English is probably the problem they first meet when entering the school

Many of the Vinh Long Teacher Training College students come from poor farmers’ families in remote villages where they do not have conditions for learning In secondary schools where some of them studied, there were not enough English teachers, so they did not study English or any other foreign languages at all before they passed the entrance exams to high schools As a result of it, in high schools these students had to struggle with the language while their peers from upper socio-economic backgrounds were almost competent and had to only worry about other basic subjects, such as mathematics, literature

Thus, before coming to Vinh Long Teacher Training College these students had only 3-year experience in learning English while most of their schoolmates had at least 7-year experience The heavy psychological impact on learning English that they had in high schools now is accompanied with them to the school This may interfere with their learning and arouse inside them the anxiety about learning English which will be analyzed later in the data analysis

1.1.4 Teaching curriculum

Teaching curriculum has to do with what and how the students in the school study

It, of cause, may have serious influence on the students depending on its relevance

to their purposes in study Here I would like to present the objectives and the teaching materials of non-majored English subject

1.1.4.1 Objectives

Here are some details of the English program our EFL students have to study at the school In the syllabus framework for non-majored English students in Teacher Training Colleges designed by the Ministry of Education and Training in 1997, English is taught for the purpose of supplying the future teachers with some

general knowledge of English which may help them to understand and response in English in simple conversational situations, write personal letters, messages, read simple directions and information in newspapers, television and to give them the access to scientific and technological progress in the field of education

According to this framework, English program for EFL students in the college is studied during three academic school years In the first year, the newcomers study English in 120 class hours The syllabus for the year is designed to equip with four equally integrated basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing

Students in the second school year study English in 90 class hours In this year students are developed in all the four basic skills in English acquisition, but with the focus on reading

The senior students in the last school year have to also study English in 90 class hours They also study all the four basic skills with the emphasis on developing reading skill, but in a higher level

1.1.4.2 Course books

The EFL students in Vinh Long Teacher Training College have, as their main

textbooks, “Streamline English Departures” and “Streamline English

Connections” (Hartley & Viney, 1978) There are 160 units altogether, which are

covered in 300 class hours As the units in “Streamline English Departures” are

quite short and simple, our students are required to study them just in the first school year (three units in two class hours on average) The 80 units in

“Streamline English Connections” are divided equally into halves and are to be

covered in the second and third school years

All the units in the books are quite interesting since they are very multiform They are also arranged in the course very scientifically and suitably (the level of difficulty is gradually greater), which may raise the students’ interest and curiosity However, as the authors of the books stated, the course books cover the structures and vocabulary of English with emphasis on developing oral/aural skills (Hartley & Viney, 1978), the chosen books are obviously contrary to the syllabus designed by the Ministry of Education and Training in which the focus of English learning in colleges is on developing reading skill About the details of this we will turn back in later chapters

1.2 Research questions

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the students in Vinh Long Teacher Training College are really motivated in learning English, and to examine what their attitudes toward learning English are The study tries also to locate the most important learning motivational factors that affect the students’ English learning process and outcomes In this study, the following questions are to be answered:

► What are the students’ motives for learning English? And what are their attitudes to this process? And,

► What are the key motivational factors for EFL students in Vinh Long Teacher Training College?

When conducting this study, I hope that the research findings will help present the current learning motivation of our students and basing on that the study will approach some ways of motivating the students in their language learning process

1.3 Overview of the study

In addition to the Acknowledgement, the Abstract and the Table of content, this study is composed of five chapters

Chapter One deals with the backgrounds for the study including the description of Vinh Long Teacher Training College; the teaching staff; the characteristics of the students and the description of teaching curriculum This chapter also puts forwards the research questions beside this overview of the study

Chapter Two presents relevant literature review This chapter introduces the definition of motivation, two main kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and the relationship between the two kinds In this chapter the students’ attitudes toward learning a second language are also presented

Chapter Three describes the methodology of the research: the research design, the description of characteristics of the population, and the instruments of the research

Chapter Four reports the results of the study and puts forwards the discussion of the findings

Chapter Five gives the research conclusion and presents the recommendations for enhancing motivational factors of the EFL students in Vinh Long Teacher Training College context

This study also consists of some Appendices and the References where I list the instruments I used when collecting the data, the books, materials, and other sources I referred to when working over this research

CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter introduces relevant literature including motivation and its two main kinds: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation The students’ attitudes toward learning a second language are also presented here

The theory of motivation in L2 acquisition which was first presented in 1972 by Gardner and Lambert (1972) was basically grounded on a social psychological framework In this theory, Gardner and his associates established scientific research procedures and introduced standardized assessment techniques and instruments Their main finding was that success in second language learning was dependent on the learner’s affective predisposition toward the target language community (social dimension) By combining motivation theory with a social psychological approach and the established practice of attitude measurement, the model of L2 motivation Gardner and Lambert developed was more elaborate and advanced than many contemporary mainstream psychological models of motivation (Dörnyei, 1997)

Dörnyei (cit.) conceptualized that motivation itself does not only have the social dimension (although this is one of the major constituents of L2 motivation) He underscored that motivation to learn a second language is a complex and eclectic psychological construct which involved several no-social factors as well For him, language is at the same time: firstly, a communication coding system that can be taught as a school subject; secondly, an integral part of the individual’s identity involved in almost all mental activities; and finally, the most important channel of

social organization embedded in the culture of the community where it is used Thus, L2 motivation certainly contains an educational and a personal dimension besides the social one

Though there are still other various controversies around L2 motivation and many different theories about this phenomenon, all the researchers have come to a very important conclusion that motivation has a crucial influence on a learner’s L2 acquisition This is obviously true The followings are evidences from some studies conducted by well-known researchers:

Among the things that do clearly affect mastery of a second language is

the kind of motivation that a learner has

(Finegan, 1994: 466)

Students who are in some way “motivated” do significantly better than

their peers despite using methods which experts consider unsatisfactory

and being in unfavorable conditions

(Harmer, 1991: 3)

It is undeniable that motivation is very crucial in schools because of its

powerful influence on learning in other words, motivation is a key of

learning

(Crookes and Schmidt, 1991:56)

Many other studies also report that motivation is a key to learning a second language and it seems to be the biggest single factor affecting language learners’ success (Brown, 1990; Dörnyei, 1997) Up to now almost all people have admitted that motivation is something they need for fulfillment of whatever they conduct And we, as language teachers, have also come to the conclusion that motivation is

essential factor in our students’ learning There are only some things we must consider

As mentioned in the previous chapter, motivation is, in nature, a multifaceted and very complicated matter, it is very important for us to understand what exactly motivation is and what the components of motivation are, so that we could find out the way to increase and maintain our students’ learning motivation

2.1 Definition of motivation

There are really many definitions of motivation Gardner (1985:10) defined motivation in his social-psychological model as “the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitude toward learning the language.” Some others conceptualized that motivation is “the integration of behavioral features – the learner’s decision, persistence, and activity level in learning and his/her attitudinal structure which includes the learner’s interest, relevance, expectancy, and outcomes” (Scarcella & Oxford, 1992: 52) But Brown’s definition of motivation below seems to be the most elaborate and clearest because it shows not only what the nature of motivation is but also what characteristics of motivation are

Motivation is commonly thought of as an inner drive, impulse, emotion, or

desire that moves one to a particular action More especially, human

beings universally have needs or drives that are more or less innate, yet

their intensity is environmentally conditioned.”

second, the need for manipulation, for operating the environment and causing change; third, the need for activity, for movement and exercise; fourth, the need

for stimulation, for being stimulated by environment and by others; fifth, the need for knowledge; and finally, the need for ego-enhancement, for the self to be

known, to be accepted, and to be approved by others

Thus, motivation is an inner state or a condition that powers up behavior and gives

it direction, a desire that energizes and directs goal-oriented behavior This state or condition also has an influence on the intensity, the arousal and persistence of behavior Learning motivation, naturally, has to do with students’ desire to participate in learning and with their persistence, their involvement in learning

2.2 Main kinds of motivation

There are many ideas about the kinds of learning motivation As mentioned above, learning motivation naturally has to do with students’ desire to participate in learning The reality that a more motivated learner will achieve greater success in the target language appears to be a generally accepted view More motivated learners tend to be more active in learning process (Gardner, 1988) and perceive themselves to be more competent learners (Harter, 1981)

Although students may be equally motivated, the source of their motivation may

be different and, of cause, their success in learning will also be different The source of motivation, thus, turns to be a key point here Many theorists and researchers have stressed that it is very important to recognize the construct of motivation, and in this process, it should be seen not as a single entity but as a multi-factorial one

With different expressions and the employments of different aspects of the problem, researchers have had different points of view in recognizing kinds of motivation, but all of them grounded on the base that learning motivation concerns

the reasons or goals that underlie the students’ involvement in academic activities

Gardner and Lambert (1972) first made the famous distinction between two types

of motivation: instrumental and integrative motivation Instrumental motivation

refers to the learner’s desire to learn a language for utilitarian purposes (such as employment or travel or exam purposes) in the context of language learning On the other hand, integrative motivation refers to the desire to learn a language to integrate successfully into the target language community In later studies, Crookes and Schmidt (1991), and Gardner and Tremblay (1994) explored four

other motivational orientations: firstly, reason for learning; secondly, desire to

attain the learning goal; thirdly, positive attitude toward the learning situation;

and finally, effortful behavior Oxford and Shearin (1994) have also analyzed a

total of twelve motivational theories and models, including those from psychology, cognitive development, and socio-cultural psychology, and identified six factors that impact motivation in language learning But one of the most general and well-known distinctions in motivation theories is that between

socio-intrinsic motivation, which is concerned with factors inside the classroom and extrinsic motivation, which is concerned with what takes place outside the

classroom (Harmer, 1991: 3) About this distinction Deci (1980) has stated:

The distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is frequently

made on the basic of whether there is an externally mediated reward or

constraint present in the situation When people receive a reward such as

money, or praise, or the avoidance of punishment for doing an activity,

they are considered to be extrinsically motivated If there is no apparent

external reward, they are said to be intrinsically motivated In the latter

case, the reward is supposed to be in the activity itself

(Deci, 1980: 30)

The classification of motivation into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation has been accepted widely by researchers It is quite neat, and it covers almost all of the components of the motivation construct In this study this classification is also a mainstream

2.2.1 Intrinsic motivation

Being a socio-psychological phenomenon, intrinsic motivation together with extrinsic motivation forms up the twofold theory of motivation In most students’ success or failure as language learners, intrinsic motivation plays a vital part (Harmer, 1991)

2.2.1.1 Definition of intrinsic motivation

There are many ways of defining intrinsic motivation The following seems to be a quite short and neat definition from Dörnyei:

Intrinsically motivated behaviors are the ones that the individual performs

for some internal rewards (e.g., the joy of doing a particular activity or

satisfying one’s curiosity)

(Dörnyei, 1994: 275)

Intrinsic motivation is generally possessed by people having personal interests in doing something and in helping to set their goals These people take part in activities not because accomplishing the activities brings a reward, but because

doing the activities itself is a reward Lepper and Thomas (1999:520) have noted that a student with intrinsic motivation participates in his/her learning “for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the learning it permits, or the feelings of accomplishment it evokes.”

In educational process intrinsic motivation is potentially a central motivator:

Intrinsic motivation is in evidence whenever students’ learning curiosity

and interest energize their learning When the educational environment

provides optimal challenges, rich sources of stimulation, and a context of

autonomy, this motivational wellspring in learning is likely to flourish

(Deci & Ryan, 1985: 245)

2.2.1.2 Factors affecting intrinsic motivation

Like other socio-psychological phenomena, students’ intrinsic motivation may also be affected by many different factors, such as the school facilities, the course syllabus, the teacher or even the students’ past success or failure (Harmer, 1991)

2.2.1.2.1 School facilities

Much insight has been gained through scientific studies about learning environment of a school building and its relation to learning Researchers reported

that the thermal environment in the classroom would affect the ability of students

to grasp instruction Canter (1976) found that human beings work most efficiently

at mental tasks when the environment is at a suitable temperature

Lighting is also considered one of the most critical physical characteristics of the

classroom Classrooms that are badly lit can excessively de-motivate students’ learning (Harmer, 1991)

In short, comfortable classroom temperature, noise level and lighting are very important to efficient student performance The age of school building is also a proxy in this regard (Earthman, 2002) Finally, classroom overcrowding always

makes it harder for students to learn Analyses show that class size reduction leads

to higher student achievement

From those insights, a problem is put forward to our teachers: how to make the school, the classroom environment as pleasant as possible, especially when class size is our current biggest disadvantage

2.2.1.2.2 Course syllabus

Course syllabus has an impact on students’ intrinsic motivation A tedious or overloaded course syllabus (too easy or too difficult) often undermines students’ interest in learning

Researchers found that the framework of L2 classroom motivation: interest,

relevance, expectancy, and satisfaction, which is postulated by Crookes and

Schmidt (1991) appears to be particularly useful in describing course syllabus factor

The first category, interest, is centered around by the individual’s inherent curiosity and desire to know more Relevance refers to the extent to which the

students feel that the instruction is connected to their needs, values, or goals

Expectancy refers to the perceived likelihood of success and is related to the

students’ self-confidence and self-efficacy In learning situation expectancy concerns the task difficulty, the amount of effort required, the amount of available

assistance and guidance The final category, satisfaction, concerns the outcome

of an activity, the attainable proximal learning goals

Undoubtedly, when a course syllabus meets those categories, it attracts students’ interest and promotes their learning process, especially, when students have

utilitarian learning goals On the contrary, when interest, expectancy, relevance and satisfaction are apart from a course syllabus, students’ effort and interest in

language learning are certainly spoiled

In Vinh Long Teacher Training College, unfortunately, the course syllabus obviously does not meet all those categories It is heavy and somewhat irrelevant

As mentioned above in chapter I, the teaching materials here, the first two

Streamline English books, primarily orients toward developing students’ oral/aural

skills, whereas the teaching curriculum (designed by the Ministry of Education and Training) underscores the development of students’ reading skill Moreover, due to the big number of students in each class in Vinh Long Teacher Training College, all the English tests conducted in the school are in written forms It means that to get high grades in these tests, students need to possess good knowledge of grammar, a large amount of vocabulary and good skill in writing The chosen books, again, seem to be impractical

Thus, in our school, the syllabus itself loses its interest because it is not precisely relevant to the students’ learning goals The students also do not satisfy with it because they find it helpless in their attempt to get high grades in their study This problem causes much difficulty for us and may decrease our students’ interest in learning the language

2.2.1.2.3 Teachers

Nowadays many people believe that one of the most important factors in improving student achievement is having a well-qualified teacher in every classroom (Sparks, 2000)

Historically, conceptions of teaching effect have changed rapidly and radically In 1970s, many argued that teachers did not make a difference in student achievement, but this perception changed in the 1980s when teachers were blamed for the relative un-achievement of students From 1990s, new standards for student learning have been introduced giving greater attention to teaching quality as a primary determinant of student success (Dozier & Bertotti, 2000)

Perhaps the most important teacher-related motives in educational psychology are

identified, according to Dörnyei (1994), as affiliative drive, authority type and

quality Affiliative drive refers to students’ need to do well in school in order to

please the teacher whom they like and appreciate Teacher’s authority type refers

to teacher’s autonomy in supporting or controlling students, in sharing responsibility with them, in offering them options and choices, and in making enhance their self-determination and intrinsic motivation Teacher quality refers to the teacher’s general and specific knowledge that he/she mastered during his/ her training at university and from the experience of doing the job Teacher’s quality also concerns the appropriate teaching methodology he/she conducts and the knowledge of pedagogy they possess All of these motives, directly or indirectly, affect our students’ learning process and outcomes

In fact, by using the same method in teaching, two teachers could have vastly different results (Harmer, 1991) And, of cause, by using different methods, a teacher may also find different results The matter is that everything teachers do in the classroom has a motivational influence on students, and the way the teachers interact with their students, their abilities to control the students’ learning process

and their method used in teaching are of great importance in motivating students’ learning

From the insight into the teacher’s role in motivating students, we can find that the really problem we have to face nowadays in Vietnam, and in Vinh Long Teacher Training College, in particular, may be in the teacher’s lack of incentives to teach, low standards that contribute to a lack of respect for the job, a lack of good knowledge of pedagogy, good knowledge of content, commitment and capacity to individualize instruction and a lack of comprehensive methodology Though these obstacles are not easy to overcome, we must be convinced finally by the merits of increasing teacher role to improve our students’ performance

2.2.1.2.4 Success and failure

Researchers find that success or lack of it plays a vital part in the motivational drive of a student (Harmer, 1991; Dörnyei, 1997) For them, both complete success and complete failure may be de-motivating (Harmer, cit.) because in foreign language situations they are common phenomena (Dörnyei, cit.)

A considerable success in learning may promote a student, make him/her more confident and maintain his/her interest in learning Whereas a painful feeling of a failure a student experienced in learning a second language may cause a shock The fear that can arise from an actual experience of “losing oneself” in study or in the target culture and the anxiety that can result from the loss of commonly perceived and understood signs and symbols of social intercourse may become a very huge obstacle that a student has to spend years to overcome

To treat the problem, it is the teacher’s job to set goals and tasks with a suitable extent of difficulty level to which most of his/her students can be successful In

case of a potentially unsuccessful student, the teacher must have an intentionally beforehand support or guidance The key perception is in the thing that a very high challenge task (or there is not any difficulty at all) may have negative effect on students’ intrinsic motivation

In short, intrinsic motivation, being thought of as a central motivator of the educational process, is the students’ inner drive to carry out a set of learning activities for the feelings of competence and self-determination in doing the activities, not for any external rewards or under anybody’s force Intrinsic

motivation may be affected by some factors: school facilities (including classroom temperature, lighting, noise, and class size); the course syllabus; the teacher with

teacher-related motives such as affiliative drive, authority and quality; and finally,

the student’s past success or failure

2.2.2 Extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation is one of the two components that form up the psychological phenomenon, motivation Though extrinsic motivation has traditionally been seen as something that can undermine intrinsic motivation, it in general contributes a lot to every field of our lives, and it certainly should be paid attention to

socio-2.2.2.1 Definition of extrinsic motivation

Pittman and Boggiano (1992: 3) have defined learning extrinsic motivation as “the learner’s desire for achievement for an external reward such as to pass examinations or to get a job.” Thus, extrinsic motivation is likely to be on the other extreme from intrinsic motivation It concerns things from the outside It derives from an anticipation of external rewards such as praise, award, prizes, and

evaluation, or avoidance of punishment An extrinsically motivated student engages in doing a certain learning task just in order to obtain some reward or avoid some punishment external to the activity itself He/she does it not because of the interest in the task itself

According to Harmer (1991) extrinsic motivation can be divided into two types:

integrative motivation and instrumental motivation Although these types still

overlap slightly, they can be explained by contextual differences

2.2.2.2 Integrative motivation

Gardner and Lambert (1972) defined integrative motivation in their twofold theory

of motivation as the desire to be esteemed and identified in a foreign setting, to be like the foreign people, to understand the culture and participate in it Integrative motivation is basically a motivation to be a valued member of a target society in a foreign setting, but it also includes a motivation coming from just an interest or favorable feeling to a target culture and people

According to McDonough (1981) students, when learning a target language, need

to be attracted by the target culture and people Their integrative motivation may

be in two forms: “assimilative motivation”, the strong form of integrative motivation, and “affiliative motivation”, the weak form of integrative motivation

With the strong form of integrative motivation, the learners wish to integrate themselves into the target language community while with the weak form, they just want to know as much as possible about the culture, and to widen their contact with the target language speakers

Dörnyei (1990) identified four loosely related dimensions of broadly conceived integrative motivation (as displayed in Figure 2.1 above): first, the interest in

foreign languages, cultures, and people; second, the desire to broaden one’s view and avoid provincialism; third, the desire for new stimuli and challenges; and fourth, the desire to integrate into a new community, to become valued members

of it The last dimension, for Dörnyei, overlaps with the instrumental motivation which will be concerned later

Instrumental motivational type

Integrative motivational type

Interest in foreign language, culture &

Extrinsic motivation

in foreign language learning

Figure 2.1 Diagram of types of extrinsic motivation in language learning

(Adapted from Dörnyei, 1990: 68)

In language learning context, the learner’s integrative motivation is a crucial factor (Scarcella & Oxford, 1992) as in Finegan’s words (1994: 466): “Integrative motivation typically underlies successful acquisition of a wide range of resisters and a native-like pronunciation, achievements that usually elude learners with instrumental motivation” The learner’s integrative motivation has a deep impact

on the language learning as a whole It provides the students with the necessary

motivation to persist in the second language learning (Gardner et al., 1985) Integrative motivation affects actual behavior in the classroom as well Gardner et

al (cit.) found that those students whose test responses indicated the presence of

integrative motivation volunteered to answer questions more often, made more

correct answers in class, and received more positive reinforcement from their teachers They were also perceived by observers to be more “interested” in their lessons

A dominant feature of integrative motivation is that it varies a lot depending on learning situations Shumann (1978) noted that learner’s integrative motivation levels vary according to the social distance from the target language community The nearer the learner’s own culture is to the target culture, the higher the integrative motivation The more the learner intentionally integrates with the target language community, the more the learner’s speech will fit the target language people’s speech and the more proficient and appropriate the learner’s language performance will be

Though the importance and role of integrative motivation vary in different contexts, researchers report that it may indeed be an important requirement for successful language learning Some teachers and researchers have even gone so far

as to claim that it is absolutely essential for successful second language learning

In order to help learners develop integrative motivation, teachers must try to minimize the impact of negative stereotyping of the target language group by acting as a cultural bridge between students and the target language community

2.2.2.3 Instrumental motivation

“Instrumental motivation is related to the potential pragmatic gains of L2 proficiency, such as getting a better job or a higher salary” (Dörnyei, 1997: 262) Thus, an instrumentally motivated learner regards language as an instrument to get

a reward: a better job, a higher salary, a higher position or status in the society and

so on Dörnyei (cit.) admitted that instrumental motivation is a central component

of motivation where it is relevant, that is where relatively short-term pragmatic, utilitarian benefits are available for the learners

A typical feature of instrumental motivation is its short-term effect Though instrumental motivation influences second language learning, its influence tends to

be maintained only until the learning goal to which it is tied to some extent is achieved If the goal is continuous, instrumental motivation seems possibly to continue to be effective

2.2.2.4 Integrative motivation vs instrumental motivation

Many researchers indicated that extrinsic motivation varies depending on language learning circumstances (Horwitz, 1990; Horwitz & Young, 1990; Oxford, 1990; Crookes & Schmidt, 1989) They basically argue that different types of motivation

- integrative or instrumental - may be important to language learning success,

depending on circumstances

Horwitz (1990), for example, pointed that in the Philippines where people want English for advancement in careers or in economy, instrumental motivation was more predictive than integrative motivation for language learning success, while integrative motivation was a stronger influence than instrumental motivation in English-speaking Canadian populations who just wanted French for purposes of becoming closer to or integrated with the French-speaking Canadian population

The same thing happens to the contexts of second language acquisition and foreign language acquisition In a second language acquisition context integrative motivation is more meaningful to learners (Dörnyei, 1990) while in a foreign language acquisition context it is less meaningful to learners (Williams & Burden, 1997)

Some researchers in Indian context reported that among Marathi-speaking Indian

students learning English, those with higher instrumental motivation scored higher

in tests of English proficiency They have also noted that Indian English is but one

example of a variety of Englishes, which, especially in Third World countries

where English has become an international language, can be acquired very successfully for instrumental reasons alone (Lukmani, 1972; Kachru, 1977)

In spite of all those ideas, many more researchers have conceptualized that integrative motivation plays a crucial role in language learning and that integratively oriented students in general achieve higher proficiency levels than instrumentally oriented students

The previous findings about integrative motivation and instrumental motivation are not necessarily contradictory to one another They just point out once again that there is no single means of learning a second language: some learners in some contexts are more successful in learning a language if they are integratively oriented and others in different contexts benefit from an instrumental orientation The two types of extrinsic motivation are not necessarily mutually exclusive Second language learning is rarely motivated by attitudes that are exclusively instrumental or exclusively integrative Most situations involve a mixture of both types of motivation

Thus, the argument about instrumental motivation versus integrative motivation that has dominated the motivation literature might be less important than the absolute degree of motivation possessed by the learners “The source of the motivating impetus is relatively unimportant provided that motivation is aroused” (Gardner, 1985: 169)

2.2.3 Relations between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation

Although both intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation form up learning motivation which decides the success and failure of any complex task, as mentioned above, they are of distinguishable importance

When comparing the two kinds of motivation – intrinsic and extrinsic – in a

classroom, it becomes clear that intrinsic motivation produces more potential benefits than the extrinsic one Intrinsically motivated students tend to try harder and think more deeply Many studies report that intrinsically motivated language learners are more likely to achieve mastery in a second language and perform

better in activities than those who are extrinsically motivated (Gardner, et al,

1985; Benware & Deci, 1984; Deci & Ryan, 1992; Grolnick & Ryan, 1987) Dörnyei (1990) claims that an intrinsically motivated learner is also more likely to

go beyond an intermediate level in a language than a learner whose main motivation is extrinsic

Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is traditionally considered as something that undermines intrinsic motivation Several studies have confirmed that students will lose their natural intrinsic interest in an activity if they have to do it to meet some extrinsic requirement Brown (1990: 388) points out that traditional school settings with their teacher domination, grades and tests, as well as “a host of institutional constraints that glorify content, product, correctness, competitiveness” tend to cultivate extrinsic motivation and “fail to bring the learner into a collaborative process of competence building” Anyway, in a language learning context, when the students have negative feelings to the process or have no motivation at all, it is the teacher’s job to provide them with some extrinsic

motivation because researchers show that extrinsic motivation is effective for those with no motivation, and when it is positive feedback, but he/she should offer extrinsic rewards with caution Extrinsic rewards to them previously with intrinsic motivation can harm the good effect of it

It must be noted, however, that some studies have argued that extrinsically motivated learners are just as likely to achieve success in the target language (Ellis, 1994), and that under certain circumstances, extrinsic rewards can be combined with, or even leads to, intrinsic motivation Self-determination (i.e., autonomy) is seen as prerequisite for any behavior to be intrinsically rewarding

From the light of those arguments it is clear that extrinsic motivation is no longer regarded as an antagonistic counterpart of intrinsic motivation, and that it should

be seen as a positive factor in language learning process Finally, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation should not be treated isolatedly, but as a mixture of the two

kinds of the famous term “motivation”

Another point worth noting is the fact that not everything can be intrinsically interesting, but a learner can recognize the importance and rely on extrinsic motives in order for learning to occur It is unlikely also that a learner will experience intrinsic motivation (or extrinsic motivation) exclusively; there is likely to be at least some extrinsic motivation involved (Deci & Ryan, 1985)

2.3 Attitudes toward learning English

Attitude is a complex theoretical construct which according to Baker is used to

“explain the direction and persistence of human behavior” (Baker, 1992: 10) Gardner has operationally defined attitude as “an evaluative reaction to some referent or attitude object, inferred on the basis of the individual’s beliefs or

opinions about the referent” (Gardner, 1985: 11) The most straightforward definition of attitude may be the following: “An attitude is a disposition to respond favorably or unfavorably to an object, person, institution, or event” (quoted in Baker, 1992: 11) From these definitions it becomes clear that attitudes unlike physical attributes or actions cannot be directly observed or measured Most of the times an individual’s attitudes are dormant and can only emerge as reaction to specific stimuli in the form of stated beliefs, expressed feelings, or exhibited behaviors Attitudes do not influence language learning directly but they are instrumental in the development of motivation

Language attitudes can have profound effect on our learners’ abilities to acquire a second language, especially beyond adolescence (Finegan, 1984) In reality, the variety of the knowledge the learners require when learning a second language becomes part of their social identity, and the acquisition of that language must be seen not only as an intellectual exercise but also as an enterprise that affects or alters their social identity

The attitude toward second language learning together with motivation can have a profound effect on the success of language acquisition In acquiring a second language, learners’ effort is mediated by what Krashen (1987) called an “effective filter” – a psychological tendency that facilitates or inhibits their natural language acquisition capacities These days learning a second language in school is increasingly viewed not only as an intellectual or educational phenomenon but also as a social-psychological phenomenon And in the acquisition of a second language, the student is faced with the task of not simply learning new information which is part of his own culture but rather of acquiring symbolic elements of a different ethno-linguistic community

Attitude toward learning a second language under the influence of some factors can be seen as negative or positive learning attitudes The factors that affect

learning attitudes are treated in the following part in the terms of “motives for

learning English”, “anxiety”, self-esteem, and “tolerance of ambiguity”

2.3.1 Motives for learning English

Nowadays English is spoken in many countries all over the world It is now taught

as a foreign language in over 100 countries This is, these days English has a great influence on people’s lives The desire to master a language like English is greater and greater This is understandable The benefit we can have when we are able to communicate with more than 300,000,000 people who speak English as their native language and another 300,000,000 who speak it as a second language is so obvious

There are many other reasons why people should learn English: it is the only key

to approach the rapid development of technology in Britain, in the U.S.A., the most useful tool to get access to the dominant role of the economy of these countries (and of other countries as well) English nowadays is the language of mass media: newspapers, radio and television It is used widely in science, medicine, agriculture, engineering, informatics, tourism and especially, in education, so if you want to make any progress in your jobs, in your activities in a community as a modern society, you must have for yourselves either much or little knowledge of English

In our country now, English has become a very important foreign language It is taught in many schools and universities alongside with some other languages such

as Russian, Chinese, French, German Especially, according to the curriculum framework designed by the Ministry of Education and Training, English now has