The washback effects of TOEFL ITP on first year non english major students’ motivation in learning english

ABTRACT Test of English as a Foreign Language - Institutional Testing Program TOEFL-ITP is believed by authority makers to have positive influence on teaching and learning English.. Rece

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-

ĐINH THỊ HỒNG THƯƠNG

THE WASHBACK EFFECTS OF TOEFL-ITP ON FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH (ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA KỲ THI TOEFL-ITP ĐẾN ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH

NON-CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI - 2017

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-

ĐINH THỊ HỒNG THƯƠNG

THE WASHBACK EFFECTS OF TOEFL-ITP ON FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH

NON-(ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA KỲ THI TOEFL-ITP ĐẾN ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH

CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Trần Thanh Nhàn

HANOI - 2017

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this thesis represents my own work for the Degree of Master in TESOL at the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, and that it has not been previously submitted to this University or any other institution in application for admission to a degree, diploma or other qualifications

Hanoi,2017

Đinh Thị Hồng Thương

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to acknowledge the debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Trần Thanh Nhàn for her helpful suggestions, invaluable critical feedback and encouragement in the writing of this study Without her guidance and help, this work would not have been completed

My sincere thanks go to all the staff at the Department of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for giving me assistance and the lecturers who conducted the Master's course for providing me with valuable knowledge

I would also like to express my deep sense of gratitude to all students, whose participation in and dedication to the research remains invaluable Without their precious support, the thesis would not have taken shaped

I am also indebted to my colleagues at Thai Nguyen University of Technology for their enthusiastic assistance and co-operation

Finally, the support extended to me by the members of my family has been immeasurable I would also like to express my thanks to my parents and my husband for their wholehearted encouragement

ABTRACT

Test of English as a Foreign Language - Institutional Testing Program (TOEFL-ITP) is believed by authority makers to have positive influence on teaching and learning English However, as observation of the author and belief of teachers, TOEFL-ITP has negative consequence in students‟ learning English This paper explores the relationship between TOEFL-ITP requirements for graduation and program entrance and students‟ motivation in learning with regards to students‟ different learning background and various educational contexts and time schedule pressure of the test A sample of 147 students from two learning programs was approached to take questionnaire responses and ten students and three teachers were interviewed for more intensive data Both positive and negative impacts of TOEFL-ITP on students‟ motivation were clarified in the research Limited source of data, sampling procedure and length of the survey period in this study suggested other data collection source, sampling method and more longitudinal time for data collection for later research

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2 1: Questionnaire items 20

Table 3 1: Students from Advanced program 23

Table 3 2: Students from standard program 24

Table 3 3: Students take part in interview section 25

Table 3 4: Teachers participated in interview 26

Table 3 5: Students‟ responses to Motivation intensity items 26

Table 3 6: Students‟ responses to Integrative motivation 27

Table 3.7 Students‟ responses to Desire to learn English 29

Table 3.8: Students‟ responses to Interest in learning English items 31

Table 3 9: Students‟ responses to Attitude towards learning English item 33

Table 3 10: Students‟ responses to Instrumental motivation items 33

Table 3 11: Students‟ responses to Attribution about past failures item 34

Table 3 12: Students‟ responses to Need for achievement items 35

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABTRACT iii

LIST OF TABLES iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1.Rationale of the study 1

2.Purposes and significance of the study 2

3.Scope of the study 3

4.Method and procedure 3

4.1.Subjects 3

4.2.Data collection method 4

4.3.Data analysis procedure 5

5.Organization of the study 5

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 7

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

1.Theoretical backgrounds 7

1.1.Washback 7

1.2.Language test 8

1.2.1.Definition of language test 8

1.2.2.Nature of language tests 9

1.3.Motivation 9

1.3.1.Definition of motivation 9

1.3.2.Components of motivation 10

1.3.2.1.Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation 10

1.3.2.2.Integrative motivation and instrumental motivation 11

1.3.3.Role of motivation in foreign language learning 13

2.Review of literature 15

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17

1.The context of the study 17

2.Participants 17

3.Instruments 18

3.1.Questionnaire 18

3.2.Interview 20

4.Data collection procedure 21

5.Data analysis 22

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 23

1.Demographic information of participants 23

1.1.Questionnaire survey respondents 23

1.2.Interview participants 25

2.Effect of TOEFL-ITP examination on students‟ motivation 26

2.1.Motivation intensity 26

2.2.Integrative motivation sub-system 27

2.2.1.Integrative motivation 27

2.2.2.Desire to learn English 29

2.2.3.Interest in learning English 31

2.2.4.Attitude towards learning English 32

2.3.Instrumental motivation sub-system 33

2.4.Attribution about past failures 34

2.5.Need for achievement 35

3.Findings and discussions 35

PART III: CONCLUSION 38

1.Summary of methodologies 38

2.Summary of findings 38

3.Limitations of the study and suggestion for further research 39

REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX I

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Testing plays a significant role in education The vital importance of testing

is revealed in the way test results are used to make decisions on curriculum, on teaching and learning, and on students‟ future studies and career opportunities (Shohamy, 1992, p.513) This is especially true in the context of teaching and learning English as a foreign language with a desire to foster students‟ English competence, increasing their competitiveness in the international market In several countries, English proficiency tests as graduation requirements and program selection criteria were adapted in the curriculum, forcing students to study, teachers

to teach and administrators to renovate the curriculum That implementation can have negative, positive or no impacts on teachers, learners and policy makers Of all participants influenced by such test scores, students or learners are directly affected from multiple aspects, especially their motivation in learning English

Recently, in Vietnam, for instance, English proficiency tests, such as the Test

of English for International Communication (TOEIC) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language - Institutional Testing Program (TOEFL-ITP) have been used as exit requirements in various universities and colleges and as selection criteria for some learning programs Among those educational institutions, Thai Nguyen University of Technology (TNUT), a technical university in Northern part of Vietnam, also adopts the TOEFL-ITP as a prerequisite condition for first year students to pursue their majors in Advanced Program (AP) and for other undergraduates to be accredited in this university AP is the program that TNUT was granted from Vietnamese Government to offer two Bachelor of Science programs, major in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering The two courses have been implemented in English and established to meet the increasing trends of globalization on engineering items As the medium of instruction of AP is

English, AP students have to obtain required TOEFL-ITP score according to the regulation of the program before starting learning their major and getting the Degree of Engineer Additionally, in line with the National Foreign Languages 2020 Project, TNUT has set a minimum score in TOEFL-ITP for undergraduates who study other programs that do not use English in teaching (referred as other undergraduates in this study) as a graduation requirement since 2014

Policy makers or school administrator generally believe that tests have much power and therefore quite often try to use them to manipulate or implement educational policies (Shohamy, 2001a, 2001b) Not aside this perception, it is believed by the authorities of the university that TOEFL-ITP is a valuable and accurate instrument to measure students‟ English proficiency sufficient to students‟ learning in English environment and future profession chances, meanwhile, it is not that beneficial from teachers‟ and students‟ perspectives Considering the relation between testing and its influence on learners, especially in terms of motivation in learning English, and the context of English teaching and learning at TNUT, there

emerges a need to conduct this research on „The washback effects of TOEFL-ITP

on first year non-English major students’ motivation in learning English‟

2 Purposes and significance of the study

The study aims to investigate the washback effects of TOEFL-ITP on motivation in learning English of students under two different educational policies (selection policy to study in English teaching-learning environment and graduation requirement policy), and different required test result agendas (in the first year for

AP freshmen and before graduation for other undergraduates) The following research questions are addressed:

1) How does TOEFL-ITP affect first year AP students and other undergraduates‟ motivation in learning English?

2) Does washback effect of TOEFL-ITP on motivation in learning English of

AP freshmen differ from that of other undergraduates?

The study is believed by the researcher to provide a reliable and profound background on the relation between testing and English learning motivation, which can be used as reference for other studies on similar topics Furthermore, this research depicts entire picture of this test in relation to students‟ incentive to learn English for the university leaders to consider when making policies Moreover, it helps the researcher gain more knowledge and skills in this field during the research process

3 Scope of the study

Language testing and its effects are extensive issues Due to limitation of time and references l and the context of the study, the researcher only focuses on washback effects of the TOEFL-ITP on English learning motivation of non-English major freshmen rather than other tests, other participants (i.e teachers, policy makers, and so on), processes and products

4 Method and procedure

4.1 Subjects

The technical university recruited in this Survey Research has two types of programs namely the advanced and the standard program The former consists of two educational majors, and all subjects included in the curriculum of this program are taught in English Therefore, it is obligatory for AP students to have good English proficiency in order to utilize study materials in English and to embrace and implement all the knowledge transferred from either foreign lecturers or Vietnamese ones These students have an entire year to learn and improve their English proficiency regardless of their low or high entrance scores The latter, different from the former in terms of language used in teaching-learning environment and curriculum, includes seven majors While AP‟s curriculum and syllabus are imported and adapted from the United States, the standard program has

its own curriculum and syllabus with the utilization of Vietnamese in teaching Consequently, students from this standard program are not required to be proficient

in English They have to submit TOEFL-ITP results before graduation

The quality of a research depends not only on appropriateness of methodology and instrumentation but also on the suitability of the sampling strategy adopted (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007, p 100) Base on the time available and the accessibility to the subjects when conducting the study, the researcher employed survey questionnaire as the major research method with a sample size of 147 participants Convenience sampling was implemented Although this method of sampling may limit generalizability, it can both identify important issues and trends and eliminate researcher‟s subjective ideas on the content of the questionnaire With regard to the differences in language used learning environment and test targets, two subgroups of population was created, the group of AP freshmen, and the group of freshmen from the standard program who did not need to have this certificate immediately

4.2 Data collection method

This study consists of two phases, a survey phase followed by a structured interview phase

semi-In the first phase, participants were asked to fill in questionnaires translated into Vietnamese By this way, the researcher expected to eliminate misunderstanding of language used in the questionnaire and to put the respondents

at ease (McDonough, J & McDonough, S., 1997, p 178)

The questionnaire was adapted and developed based on the results of washback studies conducted by Cheng (1998) and Pan (2012, &2014) and Dornyei (1990) and Gardner (1985) study on motivation The questionnaire had two parts, part one - the demographic information of participants and part two- the exploration

to students‟ viewpoints of TOEFL-ITP relevant to their importance in enhancing

students‟ motivation to learn English Before conducting the study, pilot questionnaire was delivered to some samples belonging to both subgroups to check for the wording and clarity of questionnaire items Changes were made where necessary

Following the first phase, the second phase was for respondents from the survey phase who indicated willingness to be interviewed The purpose of this phase was to clarify various points from the survey and to provide respondents with

an additional opportunity to express their opinions regarding the washback of TOEFL-ITP All interviews were digitally recorded and taken note for further analysis

Those respondents who complete both phases of the study received small gifts as appreciation and gratitude of the researcher At the same time, the researcher also interviewed three teachers who were teaching those classes

4.3 Data analysis procedure

To carry out this study, the researcher used both qualitative and quantitative data Quantitative data was gathered from the survey questionnaire, while the qualitative data was obtained from the interview with students and teachers The quantitative data gathered has been cleaned, manipulated and analyzed by Analysis Toolpak in Excel software The qualitative data has been analyzed by content analysis

5 Organization of the study

This study comprises of three main parts: part I- the Introduction to the study, part II – the Development, and part III – the Conclusion

The Introduction provides information on the rationale, scope, purposes and significance of the study

The Development is divided into three chapters Chapter I includes theoretical framework and review on related literature on washback effects,

language testing and motivation Chapter II addresses detailed subjects, instruments and methods of data collection procedure and data analyses Chapter III presents and analyzes data collected from questionnaires and interviews

The Conclusion summarizes the washback effects of TOEFL-ITP on respondents‟ motivation in learning English, gives implication in education, evaluates limitations of the study and suggests further researches

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the theoretical backgrounds and review of literature for the study are provided The chapter focuses on introducing important relevant concepts, discussions of issues and ideas on theories of test washback, motivation and researches on testing and motivation

1 Theoretical backgrounds

1.1 Washback

There are multiple washback definitions According to Alderson and Wall (1993), washback is referred to the concept that testing influences teaching (p.115) Biggs (1995) used the term backwash (p.12) to refer to the fact that testing drives not only the curriculum, but also the teaching methods and students‟ approaches to learning (as cited in Cheng and Watanabe, 2004, p.8) Bachman and Palmer (1996, p.29-35) describes washback in a broader view that it is a subset of test‟s impact on society, educational systems (the macro level) and individuals (the micro level) In this study, washback is defined as the effects that tests exert on students in term of students‟ motivation to learn English as a foreign language

Washback can be positive, negative or ineffectual This depends on the education context that tests are applied, on the time and duration of using such tests and on different approaches used by varied participants within that context (Cheng and Watanabe, 2004, p.8) Hughes (1993) expresses that the nature of the test, either high-stake or low-stake test,

may affect the perceptions and attitudes of the participants towards their teaching and learning tasks These perceptions and attitudes in turn may affect what the participants do in carrying out their work (process), including practicing the kind of items that are to be found in the test, which will affect

the learning outcomes, the product of that work (as cited in Bailey, 1999, p.10)

Additionally, Anderson and Wall (1993, p 117) also point out that a test, either good or bad, can exert positive washback if it encourages activities and motivation in learning and teaching

1.2 Language test

1.2.1 Definition of language test

Language tests have been defined by different authors reflecting changing beliefs about the make-up of language proficiency

According to Brindley (2003, p 312-313), from the 1950s to approximately mid-1970s, language tests are sets of “discrete-point”, “objective”, and “multiple choice” items testing one linguistic item at a time These test types were very reliable and easy to administer but failed to provide “much useful information about the test-takers‟ ability to use the language in the real world”

It then follows that language tests should be redefined to reflect the notion of language ability and “what happens when people use language for communicative purposes” (Brindley, 2003, p.313) as Canale and Swain (1980); Bachman and Palmer (1996) have done

According to Alderson, Clapham and Wall (1995, p 41), a language test is a set of test items Each test item “consists of a method of eliciting behaviour or language, together with a system whereby that behaviour or language can be judged”

Along this line, Heaton (1990) holds that tests should be considered first as means of assessing the students‟ performance and then as devices to motivate them Clearly, He gears tests to a way of inspiring students to study, reasoning that tests are often taken at the end of a semester; students will be encouraged to review their lessons in order to achieve their course and testing objectives

To sum up, a language test is an instrument for assessing test-takers‟ use of language knowledge and skills for communicative purposes It can also play the role

of a motivating device for students in their learning process and for teachers to adjust their teaching accordingly

1.2.2 Nature of language tests

Language tests are of high-stakes and low-stakes nature Shohamy et al (1996) defines a high-stakes test as one used in a context in which decisions about

“admission, promotion, placement or graduation are directly dependent on test scores” (p.300), while low stakes ones do not entail these significant decisions Among those tests, TOEFL-ITP is of high-stakes level (Anderson and Hamp-Lyons,

Gardner was one of the pioneering researchers in second language acquisition to focus on motivation He chose to define motivation by specifying aspects of motivation: a goal, effortful behavior to reach the goal, a desire to attain the goal, and positive attitudes toward the goal (Gardner, 1985, p 50)

Sharing the same point, Ellis, R (1997, p 75), stated that motivation is "the efforts which learners put into learning an L2 as a result of their own need or desire

to learn" He also indicated that "motivation involves the attitudes and affective states that influence the degree of effort that learners make to learn an L2" Motivation to learn a second language in Ellis' point of view refers to the extent to which the individual works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do

so and the satisfaction experienced in the activity

According to Kleigninna (1981, p.6), William and Burden (1997, p.120), Brown (2000, p.160) and Dornyei (2001, p.7), motivation is defined as the explanation for people to do something and for their efforts and persistence to pursue it

In short, although there are numerous different definitions of motivation, 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 external and internal influences

1.3.2 Components of motivation

As discussed in the previous part, motivation is not a single or a simple concept and so it is necessary to consider the range of factors which constitute motivation for learning, i.e components of motivation There are two trends for the construction of motivation The first trend considers extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation as two components of motivation The other one includes integrative motivation and instrumental motivation and some other elements as composition of motivation

1.3.2.1 Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation

Moore, K.D., (1992) separates motivation into two main categories: extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation comes from 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, that is, their internal attributes: attitudes, values, needs and personality factors” Ellis (1994) also states that intrinsic motivation “involves the arousal and maintenance of curiosity and can ebb and flow as a result of such

factors as learners‟ particular interests 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 (connection with your social environment like helping the others)

Extrinsic motivation comes from sources external to the student and the task

It can come through praise, recognition, or a system of rewards 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 motivation originates outside the individual and is concerned with external environments factors that help shape students‟ behavior

Most writers agree that intrinsic and extrinsic interact with each other and play an important role in second language learning As a result, learners can be either motivated by internal or external factors depending on the circumstances and conditions the activity is performed

1.3.2.2 Integrative motivation and instrumental motivation

Gardner and Lambert (1972) introduced the notions of instrumental and integrative motivation In the context of language learning, instrumental motivation refers to the learner‟s practical benefit of the second/ foreign language proficiency, such as better employment opportunity or a higher salary, whereas integrative motivation refers to the positive attitude toward the target language group and the desire to learn a language to integrate successfully into the target language community Integrative motivation was further specified to “interest in foreign language”, “desire to learn the target language”, “attitudes toward learning the target language”, “attitudes toward the learning situation”, “desire to interact with the target language community”, and “attitudes toward the target language community” (Gardner, 1982)

Gardner and MacIntyre (1993) suggest that motivation consists of three

components: a desire to achieve a goal, an effort towards that direction, and a feeling of fulfillment when a task is completed They also state that “Motivation itself is dynamic The old characterization of motivation in terms of integrative and instrumental orientation is too static and restricted” (p4) In later research studies, Crookes and Schmidt (1991), and Gardner and Tremblay (1994) explored four other motivational orientations: reasons for learning, desire to attain the learning goal, positive attitude toward the learning situation, and effortful behavior

In his study in 1990, Dornyei theorized a motivational construct consisting of

an instrumental motivational subsystem, and integrative motivational subsystem, need for achievement and attributions about past failures Meanwhile the instrumental motivational subsystem remains the same as in Gardner‟s research, the integrative motivational subsystem includes interest in foreign languages, cultures and people, desire to broaden one‟s view and avoid provincialism, desire for new stimuli and challenges, and desire to integrate into a new community (p.68) He also indicated that instrumental motivation and need for achievement play a significant role in mastering intermediate target language proficiency, but integrative motives enhance the desire to go beyond this level

According to Harlen and Deakin (2003), three factors must be taken into account when considering motivation for learning They are the way learner feels and thinks about himself/ herself, how learner perceive his/her capacity to undertake the learning task, and the energy and willingness the learner has for the task

In summary, despite its complexity, motivational construct in this study which may be affected by testing follows the components proposed by Dornyei (1990) and Gardner (1982) The first component is instrumental motivation which relates to learner‟s practical purpose of studying foreign languages The second one is integrative motivational subsystem including learner‟s interest in foreign languages, attitudes toward learning English, and desire to learn English The last two components are the need for achievement and learner‟s experience in past failure

1.3.3 Role of motivation in foreign language learning

It is widely accepted that motivation has played an important part in language acquisition Several experts on motivation and language learning have emphasized the significance of this topic Littlewood (1995, p.53) noted that in language learning as in every other field of human learning, motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learner embarks on task at all, how much energy he devotes to it and how long he preserves Motivation is strongly related to success in language learning It is not only the cause of success but it can also be the effect of success Brown, H.D (1994) affirmed that a learner will be successful with the proper motivation in learning Rebecca and Shearin (1996, p 121) 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 much input they receive in the language being learned, how well they

do on curriculum-related achievement tests, how high their general proficiency level becomes, and how long they preserve and maintain second language skills after language study is over”

Meaningful involvement in language learning happens only when learners find their needs to be met Many researchers consider motivation as one of the main elements that determine success in developing a second or foreign language; it determines the extent of active, personal involvement in language learning (Oxford and Shearin, 1994) Thus it is assumed that motivation is one of the major factors contributing to one‟s success in learning a second or foreign language

Spolky (1989) presents a model of language learning which involves 4 factors According to her, linguistic outcome K is the summary of Kp (Knowledge and skills at the moment), A (a symbol to present various components of ability including physiological, biological, intellectual and cognitive skills), M (a symbol

to include various affective factors such as personality, attitude, motivation and anxiety), and O (opportunity for learning a language) Simply stated, future

knowledge and skills K= Kp+A+M+O, but if any one part is absent, there can be no learning On the other hand, the greater any one is, the greater amount of learning, it does represent key components that can contribute to success Unlike factors such

as Kp and A, which are hard to be changed, motivation is both social and personal and possesses potential for achievement improvement

Language learning is remarkably different from other kinds of learning because of its social nature The learnt language becomes part of one‟s identity Through learning a language, one is contacting and assimilating himself into a new world of knowledge, culture and values As assimilation and internalization in learning takes place, one is changing, too Williams and Burden (1997, p.115) state that:

The learning of a foreign language involves far more than simply learning skills, or a system of rules, or a grammar, it involves an alteration in self-image, the adoption of new social and cultural behaviors and ways of being, and therefore has a significant impact on the social nature of the learner Because learning a second language is ultimately learning to be another social person (Crookall and Oxford, 1888, p.136), this process is often long and difficult In order to be successful, language learner needs motivation to continue his/her learning This is especially true in English as a foreign language context like Vietnam where many students after several years learning English at school fail to communicate properly in simple situations

Another role of motivation is to promote the choice of strategies among students learning a second or foreign language Research has shown that the use of specific learning strategies and techniques while studying a second or foreign language leads to success “The conscious, tailored use of such strategies is related

to language achievement and proficiency” (Oxford, 1994) Strategies are the tools for active, self-directed involvement needed for developing the second/foreign language learning communicative ability She further states that “More motivated

students tend to use more strategies than less motivated students, hence, they tend to

be more successful.”

To sum up, motivation is a key to success in foreign language learning because it affects involvement of learners in foreign language learning and promotes the choice of strategies among students learning foreign languages Furthermore, when a person is motivated in learning foreign language, he/she will improve himself/herself, contact and assimilate himself/herself into a new world of knowledge, culture and values

2 Review of literature

This section discusses washback effects on learners‟ motivation

Of those giving specific attention to testing and motivation, the work of Kellaghan et al (1996) is the most relevant Significantly, one of their conclusions was that too little account is taken of the complexity of the factors relating to motivation The interaction of different aspects of motivation with a variety of personal characteristics means that what motivates some students may not affect others They also concluded that students with performance goals are “shallow” learners who make a great deal use of rote learning, as compared with those with learning goals Deci and Ryan (1985) also gave research evidence that assessment

of the kind that takes away control from the learners reduces intrinsic motivation and leads to “surface” learning

Crooks (1998) found that extrinsic motivation is problematic and intrinsic motivation and self-regulated learning is important to continued learning in both within and outside school He also indicated that extrinsic motivation tends to lead

to “shallow” rather than “deep” learning

Madaus and Clarke (1999, p 1) discuss the impact on students‟ motivation and on students‟ dropout rate They conclude that:

- High stakes, high-standard tests do not have a markedly positive effect on teaching and learning in the classroom

- High stakes tests do not motivate the unmotivated

- High stakes testing programs have been shown to increase high school dropout rates- particularly among minority students

Pan‟s studies on washback on learning (2012 &2014) have found that English certificate graduation requirements have not pushed students to study hard and it encourages a small amount of learning through communicatively-oriented and test preparation approaches He added that the increased scores resulting from test-preparation activities may not necessarily represent a corresponding increase in language abilities He suggested that further research should be conducted by corroborating students‟ information with other data resources from teachers and school administrators

In this vein, Masoomeh (2013) conducted a research on the complexity of washback effect on learners in the IELTS academic writing test He concluded that tests affect learning in terms of score gains, but learners‟ motivation for studying remained largely unchanged He also pointed out that later research should include

at least two central participants such as teachers and students

In summary, although these learner washback studies could provide some perspectives into the effects of tests on learning process, especially on motivation of learners, the participants‟ differences in years of study, in educational contexts and

in the time schedule pressure of test have not been profoundly discovered Moreover, sources of data collection were emphasized by previous studies to be incorporated in later research Hence, this study seeks to fill the gap by providing insights of washback on students‟ motivation with regard to their varied background and targets through students‟ questionnaire and teachers‟ interview

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents a review of methodology of the study It describes in detail the setting of the study, participants of the study, data collection instruments, data collection and data analysis procedure

1 The context of the study

The technical university recruited in this Survey Research has two types of program namely the advanced program and the standard program The former consists of two educational majors, and all subjects included in the curriculum of this program are taught in English Therefore, it is obligatory for AP students to have good English proficiency in order to utilize materials in English in study and

to embrace and implement all the knowledge transferred from either foreign lecturers or Vietnamese ones These students have entire one year to learn and improve their English proficiency including all four skills, i.e listening, writing, speaking, and reading skills regardless of their low or high English proficiency before entering the university It is required for them to submit TOEFL-ITP result

of 480 after their first year of studying at the university to continue their learning program Meanwhile, the latter, different from the former in terms of language used

in teaching-learning environment and curriculum, includes seven majors While AP‟s curriculum and syllabus are imported and adapted from the United State, the standard program has its own curriculum and syllabus with the utilization of Vietnamese in teaching Consequently, students from this standard program are not required to be proficient in English Additionally, their English learning program is communicative oriented with integrated skills, i.e listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills They have to submit TOEFL-ITP result of 430 before graduation

2 Participants

Based on the time available and the accessibility to the subjects when conducting the study, the researcher employed convenience sampling with a sample

size of 147 participants Although this way of sampling may limit generalizability,

it can both identify important issues and trends and eliminate researcher‟s subjective ideas on the content of the questionnaire It also served as a pilot study to prepare for a larger study (Johnson, 1991, p 112)

With regard to the differences in language used learning environment and test targets, two subgroups of population were created, the group of AP freshmen (the first group), and the group of freshmen from the standard program who did not need to have this certificate immediately (the second group) 41 respondents from 2 classes of the first group and 106 respondents from 5 classes of the second group were approached for a convenient sample of the survey questionnaire Afterwards, ten respondents indicating willingness to take part in the follow-up interview section were interviewed by the researcher

At the same time, the researcher also conducted interview with three teachers who were teaching those classes

2003, p.34) Furthermore, the author chose even (six) responses in the Likert scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” instead of odd responses is to eliminate the case respondents choose middle response such as “neutral” or “no idea” to avoid making real choices

In order to follow a more systematic approach the author first conducted a review of the relevant literature and identified dimensions of motivation of learning Questionnaire items were adapted from the Attitude/ Motivation Test Battery (Gardner, 1985) and generated according to the list of dimensions of motivation for English learning as a foreign language This way of using established questionnaire can eliminate all the “bugs” due to previously extensive piloting of the questions that have been used frequently before (Sudman and Bradburn, 1983, as cited in Dornyei, 2003) Afterwards, the questionnaire was translated into for ultimate understanding of respondents because most of them were at merely elementary level

of English The Vietnamese version of the questionnaire is vice translated into English by another person who was at the same level of English and teaching background with the researcher to ensure that the content of the questionnaire was similar in both English and Vietnamese version Before conducting the study, pilot questionnaire was delivered to ten samples belonging to subgroups to check for the wording and clarity of questionnaire items Changes were made for suitability

Questionnaire structure

The questionnaire consists of two parts Part one was designed to collect background information of respondents Part two with 19 statements under four categories got respondents‟ ideas about their motivation in learning English and the relevant of their motivation in learning English and the TOEFL-ITP The statements

in part two were adapted adapted and developed based on the results of washback studies conducted by Cheng (1998) and Pan (2012, &2014) and Gardner‟s Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (Gardner, 1985) and based on the motivation‟s definition and motivation construct as in the literature review In this way, the quality of the questionnaire was improved and assured (Johnson, 1991, p.113) Additionally, both positively and negatively worded items were included in the questionnaire to keep the questionnaire away from a response set in which respondents mark only one side of the rating scale Items under the four categories were mixed up randomly in order to avoid frustration for respondents when

answering repetitive content (Dornyei, 2003) The items under categories are listed

in the table below

Sub-system

statements

Negative statements

Motivation intensity 1 Motivational intensity 4 25

Integrative motivation

sub-system

2 Integrative motivation 5,13,20 None

3 Desire to learn English 6,14 10,24,15 4.Interest in learning

Need for achievement 8 Need for achievement 22 26

Table 2 1: Questionnaire items 3.2 Interview

Survey questionnaire was used as the main instrument in this study However, questionnaire utilization also has some limitations, that is they offer little scope for explorative, in-depth analyses of complex relationships Hence, in order to gain a better understanding of what the result actually means, semi-structured interview with ten students who indicated a willingness to participate in follow-up interviews were conducted in the following week after the questionnaire for students was processed (Dornyei, 2003) The participants were invited to answer the questions with the researcher‟s explanation of the questions and clarifying unclear answers, each interview lasted about 10 minutes

In addition to students‟ interview, interviews with three teachers of English who taught both programs were carried out at the same time with the students‟ interview The purpose of these interviews was to collect their opinions on the

correlation between the TOEFL-ITP examination and students‟ motivation as well

as whether there was any difference in English learning motivation of the two subgroups

The questions for interviews were compiled in paper sheets All the interviews were carried out in Vietnamese in the form of an informal conversation between the researcher and the students, the researcher and teachers The data collected from interview were recorded, transcribed, and then translated into English for the purposes of the study

4 Data collection procedure

This study consists of two phases, a survey phase followed by a structured interview phase

semi-In the first phase, samples were asked to fill in questionnaires translated into Vietnamese By this way, the researcher expected to eliminate misunderstanding of language used in the questionnaire and to put the respondents at ease (McDonough,

J & McDonough, S., 1997, p 178) The questionnaire was delivered to students in May 2017 when students are at the end of the second semester of the school year

At this time, some students already had a semester to learn English and some of them had taken TOEFL-ITP examination which assures the suitability of the research context With the acceptance of teachers, 20 minutes of learning period was spent for questionnaire completion under the instruction of the researcher Students from five classes of standard program and two advanced program were approached in this study

Following the first phase, after initial data coding, the researcher found out some students who expected to be interviewed and belong to categories such as with and without TOEFL-ITP, successful and unsuccessful learners and gender balance Respondents were contacted via mobile phone numbers provided in the questionnaire to make appointment for interview Each interview was privately

implemented at the researcher‟s office Those respondents who completed both phases of the study received small gifts as appreciation and gratitude of the researcher At the same time, interviews with teachers were conducted where convenient for them All interviewees were noticed of audio recording for the purpose of research

5 Data analysis

To carry out this study, the researcher used both qualitative and quantitative data Quantitative data was gathered from the survey questionnaire, while the qualitative data was obtained from the interview with students and teachers The quantitative data gathered has been cleaned, manipulated and analyzed by Analysis Toolpak in Excel software Negatively worded items were reversed before the starting the analyses The qualitative data has been analyzed by content analysis

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

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter provides results from the questionnaire survey with students and interviews with students and teachers First, demographic information of students participated in the questionnaire survey, in interviews and of teachers in interviews are presented Then, items of motivation construct of students from the two programs are analyzed and compared Next, interview analysis is also included

1 Demographic information of participants

1.1 Questionnaire survey respondents

147 students participated in the questionnaire survey with 106 ones from the standard program and 41 ones from the Advanced program Number and percentage

of students‟ gender, major and whether or not they pass the TOEFL-ITP examination are exhibited in tables

Do not meet TOEFL-ITP requirement

Table 3 1: Students from Advanced program

Of 41 students from Advanced program (APS) approached as sampled in the study, 33 ones accounting for 80.5% are male and the rest 8 accounting for 19.5% are female Most of them, i.e 39 over 41 APS have taken TOEFL- ITP, but only 10 of them accounting for 24.4% have met TOEFL-ITP requirement to continue their learning APS are from both Electrical engineering and Mechanics major with 24 and

17 students respectively

Criteria Number Percentage

Table 3 2: Students from standard program

It can be seen from the table above, 23 females and 83 males students from standard program (SS) accounting for 22 percent and 78 percent respectively take part in the study Only three of 106 SS have taken the TOEFL-ITP examination and one is the number of SS who met the graduation requirement although they are merely in the first year of learning SS‟ majors are varied, including eleven majors The large percentage of SSs belongs to Electronics with 31.1%, Mechanical production with 13.2%, Civil construction and Electrical engineering with 11.3% A small number of SSs major in Accounting with 8.5%, Mechanic-Electronic