Luận văn an evaluation of e learning websites for english learning accessible to vietnamese learners in terms of motivating students to speak english

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, IEANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ PHƯƠNG CHUNG AN EVALUATION OF E-LEARNING WEBSITES FOR ENG

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, IEANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LÊ THỊ PHƯƠNG CHUNG

AN EVALUATION OF E-LEARNING WEBSITES FOR

ENGLISH LEARNING ACCESSIBLE TO VIETNAMESE LEARNERS IN TERMS OF MOTIVATING STUDENTS TO

SPEAK ENGLISH

Đánh giá vấn để tạo hứng thú cho học viên học nói tiếng Anh trên các trang web|

đảo tạo tiếng Anh trực tuyến cho người Việt Nam

MA Minor Thesis

Field : English Teaching Methodology

Ha Noi - 2010

bo

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LÊ THỊ PHƯƠNG CHUNG

AN EVALUATION OF E-LEARNING WEBSITES FOR

ENGLISH LEARNING ACCESSIBLE TO VIETNAMESE

LEARNERS IN TERMS OF MOTIVATING STUDENTS TO

SPEAK ENGLISH

Đánh giá vẫn để tạo hứng thú cho học viên học nói tiếng Anh trên các trang web

đảo tạo tiếng Anh trực tuyến cho người Việt Nam

MA Minor Thesis

Field : English Teaching Methodology

Supervisor : Dr Duong Thi Nu

Ila Noi - 2010

1.2 Aims of the study

13 Significance of the study

1.4 Methods of the study

1.5 Scope of the study

1.6 Design of the sludy

PART LL DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 E-learning and Web-based training

a Definitions

b Roles and drawback

o ‘Types of web-based training

1.2Motivation in e-learning and motivation to practice speaking online

i Definition of motivation and ils roles m e-learmirys

ii, Types of motivation

iii, Models of motivation in e-learning

1,3 Web-based traimng cvalualion

1 What is evaluation?

2 Purposes of evaluation

3 ‘Types of evaluation and evaluation approaches

3.2.2.3Confidence

3.2.2.4 Satisfaction CHAPTER TV SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

41 Summary of main findings

LIST OF PICTURES AND TABLES

Picture 1: Pronunciation lecture

Picture 2: Recording tool

Picture 3: Recorded file in a reading task

Picture 4: Chat rooms

Picture 5: Yahoo conferencing toot

Table 1: The demographics of the targeted population

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EU: Foreign ‘lrade University

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching

PART I INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale

“Information technology will bring mass customization to learning too Workers will be able to keep up to date on techniques in

their field People anywhere will be able to take the best courses taught by the greatest teachers.” (Bill Gate, 1995)

E-learning in general has been a common term for educators or learners over the world Without exception, web-based

training with its unlimited learning time and place as well as the cost effectiveness makes itself a good choice for Vietnamese

English learners Furthermore, thanks to the advancement of technology, this kind of training can also help them enhance their

speaking skill, which can deal with the problem of lacking an English communicative environment in Viet Nam (Nguyen, 2006)

However, according to Eric Parks, a Fair Oak California Web Based Designer, fifty percent of trainees who start web-based

training don’t finish (Quoted from Jessica, 2000) Besides, a recent report in the Chronicle for Higher Education found that institutions report dropout rates ranging from 20 to 50 percent for distance learners (Quoted from Karen) This article also

claimed that the reason for this is lacking motivation, which has a same idea with Thair (2008) This is simply because motivation

is defined as ‘some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something” (Harmer, 2001,

P51),

Therefore, this thesis is created to make an evaluation of E-learning Website for English Learning Accessible to Vietnamese

Learners in terms of motivating students to speak English

1.2 Aims of the study

As referred to before, the evaluation of motivation for speaking for online English leamers is an important point that the web designers or the teachers should take into considerations when delivering a web-based training program for Vietnamese

learners

In fact, there have been ample studies over the world which raised the theory and implications of web-based training

evaluation For example, Sammi Chan et al summarized an overview of web-based learning that contains all theories related to

this kind of training In terms of evaluation, Kirkpatrick (2006) developed a model for the evaluation of training programs and

Henry L Smith and Badrul H Khan also made a study of Evaluation of an Asynchronous Online Program Furthermore, Chia-

Ying and Ya-Ting (2007) researched Criteria for Evaluating English Learning Websites However, such above studies just focus

on evaluating the overall website which means answering the question: “Is the training program effective or not?” and the skills

in English, i.e listening, speaking, reading and writing Actually, there has not been any study that focuses on the motivation to

get learners to speak, especially those in Viet Nam

Therefore, this study is done to

explore and choose an appropriate evaluation method for this projects

© evaluate the speaking motivation of the learners on the web: http://smartweb.vn

e and draw theoretical and practical implications for improving the program design

In order to reach the aims of the study, the two research questions are raised:

(1) To what extent does the program of the website motivate the learners to speak English?

(2) Which implication can be drawn from the evaluation in order to design a better one?

1.3 Significance of the study

The author’s objective is that this thesis will make a contnbution to

Investigating the methods to evaluate a web in terms of motivating the learners to speak English

« examining the degree to which a website is able to motivate the leamers to speak including particular strengths and

weaknesses of the program

© and, the foundation for the design of a new website that promises to be highly-motivating to the learners in speaking English

online, which is anticipated to positively affect dropout rates in this program, in particular, and in e-learning education, in

general

1.4 Methods of the study

The major method of the study is both qualitative and quantitative via such instruments: Questionnaires and semi-

structured interviews In order to get the information for these, 150 students in FTU are included as informants

1.5 Scope of the study

‘Due to the limited time, this thesis only restricts itself to an e-leaming website (http://smartweb.vn) and the

object of the study are the students in the Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam Moreover, this study mainly focuses on

evaluating the online design of the General elementary course in terms of motivating learners to speak or practice speaking

English Based on that, this study will provide some implications to design a new online course or enhance the online course

studied

1.6 Design of the study

The study is composed of four chapters: Introduction, Literature review, Results and discussion and Conclusion Chapter

one begins with a general introduction covering the reasons for choosing the theme, aims, scope, methods and design of the study

Chapter two deals with the literature review in which the most important notions related to web-based training programs, motivation to speak online and evaluation methods are explored and discussed Chapter three is devoted to the analysis of the training program and the data information conducted by survey questionnaire and interviews carried out with FTU students The next chapter summarizes all the results obtained and includes suggestions for further study And the last chapter is the final

conclusion together with recommendation for further study Useful appendices can be found at the end of the thesis.

PART I DEVELOPMENT

1.2 Etcarning and Web-based training

The Furopean Commission defines elearning, i.e learning via claclromie (‘c’) moans, as "the use of new nultimedia

technologies and the Iriternet to improve learning quality by facilitatmg access to educational resources and services, as well ax

to opportunities for online forums and teamwork initiatives” ‘(his means it is the intentional use of networked information and

communications lechnology in teaching and learning,

In fact, there are a number of other terms that are also used to desoribe this mode of teaching and leaming They include online

learning, virtual learning, distributed learning, network and web-based learning Fundamentally, they all refer to educational

processes that utilize information aud cammunications technology to mediate asynchronous as well as synchronous Icarning and

teaching activities

In terms of web-based training (WB), in particular, Khan (2001) claims that it “refers to training delivered in whole or in part over the Internet’s World Wide Web.” Having the same idva, Allison Rossett (2001) defines e-learning as: Web-based training

(WET), also known as e-learning and on-line learning, is training that resides on a server or host commuter that is connected to

the World Wide Web.”

Tn other words, web-based taining is a kind of sloring instructional malcrials, including courses, videos, tests and multimedia

materials at a central location that can then be accessed by anyone connected to the Internet, anywhere, at any time

1.12 Roles and drawback

Thanks to its own delivery, web-bascd training has many advantages to lamers For example, Collin (1999) listed the following main benefits.

Effective: studies show that this form of training is 30 percent more effective ar skills transfer and retention than classroom

training

Convenient: you tain in a place and at a time to suit yourself

Price: you only pay for the tuition, saving an a accommadation, subsistence, travel and opportunity

Support: during classes, you car network with your classmates and tutor

Exam preparation: frequent testing before and after course topics, enabling you to go over topics not filly understood

On the other hand e-learning has also some possible disadvantages Most cornmon disadvantages [rom participant poiul af view

are (Wools et al., 2002; Robinson and Bawden, 2002; Newman, 2008):

Feeling of isolation — participants may feel isolated from their teacher and/or class mates, because there are no physical contacts

among participants,

Technology issues — participants must have a computer with access fo internet and other adherent equipment (e.g printer,

joudspeakers) In some places are intemet connections inappropriate (¢.g lack of broad and internet) Slow internet connection

could canse frustrations;

Basic computer skilly — participants in e-learning must have sufficient level of skills and knowledge of how to use modern ICT

and computers Some peoples have phobias conceming using computers and modem ICT Management of computer files and online software may be difficull for some participants:

Lack of self-discipline and self-motivation participants with lack of motivation and/or lower lever of self-discipline may fall

behind:

Problems and open dilemmas about most appropriate method of evaluating participants’ work/success in e-eurning process

11.3 Types of web-based training

‘Yhere are four main types of Web-Based ‘Training that are useful in different circumstances Llowever, most of training projects combines these types with different materials and information delivery

Leader-Led or Facilitated Online Learning (Madison, 2000) is a kind of providing guidance and support by an instructor, This kind is popular at the university level with lots of rooms for essays and open-ended questions

Advantages:

Y There is high interactivity with other learners

Y Leamers have personalized assistance from the instructor

¥ The training program requires less developinant time sinec there's a heavy reliance on the

Y ‘This training program requires a skilled instructor online during working hours

Y ‘This training program requires a special software package or license

¥ The ratio of students {o instructor should not be more than 20-1 por course

Self-Paced, Web-based Learning (Barbara, 2002) does not need any instructor because it is well-constructed around formal lessons which contain performance objectives, motivation, leaming activities, feedback, and evalnation

Advantages

~ Leamers can start when they’re ready and take as much time as they need to complete,

¥ There is no upper limit on number of students that can be trained at one time

Disadvantages

¥ This program takes most time and skill to construct, Development time is typically 40 to 60 hours (or more) for each hour

of learning time

¥ ‘There is no interactivity or opportunity to learn from the experience of classmates

¥ This program is better suitzd to memorization and mental activitics and does not lend itsclf well to hands-on acti

Without a Learning Management System (LMS) there is no way to track whether leamers have achieved performance objectives or indeed whether they have completed training or even looked at it

¥ ‘There is a very low completion rate People arc busy and tend to just drop out unless there aro organization incantives Lo influence learners

Online Tutortals are typically in PDI format for documents that is meant to be read online or printed

¥ Itis quick to develop and to produce, since they are usually based on existing documentation

¥ This program does not require an instructor

¥ Ibis casy to distribute online or via email

¥ ‘This program self-paced

¥ ‘This program can be used any time, anywhere

Dixadvantuges

¥ There is no interactivity, no feedback, no external motivation

v Isa challenge to make users aware that online tutorials exist and to motivate them to use them

¥ Online untoriats have a vory low usage and completion rats, Learners find ontine tutorials hard to find, Imard ta print, and, difficult to follow

Web-Based Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS) (Gloria Gery, 1991) is imtended as a just-in-time online instruction in the accomplishment of a short task (say, 5 min.) EPSS often incorporate visual simulations “showing” rather than

“*elling”

Advantages

¥ ‘This program can be incorporated into a software product and used like online help

~ Just in time and just cnough - available any time, anywhere the product is available

¥ This program is short and therefore more usable and user-friendly in a busy workplace

¥ Can serve visual or hands-on learners or ESL leamets better than a printed manual

¥ Can replace other forms of training for simple lasks thal are neither critieal nor frequently performed

Disadvantages

No interactivity with other leamers, no feedback,

¥ Low usage and carplelion Tale Studics show thal when people don'L have the information they need to complete a (ask, they will typically a) ask someone; b) phone someone; c) try to figure it out themselves, d) read the manual

1.3 Motivation in e-learning ané motivation to practice speaking online

ition of malivation and its roles in e-learning

Motivation has been mentioned by many language theorists and practicing language teachers to explain reasons for success in learning a second language

Regading (he issue, thers are plenty of definitions of motivation, As stated by Brown (1994:152), motivation is a term that is used to define the success or the failure of any complex task Consequently, Wlodkowski states, “Motivation is not only important because it is a necessary causal factor of learning but because it mediates learning and is a consequence of leaming as well” (Wlodkowski, 1985, p 4) Furthermore, Cunmingswarlh (1992, p 39) also claims “motivation determines the student’s Jevel of attention during class, and the assiduity which he does his homework and revises what he has been taught during the day”

In short, it cannot be denied that motivation plays a very important part in helping Icamnors Icam English in general and speak English frequently in particular

1.2.2 Types of motivation

‘There are two main types of motivation, ie intrinsic and extrinsic one, which affect students when participating in learning

process Intrinsic motivation is the completion of a task for the sense of mastery, competence and well being connected to the work done in class This means the task motivates itself Extrinsic motivation is the extemal reward after completion of the task

A few examples are grades, recognition from an instructor and promotion or pay raise at work

In terms of e-learning and the designers’ perspectives, the second type of motivation that is extrinsic motivator is

uncontrollable So intrinsic motivator is what they care about when designing such a kind of this training program

1.2.3 Models of motivation in e-learning

In terms of e-learning, motivation has been considered a matter of design: proper instructional design and provision of

suitable learning activities would engage all learners There are some main models of motivation in e-Leaming as follows

The first one is Motivational Planner of Del Soldato and Du Boulaym (1995) that includes practical strategies and tactics

to be used depending on the learner’s motivational state This means the motivational planer is correlated with the domain-based

planner,

Social Cognitive Learning Theory (SCT) (Bandura, 1986) is the second So far, the researches based on SCT have showed

the importance of self-efficacy and self-regulation in e-Learning The former refers to a person’s belief about his/her capacity to

perform a certain task at a certain level, while the latter refers to the control of the learning activity

ARCS model is proposed by John M Keller based on Expectancy Value Theory factors to describe motivation ARCS

stands for Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfiction, This kind was used as design principle in order to enhance the instructional process with motivation

E Inquiry arousal P Motive matching 2 Success opportunity 2 Positive consequence

B Variability 13, Familiarity 3, Personal control 3 Equity

More specifically, Attention problems occur when students work independently That is the reason why content in ths online setting must be prescnted in ways that help or motivate students to attend to the information The level of relevance any one student attaches to instruction will differ as a result of their individual background and personal interests Therefore, application is needed lo promots learning by utilizing students’ prior knowledge and making sure thal personal cormections lo the course content are made, Despite the inclusion of more technology in many schools, not all students have the same opportunity to develop confidence with online learning, When students have experience and know what they are expected to learn they will bogin to dovelop scl assurance Honec, ths onfine instructor can faeililale this process by providing mmagoable simelures and reasonable pacing expectations Motivating students to continue learning can create satisfaction when the learning experience is enjoyable and fulfilling, Stadents need to be made aware of how much they have leamed so that the time spent on leaming is not considered a waste

According to Keller, these categorics arc devised as follows:

© Inforest refers to whether the loamer's curiosity is aroused and whether (his arousal és sustained appropriately over lime,

® Relevance refers to the leamer‘s perception of personal need satisfaction in relation to the instruction, or whether a highly desired goal is perccived to be related to the instructional activity;

© Expoctimoy refers to the peregivad tikslihood of suecess and the extant lo which success is under learner contrat; and

® Satisfaction refers to the combination of extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motivation, and whether these are compatible with the Jcamct's anticipations (Keller, 1983, p 395),

Besides, there are many other motivation theories and models that have been presented by psychologists or example Maslow’s hictarchy of necds, Alderfer’s ERG theory, Herzberg’s two-factor thcory, McClcland’s achievement medcl, Malonc’s intrinsic model, ete, Because the ARCS model 1s closely related to the learning actions, and it is easy to be detected and used, in this thesis, the ARCS model is used to present the leamer’s motivation in this stndy

‘This means evaluation is a systematic process to determine the worth, value, ot meaning of something

According to Nunan (Anthology Serics 27, 199146), thore arc some basic differznces between cvaluation and assessment, For him, evaluation is a wider term than assessment, While it entails the collection of information on what learners can do in the iarget language, it also involves additional processes designed fo assist us in interpreting and acting on the result of our

asscssmacrit

13.2 Purposes of cvaluation

According to Khan (2001) there basically are two reasons for program evaluation ‘Ihe first one is for decision-making in helping

to improve the program and the other is for accountability, of which the former is more intcrested by evalualors

Kirkpatrick identifies reasons for evaluation, i.e

«To justify the existence of the training department by showing hew it contributes (o the organizations objectives and goals

= To decide whether to contimie or discontinue training programs

= To gain information on how to imprave future training programs

© Are the facilities satisfactory?

Js the schedule appropriate for participants?

Are the aids effective in improving commumication and maintaining interest?

Was the coordination of the program satisfactory?

What else ca be done to improve the program?

(Kirkpatrick, 1998)

In addition, Fisher and Ruffino (1996) claimed that if a training evaluation is not conducted there are consequences that

may result

A participant may continue to take courses in which they fail to learn

Course modifications may not be based on participant outcome data and changes may cause effective training activities to

be replaced by ineffective activities

Training may be viewed as a wasteful use of resources

Budget costs that were used coud have been put toward effective programs

In sum, evaluation is described as a feedback tool that allows us to continually improve quality As a result, this provides

the infoxmation needed to improve all aspects of a program

13.3 ‘Types of evaluation and cvaluation approaches

As ientioned in his book: Web-based Training, Khan says: There are hwo Lypes of evalualion: the formative thal is conducted lo improve the leaming product as it is being developed (during the content development phase) and summative that is conducted as the final assessment of learning product (curing the content delivery phase)

In terms of evaluation approaches, Van det Knapp (quoted in Graham’s A Guide to the Evaluation of l-learning) identifies 6 major clusters that are

The process of evaluation consists of several stages, as shown in Figure 1 Although each of the e3Leaming websites

(enrich, extend, evaluate learning: e3L) go through all the stages in this overall evaluation process, the exact evaluation design and schedule vatics (Lam & McNaught, 2004) Lam and Naught recommended the five main following steps which can be

presented in the following model:

‘The evaluation process (Lam, & McNaught, 2007)

CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY

This chapter includes a justification for the approach the author used in conducting the research It also provides a thorough description of how she collected the necessary data as well as the analytical procedure to draw conclusions based on the collected information In the first section, she gives a detailed description of context setting and in the following one she put forward an explanation of her understanding of the methods used in this research

to help them to improve their fluency in speaking, which will help them greatly in their practical but time-limited speaking activities in class

In terms of practising activities, firstly, learners drill from sounds to words and then sentences containing the above sounds and words, which enhances their fluency in speaking, Those activities are implemented via flash lectures (as shown in the

picture 1).

4 souna

Picture 1: Pronunciation lecture

In each lecture, the aim is for the leamers to observe and imitate the way of pronouncing the targeted sound They are instructed in pronouncing with the tab: ‘sounds explanation’ (the third tab from each side) Then, they practice saying the words and sentences containing that sound There are two assisting tabs, i.e ‘sounds comparison’ and ‘articulators’, which are basic

information for the learners to start their pronunciation At this stage, the leamers can record their voice by a recording tool

(picture 2) to compare their voice and the native’s voice in the lecture Their recorded files are automatically saved in the web and

then checked and commented by online supporters of the courses

Picture 2: Recording tool

Afterwards, they practice this more by reading out loud the recorded files in the listening and reading tab (shown in

picture 3) Once again, they can use the recording tool to check their voice and let it be saved automatically and commented

Picture 3: Recorded files in reading tasks

Last but not least, they practice their real speaking interaction in written or spoken form with other learners via chat rooms (picture 4) or yahoo software, a free assisting conferencing tool (picture 5)

* Teacher_supporter changes nickname to nguyenhang

* teacher01 joins Basic

|loins Basic TOEIC

“teacher! joins Basic

2.2 Methodology

The thesis is conducted with expertise-oriented and consumer-oriented evaluation approaches (as referred in the Literature

chapter) Therefore, the methodology contains two parts which are program analysis and survey result

2.2.1 Program analysis

Program analysis is based on the expertise-oriented approach of evaluation, in which the author of this thesis evaluates the

pracitising activities of English speaking on the website http://smartweb.vn in terms of four dimensions of Keller’s motivation

model for an e-learning program, especially a web-based training program: Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction

from Elementary to Pre intermediate level, which consist 30 periods in ten weeks The research was carried out when these

students had only one week left in their courses so they would have already experiences a period of time practicing English

speaking skill on the website: http://smartweb.vn Moreover, these students were almost third and fourth year students in FTU, so

it was anticipated that they would have their own high need in speaking skill in order to get high salary job This means that they have their own high extrinsic motivation when taking this course

Questionnaire design: The questionnaire was designed with 17 questions divided into two parts, I and II, Part I contains five

questions of learners’ learning target with the aim to see if the learners have their own extrinsic motivation before starting this

program Whereas, Part II consists of twelve questions left which are based on the ARCS motivation model This model has four

factors, and each factor has three sub-level categones, and therefore there are twelve sub-level categories in total ‘he sub-level categorics and the couresponding question items of the questionnaire arc shown in this part

Before completing this questionnaire, targeted respondents had had their own written diaries during their 2-month leaming period which kept all what they had thought and what they had done In addition, these diaries would not be read by anyone but thornselves so the information provided in this questionnaire was accurately recorded and reliable

‘The original English version of the questionnaire had been translated into the Jearner’s mother tongue and the translated version was given to the leamers to ensure appropriate understanding and hence, validity of the instrument

Semi-structured interviews

This instrument was used additionally with some broad questions in order to elicit information about the difficulties the respondents encounter in their leaming and experience in dealing with those and to receive their concrete response to the feedback on the website Moreover, the infervicws were also aimed to investigate the students’ recommendation in their

perspectives to get a better web-based training program

they kept writing their own diaries while they were taking part in this training program On the day of the 27" period, the

‘Vietnamese versions of the questionnaires were distributed to them They were carefully instructed before doing the survey and they were assured that the infomation provided by them would be kept confidential In addition, they were encouraged to be frank and honest when answering the questions They had one day to take the questionnaire home to be completed carefully

ied students in this study ld been made aware of their roles in this study fram the beginning of their course So

before being returned to their teachers

30

After getting the questionnaires collscted, the author of this thesis randomly held interviews with some students to get a decp understanding of their answers and reconuncndations in the last questions, based on which the author could generate ideas for the part RECOMMENDATION afterwards