Niềm tin về chiến lược tạo động lực học và việc thực hành sử dụng chiến lược của sinh viên năm thứ ba trong giảng tập tại khoa sư phạm tiếng anh trường đại học ngoại ngữ

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER FELTE-ULIS THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS’ BE

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

FELTE-ULIS THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS’ BELIEFS

AND PRACTICES OF MOTIVATIONAL

STRATEGIES IN THEIR MICRO-TEACHING

Supervisor : Dương Thu Mai, Ph.D

Student : Lý Hoàng Yến

HANOI - 2019

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

NIỀM TIN VỀ CHIẾN LƯỢC TẠO ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC

VÀ VIỆC THỰC HÀNH SỬ DỤNG CHIẾN LƯỢC CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ BA TRONG GIẢNG TẬP

TẠI KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH, TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

Giáo viên hướng dẫn : T.S Dương Thu Mai

HÀ NỘI - 2019

ACCEPTANCE PAGE

I hereby state that I: Lý Hoàng Yến, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use

of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library

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

Signature

June 1st 2019

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, it is my pleasure to be supervised by Ms Duong Thu Mai, to whom I would like to express my deepest gratitude Without her precious support, careful guidance and critical comments, the study could have not been completed

Secondly, with all sincerity, I would like to thank 109 third-year students at the Faculty of English language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies for their enthusiastic and responsible participation in the research

Additionally, I would have not been completed the study without my classmates Vu Phuong Hanh, Tran Thi Hoai Linh, Tran Hong Duyen and my beloved friend Le Thi Thanh Huyen, who provided me listening ears and encouragement all the time

My sincere gratefulness is finally dedicated to my beloved family, especially

my parents, who had been caring and supporting me wholeheartedly during the time

I carried out this study

I would like to offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported

me in any respect during the completion of the study

ABSTRACT

L2 learners‟ motivation has been voiced by many scholars to be closely related to teachers‟ motivational teaching practices, yet many young teachers hardly ever employ motivational strategies in their classes The question to answer is whether those teachers are aware of the effect of the techniques to motivate learners and practice those techniques during pre-service teacher training programs There have been a significant body of research on this matter in the world but since there has been little research on this matter in Vietnam, this study was carried out

The study took third-year students at the Faculty of English language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies as participants and employed mixed methods design to scrutinize the student teachers‟ beliefs and practices about motivational strategies in their micro-teaching Specifically, 109 student teachers were invited to participate in the research surveys using stratified and simple random sampling method Questionnaires, classroom observations and interviews were used as data collection instruments while descriptive statistics and interpretative procedures served as the main data analysis methods

The findings reveal profound beliefs of the third-year students about the effectiveness of motivational strategies as well as their attempt to apply the strategies in micro-teaching An undisputable link between the student teachers‟ beliefs and practices about MSs was also identified since the participants had the tendency to use the strategies which they highly value Besides their beliefs, other factors such as students and classroom conditions, particularly micro-teaching context, lesson contents and learners‟ level, also relate to the third-year students‟ application of MSs in micro-teaching These results suggest the pre-service teachers should try to vary the use of MSs in their teaching, even the techniques that they do not evaluate, for better motivating effects

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Statement of research problem and rationale 1

1.2 Research aims and research questions 2

1.3 Scope of the study 2

1.4 Significance of the study 3

1.5 Organization of the paper 4

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Pre-service teachers‟ beliefs and practices 5

2.1.1 Teachers‟ beliefs 5

2.1.2 The relation between pre-service teachers‟ beliefs and practices 6

2.2 Motivation 7

2.2.1 Definition of motivation 7

2.2.2 Frameworks of L2 Motivation 8

2.2.3 Frameworks of Motivational strategies 10

2.2.4 Studies on L2 motivation in Vietnam 17

2.3 Micro-teaching 19

2.3.1 Definitions and basic concepts 19

2.3.2 Advantages and limitations of micro-teaching 20

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 22

3.1 Settings of the study 22

3.2 Sampling and participations 23

3.3 Data collection 24

3.3.1 Data collection instruments 24

3.3.2 Data collection procedure 26

3.4 Data analysis 29

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 31

4.1 The beliefs of the student teachers about the effectiveness of MSs 31

4.2 The student teachers‟ frequency of using MSs in micro-teaching 37

4.2.1 Data from questionnaires 37

4.2.2 Data from classroom observations 40

4.3 The relation between the student teachers‟ beliefs and practices about MSs 45

4.3.1 Motivational strategies in creating basic motivational condition 45

4.3.2 Motivational strategies in generating initial motivation 46

4.3.3 Motivational strategies in maintaining and protecting motivation 47

4.3.4 Motivational strategies in encouraging positive self-evaluation 49

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 52

5.1 Major findings of the study 52

5.2 Pedagogical implications 53

5.3 Limitations of the study 54

5.4 Suggestions for further study 54

REFERENCES 56

APPENDICES 59

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

List of Figures

Page Figure 1: The components of motivational teaching practice in L2 classroom 12 Figure 2: The student teachers‟ beliefs about the effectiveness of MSs in

Figure 3: The student teachers‟ beliefs about the effectiveness of MSs in

Figure 4: The student teachers‟ beliefs about the effectiveness of MSs in

Figure 5: The student teachers‟ beliefs about the effectiveness of MSs in

Figure 6: The student teachers‟ self-perceived frequency of using MSs in

Figure 7: The student teachers‟ self-perceived frequency of using MSs in

Figure 8: The student teachers‟ self-perceived frequency of using MSs in

Figure 9: The student teachers‟ self-perceived frequency of using MSs in

Figure 10: The student teachers‟ frequency of using MSs in encouraging

self-evaluation as observed by the researcher ……… 40

Figure 11: The student teachers‟ frequency of using MSs in generating

initial motivation as observed by the researcher ……… 41

Figure 12: The student teachers‟ frequency of using MSs in maintaining and

protecting motivation as observed by the researcher ……… 43

Figure 13: The student teachers‟ frequency of using MSs in encouraging

self-evaluation as observed by the researcher ……… 44

List of Tables

Table 1The 25 Observational Variables Measuring the Teacher‟s Motivational Practice 13 Table 2Data collection procedure 26

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

MSs : motivational strategies FELTE : Faculty of English Language Teacher Education ULIS : University of Languages and International Studies L2 : second language; foreign language

EFL : English as a foreign language ESL : English as a second language ELT : English language teaching MOET : Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam SDT : Self-determination theory

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

This initial chapter justifies the problem and reasons for this research to be carried out Furthermore, four research questions together with the aims, scope and significance of the study will be clarified Finally, the thesis organization to orientate readers throughout the paper will be presented and close the chapter

1.1 Statement of research problem and rationale

Motivation has been recognized by both teachers and researchers as “one of the main determinants of second/foreign language (L2) learning achievement” (Dornyei, 2008, p.237) As a result, language teachers are supposed to develop skills in motivating learners or make use of several motivational strategies (MSs) in their teaching However, according to Veenman (1984, as cited in Melnick & Meister, 2008), motivating pupils is one of the most serious problem areas of new teachers This triggers a need for pre-service teachers to be aware of and to practice applying MSs before they come to real teaching

Within the context of the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies (FELTE-ULIS), several studies about the topic of motivation and the exploitation of MSs in stimulating learners have been carried out such as Nguyen‟s (2008) study about the frequency and effectiveness of MSs during speaking lessons for first-year students, the study of Nguyen (2011) which attempts to scrutinize the teachers‟ use of MSs in correlation with their teaching experience, and Tran‟s (2012) study which investigates the pre-service teachers‟ exploitation of MSs during practicums Given the fact that the teacher training courses provided by FELTE-ULIS do not include systematic training about MSs, these studies have acknowledged the use of MSs among teachers in their teaching and teacher trainees in practicums This may indicate that the trainees also utilize MSs in micro-teaching, which is their earlier teaching practice; however, such utilization has not been examined

Deemed as an essential teaching practice in teacher training programs (Remesh, 2013), micro-teaching is also exploited among FELTE-ULIS third-year

students in their sixth semester It is a component part of the ESL/EFL Classroom Techniques and Practices (ELT 2) course and also an early teaching practice of FELTE students A body of research has shown that micro-teaching helps teacher trainees to “get deeper knowledge regarding the art of teaching”, “improve in-class teaching performances”, and “develop classroom management skills” (Remesh, 2013) Nonetheless, the number of studies that digs deep into the development of specific skills during micro-teaching (e.g skill in motivating learners) is limited Additionally, student-teachers‟ beliefs and teaching practices are proved to be interrelated during practicums, yet has not thoroughly been examined in such an early teaching practice as micro-teaching

The aforementioned points set the context for this research, which attempts

to explore the beliefs and practices of FELTE-ULIS third-year students about MSs

in their micro-teaching practice

1.2 Research aims and research questions

At the first place, this study aims at scrutinizing FELTE-ULIS third-year students‟ beliefs about the effectiveness of MSs and their frequency of using MSs in micro-teaching After that, the relationship between the student teachers‟ beliefs and practices will be detected These aims can be summarized into three research questions:

 To what the extent do MSs help stimulate learners in learning as perceived by the student teachers?

 What is the student teachers‟ frequency of using MSs in their teaching?

micro- To what extent are the student teachers‟ beliefs about MSs and their perceived practices in micro-teaching similar?

1.3 Scope of the study

Firstly, as the topic of the study is “the beliefs and practices” of pre-service teachers, the focus is on scrutinizing the connection between what student teachers believe about MSs and how they practice those strategies in micro-teaching

Secondly, although MSs can be defined in two ways: the strategies that can

be employed by teachers to stimulate students‟ motivation and the students‟ regulating techniques, within the framework of this paper, the researcher only focuses on the former Moreover, among several frameworks of MSs, this research adopts the motivational teaching practice proposed by Dornyei (2001), particularly Dornyei and Guilloteaux (2008) MOLT scheme about teachers‟ motivating behaviors as the background framework to assist data collection and analysis

self-Finally, this study is carried out using mixed methods design The target participants of the study are third-year students who have just conducted a micro-teaching session in ELT 2 course at FELTE, ULIS 109 student-teachers were randomly chosen to do a survey on their beliefs about MSs and their practices of those strategies in micro-teaching Besides, the researcher conducted observation sessions on ten micro-teaching periods of twenty student teachers who were recommended by their teacher trainers The samples are deemed to be representative of the whole population, enabling the researcher to generalize the results to all third-year students enrolling in the academic year 2018-2019 in

FELTE-ULIS context

1.4 Significance of the study

With a view to examining the beliefs and exploitation of MSs of pre-service teachers in their micro-teaching, this research is believed to benefit both trainees and trainers in English teachers training programs

For student teachers, since they are not thoroughly trained all MSs during the course, this research will first provide them opportunities to reflect on their micro-teaching practice to reinforce the acquired MSs and secondly inform them explicitly

of other strategies that they can use to motivate learners They, therefore, will have

a holistic view of MSs and be able to maximize the potentials of those strategies in future teaching

For teacher trainers, they can be more conscious of their students‟ perspectives towards the motivational practice, which can lead to adjustments in

their teaching methods and/or further adaptation for the teachers training courses in order to enhance the student-teachers‟ motivating skills

1.5 Organization of the paper

This research consists of five chapters:

Chapter 1 – Introduction - aims at stating the research problems, the

significance of the study and proposing questions to answer

Chapter 2 - Literature review - includes the explanation of key definitions as

well as the review on different previous works about motivation theories and frameworks of MSs

Chapter 3 - Methodology – describes research participants and instruments;

data collection procedure and data analysis method

Chapter 4 - Findings and discussion – presents, analyzes and discusses the

research findings

Chapter 5 – Conclusion - summarizes research findings and implication,

acknowledges the limitations of the findings, proposes pedagogical recommendations

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter aims to provide a brief review of the related literature and gives the study a more solid theoretical foundation The definitions of the key terms such

as pre-service teachers’ beliefs and practices, motivation, motivational strategies and micro-teaching will be generally presented, while a strong focus will be placed

on various motivational approaches in L2 field as well as the framework of motivational strategies that the researcher is going to follow In the last part of the chapter, the research gap will be detected from the related literature to rationalize the aims and significance of this paper

2.1 Pre-service teachers’ beliefs and practices

2.1.1 Teachers’ beliefs

Richardson (1996, p.104) defines beliefs as “psychologically-held understandings, premises or propositions about the world that are felt to be true” Beliefs also help individuals to understand the world and serve as guides for assessing the future (Goodenough, 1963, as cited in Richardson, 1996) Therefore,

in the field of L2 teaching, Zheng (2009) proffers the view that teachers‟ beliefs play an important role in understanding teachers‟ thought processes and instructional decisions in the classroom EFL pre-service teachers‟ beliefs, as proposed by Othman and Kiely (2016), are internalized primarily from their years

of language classroom experience, the beliefs and practices of their previous language teachers, as well as their personal experience

In the literature, beliefs are often mistaken for attitudes since they are both mental states that are thought to drive a person‟s action Nevertheless, according to Fishbein (1967, as cited in Richardson, 1996), the former belong to one‟s cognition and the latter is more of an affective component In L2 teaching, while teachers‟ beliefs are comprised of perceptions, values, and ideology, teachers‟ attitudes may involve the teacher‟s interests, enthusiasm and confidence, or their opposites, towards L2 and L2 teaching Within the framework of this paper, however, only teachers‟ beliefs will be discussed As proffered by Pajares (1992), the beliefs about teaching of pre-service teachers embrace their perceptions and understanding of

what it takes to be a teacher These beliefs are then either nurtured or reformed as a result of their observations throughout teacher training programs

In addition, the distinction between beliefs and knowledge should also be clarified In many studies, knowledge is used as an umbrella term to describe both what we know and what we believe, thus somehow being similar to beliefs (Zheng, 2009) Therefore, it is difficult to distinguish whether teachers refer to their knowledge or beliefs to make decisions and act in the classroom However, as being looked closely, knowledge depends on a “truth condition” in which a premise is agreed to be true by a community of people whereas belief can be accepted as true

by an individual himself (Green, 1971, as cited in Richardson, 1996) This basic difference can be exemplified by the fact that two teachers may have similar knowledge, but choose to employ different approaches in their teaching as being influenced by their own beliefs To put it simply, knowledge is more widely accepted than beliefs and will become one‟s beliefs when it is accepted as true by that individual

Given the aforementioned difference between beliefs and knowledge, the researcher supposes that each construct has certain influences on the teaching practices of student teachers This paper would thereby examine pre-service teachers‟ beliefs in correspondence with their knowledge acquired during teacher training programs to embrace the complexity of teachers‟ mental lives underlying their practices

2.1.2 The relation between pre-service teachers’ beliefs and practices

On the one hand, EFL student teachers‟ beliefs can have a great influence on their teacher learning and teaching practices Specifically, according to Johnson (1994), pre-service teachers‟ beliefs are based on images of teachers, materials, activities and classroom organization generated by their own L2 learning experience and such experience relates to their instructional practices during a teaching practicum Moreover, the study of Almarza (1996, as cited in Zheng, 2009) acknowledges that students‟ teaching practices are also consistent with knowledge and theoretical beliefs that originated from the teacher education programs On the

other hand, Zheng (2009) shows that what student teachers say and do in classrooms can, in turn, shape their beliefs That is to say, pre-service teachers can identify and examine their beliefs in relation to their classroom practices, thus being able to “eliminate detrimental beliefs” about language teaching (Peacock, 2001)

As a result, researchers have acknowledged the need to examine EFL service teachers‟ practices in relation to their beliefs so as to enhance the quality of teachers training programs in particular, and future L2 teaching and learning in general Notably, since motivating pupils is one of the shortcomings of young teachers (Veenman, 1984, as cited in Melnick & Meister, 2008), this paper would take account of the relation between teacher trainees‟ beliefs and practices about motivation to better their future motivational practice

pre-2.2 Motivation

2.2.1 Definition of motivation

According to Oxford Learner‟s Dictionary (2018), motivation means “the reason why somebody does something or behaves in a particular way” Similarly, Lai (2011) defines motivation as the reason underlying behavior which is characterized by willingness and desire Besides, as proffered by Dornyei (2001,

p.7), motivation explains “why people decide to do something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activity” Motivation

can be defined in many different ways, yet proves its importance in encouraging, guiding and maintaining people‟ behaviors

Inspired by the definition of motivation, Gardner and Tremblay (1994) define motivation in L2 acquisition as the combination of positive attitudes towards learning the language and efforts together with the desire to master the language In

1997, a similar definition of motivation was stated by Ellis as “the attitudes and affective states that influence the degree of effort that learners make to learn an L2” Crookes and Schmidt (1991) identify L2 motivation as the learner‟s orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language Combining the three definitions, this study would look into L2 motivation as the learners‟ positive attitudes, direction and efforts to master the language

As proffered by Dornyei (1998, p.117), motivation is deemed as a key factor that influences the rate and success of L2 learning since “without sufficient motivation, even individuals with the most remarkable abilities cannot accomplish long-term goals, and neither are appropriate curricula and good teaching enough on their own to ensure student achievement” Therefore, it is essential that teachers create a motivational learning environment and involve students in activities with motivations to learn

2.2.2 Frameworks of L2 Motivation

Since motivation plays an essential role in L2 learning, understanding what lies behind motivation will be of great help to teachers in stimulating students to learn As a result, there has been a great amount of research discussing different kinds and sources of motivation Following the social psychological approach, Gardner and Lambert (1972, as cited in Dornyei, 2001) divide L2 motivation into

two categories: integrative motivation and instrumental motivation:

 Integrative motivation deals with “positive attitudes towards the target

language group” and reflects self-desires to interact with the community of the language (Gardner & Lambert, 1959, as cited in Crookes & Schmidt,

1991, p.471)

 Instrumental motivation, in contrast, refers to “more functional reasons for

learning a language” or the desire to gain something practical such as meeting school requirements or getting a good job (Gardner & Lambert,

1959, as cited in Crookes & Schmidt, 1991, p.472)

According to Ellis (1997), integrative motivation is considered more important in formal learning than instrumental motivation This is because in some contexts like Vietnam, where learners have few opportunities to use the foreign language or interact with foreigners, instrumental reasons such as a need to get promotions or qualifications have more influences on language learners

Beside integrative and instrumental motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation proposed by Deci and Ryan (1985) in self-determination theory (SDT) is

also a well-known classification of motivation Whilst intrinsic motivation deals with a behavior performed for its own sake in order to experience the feeling of enjoyment and satisfaction, extrinsic motivation refers to doing something “because

it leads to a separable outcome” or because it is influenced by external factors like rewards, failure, competitions, and so on (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p 55) These two types of motivation are deemed contrasting yet interrelated Wang (2008) reports that people having to do an activity to attain certain extrinsic goals can lose their natural intrinsic interest in that activity From a different perspective, Dornyei (1998) argued that extrinsic rewards can be combined with or can even lead to intrinsic motivation as supported by certain factors like sufficient self-determination Individuals who learn an L2 because they think it is important for their educational development, for example, all fall within this case

Along with the educational shift in the 1990s, researchers wanted to close the gap between motivational theories in educational psychology and in the L2 field (Dornyei, 2001) In their article published in 1991, Crookes and Schmidt criticize Gardner‟s social psychological model for not focusing sufficiently on the L2 instructional context and call for new extended L2 motivation constructs As a result, Dornyei (1994) proposes a more “educational” framework of L2 motivation,

which conceptualizes motivation into three components: (1) the language level

which addresses the social side of L2 motivation and relates to Gardner‟s theory of

integrative and instrumental motivation; (2) the learner level which represents individual characteristics of learners; (3) the learning situational Level concerning

the motivational factors of specific classroom settings

However, this framework of Dornyei was not seen as a proper model since there were no clear relationships among the components The problem then set the idea for the Dornyei and Otto‟s (1998) process-oriented approach, which attempts

to synthesize different conceptualizations of motivation in a systematic framework The approach is based on the Heckhausen and Kuhl‟s Action Control Theory (1985,

as cited in Guilloteaux, 2007), suggesting that students‟ motivation, in either small

or large scales time frame, consists of three distinct temporal stages: preactional,

actional and postactional stage

 preactional stage refers to the phase during which individuals form an

intention to act and select an action plan in order to realize that intention

 actional stage is when individuals translate their intention into action

 postactional stage is the phase when learners evaluate their action and form

inferences about future ones

Dornyei (2001) believes that learners‟ motivations are not stable, and by including a “temporal axis”, the construct can cover the ongoing changes of motivation over time The process model of L2 motivation, moreover, has laid the foundation for a systematic and comprehensive framework of MSs of Dornyei later

on

2.2.3 Frameworks of Motivational strategies

MSs are defined as (1) “instructional interventions applied by the teacher to elicit and stimulate student motivation” and (2) “self-regulating strategies that are used purposefully by individual students to manage the level of their own motivation” (Dornyei & Guilloteaux, 2008, p.57) The MSs discussed in this research belong to the first definition Since teachers‟ use of MSs has generally believed to stimulate students‟ motivation in learning, several scholars have developed different lists of motivational techniques that teachers can apply to create

a more motivational classroom environment

In line with the notion of Deci and Ryan‟s (1985) self-determination theory about intrinsic versus extrinsic motivations (see 2.2.2), several MSs were also derived According to Urdan (2003), both tangible and intangible rewards can be effective MSs when administered properly and valued by their potential recipients Additionally, with a focus on learners‟ autonomy, SDT does not suggest how teachers can motivate students but focuses on how they can “create the condition within which others can motivate themselves” (Deci, Connell & Ryan, 1989, as cited in Keblawi, 2000, p.32) Therefore, in order to enhance the students‟ motivation, teachers may consider allowing more autonomy for their students by

providing them with more choices in learning content, teaching methods or performance outcomes On the other hand, a study conducted by Spratt, Humphreys, and Chan (2002) shows that teachers sometimes face students‟ resistance to engaging in autonomous activities The teachers are hereby suggested

to shift to develop students‟ intrinsic motivation by spending more time on activities

in which learners wish to engage for their own sake and recognizing the diversity of students‟ learning styles and preferences, for example

Another MSs theory is The ARCS Model proposed by Keller (1984, as cited

in Keller, 1987) The model provides an overview of four primary components of

motivation: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction, each of which is

accompanied by different MSs for teachers to use and design into a lesson with a view to boosting students‟ learning motivation (Keller, 1987)

 Attention deals with strategies that capture interest of learners, increase

learners‟ curiosity and maintain learners‟ attention

 Relevance suggests the strategies to meet learners‟ needs, highlight learners‟

responsibility in learning and relate learners‟ experiences to the lesson

 Confidence refers to techniques that help learners enhance their belief in

success based on their efforts and abilities

 Satisfaction means providing learners with opportunities to apply new

knowledge and reinforcing learners‟ success

From the educational psychology perspective, Wlodkowski (1986, as cited in Dornyei, 2001) provides an inventory of twenty-four teachers‟ behaviors and techniques that are important with regard to motivating teaching This can be seen

as an early attempt to describe motivational teaching practice, yet lacks a theoretical background

Although the aforementioned publications have raised the ideas about teacher behaviors that can be effective in fostering student motivation in the classroom, they fail to provide a theory-based framework and/or a comprehensible list of MSs for L2 classroom application (Guilloteaux, 2007) In 2001, Dornyei

compensates for this gap by proposing a notable model for motivational L2 teaching

practice which is developed based on the Process-oriented approach discussed in

2.2.2

Dornyei‟s (2001) motivational teaching practice comprises four main dimensions as illustrated in the following figure

Figure 1: The components of motivational teaching practice in L2 classroom

The first dimension is creating the basic motivational conditions, which

involves strategies to create basic classroom conditions (e.g good relationship between teachers and students, disciplined group work, etc.) The second

dimension, generating initial motivation, refers to techniques to develop learners‟

positive attitudes towards language learning and strengthen their belief on success Helping students to develop positive social image and autonomy are the strategies

that belong to the third dimension, maintaining and protecting motivation The last dimension is encouraging positive retrospective self-evaluation, which comprises

techniques to enhance learners‟ satisfaction such as positive feedback or rewards The model follows motivational circle from initial arousal of the motivation to the completion and evaluation of the motivated action Each dimension above is followed by several main motivational teaching techniques which are further broken down into over 100 MSs All strategies are explained thoroughly in the author‟s

book entitled “Motivational strategies in Language Classroom”

However, hardly had the L2 motivation literature claimed the effectiveness

of MSs, which, according to Gardner and Tremblay (1994), should be verified with empirical evidence Although one published study of Dornyei and Csizer (1998) endeavors to provide data about the effectiveness of ten MSs originated from a list drawn up by Dornyei (1994), it merely relies on teachers‟ self-reports and fails to measure teachers‟ motivational practice based on the students‟ motivated behaviors

As a result, Dornyei and Guilloteaux (2008) conduct a large-scale empirical study using salient classroom observation to measure the effectiveness of MSs in classroom settings In order to achieve their aims, the two authors develop the MOLT classroom observation scheme which follows the real-time coding principle

of Spada and Frohlich‟s (1995, as cited in Dornyei and Guilloteaux, 2008) classroom observation scheme – the COLT but uses 25 clearly definable and observable teachers‟ behaviors derived from Dornyei‟s (2001) motivational strategies framework The study reveals a strong positive correlation between the teachers‟ motivational practice and students‟ motivated classroom behaviors within the context of L2 motivation research

2 Signposting Stating the lesson objectives explicitly or giving retrospective

summaries of progress already made toward realizing the objectives

8 Scaffolding Providing appropriate strategies and/or models to help students

complete an activity successfully

11 Referential

questions

Asking the class questions to which the teacher does not already know the answer, including questions about the students‟ lives

12 Group work The students are mingling, working in fluid pairs, or groups

13 Pair work The students are working in fixed pairs

17 Intellectual

challenge

The activity presents an intellectual challenge (e.g., it involves

a memory challenge, problem or puzzle solving, )

22 Process

feedback

Focusing on what can be learned from the mistakes that have been made, and from the process of producing the correct answer

25 Class Celebrating a student‟s or group‟s success, risk-taking, or effort

applause by applauding (either spontaneously or following the teacher‟s

to learn, then relevance has to be the red thread permeating activities If pupils fail

to see the relationship between the activity and the world in which they live, then the point of the activity is likely to be lost on them” Meanwhile, promoting integrative and instrumental values is derived from Gardner and Lambert‟s (1972,

as cited in Dornyei, 2001) L2 motivation theory whilst Deci and Ryan (1985) determination theory proposes the strategies namely arousing curiosity or attention, promoting autonomy, tangible rewards, neutral or process feedback, and self/peer correction or feedback, all of which may increase learners‟ intrinsic or extrinsic motivation Next, class cohesiveness and relaxation is often manifested by pairs or groups work and cooperation (Ehrman & Dornyei, 1998, as cited in Dornyei, 2001) These types of activities are also effective in promoting learners‟ interaction and confidence, thus encouraging more active participation of students Moreover, interest is believed by Pintrich and Schunk (2002) to closely link to motivation and can be provoked in such interesting activities as competition, intellectual challenge, personalized tasks and tangible task products According to Scheidecker and Freeman (1999, as cited in Dornyei, 2001), it is usually time well spent to celebrate success and achievement in class since the teacher‟s praise and class applause can greatly contribute to learners‟ satisfaction and sense of success in learning, subsequently boosting their motivation

self-The researcher chose the MOLT scheme as the background to design data collection instruments for this study because of three reasons The first one is all MSs listed in the scheme are derived from Dornyei‟s (2001) motivational teaching practice, which has the process-oriented theory as a strong foundation Since the motivational process can be identified regardless of time frame, the researcher believes that it is not interfered by the fluid timing of micro-teaching Secondly, although the empirical study of Dornyei and Guilloteaux (2008) does not focus on the effectiveness of specific strategies, the teachers‟ overall motivational teaching practice has been confirmed to link to students‟ classroom motivation, meaning that each strategy can help motivate learners one way or another The last reason is that the scheme is systematic, comprehensible and applicable since it accumulates strategies suggested by different authors and the strategies are all observable

To sum up, several frameworks of motivation and MSs have been reviewed Among them, the Dornyei and Otto (1998) process-oriented approach and Dornyei‟s (2001) motivational teaching practice are considered the most systematic and comprehensive Based on the two frameworks, Dornyei and Guilloteaux (2008) develop the MOLT classroom observation scheme about teachers‟ motivating behaviors, which was chosen by the researcher as the theoretical background for the study, particularly the data collection and analysis

2.2.4 Studies on L2 motivation in Vietnam

In Vietnam, English is considered as a compulsory and dominant subject in many schools and universities since being successful in learning English is believed

to greatly benefit students such as providing them with better job opportunities As

a result, how to make English teaching and learning effective, what factors affect students‟ motivation as well as how to motivate students to learn have emerged as major concerns of Vietnamese teachers and researchers of the field Up to now, few studies have gained insights into the topic of student motivation and specific MSs in English classrooms

Regarding the reasons underlying students‟ learning motivation, different factors that belong to inter-cultural contact and Vietnamese cultural practices are

taken into account in the study conducted by Phan (2010) The study reveals that inter-cultural contact helps explain how students‟ English competence would work

in the language communities whereas cultural practices help them direct their study

to accomplish their set important goals According to Phan (2010), different types

of students‟ learning motivation cannot be clarified solely based on Deci and Ryan‟s (1985) self-determination theory, yet should be interpreted from social and cultural perspectives as well (i.e the respect for learning and knowledge, respect for the teacher, attribution of successes and failures to effort, filial piety, the concept of face, and the sense of belonging, etc.) She also believes that teachers of English can either motivate or demotivate their students depending upon their effectiveness in

“teaching performance, knowledge, support, and interpersonal relationships with students” (Phan, 2010, p.230) In the context of Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 and Hanoi University of Education, the study of Nguyen (n.d.) shows that teachers behaviors and teachers‟ encouragement for students are the two factors that increase students‟ motivation in learning English most On the other hand, in his research on the motivation of EFL learners at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities,

Ho Chi Minh City, Luu (2011) asserts that teacher-related factors, whether directly

as skills, teaching methods, personality or indirectly as classroom atmosphere or tests, serve as a leading demotivated component as perceived by the students

Nguyen (2009, as cited in Nguyen, 2011) investigates the frequency and effectiveness of MSs during speaking lessons for FELTE-ULIS first-year students based on the comprehensive frameworks of motivational teaching strategies proposed by Dornyei (2001) and Dornyei and Guilloteaux (2008) The study shows

that personalization, elicitation of self or peer correction, inconsistent and fixed

pair/group work, arousing curiosity or attention and activities involving elements of interest, creativity, fantasy are the most frequently employed, and social chat, promoting integrative values, promoting instrumental values and promoting autonomy are perceived by the students as highly effective techniques Using the

same framework, Nguyen (2011) attempts to scrutinize teachers‟ use of MSs in correlation with their teaching experience within the context of FELTE-ULIS The study has proved the great influence of teaching experience on teachers‟

motivational practice Specifically, young teachers often exploit social chat,

individual or team competition while more experienced teachers conduct the lessons

in a more meaningful approach by using establishing relevance, stating

communicative purpose and intellectual challenge techniques Apart from the

motivational practice of teachers, the exploitation of MSs of pre-service teachers during practicums is also examined by Tran (2012), who concludes that the student teachers applied various MSs in their lessons and are well-perceived of when and how to apply each strategy However, the pedagogical implication of the study suggests there should be a part of the teacher training course which provides student teachers with comprehensive knowledge and practices of MSs

It can be seen that motivation and the use of MSs are topics of interest of Vietnamese researchers Although great attempt has been made to discover the factors influencing L2 learners‟ motivation, particularly the teachers and pre-service teachers‟ utilization of MSs in general teaching and teaching practicums, no study has scrutinized the teacher trainees‟ awareness of the effect of MSs during teacher training programs and practices of those techniques in micro-teaching, an early teaching practice Therefore, this study was carried out, focusing on the pre-service teachers‟ beliefs and practices about MSs in their micro-teaching

2.3 Micro-teaching

This section would provide the basic concepts of micro-teaching, followed

by its benefits and deficiencies which may enhance or hinder the teacher trainees‟

practices of teaching skills

2.3.1 Definitions and basic concepts

Micro-teaching is employed in teacher training courses as a technique for teacher trainees to reinforce teaching principles and develop teaching skills Micro-teaching embraces the steps of “teach, feedback, re-plan, re-teach and re-feedback” and is believed to develop a systematic method of giving feedback to teacher trainees as well as to measure the attainment of teaching skills (Mahmud &

Rawshon, 2013)

2.3.2 Advantages and limitations of micro-teaching

Since micro-teaching is a cycle of teaching, feedback, teaching and feedback, it encourages reflective practice, allowing novice teachers to self-evaluate and make improvements based on teacher trainers‟ critiques In his research on micro-teaching as a vehicle for teacher training, Ananthakrishnan (1993) perceives the practice as the time when faults in teaching methodology are brought into a perspective for observers to give constructive feedback to teacher trainees Furthermore, micro-teaching also benefits student teachers considerably when bridging the gap between theory and practice (Benton-Kupper, 2001) This means that student teachers, through micro-teaching, can bring the learned knowledge and theories regarding lesson planning, teaching skills, classroom organization, lesson procedures, and activities into practice

re-However, it appears that micro-teaching produces standardized lessons with set procedures due to its inauthentic classroom context (Ananthakrishnan, 1993) This may lead to the fact that the acquired skills such as classroom management skill may not be fully practiced and internalized by teacher trainees Moreover, Bhargava (1997) points out that student teachers may feel anxious as being observed during micro-teaching, which can be explained by their struggle for the success of the lesson, good mark as well as the observers‟ positive critiques

It is undeniable that micro-teaching can help pre-service teachers to reinforce their knowledge and practice teaching skills, yet the development of specific skill such as skill in motivating learners in such teaching practice does not receive much scholarly attention Additionally, although the reviewed studies have proved the close relation between student-teachers‟ beliefs and practices during practicums, there is no answer to the question whether this relation is also reflected in their earlier teaching practices (e.g micro-teaching) or not Therefore, this research would bridge the gap by examining the beliefs and practices of FELTE-ULIS third-year students about MSs in their micro-teaching practice

Summary

In short, this chapter has provided a brief overview of the key terms namely

pre-service teachers’ beliefs and practices, motivation, motivational strategies and

micro-teaching Besides, among the reviewed motivation theories and frameworks

of MSs, Dornyei’s (2001) motivational teaching practice, particularly Dornyei and

Guilloteaux (2008) MOLT scheme about teachers’ behaviors has been chosen as

the theoretical background for the whole study and for the construction of the data

collection instruments The chapter specially highlighted the reasons why this

scheme was selected as the framework for developing research questions in this

study Limitations of the reviewed literature and a gap regarding the teacher

trainees’ beliefs and practices of MSs in micro-teaching were also pointed out

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents a detailed picture of the methodology by justifying the sampling and participation of the study, data collection instruments (including questionnaires, observation and semi-structured interview) as well as the procedure

of data collection and analysis

3.1 Settings of the study

The research was conducted at the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, which provides a number of English teachers training courses each year

At the Faculty, there are two EFL teacher training programs namely Mainstream program and Fast-track program In the fall semester of the academic year 2018, third-year students of both programs took the Introduction into English Language Teaching Methodology Course (ELT 1), which introduces theories and approaches

in teaching ESL/EFL classroom After that, in this semester in 2019, they have been attending a more practical course called the ESL/EFL Classroom Techniques and Practices Course (ELT 2) In this course, the student teachers are equipped with practical teaching techniques and have opportunities to practice those techniques in teaching Specifically, they are required to deliver two micro-teaching sessions which are their very early teaching practice as pre-service teachers

The first micro-teaching takes place from week 8 to week 10 and the other is conducted in week 14-15 of the semester depending on the arrangement amongst teachers and students of each class Due to the time limit when carrying out this study, the researcher decided to collect data from the first micro-teaching only

Students worked in pairs or group of three to prepare for and conduct the first micro-teaching section In the preparation stage, they chose the lesson (from English course books for high school students distributed by the MOET) to teach and discussed the activities for the lesson After that, they sent their lecturers a lesson plan for a twenty-five to thirty-five-minute lesson via email and received comments afterward to make necessary adjustments In the production stage, the

student teachers co-taught the lesson in front of their class In spite of the inauthentic teaching environment of micro-teaching, the researcher believes that this teaching practice still allowed the pre-service teachers to apply the learned teaching strategies in general and MSs in particular

3.2 Sampling and participations

The target participants of this study were third-year students at ULIS In total, there are 328 students placed into twelve classes from QH.2016.F1.E1 to QH.2016.F1.E10, QH.2016.F1.E30, and QH.2016.F1.E31, shortly called 16E1, 16E2, etc The two classes 16E1 and 16E2 with 42 students belong to Fast-track program while the rest are of Mainstream program Nevertheless, intensive English language courses were provided for all students in their first two years, thus ensuring their current English language competence was at Advanced level Besides, they also attended the same ELT courses, meaning that they received equal training and were equipped with the same amount of ELT knowledge and techniques More importantly, micro-teaching was the first teaching practice of all student teachers during the two ELT courses Therefore, students from both programs were invited to take part in the research

FELTE-The researcher employed probability sampling strategy, specifically stratified and simple random sampling, to select participants for this study First, stratified sampling ensured that the proportion of the samples is similar to that of the whole population, which helps to enhance the representativeness of the samples The number of participants from Fast-track and Mainstream programs was 13 and 96 respectively, and is in relation to the proportion in the whole population (13:96=42:286) After that, simple random sampling was used to select students in each program to do the research questionnaires To be more detailed, 1 class from Fast-track program and 8 class from Mainstream program were randomly chosen The questionnaires were distributed to volunteer students in these classes After that, 13 questionnaires from the Fast-track class and 96 questionnaires from Mainstream classes were selected randomly There were 109 participants in total

This number of participants accounting about 33% of the population of third-year students is believed to provide valid data for the study

3.3 Data collection

3.3.1 Data collection instruments

While quantitative method involves precise measurement and producing reliable and generalizable date, qualitative method provides the reasons for particular observations and insights into the examined phenomenon (Dornyei, 2007) Therefore, this research adopted mixed methods design with a view to gaining a better understanding of pre-service teachers‟ beliefs and practices about MSs in microteaching by generalizing the trends in recognizing and using the strategies among the student-teachers from quantitative data, followed by specific reasons and details of the used strategies from qualitative data Specifically, a combined data collection process including classroom observations, survey questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews, was fully employed

a Observation scheme

Observation scheme enables researchers to collect objective data from what

is currently happening, and is subjected to enhance the reliability of the questionnaire results (Kothari, 2004) To collect data for this study, the researcher observed 10 micro-teaching sessions of 20 teacher trainees who were recommended

by their teacher trainers This helped cover the gaps between the student teachers‟ perception reflected in the questionnaires and their real teaching practices

The observation checklist (see Appendix 1) was adapted from the MOLT Classroom Observation Scheme developed by Guilloteaux & Dornyei (2008) (see 2.2.4.2.) The original MOLT scheme concerns features of the students‟ motivated behaviors and the teachers‟ motivational teaching practice The aspect of the teachers‟ motivational teaching practice comprises 25 definable and observable

motivational strategies which were grouped into four categories: Teacher discourse,

Participation structure, Activity design and Encouraging positive retrospective evaluation These variables are observed and measured based on Spada &

self-Frohlich‟s (1995, as cited in Guilloteaux & Dornyei, 2008) concept of the primary

focus coding convention in the way that relevant classroom events are recorded every minute in an on-going manner However, due to the limitation of time and resources, the researcher did not follow the same procedure as the two authors did,

but chose to employ tally sheets instead to observe the frequency of the MSs The

observation checklist of this study, therefore, consists of two parts: 25 MSs and the frequency of use The MSs are also grouped into four categories as in the MOLT scheme because the researcher found this way of categorizing easy to follow and notice

b Questionnaires

The researcher chose questionnaires as a data collection instrument for this study since they allow the researcher to collect a relatively large number of data which reveals a tendency among participants (Dornyei, 2007) The questionnaires were administered to 109 random third-year students from both fast-track and mainstream programs at FELTE-ULIS after their first micro-teaching session to investigate their beliefs and use of MSs

The questionnaire (see Appendix 2) began with a brief overview of the research title, the purpose of conducting the questionnaire, the desire for participants‟ cooperation and the confirmation of the confidentiality of information

Regarding the content of the questionnaire, there are two main parts The first part consists of two questions together with the instructions on how to answer those questions Concerning the first questions about their beliefs about the effectiveness of MSs, the participants are required to write their answers for the extent to which they think MSs help stimulate learners‟ motivation in numerical

form The numbers range from 1 to 5, representing not at all, not really, so so, quite

a lot, and very much respectively Similarly, question 2 requires respondents to

write their frequency of using MSs in their micro-teaching in form of number from

1 to 5, which mean never, rarely, sometimes, often, and always respectively The

researcher expects that the process of writing instead of circling the numbers will make the participants think more carefully and thus giving more reliable answers The second part of the questionnaires is a table which includes 25 MSs together

with spaces for the student teachers to provide their answers The MSs were adapted from the MOLT classroom observation scheme of Guilloteaux and Dornyei (2008) and grouped into four categories as in the observation scheme

With a view to enhancing the response objectivity, the surveys included both close-ended and open-ended questions and were distributed to the students who were voluntary to participate in the study The questionnaires were followed by the interview stage to enhance the reliability of the responses

c Semi-structured interview

In-depth interviews were carried out to attain insights into the pre-service teachers‟ beliefs and practices of MSs, as well as enhance the reliability of the research Specifically, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with seven participants whose answers in the questionnaire were ambiguous, which means their rating given to each MS in questions 1 and 2 were different In the interviews, the student teachers were asked to clarify their answers in the questionnaires and the reasons why they chose to use or not use certain MSs in their micro-teaching The interviews, therefore, helped to seek for further explanation on the relation between the student teachers‟ beliefs and practices about MSs

All interviews were done in Vietnamese to avoid possible misunderstandings All interviews were recorded and main points were also taken note of by the researchers to support data analysis

3.3.2 Data collection procedure

Data collection procedure comprised four main stages which are demonstrated in the following table

Table 2

Data collection procedure

a Data collection

preparation

Arranging observation and survey schedule

c Surveying Distributing and collecting questionnaires 1 week

Arranging schedule and conducting interviews

2 weeks

Recording and transcribing interviews 1 week

a Data collection preparation

In this stage, the questionnaires were piloted by five volunteer participants from class 16E5, 16E6 and 16E8 in order to identify ambiguous question items The respondents provided comments on the content and format of the questionnaires Concerning the content of the questionnaires, they raised questions on the meaning

of the words “fluid” in MS 12 and “tangible” in MS 14 and 18 since the words were new to them These words were then replaced with their synonyms “flexible” and “touchable” respectively to enhance the comprehensibility of the items For the

rest of the MSs, no misleading words were found In terms of the format of the questionnaires, the students had small difficulty in understanding the instruction of the two numerical rating questions, hereby suggesting altering the way to provide answers from writing a number to choosing or circling Nevertheless, with a view to enhancing the sincerity of the answers, the researcher decided to stick to the idea of writing the number down And to tackle this problem, the researcher would explain the instruction carefully to assist participants in understanding how to provide answers Based on the piloting analysis, the researcher made several adjustments on the wordings of MSs and finalized the questionnaires afterward

Although the observation scheme was not piloted thoroughly due to the time limit, the researcher could make proper adjustments based on the questionnaire piloting analysis

The schedule for observation and survey was also arranged in this stage after the researcher confirmed the micro-teaching schedule of each class and asked for the teacher trainers‟ permission to observe

b Observing

In total, the researcher conducted 10 observation sessions on 20 participants

of class 16E8 and 16E30, which was suggested by the teacher trainers When coming to each class, the researcher delivered a brief introduction of herself, the thesis title as well as the purpose of observation, and asking for the student teachers‟ permission to observe The researcher chose to sit at the back of the classroom and not to videotape the micro-teaching in order not to inhibit the student teachers‟ performance Since there was no video recorded, notes of the used MSs regarding the frequency and timing of use were taken carefully by the researcher during each observation session These notes then served as useful data to double-check the information collected from the questionnaires and to enhance the findings‟ reliability of research question 2

c Surveying

To collect data for research questions 1 and 2, the questionnaires were distributed to participants after their first micro-teaching so as for the student teachers to reflect on the MSs they used in class The questionnaires were directly delivered to them in hard-copied form as the researcher went to each class, clarified the purpose of the questionnaires and called for cooperation All the terms were explained to ensure the participants‟ understanding of the questionnaires Besides, the researcher was present to answer all of the questions arising during the process

There were 109 students from nine out of twelve classes (including 16E2, 16E4, 16E5, 16E6, 16E7, 16E8, 16E9, 16E10 and 16E30) who volunteered to do the questionnaires After the questionnaires were completed, the researcher collected and checked the number to make sure that no questionnaire was left Although all questionnaires were returned, two of them were unqualified due to significant incompletion of the questions Therefore, in total, the researcher received

107 valid questionnaires

d Interviewing

Interview sessions were organized as soon as the data from classroom observations and questionnaires were synthesized After asking for permission, the

researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with seven student teachers whose answers in the questionnaires were ambiguous to justify their answers and give reasons to their use of certain MSs in micro-teaching The interviews also aimed to seek for further details on the relation between their beliefs and use of MSs, which helped to answer the third research question The interview with each student teacher was recorded separately and transcribed afterward to support data analysis Since all interviews were conducted in Vietnamese, the research translated them into English when transcribing the recordings

creating basic motivational condition, generating initial motivation, maintaining and protecting motivation, and encouraging positive self-evaluation), from which

the MSs are derived The researcher believed the analysis of MSs should be based

on the roots of them

Secondly, qualitative data from the interviews were interpreted and summarized to answer the last research question about the similarity between the student teachers‟ beliefs and practices about MSs Besides, so as to provide evidence to some arguments, the researcher also quoted the interviewees‟ expressions

Summary:

In general, this chapter has justified the methodology of the study by firstly presenting the research settings and participants who were 109 FELTE-ULIS third- year students, and secondly clarifying the combination of three data collection instruments which aimed at providing data to answer all research questions Lastly, detailed descriptions of the data collection process and data analysis methods were presented to close the chapter