Attitudes toward the use of tell tools in english language learning among vietnamese tertiary english majors

The findings are that the majority of students have positive attitudes towards the use of TELL tools and the frequency of using these tools is very high.. In addition, the results also r

581

Learning among Vietnamese Tertiary English Majors

Tran Quoc Thao, Duong My Tham, Huynh Thi Thien Ngan*

Abstract: Technology plays a crucial role in the self-guided learning of a second language

in general and English in particular Nevertheless, many students in different contexts still ignore the application of technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) tools in enhancing their foreign language proficiency Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the attitudes towards the use of TELL tools in English-language learning (ELL) among English majors at one university in Vietnam To collect data, 197 English majors participated in finishing the questionnaire, and 20 students were invited to join the interviews The findings are that the majority of students have positive attitudes towards the use of TELL tools and the frequency of using these tools is very high In addition, the results also reveal that there is no significant difference in attitudes towards and frequency

of using TELL tools in learning English in terms of the year of study However, students of different levels of academic achievements have different attitudes towards using TELL tools and use TELL tools to learn English differently

Keywords: Attitude; English Major; English Language Learning (ELL); TELL; Vietnam

Received 2 nd May 2019; Revised 16 th July 2019; Accepted 20 th October 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33100/jossh5.5.TranQuocThao.etal

1 Introduction



It is widely acknowledged that

technology have exerted profound

influences on all sectors, including

education As such, not only do innovative

technologies have potential to evolve

pedagogical practice, but they also

completely transform entire learning

environments (Groff 2013) What is more,

the development of technology has resulted

 Tran Quoc Thao, Faculty of English language - Ho Chi

Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH);

email: tq.thao@hutech.edu.vn

Duong My Tham, Nong Lam University - Ho Chi Minh

City

Huynh Thi Thien Ngan, Faculty of English language - Ho

Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH)

in radical changes in language teaching and learning, especially English language (e.g., Amiri 2012; Warschauer 2000) Accordingly, many hi-tech products, such as laptops, desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones have been used for different purposes As a result, the appearance of technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) is necessary and inevitable

It is noted that several factors, namely instructional method, aptitude, age and affective variables (e.g attitude, motivation,

& empathy) are considered significant in language learning Research on the effectiveness of instructional methods shows that there is no superior or ideal method compared to any other approach in education (Midraj 1998) Nevertheless,

examination of affective factors such as

attitudes could provide fruitful insights into

the complex issues that are critical to

success in language acquisition (Midraj

1998)

In the context of Vietnam, in alignment

with enhancing the quality of English

language teaching, the Vietnamese

government has invested in computers in

schools nationwide, and teachers are

encouraged to apply technology into their

teaching instead of using traditional practice

(Peeraer and Tran Nu Mai Thy 2012)

According to some studies conducted in

Vietnam (e.g Huynh Huu Thanh, 2016; Tri

Hoang Dang and Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung,

2014), TELL is an effective tool in learning

and enhancing skills of language learning

English as foreign language It provides

learning efficiency, effectiveness as well as

motivation More importantly, students tend

to have positive attitudes towards modern

technologies and think that technologies

make them proficient in learning EFL and

EFL acquisition can be increased through

TELL On the other hand, the research on

TELL conducted by Mitchell (1992)

indicates that the attitude of learners towards

TELL plays a vital role in language

acquisition Unfortunately, although there

are many studies carried out to explore the

effects of technology to language learning in

Vietnam, the use of technology in English

language education across educational levels

remains vague For this end, this study aims

at exploring English majors’ attitudes

toward the use of TELL tools in English

language learning (ELL) at the context of a

university in Vietnam The following

research questions need to be addressed:

i What are the attitudes towards the use

of TELL tools in ELL among Vietnamese

tertiary English-majors?

ii To what extent do Vietnamese English majors use TELL tools in their ELL?

iii Are there any differences in Vietnamese English majors’ attitudes towards the use of TELL tools in learning English and their use of TELL tools in terms

of year of study and academic achievement?

If so, how?

2 Literature review

It is noticed that technology is anideal assistant to enhance students’ learning English (e.g., Afshari 2007; Hartman 2008; Higgins 2012; Tran Quoc Thao 2018; Tran Quoc Thao and Duong My Tham 2018) According to Afshari (2007), technology not only enhances interpersonal and communication skills but also provides opportunities for cooperative learning Hence, the use of technology will increase instructional effectiveness and efficiency Technology also provides ESL/EFL learners with tools which can allow self-learning (Higgins 2012) The use of technology aided instruction tools also makes ESL/EFL learners stay in control of what they learn

At the same time, technology tools also promote positive social interaction and enhance students’ motivation for learning

In line with this ideal, Hartman (2008) states that institutions need to develop a systemic approach for technology-based teaching that provides many of the essential elements for success, sustainability and quality

What is more, the barrier of location for people in different parts of the world has been broken down by some latest technology such as the Internet, mobile devices, etc (Çağıltay and Seferoğlu 2009) Accordingly, ESL/EFL learners can communicate as well as interact with

English speakers from all over the world

Additionally, the use of technology in

educational institutions helps ESL/EFL

teaching and learning become faster and

easier than ever before Students can learn at

anywhere, and teacher can teach their

students from anywhere As such, new

emerging educational technologies are

changing the way people learn ELL has

become more flexible and fun Hence,

students will not get bored while learning In

other words, these educational technologies

help improve ESL/EFL learners’ attitudes,

which are considered as one of the most

important factors in ELL as discussed

above ESL/EFL learners learn English not

only because of the necessary of it, but also

because they love it

Previous studies (e.g., Barker et al 2005;

Cavus & Ibrahim 2008; Eskandari & Rahimi

2012; Huertas 2014; Korkmaz 2010;

Kukulska-Hulme 2006; Lee 2001; Murday

et al 2008; Pun 2013) have shown that

different aspects of technology in language

education have been conducted in different

contexts In 2010, Monerah carried out a

study examining college ESL students’

attitudes towards the use of technology in

classrooms A questionnaire including both

open-ended and closed-ended questions was

administered to 50 college ESL students

This study indicated that participants’

attitudes were generally positive towards the

use of technology in classroom, and they

believed that technology was a very

important tool to assist in improving their

learning and make them more successful in

class Orachorn (2015) carried out a study

on 192undergraduate students’ attitudes

towards using computers as a learning tool

at one university The findings indicated that

participants realized the usefulness of using

computers as a learning tool, as can be seen

from their positive attitudes, and most of the

respondents liked to utilize computers in their language learning because they could look for information necessary for their studies Recently, Siros and Mansooreh (2016) did a study investigating 638 Iranian high school EFL students’ viewpoints on the use of technology in their ELL They found that participants had positive attitude towards using technology to study English skills such as speaking, listening, reading and writing skills, as well as to improve their vocabulary and grammar Moreover, participants indicated that learning English with the assistance of CALL was more interesting than learning in a traditional way The students admitted that they felt motivated to learn when CALL was used in class

In the context of Vietnam, a number of studies on this area were found Tri Hoang Dang and Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung (2014) conducted a study investigating 149 English majors’ use of ICT in ELL at a university The study found that research participants indicated their positive attitudes towards the use of ICT in ELL and they wanted to use ICT more often in class In 2016, Huynh Huu Thanh did a study examining the application of technology in ELL among

250 English-majors at a university in Vietnam The results indicated that the application of technology in teaching and learning languages was in the process of introducing technology into the classroom

At the same time, this study also confirmed that IT brought a revolution to teaching and learning foreign languages

3 Methodology

Research setting and participants

This study was conducted at the Faculty

of English language of one university in Vietnam This university has more than 200 classrooms, 60 experimental centres,

workshops, and simulation rooms of

international standards, and the Faculty of

English language has more than 50 EFL

lecturers (including full-time and part-time

ones) and around 500 English majors Each

classroom is equipped with a speaker

system, a LCD television or a projector, and

the university campus has many Wi-Fi

networks, which are free and open to all

The purposively sampled participants were 197 English majors from 1st to 4th year The rationale for choosing the purposive sampling is that this method can generate a target group of participants as expected The following Table 1 describes the participants’ general information

Table 1: Participants’ general information

2 Year of study

3 GPA

Less than 2.0 21 10.7

4 Preference of using

TELL tools

Computer (desktop computer or laptop) 82 41.6 Smartphone (or tablet) 115 58.4

Note: F: frequency; %: Percent

Besides, 20 out of 197 participants (8

males: 40%; 12 females: 60%) were invited

for semi-structured interview Among them,

interviewees from each academic year

accounted for 25% of the total number of

interviewees, and all interviewees are

voluntary

Research instruments

Two instruments, viz questionnaire and

semi-structured interview, were employed to

collect the data The questionnaire, which

was adopted and adapted from previous

studies (Chiu 2003; Ghrieb 2015), aimed to

investigate the attitudes towards the use of

TELL tools in ELL among English-majors

It consists of 30 questions and has three parts: Part I asking about participants’ personal information and the realities of using TELL tools in ELL; part II with 14 items in the form of a five-point Likert scale

(Strongly disagree to Strongly agree)

finding out participants’ attitudes toward sthe use of TELL tools in ELL; part III with

10 items using a five-point Likert scale

(Never to always) exploring about frequency

of using TELL tools in ELL The questionnaire was translated in Vietnamese

so that the respondent did not have any

difficulties in understanding the questions

The Cronbach Alpha of this questionnaire is

.87 This indicates that the reliability of the

questionnaire is very high

Regarding the semi-structured interview

which was designed based on the research

objectives, there are seven questions

Data collection and analysis procedures

Before the main study took place, the

questionnaire and semi-structured interview

were conducted with ten students who had

similar characteristics with those in the main

study, in order to assure that the research

instruments were clear and valid The main

study started with a question administered to

200 English majors; however, only 197

copies were returned Semi-structured

interviews were then carried out with five

focus groups (20 participants); Vietnamese

was used for all interviews which were

recorded for later transcription

With respect to data analysis, the

quantitative data generated from 197

questionnaires were analysed by SPSS

software version 22 in terms of means,

standard deviation, frequency and ANOVA

test The score interval for mean scores of is

interpreted as 1.00 - 1.80: Strongly agree/

Never; 1.81 - 2.60: Disagree/Rarely; 2.61 -

3.40: Neutral/Sometimes; 3.41 - 4.20:

agree/Always Meanwhile, the qualitative

data gained from semi-structured interviews

were analysed by the method of content

analysis Each interviewee was coded as S1,

S2 to S20

4 Results and discussion

4.1 Results

4.1.1 English majors’ attitudes toward using

TELL tools in ELL

As seen from Table 2, the total mean

score is very high (M=4.08; SD=.26) This

means that English majors’ attitudes toward using TELL tools in ELL are very positive

Table 2: Attitudes toward using TELL tools in ELL

n=197

Attitudes toward using TELL tools

in ELL

Note: M: mean; SD: Standard deviation

This information is supported by interviewees’ comments Most of them expressed their positive attitudes toward TELL They mentioned about the necessity, usefulness and important role of TELL tools

in ELL They stated:

… I find it is really necessary to use TELL tools in my ELL… (S4)

…TELL tools play an important role in promoting my English skills… (S11)

…I think TELL tools are very useful… (S8)

Nevertheless, many disadvantages of TELL tools were also noted Some of interviewees shared that:

… there are too much learning English apps, so I feel quite difficult to choose the apps that are really effective and available to me… (S3)

…it takes lots of time to find out how to use some TELL tools because I do not know technology well… (S1)

…I think it is not good for my health when using TELL tools for a long time… (S20)

Specifically, as regards Table 3, English majors strongly agreed that “Using TELL tools helps [them] to make an effort to learn

English” (item L4: M=4.13; SD=.45)

Besides, participants agreed that using

TELL tools helped them to improve English

knowledge (item L2: M=4.12; SD=.55), and

finish assignments more straightforwardly

(item L8: M=4.12; SD=.38) They also

thought that using TELL tools “is very

necessary for [them] in learning English”

(item L1: M=4.09; SD=.66), “enhances

[their] English skills (item L3: M=4.09;

SD=.45), “helps [them] to learn English by

[themselves] in an active way” (item L5: M=4.06; SD=.34), “helps [them] to explore other cultures (item L6: M=4.04; SD=.39), and “makes [them] update new English materials (item L7: M=4.10; SD=.34) This illustrates that the participants, generally speaking, had positive learning attitudes toward using TELL tools due to the huge benefits brought by them

Table 3: Learning attitudes toward using TELL tools in learning English

n=197

L1 Using TELL tools is very necessary for me in learning English 4.09 66

L2 Using TELL tools improves my knowledge about English language 4.12 55

L3 Using TELL tools enhances my English skills 4.09 45

L4 Using TELL tools helps me to make an effort to learn English 4.13 45

L5 Using TELL tools helps me to learn English by myself in an active

L6 Using TELL tools helps me to explore other cultures 4.04 39

L7 Using TELL tools makes me update new English materials 4.10 34

L8 Using TELL tools in learning English makes me finish my

Note: M: mean; SD: Standard deviation

In addition, almost all interviewees

mentioned that TELL tools were really

useful in their ELL, especially their English

skills and knowledge of English grammar

They commented as follows:

…since using TELL tools, my English

skills have been improved significantly…

(S2)

…TELL tools help me a lot in learning

English… (S7)

… I can do my exercises more quickly thanks to TELL tools For example, using electrical dictionary help me save time, and some search engines like Google, CocCoc or Yahoo help me find out information on any subject I need… (S6)

With respect to participants’ enjoyment attitudes towards using TELL tools in ELL, the results in Table 4 indicate that participants agreed that they “like using

TELL tools in learning English” (item E9:

M=4.05; SD=.38), and they believed that

using TELL tools makes “[their] learning

English more interesting” (item E10:

M=4.12; SD=.39) and English lessons

“easier to understand” (item E11: M=4.09;

SD=.39) and “more vivid” (item E12:

M=4.07; SD=.39) Additionally, respondents

thought that using TELL tools in learning

English “helps [them] gain new English

knowledge more easily’ (item E13: M=4.17; SD=.21) and “enhances social interaction in classroom” (item E14: M=3.91; SD=.49) In general, the mean scores of participants’ enjoyment attitudes toward using TELL tools are high, which means they really liked and felt comfortable as well as interested when applying TELL tools in learning English

Table 4: Enjoyment attitudes toward using TELL tools in ELL

E9 I like using TELL tools in learning English 4.05 38

E10 Using TELL tools makes my learning English more interesting 4.12 39

E11 Using TELL tools makes English lessons easier to understand 4.09 32

E12 Using TELL tools makes English lessons more vivid 4.07 28

E13 Using TELL tools in learning English helps me gain new English

E14 Using TELL tools in learning English enhances social interaction in

Note: M: mean; SD: Standard deviation

Results from interview were also similar

to these findings Most interviewees found it

interesting to use TELL tools in learning

English They stated:

…I really like using TELL tools… (S2)

…I love learning English thanks to

TELL tools… (S5)

…using TELL tools help me learn

English more easily… (S13)

4.1.2 English majors’ frequency of using

TELL tools in learning English

The results in Table 5 reveal that the total

mean score of frequency of using TELL

tools in learning English is 3.66 out of 5,

which is relatively high This implies that

English majors used TELL tools at a high frequency for various purposes of their English language development

Table 5: Total mean score of frequency of using

TELL tools in ELL

n=197

Note: M: mean; SD: Standard deviation

This information was backed up by respondents’ comments in the interviews In particular, it was found that 7 (35%) students always used TELL tools, 8 (40%)

students often used TELL tools, 3 (25%)

students sometimes used TELL tools, and

only 2 (10%) students rarely used TELL

tools for their English learning purposes For

example, they commented:

… I always use TELL tools to learn

English because it is really useful… (S7)

… sometimes I use TELL tools to help

me do the exercises more quickly… (S20)

…I rarely use TELL tools become I do

not get used to using modern devices…

(S16)

…I often use TELL tools in learning

English… (S15)

Specifically, it is found in Table 6 that

participants sometimes used TELL tools to

“practice English pronunciation” (item U6: M=3.28; SD=.68), “learn English pronunciation” (item U5: M=3.29; SD=.69), and “prepare for international English tests (e.g., IELTS, TOEIC, TOEFL, etc.)” (item U10: M=3.32; SD=.78) Additionally, activities that they often used TELL tools are to enhance listening skill (item U1: M=3.81; SD=.56), speaking skill (item U2: M=3.76; SD=.56), reading skill (item U3: M=3.77; SD=.65), and writing skill (item U4: M=3.91; SD=.69), and learn vocabulary (item U7: M=3.42; SD=.53) and grammar (item U8: M=3.61; SD=.53) Most significantly, participants always used TELL tools to search materials for English learning purposes (item U9: M=4.38; SD=.63)

Table 6: Frequency of using TELL tools in learning English

U9 search materials for English learning purposes 4.38 63

U10 prepare for international English tests (e.g., IELTS, TOEIC,

Note: F= frequency; %: percent

Qualitative data from interviews also are

in alignment with the above-mentioned

results It is found that majority of

respondents used TELL tools for different

ELL purposes (e.g., improving language

skills, preparing for international English tests) with different frequencies As an instance, they mentioned:

… I often use TELL tools to improve all

of my English language skills… (S19)

…I mainly use TELL tools for English

speaking and listening… (S5)

…I prepare for IELTS through the

online course websites, and I also download

IELTS practice tests… (S4)

4.1.3 Differences in attitudes toward and

frequency of using TELL tools in ELL in

terms of years of study and in terms of

academic achievement

As for the participants’ year of study, the results from one-way ANOVA presented in Table 7 show that there were no significant differences in participants’ attitudes toward (F=2.292; p=.079) and frequency of using TELL tools in learning English (F=.673; p=.673) This means that English students had similar attitudes toward using TELL tools and high frequent use of TELL tools in ELL regardless of being in the first, second, third or fourth year of study

Table 7: Differences in attitudes toward and frequency of using TELL tools in ELL in terms of years of study

1

Attitudes toward using

TELL tools in learning

English

2.292 079 4.14

(.32) 4.03(.20) 4.03(.17) 4.11(.31)

2

Frequency of using

TELL tools in learning

English

.573 633 3.63

(.51) 3.60 (.48) 3.70 (.37) 3.69 (.49)

Note: F-test; M: mean; SD: Standard deviation

Nevertheless, the results in Table 8 indicate that there were significant differences in attitudes toward (F= 33.224; p=.000) and frequency of using TELL tools in learning English (F=97.052; p=.000) in terms of academic achievement This can be understood that students from different levels of academic achievements had different attitudes toward the use of TELL tools and used TELL tools differently to learn English

Table 8: Differences in attitudes toward and frequency of using TELL tools in learning English in terms of

academic achievement

n=197 - M (SD)

F

than 2.0 2.0 – 2.49

2.5–

3.19

3.2 – 4.0

1

Attitudes toward using

TELL tools in learning

English

33.224 .000* 3.78

(.42) 3.99 (.08)

4.09 (.15)

4.30 (.27)

2

Frequency of using

TELL tools in learning

English

97.052 .000* 2.83

(.26) 3.45 (.32)

3.81 (.30)

4.04 (.28)

Note: F-test; M: mean; SD: Standard deviation; * P<.01

It is further noticed that with respect of

attitudes towards using TELL tools in

learning English, students with average

GPA less than 2.0 had the lowest mean

score (M=2.78; SD=.42), followed by those

in groups of GPA 2.0-2.49 (M=3.99;

SD=.08), 2.5-3.19 (M=4.09; SD=.15), and

3.2-40 (M=4.30; SD=.27) Likewise, as for

the frequency of using TELL tools in

learning English, the order of mean scores

from the lowest to highest are groups of

GPA less than 2.0 (M=2.83; SD=.26),

2.0-2.49 (M=3.45; SD=.32), 2.5-3.19 (M=3.81;

SD=.30), and 3.2-40 (M=4.04; SD=.28)

This can be interpreted that the better

students study, themore positive attitudes

the have towards the use of TELL tools in learning English and use TELL tools in learning English more frequently

Results in Table 9 (Post hoc Tukey test) also confirm the aforementioned findings The mean scores of four groups of academic achievement were significantly different from one another in terms of attitudes toward the use of TELL tools and the use of TELL tools in ELLT That is to say that students having different academic achievements had different attitudes toward the use of TELL tools in ELL and used TELL tools in ELL at different frequency

Table 9: Post hoc Tukey test

Attitudes toward the use of

TELL tools in ELL

Less than 2.0

2.0 – 2.49 -.215 .001*

2.5 – 3.19 -.315 .000*

2.0 – 2.49

Less than 2.0 215 .001*

2.5 – 3.19 -.100 .044**

2.5 – 3.19

Less than 2.0 315 .000*

2.0 – 2.49 .100 .044**

3.2 – 4.0

Less than 2.0 519 .000*

Frequent use of TELL tools in

ELL

Less than 2.0

2.0 – 2.49 -.619 .000*

2.5 – 3.19 -.980 .000*

3.2 – 4.0 -1.211 .000*

2.0 – 2.49

Less than 2.0 619 .000*

2.5 – 3.19 -.360 .000*