Luận văn developing motivation in learning english reading skill of the students at thieu hoa high school thanh hoa province

DEVELOPING MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH READING SKILL OF STUDENTS AT THIEU HOA HIGH SCHOOL, THANH HOA PROVINCE HAT TRIEN DONG LUC HOC KY NANG DOC HIEU TIENG ANIT CUA TIQC SINIT TRUO

DEVELOPING MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH

READING SKILL OF STUDENTS AT THIEU HOA HIGH

SCHOOL, THANH HOA PROVINCE

(HAT TRIEN DONG LUC HOC KY NANG DOC HIEU

TIENG ANIT CUA TIQC SINIT TRUONG THPT THIEU HOA, TINH THANH HOA)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Cade: 601410

Cohort: K18

Supervisor: DO Ba Quy, MEd

HANOI, 2011

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LUC TI MY BINIT

DEVELOPING MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH

READING SKILL OF STUDENTS AT THIEU ITOA IIIGII

SCHOOL, THANH HOA PROVINCE

(PHAT TRIEN BONG LUC HOC KY NANG BOC HIEU TIENG

ANH CỦA HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG

TIIPT TIIỆU IIÓA, TỈNH THANH HÓA)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Hield: English T caching Methodology Code: 601410

Cohort: K18

HANOI, 2011

ABSTRACT

This study is an allompl ta investigate factors affecting motivation in learning English reading skill of the students at Thieu Hoa high school The main purposes of the study are to find out: types of motivation possessed by the students at Thiew Hoa high school, factors affecting students’ motivation in learning English reading skill, activities and techniques applicd by teaehcrs and students’ preference and then give some suggested solutions for teachers to stimulate students to read and overcome the difficulties they face with in teaching

reading

The study consists of three parts, Part A, the introduction, states the rationale, aims, scopes, design and methods of the research Part B the development, is divided into three chapters Chapter 1 reviews thcorctical background relating to motivation and reading Chapter 2 presents the methods used in the study including the setting of the study, individuals participating in the study, instruments, data collection and data analysis, Chapter 3 shows the detailed results logether with a comprehensive analysis øn the data collected from the survey questionnaires and the interview Part C, the conclusion, presents the conclusions, the study’s limitations and suggestions for further study

The results of the study show that in leaming Enghsh reading skill, most of the students at Ihieu Hoa high school appeared to possess a combination of both instrumental and

integrative motivation, However, the instrumental orientation is stronger than the integrative

ome, Resides, ths sudy reveals that tho reading reterials and the teachers aro the most important factors affécting the students’ motivation, Therefore, the researcher suggests two strategies to devslop the students’motivation namely developing the reading materials and

improving the teachers’ rols.

Acknowledgements

First of all, T wish to acknowledge my deep gralilude to my supervisor, Mr Do Ba Quy, MEd for his valuable guidance, helptul suggestions and critical feedback throughout the research, without which my research could not been completed

T wish to send my sinecre thanks to all the Iecturers in the Faeully of Post-graduale Studizs, University of Languages and International Studies, VNU for their useful lessons from which | have benefited a lot for the accomplishment of this study

1 would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my students in three classes 11G, 11M, 11N and my colleagues at Thien Hoa high school for their participation and assistance

without which Uris study could not have been success fil

My sincere thanks to my cousin, Ngo Khac Vi and my close friends who offered me their help care, support and encouragement during the time I study at Hanoi

Finally, my love and thanks to my beloved family, especially my husband and my son for not only their encouragement and support but also their whole-hearted help during my

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

L LIST OF TABLES:

Table 1: Participanis by age amd gender oro we

Table 2: The students’ experience of learning English

Table 3: The students’ reasons for learning reading skill .o 0.0

Table 4: Activities used by the teachers

Table 5: Technique used by the leachers

Table 6: The students’ preference for the techniques used by the teachers

Table 7: The teachers’ opinions on the texthaok

Table 8: The students’ opinions on reading materials

UL LIST OF CHARTS

Chart I: Types of students’ motivation in learning reading skill

Chart 2: The students’ interest in learning reading skill

Chart 3: Factors affecting students’ motivation in learning reading skill

Chart 4: The students’ preference for activities used hy the teachers

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

2 Aims of the study

3 Research questions

4 Scopes of the study

5 Methods of the study

6 Design ofthe study

7 Design of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER L: LITERATURE REVIEW

4.1.2.1 Integrative vs instrumental motivation

112.2 lntrutic vs extrinsic motivation

4.1.2.3 Global, sitiational and task metivation

12.3 Roles of reading in foreign language learning

13.1 The importance of motivation in learning reading esos unnevnnnnd 1.8.2 Common factors affecting students’ motivation in learning reading skill

4.3.2.2 The teachers 11

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY The 13

2.1 The setting of the study

3.2, Data analysis and major Ïindings s nnenerrrrsrrreoerrue.TR

4.21 The identification of students’ motivation 18 3.2.14 Types of students’ motivation 18

3.2.1.2 The shidents’ interest int learning reading SKIL eee dl

3.2.1.3 Factors affecting students’ motivation in learning reading skill 22 4.2.2 Activities, teaching aids and techniques used by the teachers and the students’

3.2.3 The teachers and students’ opinions on the textb00K oo eens BO 3.2.3.1, The teachers’ opinions on the textbook ccccssusecsei seventies BO

3.3 Suggestions for motivating students in learning reading skill 33 3.3.2, Developing the reading materials 0 sissies se steetiaeiasinieeie SB

PART A: INTRODUCTION

This parl presents the rationale for choosing the topic, the aims of the study, the research questions, the scope, the methods, the significance and the design of the study in order to help readers have a general view on the research,

1 Rationale for the study

In ow modem society, English has become an international language for commminication and it is also an important demand for schooling and job opportunities ‘Ihe numtiber of people who arc learning English is increasing so quickly aud Fnglish has been

Icarnt through many sourecs in many differnt ways

It can be clearly seen that in Vietnam, we are mainly teaching and learning English

in nonenguage environment so reading is the main source to get knowledge of language and life as well as to develop olher skills However, many Isamers of English ara nol inlercsted in learning reading They oflen think that roading is the least important skill as iL does not help learners directly in commumeating, On the other hand, leamers also complain that reading always makes them feel bored and stressful So, it can be concluded that our students lack of motivation te read, In fact, motivation is one of the most important factors affecting the result of learning English Students with high motivation can Team a foreign language better than those who do not Therefore, one of the first duties of Tmgtish

teachers is motivating their students to read

Because of the above reason, T do my research on “Doveloping motivation in learning English reading skill of students at Thieu Hoa high school, Thanh Hoa province”, hoping to find out some solutions to better the current situation of teaching and learning English reading skill and hoping to help English tcachers and students in general and those

at Thieu Hoa high school in particular in their teaching and studying,

2, Aims of the study

The study is aimed al

- Identifying types of motivation possessed by students at Tneu Hoa high school in learning reading skill

- Studying factors affecting motivation in learning Linglish reading skill of students at Thicu Hoa high school

- Finding out strategies to develop motivation of students in order te improve ther results

of learning reading skill

in Jearning reading skill?

2 What are the factors affecting students’ motivation in learning English reading

skill?

3 What are appropriate strategies to develop students’ motivation im learning

reading skill?

4 Scope of the study

The fopic “Reveloping motivation for learning English reading skill af students at

Thieu Hoa high school, Thanh Hoa province” has many interesting aspects that 1] want to

mention However { do not hope to cover all these aspects with my limited time and knowledge So in my assignment, | will focus on the types of motivation possessed by students, Ihe factors affecting motivation in leaning English reading skill and the

strategies to develop motivation for leaming English reading skill of students at Thieu Hoa

high school

5, Significance of the study

The sludy hightigtts 1

of the essential roles of faclors affecting studentds"*motivation in a reading on Resides,

the suggested strategies for developing students’ motivation in learning reading, skill, which are based on the theoretical background and the current situation of teaching and learning English reading skill a Thicu Hoa high school, hopefully can help English teachers and students in gencral and those at Thicu Hoa high school in particular in their teaching and studying

6 Methods of the study

‘The theoretical background of the study mainly bases on references and analysis to relevant theories aboul motivation and reading of many authors The study is carried aul on the basis of survey questionnaires and interview

Firstly, for the theoretical basis, a lot of reference materials on motivation and roađing fave been galhorod, analywođ and synth

cả thoroughly with Ihe clue consideration for the teachers’ and students’ teaching, and Jeaming situations,

Secondly, for the practical basis, interviews and questionnaires arc carried out with

teachers and students of English to gather the most reliable data for the thesis

7, Design of the study

‘The study is organized in three parts

Part A: Introductien presents the rationale, the aims of the study, the research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the methods of the study

and the design of the study

Part B: Development includes three chapters

Chapter 1, Literature review provides theoretical backgrounds for the study Its focus is on introducing important relevant concepts, discussions of issues and ideas on theories for motivation, nature of reading and motivation in leaning reading as well as factors affecting, motivation in learning reading,

Chapter 2° The methodology resents (he methods used in the sindy including the setting of the study, participants of the study, data collection instruments, data collection and data analysis procedure

Chapter 3 Data analysis, major findings and suggestions shows the detailed

rosulls together with a comprohers

mtalysis on the data collected from the s

questionnaires and the interview

Part C: Conchusiom presents the conclusions, the study’s limitations and the suggestions for further study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the theoretical backgrounds for the study are provided The chapter focuses on introducing important relevant concepts, discussions of issues and ideas on theories for motivation, nature of reading and motivation in Teaming reading as well as factors affecting, motivation in learning reading,

1.1 Overview of motivation

LEI Definitions of motivation

Motivation is the energy that catalyzes behavior So far, many researchers have

given definitions of motivation and most of them agree that motivation is the extent to which people make choices about goals to pursue and the effort they will devote to that

pursuit The following are motivation definitions offered by some well-known scholars

“Motivation is some kinds of internal drove which puste

order to achieve something” (Brown, 2000:160)

“Motivation explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are going

someone to do things in

to pursue il and how long they arc willing to sustain the activities” (Dornyci, 2001:7)

“Motvation is an internal state that arouses directs and maintains behavior” (Kleinginna, 1981:6)

“Motivation involves the attitudes and effective states that influence the degree of offort that learners make to learn a sccond language” (Ellis, 1997:5)

“Motivation can be constructed as a state of cognitive and emotional arousal, which leads to a conscious decision to acl, and which gives rise to period of sustained intellectual and/or physical effort in order to attain a previously set goal (or goals)” (William, 1997:120)

Ti

from the above dsfinitions that differant scholars approach motivation definition differently However, they all share the same point of view that motivation combines effort and desire plus favorable attitude and occur as a result of combination of extemal and internal influences

1.1.2 Types of motivation

There arc many differont distinctions between types of motivation such as

integrative vs instrumental motivation (Gardner and Lambert, 1972); intrinsic vs extrinsic

motivation (Moore, K.D., 1992); global, situational and task motivation (Brown, IID,

ic (Rllis, R., 1994) Regarding all

classifications of motivation, after all, the study based mainly on the distinction proposed

by Gardner and Lambert (1972)

1990), instrumental, intergralive, resulialive and intrin

44.2.1 Integrative vs instranental motivation

* Integrative motivation: In a pioneering sludy, Gardner and Lambert (1972: 132)

highlights “imegrafive motivation” which sticsscs “a sincere and personal interest in the

people and culture represented by the other group” Gardner’s later socio-educational model (1982) adds three aspects of student motivation: effort (time and drive), desire

(extent of language proficiency wished for) and cffect (cmotional reactions to language

study) Integrative motivation is the desire on the part of the student to feel an affinity with the people, the society and the culture of the language that is leamed, and is usually referred 10 in the context of living in the large! language community (Falk 1978, and

Finnegan, 1999)

* Instrumental motivation: Gardner and Lambert (1972: 132) also points out that

“instrumental motivation” which stresses “the practical value and advantages of leaming a new language” Instrumental motivation concerns the practical and concrete rewards that

student’s desire (Hudson, 2000) This relates to achievement purposes for instance passing

an exam or getting a degree A student’s opinion of a given language is significantly shaped by ils perceived usefulness and relevance to future career goals (Chambers, 1999)

1.1.2.2 Intrinsic vs exirinsie motivation

Moore, K.D., (1992) separates motivation into two main categories: extinsic

motivation and intrinsic motivation

* Intrinsic motivation comes ftom within the student or from factors inherent in the

task being performed For example, students who love to read are intrinsically motivated to

read - there is something about reading that they enjoy and that makes them want to do it

even if there is no "reward" for it.

According to Moore (1992), “intrinsic motivation is what learners bring to learning

environment, thai is, their infernal attributes: altitudes, values, needs and personality factors” Ellis (1994) also states that intrinsic motivation “involves the arousal and maintenance of curiousity and can ebb and flow as a result of such factors as learners” particular inlerests and the extent to which they feel personally involved in learning activities” The factors of support of intrinsic motivation are: competence (feeling that you know how to do things), autonomy (being able to perform an activity by yourself without external help) and relatedness (conection with your social cnvironment bike helping the others)

© Extrisic motivation comes from sources extemal to the student and the task It can

come through praise, recognition, or a system of rewards, For example, for students who

do not enjoy reading, a token economy involving stickers or a class store may prompt them

to read more often,

Paul (2002) states that extrinsic motivation is “motivation to engage in an activity

as means to an end” Moore (1992) gives easily understandable definition that “extrinsic

mofivation originales outsids the individual and is concerned with extemal environments

factors that help shape students’ behavior”

Most writers agree that intrinsic and extrinsic interact with each other and play an imporlant role in second language learning As aresull, learners cam be eilher motivated by

internal or external factors depending on the circumstances and conditions the activity is

performed

1.1.2.3 Global, situational and task motwation

Brown (1990) identufied three types of motivation:

Global motivation consists of general orientation to the global of L2 learning

Situational motivation is different according Lo the situation in whieh learning lakes

place Thus the motivation in classroom setting differs trom that in naturalistic leaming

‘Task motivation is the motivation learners get when they are performing some

particular lasks in learning performance

1.1.2.4 Resuliative motivation

In some cases, motivation is the result of learning Llermann (1980) stated that ‘it is

thal contributes to molivation rather than vioc- versa? (cited in Ellis, 1997)

1.L3 Roles of motivation in second language learning

Motivation in second language learning is a complex phenomenon which can be

defined in tars of wo factors: Learners’ comnmiative needs and their alliludes lowards

According to many studies, motivation plays an important role in second language learning Motivation is strongly related to success in language learning, It is not only the cause of success but it can also be the efffect of success, Brown, H.D (1994) affirmed that a learner will bs successful with the proper motivation in learning Rebeccal and Jill Sheorin (1996121) also point out “Motivation is important because it directly influences how often

students use second language learning strategies, how much students interact with native

speakers, how nmch input Ihey receive in the language being learned, how well they do on curticulum-related achievement tests, how high their genaral proficiency level becomes, and how long they preserve and maintain second language skills after language study is

over”:

Because of the important rola of motivation in scoond language Teaming as mentioned above, it is necessary for teachers to pay attention in developing both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for their students in learning

1.2 Overview of reading

1.21 Definitions of reading

Most of us think of reading asa simple, passive process Ihal involves reading words ina Tincar fashion and inicmalizing their meaning one al a lime Bul roading is actually a very complex process that requires a great deal of active participation on the part

of the reader ‘There are many definitions of reading ftom experts in the field,

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, “reading is a process of retrieving

by a.wriler as 2 graphic display”,

As we can see, all the authors share the same idea that reading means comprehending written language and it involves a variety of skills

1.2.2 Roles of reading in foreign language learning

As we know, reading is one of the major skills of lcaming a second or foreign language and it has a prominent position in the design of a foreign language teaching

programme Krashen & Terrel (1983-131) stale that “Reading may contribule significantly

to competence in a second language There is good reason, in fact, to hypothesize that reading makes a contribution to overall competence, to all four all four skills”

Firstly, treading benefils grammatical knowledge and vocabulary development, and therefore overall competence mereases According to Geotf (2000-16), reading “may help

to increase Knowledge of the target language through exposure to new vovabulary and

grammatical structures” A practical observation is that where the vagaries of prepositions

or phrasal verbs are concerned, the learners who take the fewes! mistakes are those who read the most Reading is indeed is the best way to enrich leamers’ vocabulary because while reading, the learners know most of the words in the text already, and they can also dctermine the mcaning of many new words fiom the context Morcover, through reading the learners will have really good chances to leam about the forms of grammatical structures and how they are used in different siluations

Sccondly, for learners of English as a second or forvign language, reading is a really important because it brings leamers with a wide range of interesting informations about the country as well as the culture of the target language Leaming a language means

Jearning a new culture I'he information in the reading texts helps learners to understand the ways of life, thoughts, beliefs, behaviors and other social aspeets of the English people,

thus they can tackle the vocabulary, the grammar, and the background knowledge or cToss-

cultural problems they often encouter now

Thirdly, reading is a means to knowledge, not only about the targel language Int

perhaps more importantly about the world, it provides the learners with knowledge of

culture, grammar structures, and vocabulary so reading is seen as a basic skill to develop speaking, listening and writing When reading, learners get information, vocabulary and

grammar structure and use to speak, listen and write In other words, reading provides

input knowledge for speaking, listening and writing

In short, for many tcamers in an EFI context, where actual contact with the targel

culture 1s limited, reading can be the major source of input It helps learners get knowledge

of language and life as well as develop other skills

1.3 Motivation in learning reading

3.1 The importance of mativation in learning reading

It can be clearly seen that reader’s motivation has an effect not only on the product

of comprehension but also upon the process of understanding According to David (1999),

“qnotivation is one of the most important ingredients in skilled reading” If we show no

inlerest in the tex, it means thal we do not want to read then the reatling activily will

become a pressure to ourselves and even the reading process may not happen at all In reality, most of what we read such as books, magazines, advertisements, ete is what we really want to read

Reading motivation reférs to the desire to read even when not required to do so Reading motivation involves seeking out opportunities to read for curiousity, knowledge and involvement Reading rescarchers recognized that in order to ercate lifelong readers, endowing the leamers with proficient reading skills are not enough They also need to have internalized motivation Reader’s motivation has been shown to relate to the quality of the outcome of roading Many studies have shown thal bad readers hick motivation lo road or

to spend time improving their ability to read, Therefore, it is neccessary to improve reader

motivation,

1.3.2 Common factors affecting students’ motivation in learning reading skill

ost has its influs

the dogros of i neo on Taading molivalion

Besides, the students’ background knowledge also domunates their motivation to read, Without background knowledge the students would meet a lot of difficulties in comprehending the text and evsn the language comprehension could not take place at all Conscquently, the students would lose ther interest in reading and never read any more

Last but not least, the students’ success is a strong factor influencing their

motivation in leaning reading As human being, we generally like what we do well, and therefore we are more likely to do it again and put in more effort If students put in more effort they will get better results and so this sustains their motivation,

teachers ‘acliviliss and tasks are the key component to the students’ motivation in learning

roatting skill

Secondly, the teachers play the key role in creating a good classroom environment This is a teally inportant factor because classroom cnvirommcnts have a powerful effect on the encouragement or discouragement of motwation to learn,

Thirdly, the teacher's personality and attitude towards the students play a prime role in affecting both student molivalion and progress, Many educational researchers admit that the teacher with warm, empathetic, sensitive, enthusiastic and bumorous characteristics would be more likely successful in teaching than the ones without those

them a great deal

Kinally, the way the teacher assesses and evaluates the students’ progress also influences their motivation in leaming the subject The teacher should not compare the performance of a student to that of the othcrs but cneourage and create a supportive environment for them to put more effort It is advisable to evaluate their progress with themselves in order lo mnake them tore self - confident and motivated

13.2.3 The reading materials

‘The reading materials play an important role to students’ motivation in reading in

lens of ils level of challenge, its topic and content, Reading malerials thal are interesting and relevant to the students will motivate them to read

Firstly, reading materials should have suitable topics and contents, this means, the

texts should interest the students Nuttal (1982:70) points out that “the texts that are

considered suitable will lell the students things they do ial know and introduce then to new and relevant ideas” In the case the topic of the text is not interesting and irelevant to their experience and knowledge they may stop reading because they can not understand the meaning of the text cnough to satisfy their expectations, need or interests, In general, if students enjoy what they read, the reading comprehension is the best achieved

Secondly, reading rmalerials? language items such as vocabulary and grammatical structures also have an iinpact on the studouts* motivation, The sturents would also be fiustrated and tied when eneountering with a great deal of unknown words, complex

sentence structures and so on In terms of linguistic items, the vocabulary in the reading

text must bs of appropriate level with suitable density of idioms ‘The complexity of

grammar must not be Loo the background of the Lexl rast be within the

students’ imaginative grasp

In short, it is a challenge for the teacher to select or exploit the texts in the ways

thal improves students? interests and mativation in reading

‘To sum up, Chapter 1 has presented some theoretical background knowledge rolatsd to the lopie of the study TI has disc

sed some concepls and ideas concerning to the issue of motivation in general and motivation in second language study in particular Besides, some different aspects related to reading were also discussed, especially same

CHIAPTER 2: METIIODOLOGY

‘This chapter presents the methods used in the study including the setting of the study, participants of the study, data collection instruments, data collection and data analysis provedure

2.1 The setting of the study

The sludy was condueted a Thicu Hea high school, Thanh How provines For about

20 recent years, English has been a compulsory subject and also the only forzign language

at the school, All of the studenfs of Phieu Hoa high school had at least four years learning English al secondary schools, They have to Tearn Englist for three more yours al high school before taking part in the general education exam at the end of grade 12 Although

the school is located at the town of ‘hie Joa district, ‘hanh Iloa province, the students

have nol many ehanecs lo approach English language except reading their Iextbooks and studying at schools

The teaching and learning English at Thieu Hoa high school follows the new curriculumn (since 2006) of The Ministry of Kducation and ‘Training All the students learn the set of basic program textbooks Tieng Anh 10, Tieng Anh L1, Tieng Anh 12 which includes the total of 315 periods of 45 minutes in the class It means that students have 3 classes of English per week, equivalents with 105 classes per school year

Reading skill is taught 16 periods per school year, in which students read 16

different texts of the six themes: You and me, Education, Connueity, Nature and environment, Recreation, People and places, Students ate tramed to improve such reading

strategies as: skimming for gist, scanning for specific information, drawing conclusion,

making inferences and restatements, writing summaries

In Thieu [loa high school, the English group has & teachers The oldest teachers

have more than 25 years of teaching experience and the youngest oncs have more than five

‘years of experience All of them are very enthusiastic and willing to apply better methods

to upgrade their teaching quality.

2.2 Participants of the study

‘The study was carried out with the participation of 115 students of grade 11 at Thieu Tloa high school They are al the age of 17-18 and have learn Bnglish for (al least) 4 years at secondary school and one more year at Thieu Hoa high school Of the 115 participants, 62 students (53.9%) are female and 53 students (46.1%) are male All of them are living in the countryside and have nol many chances to approach English language except reading their textbooks

Besides, scven teachers of English at Thicu Hoa high school were also invited to take part in this study by answering the survey questionnaire Among them, two teachers

are male and the others are fernale All of thern have been teaching English al the school for years

2.3 Data collection instruments

To obtain the information for the study, the rescarcher used three instruments

2.3.1 Instrument one: Questionnaire for the teachers

The survey questionnaire completed by the teachers included three parts The first part was about the teachers’ demographic information which included the teachers” gender, age, and the number of years they had been teaching English and teaching reading skill The second part consisted of six questions IL was designed to elicit the tsachers* opinions about teaching reading subject and what they had done to motivate their students to read

‘The last part (question 7, 8) was about the teachers’ comments on the textbook, and their

suggestions Lo improve ïL

2.3.2 instrument two: Questionnaire for the students

‘Two main parts were focused in the questionnaire ‘Ihe first part was about the

ways The students’ opinion about current reading materials in class and preferences for

lypes of excreise of the reading material were the focused af questions 6, 7, and 8 Duc 1a these ideas, the research can recommend some ways to help the teachers motivate their students in leaming reading

2.3.3 Instrument three: Interviews

Survey questiomaires were used as tho main instr its in this sludy However,

the using of questionnaizes also has some limitations: The answers may be simple and superficial, the respondents are unreliable and motivated, and may face with literacy problems, the researchers may have litfle or no apporlunily 1 correel the respondents" mistakes and hallo effect (which conccrns the human tendency to over gencralizc) (Domyei, Z 2005: 10- 13), This as true for the study of motivation, which 1s an abstract, attitudinal concept Therefore, the interviews were carried out with six participants in a following week after processing the questionnaire for students The aim of the rescarcher for interviews is to get better insights into the research questions and to discuss for further information about the items raised in the questionnaires, The participants were invited lo answer the questions with the researcher’s explanation of the questions and clarifying unclear answers, each interview lasted about 20 minutes The informal talks were sometimes done between the researcher and students at Linglish lesson break to have in- depth understanding aboul lhe tesching method teachers bad just applicd and studemts* preferences

‘The questions for interviews were compiled in a paper sheet All the interviews were cartied oul in Vietnamese in the form of an informal conversation belwoen the researcher and the students The data collected ftom interview were recorded, transcribed, and then translated into English for the purposes of the study

2.4 Data collection procedures

‘The data of the study was collected mainly through reference books and relevant theories about motivation and reading, interviews and survey queslionmaires

First, all collected relevant theorics about motivation and reading were sludicd,

consolidated and categorized then organized suitably in parts

Second, the survey to the teachers was delivered to seven teachers of Linglish at Thicu Hoa high school, and they had one week to complete iL

Next, with the permission of the Mead master and leachers of English al, Thieu Toa high school, the researeher had a personal contact to 115 students of three 1 1-form classes

in order to clarity the purpose of the survey and administered the questionnaire delivered to

these students, The students were asked to complete the questionmairs within 30 min

At last, the interviews were carried ont with six participants in a following week after processing the questionnaire for students The aim of the rescarcher for interviews is

to get better insights into the research questions and to discuss for Ñmther information

about the ilerns raised in the questionnaires, h interview lasled about 20 minutes

2.5 Data analysis procedures

The data collected from different sources were inspected, cleaned transformed, and modeled with the goal of highlighting uscful information, suggesting conclusions, and supporting decision making The observational field-notes and the interview transcription will be jotted down ‘hey will be generated and analyzed by the researcher alone to avoid inconsisleney or possible biases and then displayed in forms of charts, lables and Figures

A sorics of amalytical calegories from the statements was also conducted in order lo quantify the open-ended questions fiom the questionnaires

In short, in this chapter, the methodology of the study has been displayed as the guidelines for the researcher to follow during the implementation of the study In the next

chapter, the analysis of the data and the findings will be identified in detail

CIIAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, MAJOR FINDINGS AND

SUGGESTIONS

In this chapter the detailed results logether with a comprehensive analysis of the data collected fiom the survey questionnaires and the interview are presented, Atter that, based on the results of the data analysis, the researcher suggests some strategies to develop the students" motivation in learning roading skitt

3.1 Demographic information

The total number of students participated in the study was 115 of which 62 students (53.9%) are female and 53 students (46.1%) are male, The majority is aged 17 (113 students, about 98.3%), only two students are aged 18 because they started their study at pritmary school one year Jaler than the others,

‘Table 1: Participants by age and gender

Age Nonuber of participants Percentage

Tuble 2: The sudenis' cxperience of learning English

3.2 Data analysis and major findings

3.2.1 The identification of students! motivation

3.2.11 Types of students’ motivation

The data obtained from the questionnaire for sludenis witt bz analyzed to find oul the answer to the research question one: “What are the iypes af motivation possessed by students at Thieu Hoa high school in learning reading skill?”

As mentioned in the lilerature toview, there wore several ways of classifying motivation, however, in this study, the researcher followed the classification of Gardner and Lambert (1972) Therefore, the study focused mainly on two main types of motivation:

integrative and instrumental

The first question in part two of the questionnaire for students was to present the reasons for learning reading skill ‘Lhe results are displayed in table 3,

Table 3: The students’ reasons for learning reading skill

to read the documents in English rather thar lo communicale with forcigners Bes

5,

twee out of six students who joints in the interviews had the same ideas that they studied this skill just because they thought it would be necessary for their later jobs Below are whal they said:

- Em nghi, é Vide Nam hoe tiéng Anh chit yeu là để đọc và viết thôi, ké cd sau nay

khi chung em ái làm chắc cũng chỉ sử dung tiéng Anh dé doe titi liệu chủ it khử

giao tiếp (T lÍdnẰ, in Vieinam learning English is mainly for reading and

wriling, even when we work in offices, perhaps we only use English to read

document not to communicate)

- Fm hoe uéng Anh vì em nghĩ sau này nã có thé giip em tìm việc làm dỗ dang

hon, 4 learn English because I think English helps me find a job in the future more easily)

Al the same lite, more than a half of the subjects ($0.4%) reported 1a have arr interest in English people and culture when learning English reading This was quite understandable, because English has been widely used in many countries in the world Ilowever, Vietnamese students rarely have chance to go to visit Britain or to contact with

British people to understand about English pcople and culture As a result, reading is

certainly 2 good method for them to enrich their knowledge not only of English but also of the wide world,

Meanwhile, 35 out of 115 studems (about 30.4%) claimed that to gan qualifications was their underlying reason for studying reading skill; only 15 students

thought that they leamt English reading just because this was a compulsory subject at school One student in the interview said that:

~ Em thấy tiéng Anh cén thiét nên em học Hơn nữa, đó là một môn hoc bat buộc ở'

trường (Iƒeel that English is necessary so I learn Moreover, it is a compulsory

1.7 % of the students were found to possess the resultative motivation

~ Em thích học đọc hơn các kỹ năng khác vì em làm bài tập của phẫn này đề hơn và

em thường làm đúng nhiều hơn các phân khác (I like reading than other skills because doing the reading tasks is more easily and I often have more correct

answers than doing the tasks of other skills)

‘The lowest percentage (12.1%) of the students with the short-term goal for reading thought that their reason for learning was to pass the exams

To sum up, the main reasons for the students at Thieu Hoa high school to learn

reading was to help with their future jobs, to broaden their knowledge of English people

and culture and their knowledge of the world and to gain qualifications Other reasons such

as better result, passing exams were not the main cause for their high motivation in

learning reading skill

Based on the reasons for learning reading, it could be conchided that types of

motivation possessed by the students were quite varied However, according to the

classification of Gardner and Lambert (1972), types of motivation possessed by students in

the study were displayed in the chart 1 below

According to the chart, 40.9% of the students were found to possess instrumental

motivation with the reason that they studied English for meeting the requirements of future

jobs At the same time, only 6.1% reported that they did support an integrative approach to second language study This revealed that an instrumental orientation was much more

important than an integrative one However, it was very interesting to note that more than a

half (53%) of the students identified as having a combination of both orientations This

could be a valid foundation to assist students in studying But, it would be more challenging for the teachers to find the appropriate forms of stimulation to motivate them

3.2.1.2 The students’ interest in learning reading skill

Most of the students in the interviews had positive attitude towards reading skill

They were all aware of the importance of reading in improving other skills like speaking,

listening, writing and also in mastering grammar and vocabulary Besides, they believed

that reading was a good tool to broaden their mind and improve their knowledge In short, the majority of the students highly appreciated the value and the importance of reading to

their process of learning English

However, the results of question 2 in the questionnaire revealed that the students’

interest in learning reading skill is very different

Only 6 out of 115 students (about 5.2%) in the survey said that they were very

interested in reading skill and 19 students (about 16.5%) thought reading was interesting,

while 33 students (about 28,6%) felt bored or really bored when learning reading skill and

the rest (57 students about 49.6%) claimed that their feelings about reading was so-so The students’ interest in learning reading skill is briefly summarized in chart 2

aii,

Binterested OSo0-so OUninterested