Motivation for learning english of english major freshmen at vietnam national university of agriculture

ii ABSTRACT The research aimed at investigating the type and level of English language learning motivation instrumental or integrative of English-major freshmen at Viet Nam National Un

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VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES

BA THESIS

MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING ENGLISH OF

ENGLISH-MAJOR FRESHMEN AT VIETNAM

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ ĐỘNG CƠ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM NHẤT NGÀNH NGÔN NGỮ ANH TẠI HỌC VIỆN NÔNG NGHIỆP VIỆT NAM

SUPERVISOR: PHAM HUONG LAN, M.A

Hanoi – 2021

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CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report

entitled “Motivation for learning English of English-major freshman at Viet Nam National University of Agriculture” submitted in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the degree of Bachelor in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis

Hanoi, 2021

Doan Thi Phuong

Approved by SUPERVISOR

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ABSTRACT

The research aimed at investigating the type and level of English language learning motivation (instrumental or integrative ) of English-major freshmen at Viet Nam National University of Agriculture The method used is a survey in which k65’s students were asked to fill out questionnaires adapted from Attitude Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) designed by R.C Gardner The questionnaire was distributed to the entire English-majored freshmen The data were analyzed

by means of frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean and standard deviation The main findings show that the students are ‘moderately’ motivated and found to be slightly more ‘integratively’ motivated to learn English This reveals that integrative motivation is an important factor in learning English Based on the findings of this study, some suggestions are recommended to improve student’s motivation

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Instrumental motivation of first-year students

Table 2 Integrative motivation of first-year students

Table 3 The Comparation between Intergrative

and Instrumental Motivation

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TABLE OF CONTENT

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale for the study 1

2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Significance of the study 2

6 Design of the study 3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4

Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Review of the previous studies 4

1.1.1 Review of the studies in the world 4

1.1.2 Review of the studies in Vietnam 6

1.2 Review of theoretical background 8

1.2.1 Definitions of motivation 8

1.2.2 Types of motivation 9

1.2.3 The importance of motivation in second language learning 10

1.2.4 Factors that affect motivation in second language learning 10

1.3 Summary 12

Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY 13

2.1 Research governing principles 13

2.1.1 Research question(s) 13

2.1.2 Major methods 13

2.2 Research methods 13

2.2.1 Research methodology 13

2.2.2 Research setting/context 14

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2.3 Data collection 14

2.3.1 Data collecting instruments 14

2.3.2 Data collecting procedures 15

2.3.3 Data analysis 15

2.4 Summary 16

Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 17

3.1 The level of motivation of English-majored freshmen 17

3.2 The type of motivation of English-majored freshmen 22

3.3 Summary 23

Part 3: CONCLUSION 24

1 Recapitulations 24

2 Conclusions 24

3 Limitation of the study 25

4 Recommendations for futher study 25

REFERENCES 27

APPENDIX 29

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PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Motivation is an important factor for explaining the success or failure of any complex task In order to learn English, learners require motivation so that they can be successful in learning the language Therefore, the role of motivation is very crucial during the learning process So far, many reseachers have conducted studied on English language motivation Hedge (2000) conducted a study about the motivation of 20 Japanese students who were studying English Siriluck Wechsumangkalo and Sirithip Prasertrattanadecho (2004) conducted a study which indicated clearly that high English proficiency subjects are more integratively motivated than low English proficiency subjects

In Vietnam,there are a lot of researchers have also been interested in the topic of motivation i.e Le Thi Hanh (2011) with her study namely “Influence of teaching method on first year students' English language dynamics in economics

at Van Lang university” Another article about motivation was published in

2006, namely “Needs and Motivations in learning Eglish of the first year students at at Vietnam National University, Ha Noi” There are many other scholars who have conducted research about this topic, but not any research of this type has been witnessed at Vietnam National University of Agriculture After studying at Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA), for nearly four years, I realized that many English – major freshmen lack motivation

to learn English In the hope of finding out the motivation for learning English that they normally get, I decided to conduct a study entitled “Motivation for learning English of English –major freshmen at Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA)” as my graduation paper This study tried to investigate the level of motivation among English major freshmen and the most common type of motivation shown by these students Based on the results, some

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suggestions are given for students of the next course to better motivate themselves in their English learning

2 Aims and objectives of the study

This study was carried out to determine the motivational level and type of English-majored freshmen at Viet Nam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) From the result of this study, I intended to make some suggestions to help students improve their motivation towards English learning The study was used survey questionnaires for English-majored freshman at Viet Nam National University of Agriculture to get the following goals: Firstly, the study will be determined if the students’ motivation level is high or low Second, identifying the types of motivation of the student

3 Research questions

The research study was conducted to survey the English major freshmen

in the second semester, academic year 2021 in particular Its aim was to find the answers to the following questions:

1 What is the level of motivation among English major freshmen at Viet Nam National University of Agriculture towards English language learning?

2 Are they predominantly integratively or instrumentally motivated towards English language learning?

4 Scope of the study

The study was participated by English-majored freshmen at Viet Nam National University of Agriculture in the second semester, academic year 2020-

2021 to explore the level of motivation in their English language learning The data of this study were taken through questionnaire administered to the total number of 132 students

5 Significance of the study

The result of this study will be expected to inspire the students in their English learning It will be expected that the recommendations can help them in

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improving their motivation towards English learning The significance of this study should be that the responses lead to a better understanding of their motivation The findings could help the institute in improving their motivations and, alongside, enhancing their language learning achievement at the very earliest stage of their enrollment in the first year

6 Design of the study

This study was divided into three parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion

Part 1, Introduction, provides brief information about the rationale, the aims & objectives, the research questions, the scope, the significance and the design of the study

Part 2, Literature review, presents an overview about some previous studies and some theoretical background to the study

Part 3, Methodology, includes the governing research orientation (the major method & the research questions) and the detailed methodology of the study (participants, data collecting instruments, data collecting procedures, data analysis)

Part 4, Findings and Discussion, demonstrates the major findings of the study as well as discussion around these findings

Part 5, Conclusion, Limitations and Recommendations, claims the main points of the study, some limitations of the study and recommendations for further study as well as some suggestions to improve motivation among English-majored students at VNUA

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PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Review of the previous studies

1.1.1 Review of the studies in the world

In 2000, Kassim A.Shaaban and Ghazi carried out a study “Student motivation to learn English as a foreign language” The results of the study underscore the importance of learner characteristics and effective orientation toward program of study in the development of motivation to acquire another language The results suggest that low-proficiency students and females tend to

be more willing to exert effort in learning English They also tend to perceive the goals of learning English as more attractive than do their male and higher-proficiency counterparts

From the above studies, it has been shown that motivation for learning English has a tremendous effect on the learners These studies have shown student motivation levels and solution proposals to improve student motivation levels

Ratanawalee Wimolmas (Thammasat University, Thailand) carried out the research “A Survey Study of Motivation in English Language Learning of First Year Undergraduate Students at Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT), Thammasat University” The study was conducted among

30 undergraduate students at SIIT, Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus in the second semester, academic year 2012 The overall results reveal that the students are highly motivated to learn English This finding answer the research question of what the level of the subjects’ motivation is Based on the comparison and assessment, it is discovered that the students are slightly more strongly instrumentally motivated to learn English which can answer the research question of the motivation found is more integrative or instrumental The students’ related difficulties in the language skills, as communicated in the

In 2016, Mitra Alizadeh carried out a study titled “The Impact of Motivation on English Language Learning” The study pointed that the role of motivation in language acquisition was examined by analyzing some of the most significant research in the field The motivation of student can go up and down depending on the context of language learning Motivation has a key role in the development of language skills Teachers can play a important role in motivating learners to the learning of a second/foreign language Motivation is

an significant factor in learning a foreign language which is in influenced by different variables

Jana M.Safrankova, Martin Sikyr (2016) conducted a research “The study

of University students’ motivation” The paper is based on a review of the scientific literature as well as the comparison of the results of the authors' survey conducted among students of the Czech Technical university in Prague in the first decade of the twenty-first century and the authors' survey conducted among students of the College of Regional Development in Prague, the Masaryk

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Institute of Advanced Studies of the Czech Technical University in Prague and the School Management Centre of the Faculty of Education of Charles University in Prague in 2016 The new data were obtained from 415 students The results showed some interesting tendencies in students' attitudes to learning and studying at university in the Czech Republic

1.1.2 Review of the studies in Vietnam

In Viet Nam, there have also been some studies on the topic of motivation For example, in 2006, Hoang Van Van conducted a survey study

“Needs and Motivations in learning Eglish of the first year students at Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi” The study was conducted in 6 largest institutions under VNU, Hanoi It was done by means of questionnaires combined with private talks with the subjects when some doubts occurred The questionnaire consists of 25 questions among which 9 are designed to obtain information on the first year students’ needs and motivations in learning English The study pointed that the first year students at Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi really need to learn English They are fully aware of what they have not yet obtained and really wish to learn to compensate for what they lack It is also found that the first year students at VNU, Hanoi possess both instrumental and integrative motivations of which instrumental motivation plays a predominant role The researcher has made a number of recommendations on what needs to

be done to improve the English level of Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi

to meet the need for internationalization and globalization of higher education in Viet Nam

Phan Van Hoa and Le Viet Ha (2009) conducted a survey study “Nghiên cứu về động cơ học Tiếng Anh của học sinh Trung học Phổ Thông ở Quảng Nam” (An investigation into English learning motivation of upper secondary school students in Quang Nam province) The study investigated English learning goals and motivation and some factors influencing the motivation of

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upper secondary students in Quang Nam The study revealed that the students have positive attitudes toward learning English and are highly motivated to study it, and that they are more instrumentally than integratively motivated

Nguyen Thuy Dung, Phan Thi Thuc Anh (2012) carried out a study:

“Những nhân tố tác động đến động lực học tập của sinh viên: Nghiên cứu tại một trường đại học ở Hà Noi” This study presented research results on the factors that affect student dynamics in the school through a theoretical model based on data collected from 423 students in a university in Hanoi The results showed that students' satisfaction with the quality of their faculty, the learning environment, the learning conditions, activities supporting students in their studies had a positive effect on their learning dynamics The article was given a number of suggestions to the lecturers and the management of the school

Le Hong Ngoc (2019) conducted a survey study “Nghiên cứu về động cơ học tập của sinh viên tại các trường đại học tại Việt Nam”.Through the actual research survey, the motivation of Viet Nam’s students is quite low They haven’t spent much time for learning At Vietnam National University of Agriculture, a group of students carried out the study “Nghiên cứu mối quan hệ giữa động lực và kết quả học tập môn tiếng Anh của sinh viên k60 lớp tiên tiến tại Học Viện Nông Nghệp Việt Nam” Thus these studies are quite similar to foreign studies Motivation plays an important role in the process of English learning Researchers have shown the level of motivaton of their students and have made suggestions for improvement

Khau, Hoang Nhu and Huynh, Nhu (2016) conducted a survey study

“Motivation for Vietnamese Non-English Majors Learning General English at Tra Vinh University” The goal of this quantitative study is to understand more about how Tra Vinh University students believe about what motivates them to learn General English On a scale of 1 to 5, they were asked to rate their level of permission The poll included twenty-six questions that focused on three

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aspects: students' motivation, language teachers' efforts to boost students' motivation, and students' self-motivation as well as the school's future motivational policies The data came from 60 first-year non-English majors who were learning General English at the beginner level (equal to Pre-A2 in the Common European Framework of Reference, or CEFR) On all three fronts, the findings were favorable Students were concerned about their basic understanding of English, social demands, language teachers' English expertise, friendly languageteachers, language teachers' diversified teaching approach, ventilated and well-equipped classrooms, and appropriate academic advisor teams These findings can help language teachers and educators think about their curricula, teaching methods, and establishing initiatives that promote English learning

1.2 Review of theoretical background

According to Lightbown and Spada (1999), motivation in second language learning is difficult to examine and can be explained by two factors: the communicative demands of the learner and their attitudes toward the second language community

Furthermore, Parsons, Hinson, and Brown (2001) define motivation as a key component or aspect in the learning process In order to achieve something, learning and motivation are equally important Learning allows us to obtain new

According to Aree Punmanee (1991), motivation is the act of being elicited by a stimuli in order to achieve desired goals, behaviors, or situations Motivation is a never-ending process that stems from a person's desire

1.2.2 Types of motivation

There are two sorts of motivation, according to Praveen Shrestha (2017): intrinsic and extrinsic motivation It's critical to recognize that we're not all the same; hence, effectively motivating kids necessitates a knowledge of the various sorts of motivation

Intrinsic motivation refers to the variables that drive an individual's motivation from inside The individual desires to do a specific activity because the results are in line with his belief system or fulfill a goal, and thus it is given importance

Extrinsic motivation refers to motivational cues that come from beyond the individual In other words, our motivation to complete a task is influenced

by an external force Even though the stimuli are external, the outcome of the task will still be rewarding for the person executing it

Krashen (1988, p.22) noted the following factors that are related to motivation and will seek to link second language competence to these two functions, integrative and instrumental motivation Integrative motivation is described as the desire to be a part of the group or society's recognized or

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influential individuals who speak the second language It is motivated by a desire to learn about, associate with, or socialize with individuals who speak the second language, or by a desire to engage or integrate in the second language while speaking the same language in that community But sometimes it involves emotion or affective factors a great deal (Saville-Troike, 2006, p 86)

Whereas, instrumental motivation involves the concepts of purely

practical value in learning the second language in order to increase learners’ careers or business opportunities, giving them more prestige and power, accessing scientific and technical information, or just passing a course of their study in school (Saville-Troike, 2006, p 86)

Therefore, motivation plays a key role in learning English Through these analyses, it is found that students' motivations divide into external motivations and internal motivations

1.2.3 The importance of motivation in second language learning

Motivation plays a big part in whether you succeed or fail at learning a second language Motivated students, according to Spolsky (1990), are more likely to learn more and learn faster than students who are less motivated Students that are less motivated are more prone to lose focus, misbehave, and generate discipline issues in a given learning scenario Students that are highly driven, on the other hand, will participate actively and pay more attention to a certain learning assignment or activity So, since everyone agrees that motivation is critical to learning, it is worthwhile to investigate

1.2.4 Factors that affect motivation in second language learning

There are many people who have studied the factors of motivation For example, Harmer (1991) pointed out four possible effects affecting the motivation of learners These four factors that can be dangerous to the learners’ motivation are the following:

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1 Physical condition which means the atmosphere in class For example if

student have to study in the bad lighting classroom , overcrowded with too many students , have to look at the small board, or in the unpleasant smell classroom, they can lose their motivation or their motivation in learning will be lowered

2 Method of teaching which refers to the way that students are taught must

affect their motivation Whenever the learners feel bored at the teacher’s method, their motivation would likely be lost or gradually decreased As he said,

“if the students loses confidence in the method, they will become demotivated” (Harmer, 1991, p 5)

3 The teachers, as the most powerful variable of motivation and

demotivation, can become a major part in demotivating the learners

4 Success refers to the appropriate level of challenge designed by the

teachers If the difficulty of work and activity is too high or too low, it can lead students to a demotivated situation in learning As Harmer pointed out, to give high challenge activities may have a negative effect on motivation Students can also equally be demotivated by too low level of challenge

Emotional states such as exhaustion, depression, boredom, and so on, according

to Krashen's affective filter hypothesis (as quoted in Lightbown and Spada,

1999, p 39), hinder students' learning Anxiety plays a role in influencing the affective filter Low anxiety is better for learning a second language (Krashen, cited in J.Oller and J Richards, 2003, p 183) This means that learners’ anxiety can affect their motivation According to Krashen, there are three affective variables that interact with the affective filter

1 Motivation which is beneficial for language acquisition

2 Self-confidence which is also useful for acquisition

3 Anxiety which is good in the case where it is in a low level

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1.3 Summary

In this chapter, the study is divided into 2 main parts that need to be clarified: Review of the previous studies Review of theoretical background The first part of the report summarizes all of the domestic and foreign studies It was all about analyzing the findings of each study The second part consists of definition of motivation, types of motivation, the importance of motivation in second language learning, factors that affect motivation in second laguange learning

to find the answers to the following questions:

1 What is the level of motivation among English major freshmen at Vietnam National University of Agriculture towards English language learning?

2 Are they predominantly integratively or instrumentally motivated towards English language learning?

2.1.2 Major methods

The main methodology of this study is the survey research with the use of questionnairs aiming to investigate students’ motivation The results were analyzed using SPSS program version 22.0

of 30 first-year undergraduate students at an international institute of engineering and technology in Thailand I believe that the questionnaire has good reliability and validity This study was survey research about motivation all 132 English-majored freshmen at Viet Nam National University of