Luận văn a study on the motivation in learning english of gifted students at high school for gifted students hanoi national university of education

VIETNAMNATIONALUNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRẢN HOÀI LINH A STUDY ON THE MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH OF GIFT

VIETNAMNATIONALUNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẢN HOÀI LINH

A STUDY ON THE MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH OF

GIFTED STUDENTS AT HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS,

HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

(NGHIEN CUU VE DONG CO HOC TIENG ANH CUA HỌC SINH

CHUYÊN, TRƯỜNG TIIPT CIIUYÊN, DẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Mcthodology Code: 60140111

HANOI -— 2014

VIETNAMNATIONALUNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRAN HOAI LINH

A STUDY ON THE MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISII OF

GIFTED STUDENTS AT HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS,

HANOT NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

(NGHIEK CUU VE DONG CO HQC TIENG ANH CUA HỌC SINH

CHUYEN, TRUGNG THPT CHUYEN, DAI HOC SU PHAM)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Pruf Dr Hoang Van Van

TTANOT—2014

DECLARATION

L hereby certify that the minor thesis entitled “A Study on the Motivation in

Learning English of Gitted Students at High School for Gifted Students, Hanoi

National University of Education” is the result of my own work in partial

fal flinent of the requiremenis for the degree of Master of Arts in English Teaching,

Methodology at Faculty of Posl-graduaic Studies, Universily of Languages aud International Studics, Victnam National University, Hanoi The rescareh has not

been submitted to any other university or institution wholly and partially

Hanwi, 2014 Trần Hoài Linh

A special word of thimks goss lo my students, without whor it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished

Last by not least, I am greatly indobted to my family for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work,

ABSTRACT

This study was intended to investigate the motivation of English gifted

students at High School for Gifted Students, Hanoi National University of Education

(HNUE) More specifically, the researcher attempted to offer several common

definitions and perceptions of motivation and identify the categories of motivation,

perceived by different theories by reviewing several models of language learning

motivation up to now More importantly, the study aims to investigate the type of

motivations that exisL among Rnglish gifled students al High School for Gifled

Students, HNUE and examine whether gifted students of grades 10, 11 and 12 have the same or different types of Enghsh leaming motivation In the study, 158 students

participated in completing the questionnaire retlecting the learning motivation The

results of the study reveal that the student surveyed had high motivation of learning Finglish, and the types of motivation that prevails among those students were

intrinsic, extrinsic, instrumental and integrative motivation Moreover, it was also

found thal students of grade 1] were more infegralive and inbinsic onented than

those in grade 10 and grade 12 Finally, based on the findings, some suggestions fer

teachers of these classes are offured.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, TABLES AND FIGURES:

Talile 1: Information on the Nurnber of Students Surveyed 16 Table 2: Percentage of Reasons for Choosing Engtish as a Specialized Subject 20 Eigure 3: Students” Reasons for Choosing English Specialized Subject 20

Eigure 5: Intinste and Exbinsic Mofivatron of Grade 10 8udenk „32 Figure 6: Intrinsic and Extansic Motivation of Grade 11 Students 23 Figure 7: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation of Grade 12 Students 23 Tghlc 4: Man Value of Ttrinsic and Bsirinsie Mofivntiơn 13 Figure 8; Instrumental and Integrative Motivation oŸ Građc 10 Stuđemts 24 Figure 9: Instrumontat and Integrative Motivation of Grade 11 Stud 35 Figure 10: Tnstumental and Integrative Motivation af Grade 12 Students 15

Figure 12: Amotivation Pattem of Grade 11 Students „36

Eigtrs 13: Amotivation Pattern of CGrade 12 Students 27

Table 6: Conpanson of Ảmotivation Pattzm armong Three Giades 7

Table 8: Students’ Interest and Desire to Leam English 28 Eigure 14: Sluäcnls" Motivation lo Tcøm English lo Cormaunicate 29

Abbreviations

LLM: Language Leaming Motivation

HNUE: Hani National University of Education

L2: second language

AMBIT: Attitude / Motivation Test Battery

iv

1 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY

2, AIMS OF THE RESEARCH

3 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH

4, RESEARCH QUESTIONS

5 SCOPE OF TILE RESEARCH

6 SIGNITTCANCE OF TITE RESEARCH

7 STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

2.5, Data Collection Procadures

3.1 Students’ Main Goal of Leaming

3.2 Main Goal of Leaming

3.3 Intinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

3.4, Instrumental and Integrative Motivation

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the Study

In an arlicls untitled “Hose motivation affects learning and behavior”, Ommmod (2014), i claims that the motivation caists in most students, in one way or another One may be engrossed in a certain subject, play an active role in classroom activities, and obtain high scores at school, while one may be more attentive to the social activities in the society includmg communicative events and similar occasions It is undeniable that the motivation has a strong impact on the leaming and behaviour of students Specifically, it affects students’ choice, their goals in Ieaming It also determines students’ effort and energy as well as the initiation and persistence spent on learning: once they feel motivated they will devote to the siuly

Aca ding to Hus in, Nomeiny, and D'Cnay (2001), a pe issue claimed

by many English teachers is the cffort to maintain the students’ interest in learning

English Teachers have to well balance the preparation for the exam and the lite-

long language skills

Since most researchers and teachers are aware of the importance of motivation

im leaming, they have been allempting to figure oul ways to increase the students’

motivation by carrying oul studies of motivation among students Numerous studios

about motivation dated back from the 1960s and have still been anc of the favored

themes for rescarchers worldwide

As and old saying “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink”, implying that you can lead your students to the treasure of erudition but you

cannot reinforce them to “swallow” the knowledge, instead you can let them acquire

the knowledge themselves by providing them with leaming motivation ] am myself

a teacher and I know how crneial the motivation is for teaching and leaning [lence

a teacher's goal is to show his or her students an interesting way to the waler by

making him a motivated student To work out the proper way, teachers are supposed

to be conscious of students’ own desire as well as their purpose of learning, or to be more specifically, what can motivate and demotivate them in leaming A student

who is oriented to pursue natural sciences and does not care much about English

would wish to experience a different way of leaming and teaching in comparison

with the one who is totally devoted to English and studies this subject as his major

or passion 'This is also the reason I would like to conduet a study on the motivation

of students of 3 levels: grade 10, gride 11 and grade 12, who are

English al High School for Gifled Student, Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE}

2 Aims of the Research

The study aims at investigating the types of motivations of students majoring in

English at High School for Gifted Students, HNUL and whether there are any

differences among the motivation surveyed among students in grade 10, grade 11

and grade 12 ‘The results can be a useful source of reference information for teachers of the classes surveyed as well as the classes to come to work ont the

proper way lo improvise the teaching methads and make their students mors

strongly motivated

3 Objectives of the Research

The study is originally conducted to identiy the change in motivation among gifted students in terms of time As stated by Ryan (2000), intrinsic motivation fades out

with “each advancing grade” It was also assumed that students were not much as

infegratively as well as intrinsically motivated as mnstrumentally and extrinsically motivaled Thus, to find out whethor these bypathesss are (ruc among gifled

students at High School for Gifled Students (HNUR), the objectives rz determined

as below:

© ‘To identify what types of motivation exist among students at [ligh School for

Gifed Students (INUE) aud which types of motivation prevail among

© To find out if students of different grades have different types of motivation

4, Research Questions

In this investigation, the following research qucstions were aildrosscd:

1L Whal types of motivation cxist among students al High School for Gifled Students (HNUE)? And which types of motivation prevail?

2 Do gifted students of English in grades 10, 11 and 12 ditier in their motivation to Jeam English, and what are the differences?

5 Scope of the Research

‘This study only focused on investigation of the motivation of learning English of siudonls majoring in English, not students who learn English as a normal subject in geuoral, at High School for Gifled Students,

6 Significance af the Research

This study aimed to investigate the types of motivation that exist among Englisli gifted students, and the differences mm the motivation among students of different grades, Firstly, the survey itself, partly helped students be aware of the importance

of motivation in learning, and they could themselves figure out different ways to inetease their motivation Secondly, the results of the finings can be of great use for

the teachers of the class

s surveyed in the way that they can adapt their teaching

methods as well as aclivitics so thal their students ean bo tore motivated in

fearing English

7 Structural Organization of the Thesis

The thesis is organized as follows

Part A - Introduction — provides the rationale of the study, aims and objectives and the significance of the study as well as raises research questions

Part B - Development - consists af three chapters:

Chapter One — Literature review — presents an overview of relevant fitgralz on the issues of motivation in second/foreign language lewning

Chaptcr Two — Rescarch methodology — provides a description of rcscarch

methods, selection of the participants, data collection instruments, and data collection procedures

Chapter Three — Findings and discussions - presents the results of the study and

the discussion of the results

Part © — Conelusion - summarises the main points of the study, draw some conclusions, points out the Hinilations of the study and make seme suggestions for

further rescarch.

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Theoretical Background

1.1.1 Definition of Motivation

For quite a long time, the crucial role of motivation in leaming has been widely

agreed upon by researchers and teachers worldwide There are numerous research

and studies on motivation as well its correlation with study result with aim to

improving students’ achievement in learning a second/foreign language However,

it is complicated ta give a concise and satisfactory concept of motivation since it,

indeed, involves a lot of disciplines to have a grasp of its multi-face essence According to Keblawi (2011) it involves “general, educational, social, and cognitive psychology, as well as geroral cdusafional and social theories and sociolinguistic theories have something to contribute for understanding language learning

motivation (LLM) within a formal school context.” The complication of the concept

1s aftributed to the fact that it attempts to explain the action and behavior of an

individual while such action and behavior cannot be figured out by a single approach Though there have been a lot of studies on the issue the subject still remin “uneven arid inconsistent” (Dernysi, 2003)

To illustrate the confusion and complexity of the motivation’s concept, in his stuty, Domysi also ironically compares it with an old umbrella that contains numerous concepts, but unfortunately, they have very litth: in common Following arc some definitions accumulated from severst sourecs:

In the Online Oxford Dictionaries (2013) motivation is defined as “a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way with interest or enthusiasm” Meanwhile, Harmer (2007; 98) also agrees with Domyei and Otto (1998; 65) that motivation is “the dynamically changing cumulative arousal or intemal drive in a person that initiates, directs, coordinates, amplifies, terminates, and evaluates the cognitive and moter processes whereby initial wishes and desires are selected, prioritized, operationalized and successfully or unsnccessfully acted out” According ta Gardner (1985: 10), motivation is “the extent to which the individual works or strives to leam the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction experienced in the activity.”

However, such definitions are not adequate to explain the complicated essence

of motivation in language learning, To have a deeper understanding, it is necessary

to look al the history of the devclopmant, of the molivation theory with its different components locked from various paspectives

1.1.2 Language Learning Motivation

‘As mentioned above, researchers still do not share the same points of view on Language leaming motivation (LLM) components and the different roles that these components play - individual differences, situational differences, social and cultural factors, and cognition (Renchler, 1992, Belmechri & Hummel, 1998) The complication of the issue is due to its involvement in different aspects Initially,

L1.M was looked into on the basis of a behavioural framework to work out “what

such as instinct, drive, need, cnergisation, amd homcosiasis

appearance and advance of another approach, cogmtive approach led to a shift to why students engage in the academic tasks, Following are several influential models inLLM

instrumental motivation

Accordingly, learners with integrative motivation have an aspiration of Icaming a forcign language to make fricnds with other speakers of a language to travel to the places where the language is used, For them, leaning about culture is more appealing than the language itself, Integrative motivation stems from the interest in learning the language itself It is the keenness on communicating with

those who use it and the eagerness to integrate with the target language community

As cited im Ahmadi (2011), Falk (1978) assumed that those who have favorable attitudes towards people speaking target language, the target culture and the desire

to integrate with the communities where the lerygimyse is spoken are those who tend

to be more successful in sludying the Janguage, This formu of motivation is known as integrative motivation

Conversely, those who have high instrumental orientation leam a language to pass exams, to gain high grade and to use the language in their professienal goals (Gardner & Lambert, 1959) Instrumental motivation refers to practical value in Ieaming the language, for instance, to obtain more job opportunities, strengthen power, ar gain access to scientific and technical information Ahmadi (2011) gave

an example in his study about instrumental motivation: A designer in Chile who has

just graduated fiom university and wards to get a well-paid position which would

resull in changing his cconormic situation completely However, the job has «

requirement which is good command of English And the desizing job with a chanec

of improving financial situation becomes an instrument for him to study English

Both integrative and instrumental motivation prove crucial factors leading to Ieamers’ achievement, integrative motivation is found to contribute more to long feria success as peredived by Taylor, Meynard & Rheaull (1977); Fllis (1997), Crookes et al (1991) (cited im Ahmadi's sturly) Gardner and Lambert themselves

also put mory emphasis on integrative motivation than imstnamental motivation in a

formal Icaming cuvironment

Socioeducational model consists of several components and they are measured using, Attitude / Motivation Test Battery (AMBT) The first component, attitudes towards the learning situation refers to the individual’s attitudes towards academic environment, including towards teachers and towards the oouse Meanwhile the integrativeness is valued based on the attitude towards target Tanguage group, the interest in the language ancl integrative orientation, And finally, motivation is evaluated bascd on the effort spent on Icarning language, the attitudes towards leaming the language, and affinity to leam the target lanpuage

Dev

Figure 1: Socioeducational Model

Source: Gardner (2001), cited in Keblawi (2009)

In Gardner's model, the more important part is integrative motivation, which

cousists of three different components: integrative oricntation, integrativencss, and

integrative motivation He made it clear that orientations concems the reasons a

leamer studies the target language, while motivation relates to his spent “effort”,

desire and enjoyment

However, the theory also encountered a lot of criticism, mainly because the

confusion in the definition of integrative motivation, which can be perceived differently by different researchers It is descrihed by Clement & Krnidenier (1983) thal any reasons thal prompl onc to lean a language sn fall into the calegory A

reason can be classified instrunental by some, but can be regarded integrative by

others

Another point proposed by Shaw (1981) is that while Gardner stressed the integrative motivation, this type, indeed, acts only a petty role because only a small

number of leamers have chance to interact in an authentic environment

Meanwhile, researchers of constructivist approach worried that the stress on

inlegralive motivation may threalen the individnal’s identities since the models

implies that to be more successful in leaning the bagel language, one may part with

his own identity to adopt the new one, or in other words, assimilated Such criticism

does not mean this model should be eliminated In fact, it became the base for

further expansion, which belongs to the cognitive revolution from the seventies

onward

1.1.2.2 Cognitive Revalution

Cognitive Revolution consists of the three prominent theories as follows:

1.1.2.2] Self-Determination Theory

The theory is regarded as one of the most dominant theory in motivational

psychology Its central premise is there is a tendency in each individual towards personal growth, which is either met or prevented by the environment (Deci &

Ryan, 2000) It consists of two types: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation

According to Ryan and Deci (2000) intrinsic motivation is defined as “the doing of

am avtivily for ils istherent, satisfaction rather than for some separalide consequence When intinsically motivated, a person is moved Io aet for the fun or challenge

cntailed rather than because of cxternal products, pressurcs or reward”

Meanwhile, extinsic motivation is defined as “extnnsic motivation is a

construct that pertains whenever an activity is done in order to attain some separable outcome [xtrinsic motivation thus contrasts with intrinsic motivation, which refers

to doing an activity simply for die enjoyment of the activity ilself, rather than its

instrmontal valus (Ryan and Devi, 2000)

In general, according lo Deci and Ryan, intrinsigully motivated behaviors ars

“out of interest and satisfy the innate psycho-logical needs for competence and autonomy are the prototype of self-deter-mmed behavior,” Meanwhile, extrinsically motivated behaviors refer to those that are “executed because they are instrumental

to some separable consequence”

Oudeyer et al (2007) gave an example of intrinsically and extrinsically motivated as following A child does his homework because he is afraid that his parcrts will purish him if he fails to finish if, And the homework is duns for a scparable outcome, for not being sanctioned, This casc, he is oxtrinsically motivated In contrast, when the kid completes his task since he finds the pleasure and experience the feeling ot satisfaction upon discovering new knowledge in doing homework, just like playing video game, he is said to be intrinsically motivated,

‘There is also a term to mention, namely, amotivation, which is the situation

when ane has no intention to act because of not appreciate the activities or simply

nol feeling capable of doing that (Neei, 1975) Accordingly, unmotivated

individuals fail to sense the relationship between their actions and du actions’ outcome (Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, & Briere, 2001) Such individuals may have

the teelmg of less integrated and less control of their actions, and thus little etfort is

spent on actions accomplishment Amotivation often leads to boredom and “poor

concentration” in class, poor psychosocial adjustment, high perceived stress at school and school dropout (as cited by Bo Shen et al., 2010)

he first type of extrinsic motivation, extemal regulation is the least

autonomous, which is realized with aim ta meeting the extemal demands or to

oblain an “externally reward contingency” Ryan and Deei also gave an example of external regulation Students may take part in a celain activity because the teacher

wants them to do so or elsc they will be punished or subjected to teacher’s criticism

The behavior is not self determined Besides constraints or punishment, extemal

regulations can be boosted by rewards or desire, for instance, students study hard to obtain an award from their parents or teachers

The secorl type is introjected tegutation with which Jeamers “begin to

imlcrnalize the teasons for their actions” (Ryan, 1982) However, this is the

internalization of “sxtermal contingoncics”, and hence is nol really sel Fdclermined

In this case, the constraints or rewards do not stem from outside but fiom inside individuals when they feel an obligation to do so due to specific anms, Ryan also exemplitied with a case in which student believed that he or she studies the night before an exam since he or she would feel guilty without doing this

A more autonomous type is identification which based on individuals’ wish to enhance their self esteem ‘This can be explained as following: an individual accepts cortairkind of regulation beuause In: has decided Lo pursue his personal iruportanes

or behavior In a review, Deci and Ryan (2000) gave an cxample: “A boy who memorizes spelling lists because he sees it as relevant to writing, which he values as

a life goal, has identified with the value of this learning activity.”

‘Lhe type considered the most autonomous is integrated regulation at which level

a person willingly does an activity and the regulation is consistent with his other

concept More specifically, its main focus is on how the motivation fits with his values and the belief how it gets along with other aspects of his life, which

‘The next category is intrinsic motivation ‘The intrinsic motivation is described

to involve three kinds, The first type is called “knowledge” which is the pleasure to Toam new things and oblain now knowledge The socœnd gubualogory is

“gevomplisterent” which is the pleasure Ip achieve

tain goals, and finally,

“Stimulation”, the plcasure gained when they perform the task,

1.1.2.2.2 Goal Theories

‘The two influential goal theories in studying motivation have been introduced are goal setting theories and goal orientation theory The former was developed by Locke and Latham (1990) As stated in the theory, goats have two aspects namely internal and external The internal aspects of the goals arc the ideas that guide the goa) oblaining process and the condilions soughl for tefer to the

cxtemal aspect of the goals

Satisfaction and Further Motivation

“The theary assumes that there are two “cognitive determinants of behavior”: values and intentions (goals) And a goal is defined as what the individual is consciously Irying to do, which helps motivate people to purform at the required

et goals, What’s more, allaining the goal can result in

frustration and lower motivation

Relations among the characteristics of the goals can be utlized to enhance

the motivation for leamers Firstly, goals should be specific: the more specific, the better Research states that specific goals could result in desirable organizational goals, such as “reducing absentecism, tardiness and tumover” (Locke & Latham, 2002) Secondly, the more difficnit the goal is, the greater the sense of achievement

if brings shout And the third (cature is commitment High commitment can bo

obtained ifan individual believed in an important and achievable goal

The second theory is goal oricntation theory in acadernie scttings whicli

distinguishes between mastery and performance orientation Students may adopt

different goals in their learning environment According to Fryer and Elliot (2008), goal is defined as “what a person plans to do in a particular achievement situation”

And (Ames, 1992) stated that goal orietitations identified the way students

“approach, engage in, and respond to learning activities”, us cited by Sukiz (2011) Sakiz also pointed out Uw revelation by s

‘eral Tescaruhers that the set goals affzet students’ motivation, cmotion, strategy, utilization, lcaming, academic behaviors,

and achievement

According to this theory, students who set the former goal focus on

inoreasing their knowledge and their capability, aiming to master the task itself and are able to pursue challenging tasks Another subcategory is pertormance goals Different from the first type, learners with this type of goal mainly concern showing their ability in comparison with other's performance Williams (1997: 131) wrote:

“Put simply, with performance goals, an individual aims to look smart, whereas

with the leaming goals, the mdividual aims to becoming smarter”

While students with mastery goal orientation may attribute their success or

failure to controlling intemal factor, those setting performance goal tend to blame

the extemal elements such as Inck, task difficulty for their failure (Dweck, 1986).

In general, it has been studied that mastery oriented students tend to concentrate more on development and understanding Such leamers adopt more effective leaning stmtogics and would be ctyaged in more challenging tasks Meanwhile

performance oricnied studenls invest more cfforl on doing better than uthers, wishing to attract public recognition, compliment, and they employ less effective

leanting strategies and as well as prefer easy tasks, For example, mastery oriented leamers wish to master the subject matter and acquire new knowledge and while

students adopting performance approach goals tend to de to be recognized by

others

1.1.2.2.3, Attribution Theories

‘This was an influential theory in the 1980°s To put it simply, this theory is about how peopl: explain things or why things happened, According to William and Burden (1997), the theory is nol based on the experiences people have bul il locks

into how the expericnees are “perecived” For cxample within academic contexts,

students may attribute their “locus of causality” (failure or success) to a wide

variety of reasons, which falls into two subcategories, namely external and internal

attribution, which means they see themselves or others as the causes An extemal

altribution accuses something outside of motivating the event while internal

allribulion ascribes the causality to factors wilhin a person, meaning the people themselves are dixcelly respousibile for the Gailure ot

‘The attribution theory proved significant in classroom cnvironment because it relates to motivation for language leaming If a student attnbutes his failure to the uncontrollable intemal tactors, let’s say lack of ability, and then the motivation may easily decline or even disappear While he/ she ascribes the failure to the controllable internal factors, for instance, his or her laziness, the motivation is likely to be improved without difficulty Nonetheless, there were not many studies regarding this theory since quantitative is nol casily applicable in such cases Thers were lo major findings drawn using qualitative studies, UsÌn (2013) summatized the findings in his studies that Ushieda (1996b) utilized attribution theory to explain the “attribution pattems”

in lish leamers of French and tound that leamers referred the achievements to personal abilities and the failure to unstable shortcomings

On the other hand, Williams and Burden (1999) revealed that there were differences in the attribution among different age groups ‘That is, younger leamers

ability, hard work

1.2 Review of Previeus Studies Related to the Research Area of the Thesis

es Lo

5 to concentrating while the olde

A study canied out by Carreira (2006) on motivation of learmng English in Japanese Elementary Schools focuses mainly on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation ‘Ihe research’s subjects are 174 third grade and 171 sixth grade

students According to the analysis, there were five underlying factors behind the

students’ motivation, namely, “interest in foreign countries, intrinsic motivation,

caregivers’ encouragement, instrumental motivation, and anxiety’ The study

findings also pointed pul a considerable gap between third and sixth grulers regarding ihe intrinsie motivation, interest in foreign countrizs, snd instrumental

motivation Morcover, the study also indicated a “stcady developmental decline in

The research also had some

intrnsic and extrinsic motivation for leaming Englis

diawbacks, claimed by the researcher himself, The study employed quantitative research, using questionnaire to investigate Thus, further analysis would be achieved with the use of qualilative research like interviews or classroom

observations Besides, the data collected was “cross s¢

gional”, which way show a Tess consistent result compared with longitudivel shutties However, the study did contribute to the understanding of the motivation of English lcaming of Japancs

elementary students

Another study investigated a difterent aspect, the link between motivation and gender by Akram and Ghani (2013) There were 240 students of grade 12 in Pakistan participating in the survey, including 63 male and 87 female students, coming ftom both urban and mural areas A questionnaire adapted from Gardner’s Altitutles/ Motivation ‘Test Batteries (1985) was cmployed to investigate the students’ attitudes and motivations toward learning English According to the results, there were no distinguished difterences between male and female students’ attitudes and motivation towards leaming English, which showed a contrast to the results of several previous studies in the same issue Akram and Ghani (2013) also pointed out that the previous research by Macintyre et al (2002); Baker and

Macintyre (2003) showed a significant difference between female and male, and Sung & Padilla (1998) revealed a significantly higher motivation in female students

compared wilh male students

Another rescarch is carticd cut by Vacai (2008), whose main subject is undergraduate students, and mainly focused on two types of motivation, instrumental and integrative motivation, Accordingly, the arm of this study is to examine Iranian's undergraduate students’ integrative and instrumental motivation toward leaming English as a foreign Ianguage In the study, 79 students, not specializing in English from Islamic Republic of Iran participated in the survey,

completing a modified 2 item questiormaire on motivation of leaming English (instrumental and integrative motivation) The result of the study revealed that Tanian sludents participating in the simvey Imd a very high motivation towards leaning English, and the level of instrurental motivation measured is higher thar

that of integrative onc This is explained by the researcher that Iranian L2 lcamers

might preserve their identity by choosing to be instiumentally motivated They fear

that the identification with English culture and values would eventually result in a

socio-cultural and religious integration

Additiemal finding is that the amotivating factor was that their major study was a

burilen for them, depriving of their tise learning English Another problern found oul is [hat students’ level of proficiency is not high cnough Lo cormmunieste in large

language in the university Morcover, four skills were not worked on adequately

because of time limit and overcrowded classroom, with almost no students’ talking

in classroom

In another study, Phan (2010) investigated the motivation of Vietnamese technical English majors in their English studies and the factors that affect their

motivation ‘he data were collected from seven Vietmamese technical Linglish

majors, and eight of their Leachers of English, using semi-structured interviews, and

students’ weckly diarics The findings of the thesis indicated that the participants

were intrinsically motivated to leam the English language Meanwhile, other types

of motivation overwhelmed the students’ intnnsic motivation Finally, what atlected

their motivation was the specific Vietnamese cultural practices.

1.3 Summary

Motivation is regarded as one of the most crucial factors in leaming English Motivation can also be classified into different categories, depending on different theorics of language leaming, TL can full into two subsutegoties, namely the motivation to integrate with the target language community or the language is only

a mean to an end (integrative and instrumental motivation), Or it can be intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, according to self determination theory In addition, motivation is perceived by goal setting theories to consist of internal and extemal aspects; or two types, performance and mastering oriented goals according

to goal orientation theories ‘I'he two categories, internal and extemal reasons given

by attribute theories are also another way of classification Ths ultimate goal of classifying motivation is lo more casily detarming the Icamners? motivation and the

ning That is alse the reason why there hav:

way lo boost their incentives of le

been, recently, a lot of studics revolving arcund this topic

This study, mainly, based on the sociveducational model and self determined model ‘This means that two categories namely instrumental and integrative motivation and intinsic and extrinsic motivation are theoritical basis of the

Tesearch.

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1, Research Setting

The study was conducted al High School for Gifled Studsnis (HNUB) whose classes are categorized into different majors: Mathematics, Physics, Chemisty, Biology, Informatics, Literature, English, and two other non-majored classes: Al and A2 As the students come fiom different parts in Vietnam, and aims to following diferent majors, they, definitely, have different motivation of Jeamings

‘Those who specialize in English are supposed to have higher motivation of studying, However, among the English gifted students themselves, the motivations are hypothesized to be varied

2.2, Subjects

Thore wore 158 students from six classes majoring in English in High School for Gifted Siudents (Hanoi National Universily of Fdusation) participating in the thesis study It is preferable to mention the distinguished characteristics of the school as well as the academic schedule for students majoring m English in this school, Since

it is a school for gifted students, it offers a bit different orientation for students There are two milestones for English gifted students during their 3 years at high school, namely, the English national competition for students of grade 11 and 12, and the university oufrance cxam for grade 12 students, Hones iL is hypothusized that there would be a significant difference in the motivation of students of different grade levels, It is the rescarcher’s intention to investigate all the students in the 6 classes However, because the time of questionnaize distribution is the school year end, there were not enough students attending classes, the real number of students taking part in the survey did not live up to the initial expectation, only 158 students out of 184 students in total The information of the participants can be seen as below:

with aim to bringing a more complete result

2.4 Data Collection Instruments

As mentioned above, the survey research design is employed in the study with the use of questionnaire as instrument I'he questionnaire on motivation is originally designed by Gardner (1985), ‘The one used in this study is based on the Intemational Attitudes’ Motivation Test Tatteries (2004), the Mnglish version, reserved for secondary sthool students leaning English as a foreign language, which has been

translated and used in rescareh in Brwal, Croatia, Japsn, Poland, Romania, and Spain

(Catalonia) Each statement in the questionnaire cmploys the 6 point Likert scale

(tiom strongly disagree to strongly agree), requiring students to choose one point to

represent their idea

‘The second part of the questiomaire is designed to determine the feelings of

students to a number of things with ? point Likerl svale

However, the subjects of my study are high schools shidents aged from 15 to 18

with short concentration span, may fail to complete a lengthy questionaire, Even if

they arc completed, the result would be unreliable because they may tick randomly

The questionnaire for the study is shortened and added some mote articles to investigate the goal of students, The mini version, which consists of 25 statements

with 6 point Likert scale and 8 statements with 7 point Likert scale and two multiple choice questions to exclusively determine the main goal of these gifted students Specifically, question 1, 7 and 14 focused more on investigating the intrinsic

inotivation of stullents, while question 9, 10, 11, 13 and 15 aimed to study their

cextiinsic motivation Instrumental motivation was mainly investigated via question 2,

3, 4, and 12, while integrative motivation information could be obtained primarily fiom question 5 and 6, Demotivation was studied via question 16, 17 and 18, The

questionnaire was written in English and then translated into Vietnamese ‘The questionnaires in Vietnamese were distributed to students so that they can understand

the essence of the items surveyed ‘Ihe degrees of the 6 point scale are not translated into Viemamese, but the researcher is available to explain if necessary (See

about their goal, they may have a more appropriate schedule for these gifted students

For example, if the majority of them wish to prepare for the entrance exams only,

teacher may reduce the difficulty level of the acadermic tasks assigned in class ‘That also explains why a question regarding students’ goals of Isaming is included at the Doginning of the questionnaire

2.5 Data Collection Procedures

The following was the procedure of the main study After the questionnaire was

developed, rt was piloted among a group of students in class 10A1, with the aim to

find out any difficulty in understanding, if necessary The questionnaire was then modified and distributed to stndents in grade 10, 11, and grade 12 of English gifted students in Tigh School for Gifled students (HINUM) in the last days of May The

researcher, also « teacher af this school, aller secking for pemmission of the head

teachers of these classes, came info cach class, and delivered the questionnaires to

students and explained clearly the questions as well as the Likert Seale to them to

ensure that students tilly understand what to do At first, several students, especially grade 10, were afraid since they thought it was a test But then, atter understanding the

purpose of the questiormaire, they were eager to do and complete the questionnaire in

a serious manner ‘here was one drawback upon questionnaire distribution, which lies

in the time that the survey was carried out As mentioned above, the data was distributed and collceted when May was ending, which was also the time for a school

year cnd, This also meant detenoration in the leaming spint among students At that

time, when all the exams were over, and students may deel less prompted to go to school, resulting in a class with many absent pupils This was a disadvantage in collecting questionnaire, However, the researcher is a teacher at school, and she also

asked the head teachers of these classes to tell students beforehand Thus, the students