A study on the importance of learner ideal self to the success in learning english of the learners at the border guard academy

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOIUNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIESFACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ************************* PHÙNG THỊ PHƯƠNG LAN A STUDY ON THE IMPORTAN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOIUNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*************************

PHÙNG THỊ PHƯƠNG LAN

A STUDY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNER IDEAL SELF TOTHE SUCCESS IN LEARNING ENGLISH OF THE LEARNERS AT THE

BORDER GUARD ACADEMY

(Một nghiên cứu về tầm quan trọng của lý tưởng người học đối với sựthành công trong việc học tiếng Anh tại Học viện Biên phòng)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching MethodologyCode: 60140111

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOIUNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*************************

PHÙNG THỊ PHƯƠNG LAN

A STUDY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNER IDEAL SELF TOTHE SUCCESS IN LEARNING ENGLISH OF THE LEARNERS AT THE

BORDER GUARD ACADEMY

(Một nghiên cứu về tầm quan trọng của lý tưởng người học đối với sựthành công trong việc học tiếng Anh tại Học viện Biên phòng)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching MethodologyCode: 60140111

Supervisor: DR PHẠM THỊ THANH THÙY

DECLARATION BY AUTHORPHÙNG THỊ PHƯƠNG LAN, hereby certifies that this thesis, which isentitled “A Study on the Importance of the Learner Ideal Self to the Success inLearning English of the Learners at The Border Guard Academy”is created from myoriginal work I have firmly declared the contribution of others to my thesis such asdata analysis, practical strategies,and all other researches that were employed orreviewed in my thesis.

This thesis is the result of my own study in the fulfillment of the requirementfor the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University ofLanguages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

Hanoi, 2015

Phùng Thị Phương Lan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSFirst of all, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr PhạmThị Thanh Thùy,whoseinsightful comments, criticism, direction and kind supportwere of great assistance to me in carrying out this study.

My sincere thanks also go to all the lecturers and staff of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, VietnamNational University, Hanoi, for their valuable knowledge and invaluable guidanceand help during my two years of study at the Faculty

Post-I am also indebted to my colleagues as well as my students at the Border Guard Academy, who have helped me a lot in my data collection to fulfill this paper

Last but not least, I would like to express my appreciation to my family for their understanding and strong encouragement to me throughout the study

Phùng Thị Phương Lan

learner ideal self is the key to success in English studying of the learners at the Border Guard Academy Despite the existence of ideal self in the students’ mind, the number of students with ideal self is still humble, which accounts for the border

officers’ inefficiency in solving English using cases The study puts forward practicalsuggestions to all the academy, the teachers of English and the students with a view

to improving English teaching and learning at the academy The most important

proposal is disseminating the role of the learner ideal self to their own success in

English studying and the demand for buiding up, maintaining and motivating the

ideal selffor the learners at the Border Guard Academy.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF CHART vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aim of the study 1

3 Objectives of the study 2

4 Research question 2

5 Scope of the study 2

6 Methods of the study 2

7 Significance of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 5

1.1 Learner ideal self 5

1.1 1 Motivation 5

1.1.2 Learner ideal self 11

1.2 Success in English learning and criteria to measure English learners’ improvement 17

1.2.1 Success in general 17

1.2.2 Success criteria in second/foreign language learning 18

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 21

2.1 Research setting of the study 21

2.1.1 An overview of the research site 21

2.1 2 English teachers 21

2.1.3 Students and their background 21

2.1.4 The English teaching and learning in The Border Guard Academy 22

2.2 Research methodology 23

2.2.1 Description of the subjects 23

2.2.2 Data collection instruments 23

2.2.3 Procedures 25

2.2.4 Data analysis 25

2.3 Summary 26

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 27

3.1 Data analysis 27

3.1 1 Types of students’ motivation in English learning 27

3.1.2 Factors affecting students’ motivation in English studying 29

3.1.3 Students’ interest in English lessons 31

3.1.4 The ways in which the students learn English 32

3.1.6 The students’ English results after the first year at the BGA 36

3.2 Findings and discussions 37

3.2.1 The learner ideal self - a motivator in English learning 37

3.2.2 The effects of learner ideal self on the students’ attitude to English studying 37

3.2.3 The effects of learner ideal self on the student’s investment in English

studying 38

3.2.4 The effects of learner ideal self on the students’ improvement in English studying 40

PART C: CONCLUSION 41

3.1 Recapitulation of the main ideas 41

3.2 Implications 42

3.2.1 Implications for the Border Guard Academy 42

3.2.2 Implications for the teachers of English at the Border Gard Academy 43

3.2.3 Implications for the students at the Border Guard Academy 44

3.3 Limitations of the study 44

3.4 Suggestions for further research 45

REFERENCES 46 APPENDIXES I APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 VIII APPENDIX 3 X

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Students’ reasons for studying English 28

Table 2: Factors affecting students’ motivation in English studying 30

Table 3: Students’ studying English 32

Table 4: Students’attitude when reaching a goal in English studying 34

Table 5: Students’attitude when failing to reach a goal in English studying 35

Table 6: the students’ English results after the first year at the BGA 36

LIST OF CHART Students’ interest in studying English 31

\

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

M.A: Master of Art

BGA: Border Guard Academy

L2: Second language

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

After more than ten years teaching English, I am still in divided mind as towhy, from the same background and in the same learning circumstances, somestudents have succeeded in acquiring a good knowledge of English while others havefailed to achieve even the basic level of it About 1 year ago, I accidentally heard one

of my student’s mother mentioning the significance of motivation in general and herson’s ideal self in particular to his success I immediately came up with the idea of

doing a study of the importance of the Learner Ideal Self to the Success in Learning

English of the Learners at The Border Guard Academy

It is unarguable that motivation plays an important role in the learners’success

in studying a second or foreign language Many linguists have spent their invaluabletime studying it For instance, Dornyei (2001) puts an emphasis on the teacher’s role

of motivating leaners by proposing “teacher skills in motivating learners should beseen as central to teaching effectiveness” Spolsky (1989) also considered motivation

as one of the key factors to the learners’ success in studying a second language.According to him, “The more motivation a learner has, the more time he or she willspend learning an aspect of a second language” (p 148) However, the query of how

the learner ideal self has effect on English learning of the learners at the Border

Guard Academy still need a careful research to work out the answer

2 Aim of the study

The research is done for the purpose of finding out the role of the learner ideal self in the success in learning English of the learners at the Border Guard

Academy Depending on the research result, the teachers and learners at the BorderGuard Academy can improve their teaching and learning English to achieve thesuccess

3 Objectives of the study

The objectives of the study are as follows:

- To examine the kinds of motivation that affect the learners’ success in English

learning of the learners at the Border Guard Academy

- To examine the extent of effect of learner ideal self on the success in English

learning of the learners at the Border Guard Academy

- To figure out factors building up the ideal self of the learners at the Border

Guard Academy, and what should be done to maintain and motivate the ideal self of learners atthe Border Guard Academy

4 Research question

In order to achieve the aims and objectives mentioned above, I have designed the following research question:

- How does learner ideal self affect English studying process of learners at the

Border Guard Academy?

?

5 Scope of the study

Motivation, undeniably, is a wide research area with various trends andtheories related This study deals with theories of motivation in general, theories ofsecond/foreign language motivation in particular However, due to the limited timeand length constraint of a minor thesis, only one aspect of the new trend of

motivation in second/foreign language is profoundly explored – that is learner ideal self, which belongs to the framework the L2 Motivational Self System built up by

Dörnyei (2005) and developed so far The subject of the study is the fresh students

only From the findings of the study, suggestions on how to construct learner ideal self in English learning and teaching at the Border Guard Academy are provided to

make improvement in English

6 Methods of the study

The study adopts both quantitative and qualitative methods The former is used

to get data from a great number of participants while the latter is used to gain moreprofound insight into the study subject The tasks involved are according to a process.First, data for analysis are collected through questionnaires and interviews, both ofwhich are carried out on the fresh students Next, data gathered are analyzed,displayed and discussed Finally, all comments, remarks, recommendations andconclusions are made based on the data analyses of questionnaires and interviews

7 Significance of the study

The study when finished will be an important contribution to English learningand teaching at the Border Guard Academy So far, neither the teachers nor thestudents here have paid attention to this temporary trend of second/foreign languagemotivation Therefore, it is supposed to benefit both teachers and learners in someways

First of all, the teachers are provided with the information of motivation in

general and learner ideal self in particular During their process of teaching English,

together with equipping their students with necessary knowledge of English, they willexploit the methods to create motivation for students, stimulating them to makeimprovement in English studying

In addition, the findings of the study will lead the students to have a better

understanding of the ideal self of their own They will study English not only because

it is a mandatory subject but because it also opens up a novel horizon to them Withideal imagination of themselves, they will definitely succeed in learning English

Last but not least, this study not only can be applied to English learning andteaching, but should be taken into consideration for people in all walks of life at thisacademy as well Nevertheless, the success of this study is only a recommendation

to the researchers of other fields In order to have exact results, it is imperative they conduct a lot of research related to this.

8 Design of the study

The work is divided into 3 main parts as follows:

PART B: DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 Learner ideal self

to define it

1.1.1.1 Definitions of motivation

First of all, according to folk motivation theory, or carrot-and-stick approach,

individuals are motivated by either the prospect of a reward or the threat ofpunishment It is the simplicity of this concept that makes it easy to penetrate into thepeople’s consciousness On the other hand, it has failed to come up to people’sexpectations for the complexities of human behaviours

Both the rewards and punishments of the carrot-and-stick approach only cover

the external stimuli It is, therefore, imperative for another theory to arise with a view

to giving sufficient definition of ‘motivation’ In order to meet this demand, Deci and

Ryan introduced self-determination theory, which is concerned how individuals

translate wants into organized effort In this theory, they also make a distinctionbetween intrinsic and extrinsic motivation While the former refers to “doingsomething because it is inherently interesting or enjoyable” (Ryan & Deci, 2000b,p.55), the latter has been presented as “pale and impoverished” counterpart

Another motivation theory that should be taken into consideration is mastery and performance goal orientations, which includes two types of goal orientations In the mastery goal, people concentrate on mastery of a task and have the desire to acquire

new skills without paying attention to enjoyment of satisfaction of doing

them whereas in the other, individuals engage in tasks to demonstrate their worth inrelation to others, especially desiring others’ recognition.

Atkinson and his colleages also developed the theory of achievement and attribution In the achievement by Atkinson and Birch, motivation is composed of

two fundamental determinants – a desire to achieve success and the inhibitory drive

to avoid failure The attributional theory by Weiner assumes that individuals make

causal judgements concerning success and failure experiences, which are subjectivebut it is these subjective interpretations that influence future behaviour rather thanactual incomes

Self-efficacy developed by Albert Bandura refers to one’s belief in one’s ability

to get success in specific situation (Bandura, 1977; Bandura, 1997) It lies at the

center of Bandura’s social cognitive theory, in which the role of observational learning and social experience in the development of personality is emphasized According to Bandura's theory, people with high self-efficacy, that is, those who

believe they can perform well are more likely to view difficult tasks as something to

be mastered rather than something to be avoided However, these people sometimesencounter the failure because of their poor preparation for the task while those with

low self-efficacy experience stimulus to discover more about an unfamiliar subject Last but not least, the concept of competence proposed by Elliot and Dweck tries

to infuse individuals with the notion that, “Competence can be seen as a basicpsychological need that has a pervasive impact on daily affect, cognition, andbehavior across age and culture.” (2007b, p 8) In this case, people should desire to

experience competence and avoid expriencing incompetence.

1.1.1.2 The motivation in second/ foreign language learning

Motivation has been widely accepted by both teachers and researchers as one ofthe key factors that influence the rate and success of second/foreign language

(L2) learning Dörnyei (1998) writes: ‘Motivation provides the primary impetus toinitiate learning the L2 and later the driving force to sustain the long and often

tedious learning process; indeed, all the other factors involved in L2 acquisitionpresuppose motivation to some extent.’

There is no doubt that motivation has been a focus of L2 learning research formany years Due to the intricacy and multifaceted construct of L2 motivation concept

as well as the role played by the various motivational components in L2 learning,researchers have proposed numerous theories and models, many of which focus ondifferent aspects of L2 motivation

According to Dörnyei, the historical development of L2 motivation theories cangenerally be divided into four distinct phases The first one is social psychological approach, which was developed by Gardner and his associates in Canada throughout the periods of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s; The second one is cognitive-situated period in L2 motivation research during the 1990s often seen as initiated by Crookes and Schmidt (1991), the third one is process-oriented period at the end of 1990s, which

was initiated by the studies of Dörnyei (e.g., 2001b), Ushioda (e.g., 2001) and their

colleagues in Europe, and the latest one is the socio-dynamic period (current),

characterized by a concern with dynamic systems and contextual interactions Inorder to have a better and thorough comprehension of these theories, we have nochoice but go into details of them

1.1.1.2.1 Gardner’s social psychological approach to L2 motivation

When it comes to motivational theory in L2 language, nobody can negate thesignificance of the theory that Gardner contributed As Dörnyei (1994b, p 519) putsit: “Having been familiar with the Gardnerian approach for a long time, we may notalways be conscious of how much of a “breakthrough” this was; one which rightfullyinfluenced motivation theory for the next decades.” His theory has impregnated ourmind with a new element that plays a big part in the success of learning an L2 – that

is motivation

Gardner’s work is best known for the identification of two motivational

orientations: integrativeness / integrative motivation and instrumental orientation.

The former primarily ‘reflects a genuine interest in learning the second language inorder to come closer to the other language community At one level, this implies anopenness to, and respect for other cultural groups and ways of life In the extreme,this might involve complete identification with the community (and possibly evenwithdrawal from one’s original group), but more commonly it might well involveintegration within both communities.’ (Gardner, 2001: 5) On the other hand, thelatter focuses on the learners’ pragmatic purpose of learning a language For example,people study a language on the grounds that they want to be promoted in their career

or improve their social status

Gardner’s theory took root for a long period because of its dominance over theearlier ones in that ‘it recognizes language learners as social beings and language as

an important element of social identity’ (Ryan, 2009) Besides that, it has attractedample discussion and comment because of its controversies Firstly, Dörnyei (2005)has pointed out two main areas of terminological difficulty in understanding his

model The first one is the term integrative, which includes integrative orientation, integrativeness, and integrative motivation The other one is the term motivation, which appears at two levels: motivation and integrative motivation In addition, although the terms motivation and orientation are affirmed by Gardner to be different

concepts, he himself sometimes used them inconsistently Secondly, manyresearchers have been opposed to Gardner’s generalization of his theory According

to Dörnyei, “in a multicultural setting such as Montreal, where Gardner firstdeveloped his theory, it made sense to talk about potential 'integration', but in learningsituations whereas foreign language is taught only as a school subject without anydirect contact with its speakers (e.g.teaching English or French in Hungary, China,Japan or other typical foreign language learning contexts), the integrative metaphorsimply did not make sense.” This proposal has also been approved by many otherscholars (e.g Coetzee VanRooy 2006; Lamb2004; Yashima 2000) Last but not least,instrumental orientation seems to fail to account for all the utilitarian factors that haveemerged in empirical studies, such as

travelling, making foreign friends, and understanding English songs (Dörnyei &Kormos, 2000; Dörnyei, 2002) In a word, Gardner’s theory has made a greatcontribution to the second/foreign language motivation research Even now it cannotserve the new motivation research trend, it is still considered a foundation for the new

model proposed by Dörnyei as L2 Motivational Self System, on which I depend as a

theoretical framework for my present study

1.1.1.2.2 The cognitive-situated period of L2 research

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, with a view to widening the horizon of L2motivation research, researchers (e.g Brown 1990; Crookes and Schmidt, 1991;Julkunen, 1989; Skehan, 1989) brought in alternative research perspectives, the most

dominant of which was called the cognitive-situated period of L2 research by Dörnyei

(2005) He characterized this period as ‘two interrelated trends: (a) the need to bringL2 motivation research in line with cognitive theories in mainstream motivationalpsychology, and (b) the desire to move from the broad macro perspective ofethnolinguistic communities and learners’ general dispositions to L2 learning to amore situated analysis of motivation in specific learning settings (e.g., classrooms)’.However, he also pointed out the challenge that this theory encountered: ‘Analyzingthe temporal structure of motivation has always been a challenge in mainstreammotivational psychology, since motivation research has typically relied on theoreticalmodels and corresponding research designs that attempt to measure motivation at aparticular point in time and investigate relationships with other variables such asachievement or performance These approaches do not lend themselves toinvestigating the complex ebb and flow of motivation.’

1.1.1.2.3 The process-oriented period of L2 research

By the turn of the 21st century, the process-oriented approaches to the

analysis of L2 motivation were proposed by Dörnyei (e.g., 2001b), Ushioda (e.g.,

2001), and their colleagues in Europe In this model, they divide the structure of L2motivation into pre-actional (choice motivation), actional (executive motivation), andpost-actional (evaluation) phases, in which two key shortcomings are mentioned: (a)

it assumes that we can define clearly when a learning process begins and ends; (b) itassumes that the actional process occurs in relative isolation, without interferencefrom other actional processes in which the learner may be simultaneously engaged.Through these shortcomings they also find out that most approaches to motivation insecond language acquisition (SLA) to date are limited because they ‘have not takenadequate account of the dynamic and situated complexity of the learning process orthe multiple goals and agendas shaping learner behavior.’

1.1.1.2.4 The socio-dynamic period

Within the past decade, under the influence of mainstream motivationalpsychology, in which there has been a move towards more dynamic contextualparadigms for the analysis of motivation, researchers on motivation in SLA have

shifted their thinking to the current new social-dynamic phase This phase is

characterized by a focus on the situated complexity of the L2 motivation process andits organic development in interaction with a multiplicity of internal, social, andcontextual factors - that is, a move toward relational or dynamic systems perspectives

on motivation (e.g., Dörnyei, 2009a;Ushioda, 2009); and characterized by a concern

to theorize L2 motivation in ways that take account of the broader complexities oflanguage learning and language use in the modern globalized world

- that is, by reframing L2 motivation in the context of contemporary theories of selfand identity (Dörnyei, 2005; Dörnyei and Ushioda, 2009a) Dörnyei (2005, 2009a) recently

outlined a new approach for L2 motivation research, the L2 Motivational Self System, which reflects the transition to the socio-dynamic period in L2 motivation research It is this model that

I rely on for my current study and go into detail in the below section

1.1.2 Learner ideal self

1.1.2.1 The Formation of the ‘Learner Motivational Self System’

In this part, theories of the self and their impacts on language learning

motivation are the center of attention As Baumeister acknowledges, “The self is one

of the most actively researched topics in all of psychology” (Baumeister, 1999, p 1)

Besides that, many other scholars have expressed their views of the self in their own

ways Dweck (2000, p xi) defines the ‘self” as the “meaning systems” that peopleemploy to “organize their world and give meaning to their experiences.” Norman andAron (2003, p 500) expand on this by saying that “one’s self-concept is an importantinfluence in regulating behaviour, functioning to organise an individual’sinterpretation of the world, determining what stimuli are selected for attention andwhat inferences are drawn.” This study primarily focuses on how this self-conceptcan ‘organize an individual’s interpretation of the world’ and ‘regulate behaviour’ inrespect to language learning

Although the self has become increasingly important in mainstream psychology,

it did not attract the attention of the researchers in the field of L2 education until

Dörnyei (2005) proposed L2 Motivational Self System Dörnyei himself (2009)

emphasizes “The L2 Motivational Self System represents a major reformation ofprevious motivational thinking by its explicit utilisation of psychological theories of

the self, yet its roots are firmly set in previous research in the L2 field.”

Of the contributions of psychology to L2 Motivational Self System by Dörnyei, Possible Selves and Future Self-Guides are a must to mention Carveret al (1994) emphasises that possible selves - representing the individuals’ ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become, and what they are afraid of becoming (Markus &Nurius, 1986) - denote a unique self-dimension in that they refer

to future rather than current self states Having dipped into what researchers

have done to this concept, Markus summarized “Our excitement with the notion ofpossible selves had multiple sources Focusing on possible selves gave us license tospeculate about the remarkable power of imagination in human life We also hadroom to think about the importance of the self-structure as a dynamic interpretivematrix for thought, feeling, and action, and to begin to theorize about the role ofsociocultural contexts in behaviour Finally, the concept wove together our mutualinterests in social psychology, social work, and clinical psychology.” Moreover,Markus and Nurius (1986: 954) subdivided possible selves into three main types:(1) ‘ideal selves that we would very much like to become’, (2) ‘selves that we couldbecome’, and (3) ‘selves we are afraid of becoming’ The other concept that propelled Dörnyei to

build up his L2 Motivational Self System is future self-guides Generally speaking , these two

concepts are merged, but strictly speaking, they still contain inconsistent points This concept

comprises two key components of Higgins’s (1987) self theory are the ideal self and the ought self According to Higgin, the ideal self refers to the representation of the attributes that one would ideally like to possess (i.e representation of hopes, aspirations, or wishes), while the ought self refers to the representation of attributes that one believes one ought to possess (i.e.

representation of someone else’s sense of duties, obligations or moral responsibilities) and whichtherefore may bear little resemblance to one’s own desires or wishes He also points out that both

of these two selves can derive from either the individual’s own or someone else’s views It isDörnyei that distinguishes between Higgins’s and Markus and Nurius’s conceptualisations of thefuture-oriented self dimensions in that ‘while the latter authors talk about multiple possibleselves, including, for example, more than one ideal self, Higgins talks about a single ideal and asingle ought self for each individual, viewing these as composite self-guides that sum up all therelevant attributes.’

Another aspect of psychology known to be closely related to motivation isimagery/imagination In fact, this notion originated from the ancient Greeks.Aristotle, for example, defined imagination as ‘sensation without matter’ and

claimed that ‘There’s no desiring without imagination’ (Modell, 2003: 108).Interestingly and fortunately, the contemporary definitions of imagery quiteresembles those in the past Kosslynet al.(2002), for example, define it as‘the ability

to represent perceptual states in the absence of the appropriate sensory input’, onwhich Markus and Ruvolo’s (1989) depended to claim that ‘imaging one’s ownactions through the construction of elaborated possible selves achieving the desiredgoal may thus directly facilitate the translation of goals into intentions andinstrumental actions’ (p 213) Some other researchers share Marjus and Ruvolo’sviewpoints in their analysis of the ideal self are Boyatzis and Akrivou (2006) Theyfigure out the important role of imagination to the whole history of the human beings:humans are driven by their imagination and their ability to see images of the desiredfuture

Dr Le Van Canh, in his research on the importance of motivation, put a lot of

emphasis on the concept of ‘imagined community’ Derived from his findings, he

gave some suggestions to the English teachers that they “can reimagine theirclassrooms as places of possibilities for learners that are adaptable to a variety ofinvestments and aspirations for the future so that classrooms become a special placefor imagined communities to flourish.”

It is undeniable that the researchers ranging from the ancient time to the

modern one pay their attention to the roles of the self to human’s advancement It is vitally necessary that Dörnyei apply predecessors’study to his own forming L2 Motivational Self System, which is prevalent in the temporary trend of L2 motivation

research

With a view to calling for a general rethinking of the concept of integrativeness,

he wrote in his research 2002 that:

the term may not so much be related to any actual, or metaphorical,

integration into an L2 community as to some more basic identification process within the individual’s self-concept Although further research is

needed to justify any alternative interpretation, we believe that rather than

viewing ‘integrativeness’ as a classic and therefore ‘untouchable’ concept,scholars need to seek potential new conceptualizations and interpretations thatextend or elaborate on the meaning of the term without contradicting the largebody of relevant empirical data accumulated during the past four decades.(Dörnyei & Csize ´r, 2002: 456)

It is obvious that deriving from the self theories, Dörnyei was ready to move beyond integrativeness, which was first proposed by Gardner and brought about

numerous controversies among researchers mentioned above After many years ofdoing research with a lot of ups and downs, he has step by step approached the secret

of successful learners which he attributed to ‘their possession of a superordinatevision that kept them on track’ He himself compared language learning to thetraining of professional athletes whose career is considered to be motivated byimagery and vision In accordance with both empirical findings and theoretical

considerations, he reconceptualised L2 motivation as part of the learner’s self system Through the data collected and the new theoretical approach, he was convinced that

‘future self-guides - more specifically, the ideal and the ought selves - are centralcomponents of this system.’ (Dörnyei, 2009) In 2005, after careful consideration forprevious theories and his own research on L2 motivation, he decided that ‘L2Motivational Self System’ was made up of the following three components:

(1) Ideal L2 Self, which is the L2-specific facet of one’s ‘ideal self’: if the

person we would like to become speaks an L2, the‘ideal L2 self’ is a powerful motivator to learn the L2 because of the desire to reduce the discrepancy between our actual and ideal selves Traditional integrative and internalised instrumental motives would typically belong to this component

(2) Ought-to L2 Self, which concerns the attributes that one believes one ought

to possess to meet expectations and to avoid possible negative outcomes This dimension corresponds to Higgins’s ought self and

thus to the more extrinsic (i.e less internalised) types of instrumental motives.

(3) L2 Learning Experience, which concerns situated, ‘executive’ motives

related to the immediate learning environment and experience (e.g the impact

of the teacher, the curriculum, the peer group, the experience of success) Thiscomponent is conceptualised at a different level from the two self-guides andfuture research will hopefully elaborate on the self aspects of this bottom-upprocess

1.1.2 2 The importance of the learner ideal self in second/ foreign language learning

As mentioned above, learner ideal self in second/ foreign language learning or learner ideal L2 self is the first component of ‘L2 Motivational Self System’

proposed by Dörnyei (2005) This concept refers to the representation of theattributes that L2 learners would ideally like to possess The concept is represented at

two levels (macro and micro) of the ideal L2 self The macro ideal L2 self: This

concept measures learners’ perception of how clearly they are able to imagine the

level of their L2 attainment long after they graduate from university The micro ideal L2 self : This concept measures learners’ perception of how clearly they can imagine

their level of L2 attainment while at university

According to Dörnyei (2009), learner ideal L2 self offers new avenues for

motivating language learners through generating a language learning vision andthrough imagery enhancement It is future directed and refers to the individual’saspirations This result has been proved by the combination of theories, empricalexperiments and world-wide research

Besides that, discussing the importance of the learner ideal self, Tayloret al.

(1998) and Berkovits (2005) shared the opinion that imagery has definite educationalpotential Berkovits (2005) was in favor of the idea that imagery is the ideal way towork with children:

When a child uses imagery to find solutions to problems in her current life or from the past, she obtains a sense of autonomy and confidence in her ability to resolve situations she may have felt controlled her These situations run the gamut of the child’s experience, pertaining to her relationship with herself, her peers, her parents, siblings, teachers, authority figures, and

learning situations in school, to name a few Using imagination to find

solutions to these situations has the added advantage of improving the child’s verbal ability, because the images are clear and precise, and they lend

themselves to clarity and precision of expression (Berkovits, 2005: xvii)

In summary, the learner ideal self plays a very important part in education on

the whole and in second/foreign language in particular Therefore, it is imperativethat the educators make most use of it when carrying out their work

1.1.2.3 Construction of the Ideal L2 Self

It was Dörnyei (2009) that refered to the construction of the learner ideal L2 self by creating their vision Many other researchers have common ideas with

Dörnyei In detail, Dunkelet al.(2006) explain that during the formation of theiridentities, adolescents produce a wide variety of possible selves as potential identityalternatives to explore and ‘try on’ without full commitment Zentner & Renaud(2007) pointed out that parents hold the ideals for themselves and for their children.Boyatzis &Akrivou (2006) mentioned the impact of role models that the studentshave seen in films, on TV or in real life

Dörnyei (2009) also emphasizes that ‘igniting the vision involves, in effect,increasing the students’ mindfulness about the significance of ideal selves, guidingthem through a number of possible selves that they have entertained in their minds inthe past, and presenting powerful role models.’

Oyserman et al (2002) stresses the significance of helping students to synthesisethe potential hypothetical images with what they know about themselves,

their own traits and abilities, as well as their past successes and failures in order tocapitalise on existing strengths and avoid weaknesses.

In response to the idea of ideal L2 Self construction are some programs such as

‘Best Possible Selves’ writing project developed by Sheldon and Lyubomirsky’s(2006) in which The L2 Motivational Self System students were directed to outlinetheir ‘ideal future life’ in as much detail as they could or another programmedeveloped by Hock et al (2006) for demotivated elementary to post-secondarystudents in the US which includes three phases: the first phase includes a series ofactivities designed to help students identify areas in which they have interest andskills and feel good about themselves; the second phase is a semi-structured interviewwith a teacher or counsellor,either individually or as part of a group, in which thestudents were asked to identify words or phrases that described them in targeted areas(as a learner, a person, a worker, and in a strength area), and to define their hopes,expectations and fears for the future in each area; the third phase is drawing a

‘Possible Selves Tree’ with branches and other elements (e.g lightning, termites)representing both their desired and feared possible selves

In conclusion, the ideal self can be built up to promote the learners of L2.

However, in order to be effective, for each subject, an appropriate approach should betaken into account

1.2 Success in English learning and criteria to measure English learners’improvement

1.2.1 Success in general

Business dictionary defines success as the achievement of an action within aspecified period of time or within a specified parameter Success can also meancompleting an objective or reaching a goal Success can be expanded to encompass

an entire project or be restricted to a single component of a project or task It can beachieved within the workplace, or in an individual's personal life For example, if an

individual's personal goal is to be accepted in a new career, success would occur afterthe individual has been officially accepted into his or her new place of employment.

1.2.2 Success criteria in second/foreign language learning

According to The National Standards for Foreign Language Learning of theUnited States of America, students studying a second/foreign language are necessary

to meet the following demands

Applications of Learning

Through Applications of Learning, students demonstrate and deepen theirunderstanding of basic knowledge and skills These applied learning skills crossacademic disciplines and reinforce the important learning of the disciplines Theability to use these skills will greatly influence students' success in school, in theworkplace and in the community

Solving Problems

It is imperative that the L2 learners recognize and investigate problems;formulate and propose solutions supported by reason and evidence Learning aforeign language develops the tools for dealing with various types of survivalchallenges, technical skills and interpersonal exchanges across and among cultures

In detail, students are supposed to apply their language skills and their knowledge ofcultures and global affairs to forming a hypothesis, testing that hypothesis,eliminating nonessential information and drawing conclusions

recreational and professional Furthermore, they must learn the language for specificpurposes to make sure that they have the full ability to convey their ideas in thoserealms of knowledge For such reasons, it demands that curricula designed shouldreflect the significance of students developing simultaneously all four communicationskills—listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Using Technology

When it comes to using technology, it requires that the L2 learners useappropriate instruments, electronic equipment, computers and networks to accessinformation, process ideas and communicate results

It is apparent that accessing to a wide range of technolgy brings a lot ofbenefits to the L2 learners when they take advantage of invaluable sources of material

in the target language as well as the chance of interacting directly with nativespeakers Moreover, with the latest technology, the learners can reinforce theirknowledge not only in their foreign language classroom but also outside it Theirprocess of studying becomes increasingly exciting because it has been turned into anadventurous journey that learners are exploring

Working on Teams

Together with the ability to learn and contribute productively as individuals,the L2 learners also have to prove to be efficient at working in a group Grouplearning activities at the core of foreign language learning are one component ofactual communication in the target language With these, the L2 learners can use thetarget language to engage themselves in the group discussions and research projectsnot only within the classroom but also outside it

Making Connections

Recognizing and applying connections of important information and ideaswithin and among learning areas are aslo requirements that the L2 learners have tomeet when studying a foreign language

Students of foreign languages make four types of connections throughout theirstudy First, they learn how to transfer skills and content of the foreign

language in ways to better understand skills and content of the first language Second,students make subject-matter connections, reinforcing content and skills of otherareas such as science and fine arts Third, students explore issues and themes whichcross disciplinary lines, and fourth, students use the target language for makingconnections to vocabulary and processes important in the world

Success in English learning at the Border Guard Academy

Border Guard Academy is an armed-force unit training officers and cadetsworking at the frontier areas where relations with neighboring countries take place.Because it is an academy, first and foremost, it meets all the training and educationrequirements fixed by Ministry of Education Besides that, it belongs to the army,therefore, it also has to conform to the particular regulations by Ministry of Defense.English has become a mandatory subject However, since this academy does notspecialize in English, English requirements for its students are not high, just to havethe ability to communicate in English with the foreigners at the border Besides that,

on account of the significance of technology to English studying, the learners areencouraged to study and apply it In addition, a learner of English consideredsuccessful is the one that reaches the points 6 or 6.5 for IELTS, the prerequisite forstudying abroad In conclusion, the demands for a learner of English at this academyare those mainly relating to communication However, a really successful learner ofEnglish should meet all the requirements by The National Standards for ForeignLanguage Learning of the United States of America so that they can have a betterchance of promotion

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 Research setting of the study

2.1.1 An overview of the research site

The study was conducted at the Border Guard Academy (BGA), the armyinstitute responsible for training officers working in the frontier areas The wholeacademy has 400 teachers of all subjects and around 2000 learners from the age of 18

to 45, 300 among whom are freshmen Since the school officially became an academy

in 2007, it has been entrusted with training learners from bachelors to doctors In thepast, Russian and Chinese used to be two main foreign languages taught in thisinstitute However, since English became the international language, it has been thecompulsory subject for the learners of all levels

2.1 2 English teachers

Of all 400 teachers, only 15 are teachers of English, 4 of whom are masters ofEnglish, another 4 are in the process of gaining their M.A degrees and the others allgraduated from the universities of foreign languages, English faculty Almost all theEnglish teachers are young and active, therefore, they are available to get access tonew methods of teaching English in the world Besides that, they always have atendency to continuously equip themselves with the latest knowledge of the Englishlanguage As for the older teachers, they always prove themselves to be experienced

In addition, they never set in their own ways; they try their best to keep up with thechanges and innovations of the new English world instead In a word, all the teachers

of English in my academy are not only experienced in teaching English but alsoattentive to the new trend in development of English worldwide What’s more, Theyare always highly appreciated because of their dedication and enthusiasm to theirstudents

2.1.3 Students and their background

First of all, in the Border Guard Academy, it is necessary to mention that thesubject of students in my school is diversified: they come from all parts of the countryand their age ranges from 18 to 45; many are experienced in their work while othersare green However, they have one thing in common – none of them specializes inEnglish English is a requirement in their curriculum and a tool in their work Inrecent years, English has increasingly been paid much attention because of its role inthe work as well as in the study, especially the study abroad The students haveinvested more in their studying English Nevertheless, because they live and work inthe army, they encounter a lot of difficulties, particularly those related to the lack ofmaterial resources and time.

2.1.4 The English teaching and learning in The Border Guard Academy

2.1.4.1 The syllabus of English teaching and learning

The main syllabus applied in the BGA is New Headway with 3 levels:elementary, pre-intermediate and intermediate Although this book was written a longtime ago, it still meets the current requirements of teaching and learning English Itfocuses on developing all four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing At thelevel of bachelor, the students only complete the book elementary for a duration of

150 periods, each of which lasts 40 minutes and 60 periods of English for SpecificPurposes (in the BGA, it is English for the Border Guards).The books pre-intermediate and intermediate are used for postgraduate students Besides that, otherbooks like PET, TOEFL, and IELTS are also used as reference ones for exams In aword, our academy has made great efforts to put forward a satisfactory syllabus ofEnglish for the students However, mistakes are inevitable, especially for the textbookEnglish for Specific Purposes because it was designed and written by the teachers ofEnglish in the academy, whose knowledge of border issues is insufficient

2.1.4.2 The English teaching and learning in the BGA

While in the past, mentioning studying English, the students always kept intheir mind that they necessarily acquired the grammatical rules with the book

streamlines, nowadays, both of the students and teachers have turned to the new trend

of teaching and learning English, that is developing the all 4 skills: reading, speaking,listening and writing Therefore, during the lesson, the students have become thecentre of attention They actively take part in the lesson and use English even outsidethe class, which has no precedents before The teachers play the role of instructing,controlling and encouraging the students As a consequence of this, the lesson hasbecome increasingly appealing and all the students have the chance to participate inlearning activities However, a number of students profoundly affected by inherentpassive learning habits and obeying attitudes in the army have been unavailable toadopt the new method of teaching and learning This requires the teachers to paymuch attention to make sure that all the student have the equal opportunities in theclass

2.2 Research methodology

2.2.1 Description of the subjects

The participants in the questionnaire survey are 100 fresh students in 4different groups, who has sufficient typical features of the students in the BGA Theyall graduated from high school and has served in the army for more than 1 year Athigh school, they did not take English seriously because they did not study it as asubject for the university entrance examination, therefore, their level of Englishseems to be the same The participants in the interviews are 12 students, all of whomare randomly chosen from the students taking part in the questionnaire and three ofwhom are considered the best students of English in the BGA who got from 5.5 to 6.5for IELTS

2.2.2 Data collection instruments

2.2.2.1 Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series

of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from

respondents Since invented by Sir Francis Galton, it has proved to have advantagesover others in that it is cheap and time-saving More importantly, it can helpresearchers to gather information from many people regardless of distance because itcan be conducted through emails or other indirect means of telecommunication Ofcourse, it cannot avoid drawbacks, the most prominent of which is its inauthenticity.Many respondents, especially the uneducated ones, hesitate to read and think over thequestions; therefore, their answers seem to be rash However, in my study, thisdrawback can be easily removed because the strict regulations in the army do notallow the students to be careless and dishonest in their answers As a result, thisinstrument was used to get information of the students’ attitudes to and ways oflearning English More importantly, it gave more insights into the existence of

learner ideal self in the mind of the learners when studying English A set of

questionnaires was handed out to the students when they had started their Englishsubject

2.2.2.2 Interview

An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions

are asked by the interviewer to elicit facts or statements from the interviewees For along time, it has been employed in qualitative research, assisting the researchers tohave a deep comprehension of reseach questions and discuss for further informationabout the items raised in the questionnaires In my study, with a view to finding out

the motivational factors, especially the role of learner ideal self that lead to their

success in English studying, the interpretive traditional and narrative email interviews(Clemente & Ramírez, 2008; Holliday, 2005; King & Horrocks, 2010; Lamb, 2009;Spolsky, 2000; Ushioda, 2001, 2009) were applied to 12 students, 3 of whom gotfrom 5.5 to 6.5 for IELTS, other 4 students have got good scores for the Englishexams and the others got the bad scores for the English exams at the academy

Narrative study has received increased attention in the fields of appliedlinguistics (Pavlenko, 2002) According to Pavlenko (2002), learner narratives allowthe researcher to “gain rare insights into learners’ motivations, investments, struggles,losses and gains … that guide their learning trajectories” (p 214) Pavlenko, amongothers, favors the use of narrative inquiry as a research method inquiring socialidentity She states that,

L2 learning stories …are unique and rich sources of information about therelationship between language and identity in second language learning andsocialization It is possible that only personal narratives provide a glimpse intoareas of private, personal, and intimate…and at the same time at the heart andsoul of the second language socialization process (p 167)

2.2.3 Procedures

Questionnaires were distributed to the students of the BGA, who agreed totake part in the research in July, 2014 After one week, all the figures from thequestionnaires were gathered and presented in tables for analysis

Having collected the questionnaires, I chose the students who haddistinguishable answers for interviews, both through emails and in person, whichwere carried out in August, 2014 Each personal interview, in which both interviewerand interviewees had a feeling of comfort and enthusiasm, occurred outside theclassroom and lasted about 7 minutes The communications between the interviewerand interviewees are like asking, telling about and listening to the learners’ stories ofEnglish studying Some participants who are fluent in English responded in English,the others were allowed to respond in Vietnamese and recorded for later summaryand judgment

2.2.4 Data analysis

The analysis is totally based on the data collected from the questionnaires andinterviews While analyzing, I tried to prevent my subjective opinions frominterfering in the research results and judgment.

2.3 Summary

This part has discussed the methodology with details of research setting andresearch methods All information of research objects and their relations have beenclearly presented Besides that, methods and procedure of research have also beenmentioned In the next chapter, data will be analyzed and findings will be discussed

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

In this chapter, all the data collected from the questionnaires and interviews

were presented and analyzed in response to the research questions The major results

of questionnaires were expressed in the form of tables Interview transcriptions were

presented in the form of reflective notes and summaries of field notes

3.1 Data analysis

3.1 1 Types of students’ motivation in English learning

As mentioned above, there have been four main phases of motivation study

However, in this study, the socio-dynamic period is particularly concerned.

Therefore, motivation here is categorized as three main components (Dörnyei, 2005):

ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experience.

The students’ reasons for studying Strongly Agree No Disagre Strongly

necessary for you in your

1 Ideal L2 job after you graduate

foreigners in English

English culture andpeople

abroad to study further

marks and/ or positive

remarks for your English

in or out of the class

2 Ought- expectations.

being looked down on forbeing bad at English

Learning compulsory subject in the

Experienc syllabus

e

Table 1: Students’ reasons for studying English

It can be generalized from the facts and figures on the table 1 that the first

component of ‘L2 Motivational Self System’ proposed by Dörnyei (2005), ideal L2

self, crossed in the students’ mind with its internalized instrumental motives (studying

English for the future job with 43% and communicating with foreigners in English

with 41% or purpose of going abroad for further study with 36%), and the learner’s

praised self image (getting good marks and positive remarks with 45%) , or other

aspects like their interest in English culture and people accounting for just 28%

Besides that, Ought-to L2 Self also proved its indispensable role through the presence

of extrinsic motives In detail, studying English due to their wishes to meet their

parents’ expectations and avoid possible negative outcomes took up quite high

percentages, respectively 50 and 42 percent The third component , L2 Learning

Experience, took the first place in the students’ reasons for studying English at the

highest rate of 77% In a word, the students responding to the questionnaires took into

consideration their ideal L2 self when it came to their reasons for studying English

although the number was below the average

In the interviews, the students (7 out of 12 interviewees) who usually got high

scores for their English tests and exams inclined to the view that it was their ideal self

that motivated them to make their best efforts to study English They always desired

to be like the ideal self they imagined For example, interviewee 6 laid a stress that

“all fields require certified proficiency in English.” (see more in appendix 3,

interviewee 6) Besides, the interviewee 3 also supported this idea when saying that

English was not only an efficient tool for their job but also a bridge connecting him to

an enormous source of knowledge in the world They also took the other aspects –

the ought to self and L2 learning experience into consideration However, their

attention to these were not much On the contrary, the interviewees who got average

or low scores seemed to take notice of the ought to self They studied English just

because they had no choice English was a mandatory subject, without which they

could not graduate from school Sadly, during the interview, interviewee 5 repeatedly

told that “ Given a choice between studying English and walking from the North to

the South of Vietnam, I will prefer the latter.” (appendix 3, interviewee 5)

In summary, the students participating in the survey kept in their minds all

three components of motivation Although the number of those having a high opinion

of the learner ideal self was not great, the students in the interviews responding

actively to it usually got some certain achievements in their English studying These

facts and figures may partly justify the role of learner ideal self to the learners’ results

in studying English

3.1.2 Factors affecting students’ motivation in English studying

Factors affecting students’ motivation in Strongl Agre No Dis- Strongly

self would like to become (a

good English speaker)