Nghiên cứu tình huống về động lực học tập ngôn ngữ thứ hai của sinh viên khiếm thị tại một trường đại học trên địa bàn hà nội​

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGÔ PHƯƠNG THANH SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING MOTIVATION: A CASE STUDY O

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

GRADUATE STUDIES

NGÔ PHƯƠNG THANH

SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING MOTIVATION:

A CASE STUDY OF STUDENTS WITH VISUAL

IMPAIRMENT AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI

(Nghiên cứu tình huống về động lực học tập ngôn ngữ thứ hai của sinh viên

khiếm thị tại một trường Đại học trên địa bàn Hà Nội)

MA THESIS – TYPE 1

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

HANOI – 2020

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST -

GRADUATE STUDIES

NGÔ PHƯƠNG THANH

SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING MOTIVATION:

A CASE STUDY OF STUDENTS WITH VISUAL

IMPAIRMENT AT A UINVERSITY IN HANOI

(Nghiên cứu tình huống về động lực học tập ngôn ngữ thứ hai của sinh viên

khiếm thị tại một trường Đại học trên địa bàn Hà Nội)

I hereby state that the paper is the result of my own work in partialfulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Art of Faculty at Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, VietnamNational University of Hanoi This research has not been submitted to any otheruniversities or intuitions

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited inthe library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, inaccordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan

or reproduction of the paper

Signature

Ngo Phuong Thanh

November 23, 2019

First and foremost, I am much honored to be supervised by Mr Mai NgocKhoi, to whom I would like to send my deepest gratitude It is him who gave me theconfidence to work on visual impairment students – the subject that brought me alot of inspiration I am too lucky to have you as my mentor It is obvious thatwithout your all-around supervision and guidance, this thesis could not be finished

In addition, all my heart is dedicated to my parents, who have been standing

by my side, giving me tender care and support to tirelessly work on this paper.Without you – my source of motivation, I would never have enough courage tofinish the research

Moreover, many thanks should go to my boy friend Mr Truong Hoang Longfor his continuous encouragement I fully appreciate your advice when I got lostwith my thesis

Besides, I would like to thank my class classmates for being my motivation

to complete this paper

Last but not least, the research is dedicated to me myself – the brave stronggirl who have gone through many struggles and constantly tried hard on this road Ideserve to be proud of myself

The purpose of this work is to explore the motivation of students with visualimpairment through their longitudinal L2 learning journey To this end, the researchwas conducted with two Vietnamese sightless learners at a University in Hanoi Thestudents‘ language learning autobiography and semi-structured interview wereemployed to collect data Three findings emerged from the data analysis Firstly,sightless students had clear goals for learning English such as to get an English –related job, to communicate with other L2 speakers or to enhance knowledge.Secondly,their motivated learning behaviours were impacted by L2 learningexperiences Thirdly,they recognized learning difficulties as a source of motivation.Based on the findings, the thesis strongly suggests that parents and teachers shouldempower sightless students to have a dream and shape their future L2 self byproviding them with a supportive and comfortable learning environment

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Motivation 5

2.1.1 Definitions of Motivation 5

2.1.2 Definition of L2 Motivation 5

2.2 Previous Research on Motivation and L2 Motivation 6

2.2.1 The History of Motivation Research 6

2.2.2 Traditional Approaches to L2 Learning Motivation 10

2.2.3 The L2 Motivation Revolution in the 1990s 12

2.2.4 Recent L2 Motivational Theories & The L2 Motivational Self System 16

2.3 Visual Impairment 20

2.4 Previous Research on L2 Motivation of Impaired Students 21

2.5 Previous Research on the Education of Visually Impaired Students in Vietnam .22

2.6 Research Gap 23

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 24

3.1 Research methodology 24

3.2 The setting of the study and participants 25

3.3 Data collection instruments and procedures 27

3.3.1 Language learning autobiographies 28

3.3.2 Interview 29

3.4 Data analysis methods 29

3.5 The Portrait of Participants 30

Summary 34

CHAP 4: FINGDINGS 35

4.1 Rationales for L2 learning 35

4.2 L2 learning experiences 43

4.3 L2 learning difficulties 48

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS & DISCUSSION 55

Conclusion 1 55

Conclusion 2 58

Conclusion 3 59

IMPLICATIONS 60

REFERENCES 64 APPENDICES I

Appendix A I

Appendix B V

Appendix C VI

Appendix D XIX

Appendix D XXXII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationales for the study

Along with research in the field of English language learning and teachinghistory, second language (L2) learning motivation has always brought great passionand interest to the researcher The researcher, through her teaching experience,realized that learning motivation plays a vital role in students‘ process of languagelearning Consequently, the researcher has insistently sought ways to motivate herstudents as well as enhance their positive learning experience This attempt drovethe researcher to do a study of L2 learning motivation

Moreover, the researcher believes that it is necessary to conduct a qualitativeresearch which presents a close look at individual learners by taking learners‘difference and identity into account It is undeniable that L2 learning motivation hasconstantly received noticeable attention of researchers and teachers However, themajority of researchon L2 learning motivation focuses only on the stable andgeneralized motives of learners (Zaragoza, 2011) For example, many studiesapplying quantitative approach investigate learners‘ contemporary motives in aspecific time and ignore their past and future motivation Besides, by collecting alarge range of participants, these studies try to single out the most noticeable andcommon motives but ignores learning differences and dynamic feature ofmotivation

Finally, it is the cases of students with visual impairment in the researcher‘sinstitution that urged her to do research on L2 language motivation of sightlesslearners In the context of Vietnam education, there are few language universities,such as University of Languages and International Studies, accepting students withvisual impairment Realizing their learning difficulties, especially when theseinstitutions have not provided enough support for these special learners, theresearcher decided to study their learning motivation that was believed to keep thempursuing L2 learning and overcome learning barriers Therefore, the recent research

brings in an insight into language learning motivation as well as learning barriers ofsightless students who are attending University of Languages and InternationalStudies as well as the researcher‘s institution The researcher conducted this paperaiming at investigating the L2 learning motivation through the lens of sightlessstudents as considering their L2 self and identity.

2 Statement of research questions

The research was conducted to seek the answers for the following question:What factors affect second language learning motivation of visually impairedstudents?

3 Aims& objectives of the study

First of all, the study aims to explore what motivate students with visualimpairment to learn L2 before and after they enter the University Secondly, it is toinvestigate what factors impact on their L2 learning motivation

4 Scope of the study

The aim of the study is to investigate the language learning motivation ofstudents with visual impairment in and outside classroom setting Therefore, the twovisually impaired students at University of Language in International Studies wereselected as the targeted population of the research The selection of core participantsbased on three criteria: visual impairment, previous academic background andwillingness to join the research The research was conducted at Faculty of EnglishLanguage Teacher Education of the university, which is the biggest provider ofEnglish teachers for the whole country Every student in this faculty is Englishmajor and future English teacher, so it is important for them to master Englishlanguage Moreover, this faculty accepts students with visual impairment andrecently there are some sightless students attending it Therefore, it might be thebest context to carry out the research of language learning motivation of visuallyimpaired students

5 Methods of the study

The study employs case study to investigate what motivate visually impairedstudents to learn L2 The research goals are achieved by means of qualitative data.The study was carried out by some steps as follows:

First, the language learning autobiography was employed to find out theirsecond language learning stories in the connection with learning motivation

Second, personal interviews with two students were conducted in order to:

 Study their rationales for learning

 Study their past and present learning experience to find out how L2 learning motivation was generated and changed

 Find out the difficulties in students‘ L2 language learning and theirimpacts on L2 motivation

Then, the data were collected, sorted and analyzed qualitatively to obtainrealistic results

To end with, pedagogical implications for enhancing students‘ motivation inL2 language learning was proposed based on the results found from all datacollection instruments

6 Significance of the study

The study is considered to be significant for some reasons Firstly, the resultswill, for a certain extent, help the English teachers and parents who are educatingand fostering visually impaired students raise awareness of the importance ofmotivation in L2 learning Secondly, the paper is expected to contribute information

on sightless students‘ L2 learning motivation, as the second language education forstudents with disabilities has not received enough concern Hopefully, the study willbring about the insight into language learning motivation and barriers of sightlessstudents to others who are learning or are going to learn the English language, andthen, encourage them to step forward on their English language learning journey

with essential preparation Finally, the study might be a source of material forstudents to study motivation in learning from the lens of sightless people.

7 Design of the study

This research consists of five chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter aims at stating the research problems as well as the significance

of the study, proposing questions to answer, and explaining the used methodology

Chapter 2: Literature review

This includes the explanation of key definitions of Motivation, L2 learningmotivation and L2 motivational self-system Moreover, it presents the review ondifferent previous works on Motivation and L2 Motivation to point out the researchgaps

Chapter 5: Conclusions

In this chapter, the three conclusions of the paper will be presented

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

of ―intricate and realistic situation‖ that motivation and motivational subsets occur

In spite of the inconsistency of the term definition, most researchers seem to agreethat motivation involves ―the choice of a particular action, the persistence with itand the effort expended on it‖ (Dornyei, 2000, p 520) In a broader sense, it isunderstood as the reasons, desire and willingness for acting in a certain way,according to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionaries Hence, a motivation study isthe study of why people think and behave as they do (Graham & Weiner, 2006)

2.1.2 Definition of L2 Motivation

Motivation was initially studied seriously in the language learning realm associal psychologist recognized its strong impact of social and cultural elements onlearners‘ academic achievement (Dörnyei, 2003) In the educational field, the mostinfluential motivation theory in second language acquisition is proposed by Gardner(2001) with the revised definition of motivation as ―a central element along withlanguage aptitude in determining success in learning another language in theclassroom setting‖ (p 2) Similarly, Crookes and Schmidt (1991) defined motivation

to learn a second language as the learner's orientation regarding the goal of learning

a second language According to the present author‘s knowledge, L2

motivation is concerned with the reason why a learner studies L2, the persistenceand willingess to pursue it and the desire to succeed in learning it Once more,

―Motivation, like the concept of gravity, is easier to describe (in terms of itsoutward, observable effects) than it is to define Of course, this has not stoppedpeople from trying it.‖ (Covington, as cited in Dornyei, 2001, p.7) Due to thecomplexity of motivation, the history of motivation in second language teaching andlearning has witnessed various debates when researchers study it

2.2 Previous Research on Motivation and L2 Motivation

2.2.1 The History of Motivation Research

In education and psychology fields, different researchers suggest their owndifferent way to approach students‘ motivation in acquisition second language.Hence, educators witness almost hundred motivational theories such asSocioeducational model (Gardner, 1985), Expectancy-Value Theory (Martin,1970s), Attribution Theory (Bernard, 1970s), so on and so forth According toGraham and Weiner (2006), ―the development of theory in the field of motivationhas had disparate impact at different points in history‖(p.63) Through the history ofscientific theories of motivation, a wide range of studies and practices haveemerged, developed and reformed In this chapter of the study, the researcher willprovide an overview of the growth and changes in this field

There are two main approaches toward motivation: ―Mechanistic approach‖and ―Cognitive approach‖ (Graham & Weiner, 2006) The mechanistic approach wasraised at the beginning of its history The theories belonging to the mechanistic period(1930-1960) try to understand ―what moved a resting organism into a state ofactivity‖, with heavy reliance on concepts such as instinct, drive, need, energisation,and homeostasis (Weiner, 1990) Pintrich and Schunk (2002) found out in their survey

of motivation in education that human behaviour was mainly perceived in manyprimary explanations as 'mechanistic', nonhuman action and following the principles oflaws of nature (as cited in Lamb, 2007) The two most noticeable theories of thisapproach, Hull‘s Drive theory and Lewin‘s Field Theory, had their

own formulas to measure human motivation According to Hull‘s Drive theory,when a response toward a stimulus was followed by a satisfying state of affairs, thestrength of the bond between that stimulus and response would be increased, andthen, formed a new habit Hence, he proposed a formula: Behaviour = Drive x habit.Lewin‘s Field Theory, on the other hand, stated that behaviour was determined byboth person and environment (Behaviour = f(P,E) It was agreed by Hull & Lewinthat motivated behaviour determined by needs of the person (tension/drive), apriority of the goal object, and a directional variable (Graham & Weiner, 2006).This period clearly brought influence upon most of the theories in L2 motivationthat formed later.

However, the 1960s brought about important changes The mechanisticviews of behaviourism went through the counter opinion of humanisticpsychologists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow Proposed by Maslow in

1970 (as cited by Dornyei, 2001), the famous ―Hierarchy of Needs‖ distinguishedbetween five basic classes of needs, which were defined as:

• physiological needs (e.g hunger, thirst, sexual frustration);

• safety needs (need for security, order and protection from pain and fear);

• love needs (need for love, affection and social acceptance);

• esteem needs (need to gain competence, approval and recognition);

• self-actualisation needs (need to realise one's potential and capabilities, and gain understanding and insight)

According to the hierarchy, physiologically based needs have to be satisfiedfirst, before we can strive for the deeper happiness and fulfillment that comes fromsatisfying our higher-level needs Hence, he stated that ―the central motivating force

in people's lives (unlike in rats' or dogs') is the self-actualising tendency, that is thedesire to achieve personal growth and to develop fully the capacities and talents wehave inherited.‖ (Dornyei, 2001, p.8)

In the second half of the 20th century, the ―cognitive revolution‖ inpsychology transformed our views of motivation; instead of being explained as

machines with instinct behaviours, ―humans were seen as essentially rationalcreatures guided by their own thoughts and beliefs about the world and their place

in it‖ (Lamb, 2007, p.19) As stated by Dornyei (2001), cognitive theories ―placesthe focus on how the individual's conscious attitudes, thoughts, beliefs, andinterpretation of events influence their behaviour; that is, how mental processes aretransformed into action ( ) In other words, whether people decide to do something

is determined first by their beliefs about the values of the action, and then abouttheir evaluation of whether they are up to the challenge and whether the supportthey are likely to get from the people and institutes around them is sufficient.‖ (p.8)

Within the overall cognitive view of motivation that characterises the field,there is a surprising number of alternative or competing sub-theories Created byDornyei (2001), the table below might provide the readers with an overview ofmotivation theories belonging to the cognitive approach

GOOD MAIN MAIN MOTIVATIONALTHEORIES MOTIVATIONAL

SUMMARIES TENETSAND PRINCIPLES

COMPONENTS

Motivation to perform variousBrophy Expectancy of tasks is the product of two keyExpectancy – (1999),Eccles success; the value factors the individual's expectancyvalue theory and Wigfield attached to success of success in a given task and the

(1995) on task value the individual attaches to

success on that task

Expectancy of

Achievement motivation isAchievement success, incentive

Atkinson and determined by conflictingmotivation values, need for

Aynor (1974) approach and avoidancetheory achievement, fear of

tendenciesfailure

Self-efficacy refers to people'sjudgment of their capabilities tocarry out certain specific tasks,Self – efficacy Bandura Perceived self- and, accordingly, their sense oftheory (1997) efficacy efficacy will determine their

choice of the activities attempted,the amount of effort exerted andthe persistence displayed

The individual's explanations (or

pastsuccesses and failures havefailures

occurred have consequences on

8

the person‘s motivation to initiatefuture action

Self-worth Covington Perceived self- People are highly motivated to

behave in ways that enhance theirtheory (1998) worth

sense of personal value and worth.Goal properties: Human action is caused byGoal setting Locke and specificity, purpose, and for action to taketheory Latham (1990) difficulty and place, goals have to be set and

commitment pursued by choice

Mastery goals (focusing on learningthe content) are superiortoperformance goals (focusing onGoal

Mastery goals and demonstrating ability and gettingorientation Ames (1992) good grades) in that they are

performance goalstheory associated with a preference for

challenging work, an intrinsicinterest in learning activities, andpositive attitudes towards learning.Intrinsic motivation concernsDeci and Ryan behaviour performed for its ownSelf- Intrinsic and sake Extrinsic motivation

(1985),determination extrinsic involves performing a behavior as

Vallerandtheory motivation a means to an end, that is, to

(1997)

receive some extrinsic reward or

to avoid punishment

Social Weiner A great deal of human motivation

Environmental stems from themotivation (1994),Wentze

influences socioculturalcontext rather thantheory l (1999)

from the individual

Attitudes exert a directiveTheory of Ajzen Attitudes, influence on behaviour, because

(1988),Eagly subjective norms, someone‘s attitude towards aplanned

andChaiken perceived target influences the overallbehaviour

(1993) behavioural control pattern of the person‘s responses

to the target

The reason for this diversity might lie on the variety of motives that can

As cited in Dornyei‘s research (2001), the spirit of the general psychology ofmotivation in this period was largely impacted by two sets of theories: ―expectancy-value theories‖ and ―attribution theories‖, which was initiated by Lewin's ―resultantvalence theory‖ and Atkinson's ―theory of achievement motivation‖ and Rotter's

―social learning theory‖ respectively The common principle behind the theories is

9

that "individuals maximize their hedonic pursuits by selecting those activities withthe highest likelihood of reaching the most valued goal" (Weiner, 1992) In otherword, people pursue activities they deem valuable and relevant to the personal goalsthat they desire to reach.

In a nutshell, the history of motivation research has proved the surprisingvariety of theories Despite its limitation, each theory has its own influence in thedevelopment of the field, and each has contributed to our understanding ofmotivation in its own unique way

2.2.2 Traditional Approaches to L2 Learning Motivation

Besides the development of motivation research, L2 learning motivationresearch shows an evolution from the social psychological explanation of theconnection between motivation and L2 achievement to the effort to establish a morecomprehensive accounting for the complex and multifaceted concept of motivation

in different contexts (Lee, 2001)

Early research in L2 motivation (from around 1960) witnessed thegermination of socio-psychological period, which includes the development ofmany theories Examples of such theories are Gardner and his colleagues‘ theory ofL2 motivation (e.g., Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Gardner & MacIntyre, 1993),linguistic self-confidence (e.g., Clément, 1980), intergroup model (e.g., Giles &Byrne, 1982) and acculturation theory (e.g., Schumann, 1978)

For about three decades until the late 1980s, the majority of significantresearch regarding motivation in L2 learning was stemmed and developed in asocial-psychological framework by two Canadian psychologists, Roh C Gardnerand Wallace E Lambert.The Socio-educational model of motivation developed byGardner and Lambert‘s (1970s) draws an important relationship between motivationand orientation or ―goal‖ In their view, "motivation refers to the combination ofeffort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorableattitudes toward learning and language‖ (Lee, 2001)

OTHER SUPPORT

INTERGRATIVENESS

OTHER FACTORS

MOTIVATION

ATTITUDE TOWARD LEARNING STUATION

LANGUAGE ACHIVEMENT

LANGUAGE APTITUTE

Basic Model of the Role of Aptitude and Motivation in Second Language

Acquisition (Gardner, as cited in Dornyei, 2001)

The authors proposed two terms that are commonly used in the field of

motivation: Integrative orientation refers to the positive disposition of an individual

to learn a language, its culture, and its community On the other hand, instrumental

orientation refers to the practical reasons of an individual to learn a language such

as being hired, getting a good salary, passing an exam and travelling abroad

After three decades of development with rare challenges, the psychological framework has to face with increasing criticisms According toKeblabi (n.d.), most criticisms were raised against the concept of integrativemotivation and its definition The notion of integrative motivation has no parallel inmainstream motivational psychology Dornyei (2005), on the other hand,categorized Gardner et al.‘s studies as ―macroperspective‖ as these researches havefocused on specific groups‘ L2 learning motivation, not on each L2 learner‘sindividual motivation This limitation might also be seen in the other studies whichrely on a quantitative approach

social-In all, at this stage of history of L2 motivation, Gardner proposed most of thetheories in L2 motivation (Guerrero, 2015) There were other theories aboutmotivation after Gardner and Lambert However, they also place the focus on theimportance of attitudes and feelings of language learners towards the L2communities and the L2.

2.2.3 The L2 Motivation Revolution in the 1990s

In the 1990s, there was a shift from a social psychological view ofmotivation to more educational and cognitive views The current spirit in L2motivation research is characterized by the cognitive approach, which intended to

―bring the focus of the investigation back to the psychological field emphasizingmainly cognition (or mental processes)‖ (Guerrero, 2015, p.98) In this period, thelearning contexts and the needs of the students and teachers in the classroom wereconsidered more significant than the community and the social context Such moveswere led by Crookes and Schmidt (1991) who called for a ―Reopening [of] theresearch agenda‖ of L2 motivation In this article, they urged language educators tolook beyond the dominant socialpsychological model of motivation and in particular

to question whether ―attitudes‖ or ―goal orientations‖ are good predictors of actuallearning behaviour:

―When teachers say that a studentis motivated, they are not usuallyconcerning themselves with the student's reason for studying, but are observing thatthe student does study, or at least engage in teacher desired behaviour in theclassroom and possibly outside"

(Crookes & Schmidt, 1991: 480)

According to Lee (2001), Crookes and Schmidt (1991) stated that the L2learner plays an active role at many levels of the learning process In this respect,they attempt to explain the relationship between motivation and L2 learning at fourdifferent levels:

(1) the micro level, which deals with motivational effects on the cognitive processing of L2 stimuli.,

(2) the classroom level, dealing with techniques and activities in motivationalterms;

(3) the syllabus level, at which content decisions come into play; and

(4) considerations relevant to informal, out-of-class, and long-term factors(p 483)

On the other hand, the researchers proved the limitation of Gardner's worksand other researches of social psychology framework by pointing out that thesestudies put too much focus on social dimension, and in effect, ignored otheressential aspects of motivation New L2 motivation constructs were proposed to fillthis gap and then, showed that there was more to motivation such as interest,relevance, expectancy, and outcomes Dornyei‘s (1994) framework of L2

motivation is an elaborate example:

LANGUAGE LEVEL Integrative motivational subsystem

Instrumental motivational subsystem

Course-specific motivational Interest (in the course)

Expectancy (of success)Satisfaction (one has in the outcome)Affiliative motive (to please the teacher)Teacher-specific motivational Authority type (controlling vs autonomy

Classroom goal structure (cooperative,competitive or individualistic)

In this framework, the researcher offered an extensive list of L2 motivationalcomponents, which is conceptualize into 3 components: language level, learnerlevel and learning situation level These levels represented integrative andinstrumental elements, individual characteristics and situation-specific motivesrooted in various aspects of L2 learning within a classroom setting respectively(Dornyei, 2001) According to Lee (2001), by reflecting three aspects of languages:the social dimension, the personal dimension and the subject matter dimension, thismode1 has added ―internal‖ and ―external‖ motivational factors to Gardnerianaccount of L2 learning motivation.

In his article ―Motivation in second and foreign language learning‖ (1998),Dornyei stated the framework‘s usefulness as it ―[emphasised] themultidimensional nature of L2 motivation, [pulled] together a number of differentlines of research and [provided] an elaborate enough specification of relevantmotives for the purpose of in-depth analysis of particular learning situations anddesign of intervention techniques to enhance them‖ (p.126).However, he alsopointed out that the list lacks an indication of anyrelationships between thecomponents; the components listed are quite diverse, and then, the framework alsolacks a goal componentand does not reflect sufficiently recent findingsin self-determination theory

Another comprehensive framework is proposed by Williams and Burden(1997), which categorized motivational components into internal factors andexternal factors

INTERNAL FACTORS EXTERNAL FACTORS

Intrinsic interest of activity Significant others

optimal degree of challenge teachers

Perceived value of activity peers

personal relevance The nature of interaction with significant anticipated value of outcomes Others

intrinsic value attributed to the activity mediated learning experiences

locus of control re: process and the nature and amount ofappropriate

ability to set appropriate goals Mastery punishments, sanctions

awareness of developing skills and resources

mastery in a chosen area

feelings of competence time of day, week, year

realistic awareness of personal The broader context

strengths and weaknesses in skills

required

personal definitions and judgements of wider family networks

success and failure

self-worth concern the local education system

learned helplessnessAttitudes conflicting interests

to language learning in general cultural norms

to the target language societal expectations and attitudes to the target language communityand

the 1990s has intrinsic motivation come to be the main focus in L2 motivationresearch Moreover, the role of teachers‘ impact on students‘ intrinsic and extrinsicmotivation, as well as, student autonomy has also become the main focus of recentL2 motivational research.

In conclusion, during this period there was a greater interest in learners andtheir learning experiences as opposed to the focus on the attitudes towards the L2 inthe previous period This focus possibly proved to be fundamental for otherresearchers in order to understand that L2 motivation was not only influenced bysocial and psychological aspects, but it was also influenced by more specific aspectsinside the classroom such as the curriculum, the syllabus, the learners‘ needs, andthe role of the teacher

2.2.4 Recent L2 Motivational Theories & The L2 Motivational Self System

As reviewed in the previous part, the history of motivation research shows anevolution from the mechanic view (which explained human behaviour as a responsetoward needs and environment) to the cognitive view (which stated humanbehaviour was guided by person‘s thought and belief) Along with motivationresearch development, L2 motivational theories witness the shift from social-psychology framework (which tried to investigate the relationship betweenmotivation to learn L2 with L2 environment) to recent approaches (which focusmore on learners‘ self and their learning experiences) It is obvious that the trend ofmotivation and L2 motivational science has been gathering in the personal self Inother words, motivation actively shaped through personal meaning-making,intentionality and reflexivity The reason lies behind this movement might be therealization that ―individuals and L2 motivation involve a dynamic process ratherthan the static conception previously considered‖ (Guerrero, 2015, p 110) Inaddition, it is widely agreed that ―learners are unique and possess differentpersonal, social, familiar, and professional characteristics that might influence theirmotivation towards the L2 learning process‖ (Guerrero, 2015, p 101) One of themost influential researchers of the recent study movement is Ushida (2009, as cited

in Gao & Lamb, 2017) who pointed out the limitation of previous researches is

―that they seek to make generalisable predictions about what kinds of motivationmight lead to what kinds of learning behaviour in what kinds of context, and thus toidentify what kinds of pedagogical intervention might be needed to changemaladaptive patterns of motivation and so improve learning behaviours andoutcomes.‖ One question is raised that whether these ―generalisable predictions‖are actually valuable and can be applied to all learner groups The answer isobviously not as each individual learner is different in their background, culture,characteristic, learning environment, learning goal and so on Realizing that in-depth investigation of L2 learning motivation from uniquely individual people‘sperspectives seems necessary, new generations of L2 motivational research haveemerged with three approaches: ―Person-in-context‖, ―the L2 motivational self-system‖ and ―Complex dynamic system‖ (Guerrero, 2015) The recent study, whichalso focuses on L2 learning motivation from each participant‘s personalperspectives, utilizes the second language (L2) Motivational Self System (Dörnyei,2005) as a frame of reference

In 2005, Dornyei proposed that the ‗L2 Motivational 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 theperson 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 betweenour actual and ideal selves Traditional integrative and internalised instrumentalmotives would typically belong to this component

(2) Ought-to L2 Self, which concerns the attributes that one believes oneought to possess to meet expectations and to avoid possible negative outcomes Thisdimension 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) This component

is conceptualised at a different level from the two self-guides (Dornyei, 2005)

According to Fellner, Apple and Silva (2017), L2 motivational self-systemmodel stems largely from the concepts of possible selves and Self-DiscrepancyTheory The model proposes that language learners are guided by visions of

―second language selves‖, one which attracts them toward becoming an idealizedL2 user (ideal L2 self) and one which pushes them from societal obligation or a fear

of failure (ought-to L2 self) In other words, ideal L2 self reflects desirable futureimages after attaining L2 proficiency referring to job stability, financial situation,and respect from others Ought-to self, on contrary, offers a self-guild to avoidnegative consequences such as failing an exam or disappointing one‘s parents To

be more specific, while the first concept relates to personal hopes, aspirations orwishes, the second one refers to parents, teachers, and social pressures Dornyei andUshida (2009) explained the assumption in the theory is that ―if proficiency in thetarget language is part and parcel of one‘s ideal or ought-to self, this will serve as apowerful motivator to learn the language because of our psychological desire toreduce the discrepancy between our current self and possible future selves‖ (p 4).For that reason, the imagination of what we want to become and what we need tobecome might foster a powerful motivation to reach our L2 learning goal In term ofL2 Learning Experience, it includes situation-specific motives such as thecurriculum, the L2 teacher, the peer group and the teaching materials, which canhave a strong influence on motivated behavior (Papi, 2010) Dornyei (as cited inAlshehri, 2013) described L2 learning experience as an independent source ofmotivation: ―For some language learners the initial motivation to learn a languagedoes not come from internally or externally generated self images but rather fromsuccessful engagement with the actual language learning process‖ (p 60) Moreover,

he also stated that L2 learning experience had an important role in creating andmaintaining the future visions of ideal and ought to self

The combination of these three dimensions, which could be summarized asthe learners‘ vision of themselves as L2 speakers, the social pressures from theoutside and a positive environment, are supposed to motivate to learn an L2 Byproposing the three dimensions (ideal self, ought to self and L2 learningexperience), Dornyei‘s (2005) model has shared a significant voice to explain L2motivation, in which individual selves are seen as a core value However, one of thelimitations of this theory lies in the lack of the relationship between its threecomponents.

Since L2 motivational self-system was introduced, it has been widely applied

in recent studies Huang and Chen (2017) believed that because of the globalization

of this modern age, learning English is an essential educational skill and its use isindependent of a clearly defined target community Hence, the L2 Motivational SelfSystem is now arguably more relevant than the construct of integrativeness Kim(2009) used L2 Motivational Self System as a framework of inquiry to clarify thetheoretical interface between Complex Dynamic Systems theory and Socialculturaltheory in L2 learning motivation In the article L2 Selves in Motivation to LearnEnglish as a Foreign Language: The Case of Taiwanese Adolescents, Huang andChen (2011) utilized the model as a frame of reference to investigate whetheradolescent English learners in Taiwan exhibit unique self-related motivationinfluenced by their socio-educational experiences related to English learning Alsobased on the notion of L2 Motivational Self System, Zaragoza (2011) analyzed howMexican learners were engaged in a bi- or plurilingual learning project, learningmore than one foreign language in order to build a plurilingual identity In addition,Madkhali (2016) applied Dornyei‘s model to examine what type of motivationmight lead to use English outside classrooms and what motivates them to learnEnglish language In all, almost all of the L2 motivational studies which usedDornyei‘s L2 motivational self-system as theoretical framework show theapplicability and practicability of it

To sum up, it can be said that Dörnyei‘s (2005) L2 Motivational Self Systemmodel is significant in explaining L2 motivation By putting a strong focus onlearner‘s self and identity, the model engages the motivation of particular ratherthan generalised learners Hence, the present study utilizes Dornyei‘s model as apowerful guideline to obtain a thick description and holistic understanding of visualimpairment students as well as their L2 motivation The two learners joining theresearch will be explored as the whole people (not abstract models), ― who bringparticular identities, histories, goals and motives; for whom learning a language isjust one small part of their lives; who are not just ‗language learners‘ and perhaps

do not see themselves in these terms.‖ (Ushida, 2009)

2.3 Visual Impairment

It is not difficult to define visual impairment According to Doctor Salvin(n.d.), the term describes ―any kind of vision loss, whether it's someone whocannot see at all or someone who has partial vision loss‖ Williams (n.d.) shared thesame idea when explaining the term as losing part or all of ability to see He alsoadded that this condition was permanent despite the intervention of eyeglasses,contact lenses, medication, or surgery On the other hand, they also agreed on thecauses of visual impairment as

- Amblyopia, or the lack of use of an eye in childhood

- Eye injuries, such as accidentally being poked in the eye at work

- Inherited conditions, such as retinitis pigmentosa

- Infections such as German measles and chlamydia that can be

transmitted from the mother to a fetus during pregnancy

In conclusion, the definition of visual impairment condition and its causes are highly agreed by experts

According to Tran (2008), Vietnam had a great number of the impairedpeople (about one million) This fact was caused by tough and prolonged wars andnature condition The majority of disable peopleare concentrated in rural andmountainous areas where their living conditions are still limited That makes it moredifficult for children with disabilities to be able to expose to L2 and have theopportunity to study L2 For that reason, L2 language learning of sightless studentsshould be received attention from the government, educators and parents.

2.4 Previous Research on L2 Motivation of Impaired Students

Even though motivation is acknowledged as being important in the education ofall students (Sideridis & Scanlon, 2006), relatively little research has been conducted

on the field for students with disabilities Among these studies, much of attention wasdrawn to the role of motivation in enhancement of impaired students‘ academicachievement.Margalit (2003) concluded that motivational cognitions, which

―mediate[d] the impact of stress from failure, might play a critical role in the healthyfunctioning of students with learning disabilities (LD) at school‖ Nelson and Manset –Williamson also contributed new information about the role of motivation towardstudents with LD In their experimental study, they pointed out that cognitiveintervention that concluded motivational components might influence students‘affective experience along with their achievement Sideridis, Morgan, Botsas,

Padeliadu andFuchs (2006), authors of the article Predicting LD on the Basis of

Motivation, Metacognition, and Psychopathology: An ROC Analysis, stated that

motivation was essential for teachers to understand reading comprehension difficulties

of learners with learning disabilities and provided recommendations for practice

On the other hand, ―there is some research that focused on providing ways

to foster L2 learning motivation of students with LD Weiser, in her Ways to

Motivate and Engage Students with Learning Disabilities article, provided

manyeffectivestrategiesandinstructionalroutines to help students with LD increasetheir motivation and engagement For instance, she discussed how to give feedbackand presented RAFT – writing – to – learn strategy and Think – Tac – Toe

activity.‖Besides, Jedynak (2010) provided suggestions for teachers to encourage L2learning motivation of visually impaired students In her study, one of the mostnoticeable points is that materials and in-class activity should be well-prepared toensure the suitability for sightless students These two studies emphasize theteachers‘ role but lack of concern about learners‘ autonomy and self-regulation On

the contrary, Csizér (2015), in his An investigation of the self-related concepts and

foreign language motivation of young Deaf and hard-of-hearing learners in Hungary study, paid attention to intrinsic motivation The study aimed to describe

the foreign language learning motivation of 14-19 year old learners with a severe orprofound hearing loss However, due to the large scale of the research (with 105participants), it could not present a deep understanding of motivational issuesrelated to self and identity

In terms of teaching L2 to sightless students, Coşkun (2013) believed in the

essence of training teacher to teach visually impaired learners His study English

Language Teaching for the Visually Impaired Learners: Training Non-native English Teachers presented key stages of an international project aiming to train

non-native English teachers in Turkey to become aware of the concept of using T3

as a vehicle for teaching English A similar study was done to introduce tools andaids for visually impaired learners such as screen readers, touch screens with voice,Braille devices, MP3 players, large print books, magnified screens, real objects and

so on (―Teaching English to Visually Impaired Learners‖, n.d.) In addition, thestudy also presented challenges of teaching English to the visually impaired,classroom tasks to avoid or adapt, useful communication skills to teach and tips forteaching sightless students

2.5 Previous Research on the Education of Visually Impaired Students in Vietnam

Beside the scarcity of international research on L2 learning motivation ofimpaired students, it is, also, hard to find a study on this topic conducted inVietnam However, there are some studies of the education of visually impaired

children in Vietnam The research Đại Cương Về Giáo Dục Trẻ Khiếm Thịhas a

detail and sufficient presentation of the sighted and education (Tran, 2008) It wasdivided into four main parts: the common issues of visually impaired children, skilldevelopment for the visually impaired, visual assistant system and Vietnameseeducation system for the sightless The first part seems to be the most noticeable one

as it provided profound insights of the sightless‘ mentality, cognition and language

as well as barriers related to these concepts However, the information wasgeneralized sometimes For example, when introducing features of the sightless‘mentality, the author concluded that they were shy, unconfident and passive incommunication It is undeniable that being sightless does not lead to theconsequence that they are reluctant to communicate In addition, early interventionfor children with visual impairments has been received noticeable attention from

educators in Vietnam In his research Technical Methods to Improve the Quality of

Early Intervention for Blind Children (Aged 0 through 6 Years) at Nguyen Dinh Chieu Special School – Da Nang City, Nguyen (2011) stated the essence of

enhancing the quality of early intervention for sightless children and presented sometechnical methods to fulfill the given goal

2.6 Research Gap

Due to the limited number of study on the topic, the recent research, whichhas a strong focus on the individual self, is hoped to make contribution tothe field ofL2 learning motivation of students, particularly those with visual impairment inVietnam Secondly, while other researchers studied specific group‘s L2 learningmotivation, the researcher will try to analyze each L2 learner‘s individualmotivation By relying on a qualitative approach, the recent research can avoidbeing macro perspective as the previous studies which applied the quantitativedesign Finally, as the researcher mentioned before, many previous works of L2motivation mainly paid attention to the stable and generalized motives of learners‘motivation to learn L2 but neglected the complexity and dynamic of motivation Inthis research, the researcher will delve into the lifelong experience with L2 of the

learners through the lens of L2 motivational self-system framework and throughautobiography instrument, and then, point out the movement in their L2 motivation.

In this study, the researcher narrows the focus to two participants In order toexplore carefully their L2 learning motivation, a case study is applied to lookclosely at contexts, people, and change over time (Casanave, 2010).The studyemploys case study to investigate how visually impaired students perceive L2learning motivation The research goals are achieved by means of qualitative data.Among kinds of designs, the researcher chose a case study for this study because itprovides an in-depth and detailed analysis of a particular case or a subject.According to Birnbaum, Emigand Fisher (2005) the main advantage of case studies

is that they allow the researcher to focus on the individual in a way that is rarelypossible in group research Case studies successfully ―provide insights into thecomplexities of particular cases in their particular contexts‖ (Birnbaum, Emig&Fisher, 2005, p 127).Therefore, a case study is a suitable design for the recent study

as the aim of the study is to conduct an in-depth exploration of the participants‘specific learning motivation It is noteworthy that the subjects of this study aresightless students who might have uniqueness in learning experience, learningdifficulties and sources of motivated behaviours By applying case study, theresearcher was able to shed light on their unique difficulties in learning English andlearning experiences Moreover, this case study brought the researcher a goodopportunity to provide thick description of the participants‘ L2 learning motivation.Finally, it was useful to compare and contrast the sources of motivated learningbehaviors between the two sightless students Specifically, the present author useslanguage learning autobiography and semi-structuredinterview to investigate L2motivation of sightless students

Ha language learning autobiography Semi-structured interviewHang

3.2 The setting of the study and participants

For the last two years, the researcher has been employed as an Englishlanguage lecturer in two different universities in Hanoi She has taught hundredsstudents with various backgrounds, characteristics, learning behaviours and sources

of motivation While applying different methods to motivated her students andimprove their academic achievement, she recognized that there was no singlemethod or technique that can be applied to all students Also, each language learner

is a unique self and has different learning motivation Hence, the curiosity andpassion for L2 learning motivation and learning differences have gradually emergedand urged the author to do research on these topics Accidently, her mentor and herbest friend as well as her colleague informed her that there were sightless studentsstudying at a language university in Hanoi It is noteworthy that there are a few

impaired students who can actually pursue their L2 learning journey until

university The author believed that there might be a great motivation which drives

them to persiston learning despite their disability That thought urged the author to

conduct a motivation research on these high achieving learners Consequently, she

decided to recruit them as participants of her motivation research

The research was conducted at Faculty of English Language Teacher

Education of a University in Hanoi To select core participants, the researcher set up

three criteria: visual impairment, previous academic background and willingness to

join the research In terms of previous academic background, the author selected

participants those had the different previous academic backgrounds because the

author wanted to see how different learning experiences might effect to each

individual learners‘ motivation As regards to willingness, as the data was collected

through interview and language learning autobiography, participants need to be

willing to share deeply about their L2 learning For the mainpurpose of this study,

two visually impaired learnersattending this university were selected

In terms of their impairment condition, the two participants cannot see at all

Hang is congenitally blind Ha, on the other hand, lost all of her ability to see when

she was seven due to the degeneration of her eyes As they are sightless, their

learning, generally, is different from normal students They use Braille writing

devices to write and Braille documents to read They also have a recorder to record

lessons Since they were able to use laptop, they can type out lessons‘ content and

make use of software that supports screen reading such as Jaws and NVDA

Thesoftware transmits texts displayed on the computer screen into auditory or tactile

format In terms of learning English, the two participants think that the most

effective way to self-study islistening to English stories, songs and movies then

notingdown new words and repeating after these inputs They also practice speaking

skill by talking with classmates and foreign friends The most noticeable difficultywhen learning L2 is reading skill as they cannot see at all The support of screenreaders is limited because not all of learning materials are soft copy available andformat – supported.

3.3 Data collection instruments and procedures

In the present study, language learning autobiography and semi-structuredinterview were employed as data collection instruments

As the participants of the recent research are quite special, the researchertried to find data collection instruments that are subtle but are able to get richinformation also Clearly, language learning autobiographyis asuitable choice It isundeniable that writing is the best way to tell a story, and at the same time, conveythoughts, feelings and ideas Novel and diary are cases in point Through writingautobiography, the two participants had an opportunity to recollect second languageexperience, and then, shared their stories meticulously and honestly They mightfeel comfortable while writing about their L2 learning journey as they did itprivately and they fully took control of what they want to share without theinterference of the researcher.As Kim (2007) stated, language autobiography canprovide an emic perspective (an insider‘s subjective view) which served as a lifenarrative By that way, the researcher can grasp their lifelong experience withlanguage learning and understand how their previous experiences had influencedtheir current level of L2 learning motivation

As Kvale (1996) notes, qualitative interview ―attempts to understand theworld from the subjects‘ point of view‖ (p 6), hence it helps researchers get detailsand in-depth subjective information (Carolyn &Palena, 2006) This advantage fitsthe recent research because its aim is to investigate the L2 motivation from the lens

of sightless students In addition, interview is a flexible and effective method tocollect qualitative data because it helps the researcher to dig deep into any complexand interesting information by keep asking questions around specific points.Furthermore, the environment outside the classroom while collecting information

using interviews is comfortable and relaxing for interviewees, especially when theymight be shy and reluctant to share about their disability and learning barriers.Finally, an interview enables the researcher to investigate students‘ L2 learningmotivation from a longitudinal perspective (past and present learning experiences).Regarding this merit, an interview is a suitable choice for the researcher to gatherthe data.

In conclusion, language learning autobiography enabled the researcher tocollect the participants‘ lifelong L2 learning experience and learning motivation.Interview, on the other hand, helped the researcher to dig deep into interesting andvaluable information that she had collected from language learning autobiography

3.3.1 Language learning autobiographies

First, the participants were asked to write an autobiography of their L2learning journey The researcher did not require them to follow any given formatbut provide them a list of guideline questions:

- What is your very first English learning experience? How do you feelabout it?

- Why do you study English? Do you have any learning goal ormotivation?

- Do you have any learning barriers?

- Have you overcome these barriers? How?

- Are there any differences in your learning experiences (before and after you entered the University)?

- What / Who affected your learning motivation? How?

By that way, they can freely express their story along with their perception,idea and feeling without being affected by the researcher They were instructed towrite about their L2 learning history since their early childhood and express howtheir previous learning experiences had influenced their current level of L2 learningmotivation They typed their language learning autobiography on their laptop and

then, sent them to the researcher‘s email address The data then was collected andinvestigated before their interview All the autobiographies were written in English

3.4 Data analysis methods

As stated above, the data collection instruments were language learningautobiographies and semi-structured interviews The data set was then analysed.Thematic analysis (Merton, 1975) is followed According to Braun and Clarke(2006), ―thematic analysis provides a flexible and useful research tool, which canpotentially provide a rich and detailed, yet complex account of data‖ As highlightedbefore, the aim of the study is to conduct an in-depth exploration of the participants‘specific learning motivation; hence, thematic analysis is suitable for this purpose.Moreover, thematic analysis is ―a process of coding the data without trying to fit itinto a pre-existing coding frame, or the researcher‘s analytic preconceptions‖ (Braun

& Clarke, 2006, p.83).Hence, thematic analysis can guarantee the reliability andobjectiveness of the result

First, the researcher read through the entire data set several times and then,searched across the data set to find repeated patterns of meaning At this very firststage, there were some ideas, identification of possible patterns were shaped andemerged such as learning environment, perception of L2 language learning and

learning experience These meanings were then noted down and made ideas forcoding Then, the researcher coded data by writing notes on the texts and taggingand naming selections of text within each data item Because the researcher did notwant to miss any interesting ideas, she coded for themes relating to the topic (such

as integrative / instrumental motivation, identity, learning difficulty, culture interest,extrinsic / intrinsic motivation, learning experience and rationales for learning) Theresearcher sorted the different codes into potential themes, and collated all therelevant coded data extracts within the identified themes At the end of this phase,the researcher had a collection of main themes (rationales for learning, learningexperience and learning difficulties), and sub-themes, and all extracts of data thathad been coded in relation to them These three themes were chosen because theywere the most prevalent themes across the data set, and, together they captured animportant element of the participants‘ L2 learning motivation After that, the authorreviewed the themes by reading all the collated extracts for each theme to make surethey appeared to form a coherent pattern The recent author also checked theirrelevance to the framework L2 motivational self – system

3.5 The Portrait of Participants

In the following part, the researcher is going to present the portrait of the twoparticipants by analyzing the data taken from their learning autobiography and semi-structured interview

Ha: A girl with determination

It is noteworthy that Ha, a last-year student, had an impressive academicperformance She shared that she rarely had any bad mark, despite the fact that shewas studying at one of the top Universities of languages in Vietnam:

Excerpt 1: Ha’s interview

Sometimes, I got bad points Actually, I considered them as bad

points, but they are not too low Because normally my points are

pretty well, but they are always the same Therefore, I was not

being satisfied with myself

Ha expressed herself as a small gentle girl but having a strong will To her,her visual impairment is not a disadvantage but a difference, hence, she wants toreceive the same learning condition with others and fair evaluation, not priority.

Excerpt 2: Ha’s language learning autobiography

My visual disability seems to make me different from other peers

in my university I do not consider it a shortcoming; it is just a

difference I receive the same education and assessment as other

students although this difference brings me some disadvantages in

studying

Born and raised in Hanoi, she is lucky to be able to access to English earlyand keep pursuing her language learning road despite the limited opportunities forL2 learning of sightless people The first time she exposed to English was 18 yearsago and from then on, English has been her thing

Excerpt 3: Ha’s language learning autobiography

Look back to 18 years ago, when I was a four-year-old girl, I

started learning English by usually sitting next to my cousin and

listen to what his sister taught him To be honest, at first, I had no

particular purpose of learning English I joined my cousin‘s lessons

because I had not got anybody to play with while he was busy

studying In another word, I learnt English for fun By this way,

English was subconsciously absorbed, and since those days, my

love for English emerged Having begun with a limited number of

vocabulary and structures, I, day by day, got used to making

simple conversations in English My first communicative partner

was no one else, but my cousin

Not only interested in learning English, but Ha also had a dream to become

an English teacher She mentioned in her interview that she understood thelimitation on her opportunity; hence, she had to try her best to overcome allchallenges From her first talk to the researcher, she showed her identity as an