Washback effects of c1 level test on students’ english learning motivation as perceived by 2nd year mainstream students felte ulis vnu

0 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER WASHBACK EFFECTS OF C1-LEVEL TES

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

WASHBACK EFFECTS OF C1-LEVEL TEST ON STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LEARNING MOTIVATION

STUDENTS, FELTE, ULIS, VNU

Supervisor: Nguyễn Thúy Lan (M.A.)

Student: Đình Thị Thùy

Course: QH2011.F1.E1

HA NOI - 2015

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ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA KÌ THI C1 LÊN ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH THEO NHẬN THỨC

CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM 2 MAINSTREAM,

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ACCEPTANCE PAGE

I hereby state that I: Đình Thị Thùy (QH2011.F.1.E1), 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

Date

May 6, 2015

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Heartfelt thanks would like to go to all the people without whose encouragement, cooperation, support and contribution, it would be really hard for this research to be fulfilled

First and foremost, I would love to send my deepest thanks to my admirable instructor, Ms Nguyen Thuy Lan (M.A.) for her careful guidance and advice through my time

Secondly, words cannot express enough my gratitude to the teachers and year mainstream students at FELTE, ULIS (Ha Thu Quynh, Hoang Thi Hai Yen, Nguyen Thi Yen, Ho Thi Thu Huong to name some) for their enthusiasm and cooperative manner Without their supportiveness, I strongly believe, my research would not have finished

second-Thirdly, my thanks should go to my classmate, Tran Phuong Dung for her precious helps during conducting the study

Last but not least, I am very honoured to have the continuous support from the librarians at B3 library where I came and borrowed the books or studies available

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

LIST OF ABRREVIATIONS, TABLES, AND FIGURES vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study 1

2 Aims and objectives 2

3 Significance of the study 3

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Organization 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1 Washback 5

1.1 Definition of washback 5

1.2 Positive and Negative washback 6

2 C1- level test 7

2.1 C1 level-CEFR 7

2.2 Level 5/6 according to MOET (C1 level-CEFR) 9

2.3 C1-level test at ULIS 10

3 Motivation and factors affecting motivation in L2 learning 11

3.1 Motivation in L2 learning 11

3.2 Theories of Motivation in L2 learning 13

3.2.1 Summary of the main L2 learning motivation theories 13

3.2.2 Theories adopted in the study 14

3.2.2.1 Gardner‟s Motivation Theory 14

a Integrativeness and the socio-educational model of SLA 14

b The Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) 16

3.2.2.2 The Dornyei and Otto Process- oriented Model of L2 Motivation 17

3.3 An overview of related studies and research gaps 19

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 21

1 Setting and participants 21

2 Data collection methods and procedures 22

2.1 Instruments 22

2.1.1 Questionnaire 22

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2.1.2 Interview 25

2.2 Procedure 26

2.3 Data analysis methods and procedures 27

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 28

4.1 Research question 1- How C1-level test affects students‟ English learning motivation 28

4.2 Research questions 2- Factors affecting students‟ English learning motivation 31

4.2.1 Quality of the learning experience 31

4.2.2 Sense of autonomy 35

4.2.3 Teachers‟ and parents‟ influence 36

4.2.4 Cooperation and competitiveness in class 40

4.2.5 Influence of the learner group 41

4.2.6 Knowledge and use of self-regulatory strategies 42

4.2.7 Self-concept beliefs 44

4.2.8 Attributional factors 46

4.2.9 Received feedback, praise, grades 47

4.3 Research question 3- Students‟ solutions to negative changes in their English learning motivation 49

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 51

5.1 Summary of major findings 51

5.2 Implications 52

5.3 Contribution of the study 53

5.4 Limitations of the study 54

5.5 Recommendations for further research 55

REFERENCES 56

APPENDICES 60

APPENDIX 1- FORM OF C1-LEVEL TEST 60

APPENDIX 2- MAIN COURSE BOOKS USED FOR QH2013, FELTE 63

APPENDIX 3- ATTITUDE MOTIVATION TEST BATTERY 65

APPENDIX 4- QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS 77

STUDENTS‟ PERCEPTION ON FACTOR AFFECTING ENGLISH LEARNING MOTIVATION OF STUDENTS IN STRATEGIC MISSION PROJECT AT ULIS, VNU APPENDIX 5- QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS 81 (ENGLISH & VIETNAMESE VERSION)

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WASHBACK EFFECTS OF C1-LEVEL TEST ON STUDENTS‟ ENGLISH LEARNING MOTIVATION AS PERCEIVED BY 2ND-YEAR MAINSTREAM STUDENTS, FELTE, ULIS, VNU

APPENDIX 6- INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 91APPENDIX 7- SAMPLE TRANSCRIPTIONS OF THE INTERVIEWS 93 (Vietnamese version)

APPENDIX 8- TRANSCRIPTIONS OF THE INTERVIEWS (English version) 97 APPENDIX 9- SUMMARY OF STUDENTS‟ SOLUTIONS TO NEGATIVE CHANGES IN THEIR ENGLISH LEARNING MOTIVATION 128

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LIST OF ABRREVIATIONS, TABLES, AND FIGURES

ABRREVIATIONS

Q Question

TABLES

Table 2 6-level foreign language capacity framework in Vietnam

Table 3 The required English competence with level 5 users

on learning motivation level (for increased motivation level group) Influence of goal setting and self-regulatory strategies

on learning motivation level (for decreased motivation level group) Influence of self-concept beliefs on learning motivation level

(for both increased and decreased motivation level group) Influence of self-worth on learning motivation level (for both increased and decreased motivation level group)

Influence of attributional factors on learning motivation level (for both increased and decreased motivation level group) Influence of feedback and praise on learning motivation level (for both increased and decreased motivation level group)

Influence of grades on learning motivation level (for both increased and decreased motivation level group)

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FIGURES

Figure 2 The fundamental model of language learning

Figure 3 Socio-educational model of second language acquisition

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This chapter states the problem and the rationale of the study, together with the aims, objectives and the scope of the whole paper Above all, it is in this chapter that the research questions are identified to work as clear guidelines for the whole research

1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study

In the context of globalization, English plays an important role in the integration and development of a country It is the key to success of communication among people from different countries As a result, globalization will make English more popular as an international language (Warschauer, 2000)

Being aware of the importance of English to the industrialization and modernization of the country, in 2008, the Government of Vietnam approved of

“Teaching and learning English in national education system in a period of 2008 and 2020” project In this plan, the innovation of teaching and learning English will be carried out Its aim is manifold: firstly, to create a turning-point in English competence of Vietnam‟s human resources, especially in some priority fields; secondly, to help Vietnamese adolescents use English as a means of communication

in the multilingual and multicultural environment, which, in turn, will enable them to study confidently and independently in a foreign country (Dispatch 1400/QĐ-TTg, 2008) To achieve this goal, improving language proficiency and teaching methodology of English teachers as well as learning and teaching quality at schools has captured much attention from the Government, which made the MOET set

“Basic requirements of English teachers” in dispatch number NGCBQLGD (2014) According to this dispatch, senior high school teachers have to achieve level 5/6 in Vietnam 6-level foreign language capacity framework

792/BGDĐT-As a university having trained a great number of English language teachers, mainly for senior high school degrees, ULIS found it necessary to change their policy

to make their students meet the English competence requirement as an English teacher at senior high school From QH2012, 2nd-year students have to take C1-level

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test, which is aligned to level 5 in Vietnam 6-level foreign language capacity framework Passing the exam shows that they are not only qualified as a high school teacher in terms of language competence but also linguistically competent enough to take more specialized courses Especially, C1-level is set as one of compulsory conditions for their university graduation These changes in the policy not only cause major modification in curriculum and teaching methods, but also produce considerable effects on students‟ English learning, particularly their English learning motivation However, research conducting to investigate students‟ learning process to prepare for C1-level test as well as the effects of this test on students‟ English learning is still limited

Under these conditions, the researcher decides to conduct a study on

“Washback effects of C1-level test on students’ English learning motivation as perceived by 2 nd -year mainstream students, FELTE, ULIS, VNU” with an aim to

explore what effects this test has on English learning motivation of 2nd-year students

2 Aims and objectives

First of all, this study aims at investigating the effects of C1-level test on students‟ English learning motivation in the perception of 2nd

-year mainstream students Therefore, it hopefully helps teachers have in-depth understanding of the extent to which students‟ English learning motivation changes when preparing for this test This then serves as suggestions for teachers‟ adaption of curriculum and teaching methodology to help their students prepare for C1-level test more effectively In brief, these objectives could be summarized into three research questions as follows:

1 How does C1-level test affect students' English learning motivation as perceived by 2nd -year mainstream students, FELTE, ULIS, VNU?

2 What factors affect their English learning motivation in preparing for this test?

3 If there are any negative effects on students‟ English learning motivation, what are their solutions to them?

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3 Significance of the study

After the study is completed, it might be useful for teachers to understand how C1-level test affects their students‟ English learning when this test has been applied

at ULIS for 2 years As a result, they will have more appropriate methods as well as strategies to motivate students in English learning while preparing for the test

Moreover, the results of the research could help provide information about the effects of the policy for the leadership Then, some changes, if necessary, will be made to modify the policy and make it more suitable with students‟ learning, which enhances the effectiveness of the C1-level test application policy in FELTE, ULIS, VNU

For students, changes, if necessary, in the policy as well as teaching methodology of their teachers will facilitate their English learning As a result, students will be more motivated in learning to achieve the targeted language proficiency with high school teachers (C1 level) as set by MOET

4 Scope of the study

The researcher decided to choose 200 students out of 414 2nd-year mainstream students to become the participants of the research due to the time limit

In addition, the study only focuses on the washback effects of C1-level test on students‟ English learning motivation Its various other effects, e.g., how C1-level

test affects teachers in designing syllabus will be the subject of following studies

5 Organization

This paper has five chapters:

Chapter I: Introduction - describes Rationale, Aims of the Study and

Research Questions, Scope of the Study, Significance of the Study and Overview of the Study

Chapter II: Literature Review - lays the theoretical foundation for the study

by discussing definitions of key terms and frameworks, and some related studies

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Chapter III: Methodology - details of the methods which have been adopted

and the procedures which have been followed when researchers conducted the study

Chapter IV: Results and Discussions - presents the results and the

applications

Chapter V: Conclusion - ends the study by summarizing the main points,

revealing the implications, contribution, limitations of the study, and suggesting further studies

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This second chapter aims to present the theoretical background and a number

of studies related to the research topic specifically An overview of the theoretical background will contain washback definition, types of washback, C1-level tests (CEFR and at ULIS), definition of L2 motivation and L2 motivation theories, which

is hoped to provide sufficient background information of the research topic as well as

a basis for the researcher to analyze the results later Subsequently, the related studies are reviewed to help the researcher have an overview of the studies that have been done before, compare the results of this research with theirs and then explain

the differences between them

1 Washback

1.1 Definition of washback

Washback is inherently used to imply the relationship between teaching and testing To clarify the concept, Pearson (as cited in Cheng, & Curtis, 2004) explained that the feelings, actions and motivation of teachers, learners and parents are affected

by the public exams Although these tests take place at the end of the course, it affects the whole process of teaching and learning that have happened previously As

a result, this effect is considered to occur in a backward direction, leading to the term, washback However, he stated that the direction of washback is actually forward since the test leads teaching and learning process This prevalent term in language testing is also called “backwash” by some researchers

Bailey (1996) defined backwash as the impact of examinations on teaching and learning process This ways of defining the word seems unclear about how the exams affect teachers and students Having more adequate definition of the term, Alderson & Wall (1993) stated that washback forces teachers and learners to do unnecessary things due to the test It means that they just work on the knowledge needed to gain the high score of the test without any concern about necessary knowledge that students have to achieve However, Alderson and Wall‟s opinion

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does not mention the particular factors of a test that has effects on teachers and learners Having more detailed explanation of what washback means, Messick (1996) considered it as “the extent to which the introduction and the use of a test influences language and teachers to do things they would not otherwise do that promote or inhibit language learning” From this point of view, a test may be both positive and negative to the language teaching and learning process, which is a new intriguing direction in determining the meaning of washback Instead of just showing the relationships between the examinations and teaching and learning, this viewpoint reveals that washback means how a test affects teachers and learners positively and negatively Washback also brings about curriculum changes in some features of teaching and learning as proclaimed by Cheng (2005) Combining all the aforementioned opinions, Biggs (1995) has a complete idea of what backwash means when this researcher stated that it “refers to the fact that testing controls not only the curriculum but also teaching methods and students‟ learning strategies” (p.3) Therefore, the researcher will adopt this definition of washback in this research

1.2 Positive and Negative washback

Based on the benefits or harm that a test brings to educational practices, washback can be generally divided into two major types: positive and negative (Hughes, as cited in Pan, 2009) According to Pearson (1988), whether washback effect is positive or negative depends on the extent to which the test reflects the learning principles and relates to the objectives of a course Having a clearer viewpoint of the classification of the term, Bachman & Palmer (1996) explored the positive and negative effect of a test in both micro level (the classroom settings) and macro level (the educational/ political system)

Synthesizing different ideas in various research, Pan (2009) gave an overall summary of positive and negative washback on classroom settings and educational/ societal system Accordingly, a test is considered beneficial to classroom settings when it makes teachers cover the content and the syllabus more thoroughly, learners become harder to learn so as to achieve the goal and teaching-learning processes

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become better Moreover, a good test can lead to changes of the syllabi in an advantageous way like Davies (1985) stated that “creative and innovative testing… can, quite successfully, attract to itself a syllabus change or a new syllabus which effectively makes it into an achievement test” (p 8) For educational/societal system,

an innovative test will lead to leaders‟ decision of changing textbooks or curriculum

to reach the goal based on the power of a high-stakes test, i.e a test that “admission, promotion, placement or graduation are directly based on test scores” (Shohamy et al,

1996, p 300) Considering the long-term effect of a test, it also promotes the lifelong learning of people (as cited in Pan, 2009)

By contrast, a test brings negative washback to classroom settings when it forces teachers to make the curriculum narrower like Vernon (1956) claimed that some subjects that didn‟t have direct contribution to the test were neglected by the teachers Therefore, the examinations change the form of the curriculum Moreover, instructional time becomes shorter when it is negatively affected by the test, which resulting in “teaching to the test” problem The negative effect also makes teachers and students more anxious or distorts their performance, prevents students from learning the knowledge from reality, especially changes their attitude toward tests and then demotivates their learning motivation in cramming for the test For educational/societal system, a test with negative washback will let decision makers utilize the tests overwhelmingly for their political agendas promotion or control of educational system

2 C1- level test

2.1 C1 level-CEFR

Being developed by Council of Europe, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) divides language competence into six levels (Cambridge English language assessment, n.d.) as the diagram below:

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Figure 1: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)

From this diagram, it is apparent that there are six levels from A1 to C2, in which C1 is the advanced level, and people at this level are proficient users

According to the CEFR (Cambridge English language assessment, n.d.), people who achieve C1 level have ability to utilize language structures easily and fluently, write various kinds of texts and make long and complex utterances when speaking They can also use language creatively and flexibly as well as deal with the unpredictable situations in an appropriate way Language user at this level can foster their reading interest in both factual and fictional texts

Besides language use, language user should be aware of the relationship between this language and the culture that it comes from Therefore, the user of this language is able to deal with different social circumstances and have expression and discussion in a culturally acceptable way The CEFR also clarifies how necessary language of a C1-level user is at a workplace and in an academic course at a university as the table below:

-Have fluent discussions on

abstract and cultural topics

with good expressions

-May have difficulties in

expression in sensitive and

complex themes

-Have active participation

in a foreign culture

- Argue in a persuasive way

-Ask questions out of their expertise fields -Contribute effectively and make a presentation

or demonstration

-Present clearly in a familiar theme

-May encounter difficulty

in clarifying complex points or handling unpredictable questions

Writing

-Produce personal letters

and some kinds of formal

letters on common topics

-Solve normal problems

in goods and services requests

-Produce various kinds of letter like enquiry, complaint, request and application

-Make a note-taking in lectures, seminars or written passages

-Write an essay with some grammatical and vocabulary errors

-Have difficulties coming through academic reading required

-May not deal with post graduate study

-Get information from lectures, demonstrations, and seminars of familiar accents, language and topics

Table 1: Targeted skills of C1 level – CEFR 2.2 Level 5/6 according to MOET (C1 level-CEFR)

According to dispatch 01/2014/TT-BGDĐT (2014), Vietnam 6-level foreign language capacity framework is based on CEFR and adapted according to the reality

of learning and using English in Vietnam It is divided into 3 degrees with 6 levels as

in the table below:

Table 2: 6-level foreign language capacity framework in Vietnam

From this table, it can be seen that level 5, a requirement for a senior high school English teacher set by MOET, is equivalent to C1 level of CEFR The required English competence with level 5 users is also summarized in the following table:

Receptive

skills

Listening -Understand the lecture right from the beginning despite its ambiguity

- Understand information from TV programmes or films without too much effort

Reading -Understand details in a long text, complex literary work and feel its

-Give opinions accurately and interactionally Interaction

Speaking -Show the ideas clearly and specificly about complex topic with many

subtopics and give suitable conclusion Writing -Write an essay with coherence and cohesion and express viewpoints in a

certain length -Write letters, essays or reports in complex themes and state emerginging issues

-Choose suitable writing style

Table 3: The required English competence with level 5 users

2.3 C1-level test at ULIS

ULIS (n.d.) has developed two versions of C1-level tests For English major, the test contains 4 skills- listening, reading, speaking and writing For English majors, they also have to take vocabulary-grammar part Listening test lasts

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about 25 minutes with 3 parts When taking reading test, candidates have to answer

40 questions in 50 mninutes after reading 4 passages In writing test, two tasks including presenting information from the charts, tables or diagram and writing an essay on a given topic must be finished within 60 minutes For speaking test, candidates take part in a three-minute interview, describing picture part and a discussion while they spend 25 minutes completing 4 parts in grammar and vocabulary test For further description of each task as well as skills and knowledge

to be evaluated in each, see appendix 1

3 Motivation and factors affecting motivation in L2 learning

3.1 Motivation in L2 learning

Despite the frequent use of “motivation” term in both research and education fields, there is still disagreement in defining the exact concept of motivation in L2 However, both educators and researchers agree upon the significant influence that motivation has on the grade and attainment of L2 It is always presupposed as one of the factors affecting students‟ L2 acquisition in which it initiates L2 learning and then helps to remain the long-term learning process (Dornyei, 1998) The role of motivation to language achievement is even more important than individual‟s language aptitude and learning conditions, as stated by Gardner and Lambert (1972)

It determines the behaviors of an individual by giving enthusiasm and direction, and how this process occurs is discussed through various studies

Dornyei (1996) noticed that the reasons for people‟s behaviors still remained controversial due to the relation of psychological viewpoints with various motivation theories Viewing motivation in a process-oriented way, Pintrich and Schunk (1996) stated that it is a behavioral term since motivation involves different mental processes initiating and remaining an action In the opinion of Dornyei (1998), this theory is fairly convincing but significantly different from the traditional motivation concept which is regarded in quite statistic mental and emotional condition He defines motivation as “a process whereby a certain amount of instigation forces arises, initiates action, and persists as long as no other force comes into play to weaken it

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and thereby terminate action or until the planned outcome has been reached” (p 118) This opinion seems to be clearer when it points out how mental processes operate to achieve the goal However, that individual‟s motivation is not affected by other factors as stated seems not to be realistic under the real-life condition

Moreover, L2 motivation is perceived as “a complex and unique situation even within motivational psychology” because of both its multifaceted construct and the roles of language use (Dornyei, 1998, p 118) He explains that language is a communication coding system (being taught as a subject at school), an integral part

of the individual‟s identity (participating in almost every mental activity) and channel

of social organization (involving in the culture of the community that language is utilized) at the same time As a result, the motivational language acquisition is not only the mastery of the subject matters but also „L2 identity‟ development and the combination of factors in the L2 culture (Gardner, as cited in Dornyei, 1998, p 118) Instead of just indicating the relationship between motivation and individual‟s behaviors, Dornyei and Gardner have involved the L2 characteristics in the concept

of L2 motivation, which distinguishes “L2 motivation” from “motivation” term in other fields This shift in defining L2 motivation makes the term more intriguing and diverse to investigate However, it does not describe the process of L2 motivation as well as how „L2 identity‟ is involved specifically Therefore, the researcher decides not to adopt this theory in the research

In 2005, Gardner continues to introduce other concept of L2 motivation With social psychological point of view, he defines that L2 motivation is indicated via

“persistence and constant effort, desire to learn to achieve mastery of the L2 and enjoyment of the L2 learning process” (as cited in Nguyen, 2011, p 18) This way of defining the term has various advantages over the concept of L2 motivation in the studies mentioned above since it shows L2 learning motivation process and how L2 identity is involved in it clearer Moreover, this definition of L2 motivation reflects the psychological process inside the individuals to attain L2 mastery including their effort, desire and pleasure in learning English, which is suitable with the notion of the

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“English learning motivation” term of this study For these reasons, the researcher decides to adopt this definition in the research

3.2 Theories of Motivation in L2 learning

3.2.1 Summary of the main L2 learning motivation theories

The development of L2 learning motivation theories was separated into two main periods The first period was from 1959, when L2 motivation research was initiated, to 1980s In this period, Lambert and Gardner, two social psychologists in Canada, carried out their research in social orientation and draw a conclusion that learning second language differs from studying any other subjects since it involves majestic cultural elements of a country into people‟s whole life (Gardner & Lambert, 1972) Another success of Gardner‟s theory is Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) presenting a list of factors affecting students‟ motivation and their learning acquisition significantly Investigating motivation with different points of view,

attribution theory focuses on individual‟s emotion It indicates that there is a link

between people‟s past experiences and their effort to achieve something in the future Besides, self-determination theory (SDT) initiated in 1985 by Deci and Ryan concentrates on distinguishing between types of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and how to foster internalization and integration of values and behavioral regulations

of the students Deci and Ryan (2000) continue to investigate extrinsic motivation further to clarify its great variation of autonomy The second period, which focused

on conceptualizing motivation based on certain language learning tasks and actions at more micro level, began from 1990s The most influential publication in this vein is Dornyei and Otto‟s process model of L2 motivation, which was published in 1998 In this model, motivation is considered as a dynamic factor fluctuating continuously (see 3.2.2.2 for more details)

Among the theories mentioned above, the researcher decided not to choose Gardner and Lambert‟s theory and attributional theory since they don‟t demonstrate definition and factors affecting L2 motivation speficically SDT is also not adopted because classifying types of L2 motivation is not the aim of this study For more

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specific details about Gardner‟s motivation theory and Dornyei and Otto‟s process model of L2 motivation, see 3.2.2

3.2.2 Theories adopted in the study

3.2.2.1 Gardner’s Motivation Theory

Approaching the matter from the social psychological viewpoint, Gardner‟s motivation theory focuses on three main aspects: the theory of second language acquisition (SLA), Integrativeness and the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery

a Integrativeness and the socio-educational model of SLA

According to Gardner (2005), two fundamental variables in language learning are ability and motivation Therefore, if people have higher ability or motivation, they will become more successful in learning language However, these two factors are quite independent because students with high ability might have high or low learning motivation for reasons and vice versa To reveal the influences of other factors on them, Gardner introduces the fundamental model of language learning (see figure 2)

Accordingly, motivation is affected by educational setting and cultural context while the ability is endued However, both of them are equally involved in the formal contexts (where the instruction occurs) while motivation is more involved in the informal contexts (any other situations in which the language can be used) than the ability since motivation decides to what extent people voluntarily participate in these kinds of contexts

Figure 2: The fundamental model of language learning (Gardner, 2005, p 5)

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Gardner also divides factors affecting language learning acquisition into two big groups which are environmental characteristics and characteristics of the student The former includes quality of instruction (teacher, curriculum, lesson plans), opportunities to use the language and socio-cultural milieu and expectations Meanwhile, the latter contains student ability (intelligence and language aptitude), students affect (attitudes, motivation, anxiety), personal variables and language strategies Although he admits the importance of the environmental factors, he states that language learning acquisition still depends upon students‟ characteristics because the success of an instruction is based on how students receive it

To help people have a closer look at motivation and factors that support it, Gardner continues to introduce the socio-educational model (see figure 3) It propounds that Attitudes toward the Learning Situation and Integrativeness are two classes of variables related to second language learning Integrativeness is regarded

as “an individual‟s openness to taking on characteristics of another cultural/linguistic group” (Gardner, 2005, p 7) Instrumentality refers to learners‟ desire to learn a second language for “purely practical reasons” (Gardner, 2005, p 8), is also considered as another variable These three kinds of variables correlate with each other positively in a pair

Figure 3: Socio-educational model of second language acquisition

(Gardner, 2005, p 6)

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Attitudes toward learning situation, Integrativenes and Instrumentality link to motivation through uni-directional arrows showing that they have influence on Motivation which affects individual differences in language learning achievement along with Ability Another variable in the model is Language Anxiety linking to Language Achievement by two directional arrows This means that individuals with high level of anxiety will get poor result and individuals who lack of facility will be more anxious in using their language

It should be also highlighted that integrativeness and instrumentality are regarded as orientations, not motivation in this theory

b The Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB)

AMTB has been originally designed to measure second language learning motivation of English-speaking students learning French as a second language It includes items primarily related to French which are modified based on the learning contexts in various studies since it is considered as a “useful self-report instrument” (Dornyei, 2005, p 71)

AMTB (English version) is developed to investigate various components in the socio-educational model of SLA (see Appendix 3) It consists of 11 subtests (nine with 10 items and two with four items) to measure five main variables which are attitudes toward the learning situations, integrativeness, motivation, instrumentality and language anxiety The following table presents assessed components and measures in AMTB (Nguyen, 2011, p 20):

Integrativeness Integrative orientation (IO)

Interest in Foreign languages (IFL) Attitudes toward the Language community (ALC)

Desire to Learn the Language (DESIRE) Attitudes toward learning the language (ALL)

Instrumentality Instrumentality Orientation (INST)

Language Anxiety Language Class Anxiety (CLASS)

Language Use Anxiety (USE)

Table 4: Assessed components and measures in AMTB (Nguyen, 2011, p 20)

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By presenting two models as mentioned above and AMTB, Gardner has indicated the relationship between L2 motivation and other variables, i.e., educational setting, cultural context, attitudes toward the learning situation, integrativeness, instrumentality and language anxiety However, it is impossible for this research to focus on all of them Therefore, only motivation component in AMTB will be used as

a basis for the researcher to design questions of how C1-level test affects students‟ English learning motivation in the questionnaire to answer research question 1 (see chapter 3)

3.2.2.2 The Dornyei and Otto Process- oriented Model of L2 Motivation

Dornyei (2005) pointed out that “language learning motivation shows a certain amount of changeability” and it is expected to “go through rather diverse phases” (p.83) Therefore, it can be seen as a dynamic and continuously fluctuated factor Having the same opinion, Garcia thinks that the tasks faced by students may occur over a period of time while motivation “ebbs and flows” as its characteristic (as cited in Dornyei, 2005, p 83) As a result, to make the components and mechanisms

of L2 learning motivation process more specific, Dornyei (2005) introduced a process model of L2 motivation that he developed with Otto in 1998 as below:

Preactional stage Actional Stage Postactional Stage

 Generating and carrying out subtasks

 Ongoing appraisal (of one‟s achievement)

 Action control regulation)

(self-Main motivational influences:

 Quality of the learning experience (pleasantness, need significance, coping potential, self and social image)

MOTIVATIONAL RETROSPECTION Motivational

functions

 Forming casual attributions

 Elaborating standards and strategies

 Dismissing the intention, and further planning

Main motivational influences:

 Attributional factors (e.g., attributional styles

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process itself, as well

as its outcomes and

consequences

 Attitudes toward the

L2 and its speakers

self-and biases)

 Self-concept beliefs (e.g., self-confidence and self-worth)

 Received feedback, praise, grades

Figure 4: A Process Model of L2 Motivation (as cited in Dornyei, 2005, p 85)

According to Dornyei (2005), this model splits motivational process into three phases At the first stage (choice motivation), motivation arises, which helps individuals select aim and task they will obsess Next, actional stage (executive motivation) is a process of sustaining the motivation when the action is lasting He also explains that this dimension is appropriate with L2, a maintained activity in which students is affected by different distracting factors At post actional phase (motivation retrospection), individuals will evaluate how their experiences went and decide type of activities that they have motivation to do in the future

It is also worth noting from the model that it comprises different L2 learning motivation theories such as Integrativeness and attitude towards L2 of Gardner in pre-actional phase, sense of autonomy in SDT theory in actional stage and attribution theory in postactional stage The targeted participants, 2-year mainstream students have 2 years studying at the university to prepare for C1-level test, so their English learning motivation tends to change over time Therefore, this model provides the most appropriate framework for the researcher to analyze the fluctuation in their motivation Moreover, main motivation influences in each stage are listed out to help people see quite complete factors affecting students‟ learning motivation during a period of time clearly From the reasons mentioned above, the researcher decides to adapt this point of view as a basis to answer the second research question of the study

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Nevertheless, Dornyei (2005) noticed two shortcomings of this model Firstly,

it doesn‟t show exactly where action starts in an educational context Secondly, there might be some actional processes occurring simultaneously To deal with these limitations, this research just concentrates on investigating how students‟ English learning motivation changes over the period of time and factors resulting to these changes

3.3 An overview of related studies and research gaps

Amrein and Berliner (2003) conducted a study on “The effects of stakes Testing on Student Motivation and Learning” in which the washback effects of high-stakes testing on students in grades 3-8 of the No Child Left Behind Act were investigated The research was carried out over eighteen high-stakes testing states in the United States Through calculating the statistics collected, they explored that the number of states conducting high school graduation test with higher drop-out rates than those without this test accounts for 88 percent It means that this kind of tests leads to decrease in students‟ learning motivation and even increase in dropout rates

High-To measure effects of high-stakes tests on student learning, archival time-series analysis was applied Students in these eighteen states took four highly respected measures: the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), American College Test (ACT), Advanced Placement (AP) tests, and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) independently Then the result in different years was compared with national data for each measure The researchers draw a conclusion that “High-stakes testing policies have resulted in no measurable improvement in student learning.” (Amrein & Berliner, 2003, p 36)

In Vietnam, the number of studies on the washback of an exam is still limited Most of the studies concentrated on learning motivation in class setting like motivational strategies used by teachers in speaking classes (Nguyen, 2012) or the use of warm-up activities to motivate students in English lesson (Do, 2013)

At ULIS, Nguyen (2011) has investigated students‟ perception on factors affecting English learning motivation of students in strategic mission project at ULIS,

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VNU In this research, she explored what type of motivation students have, how their learning motivation changes and what factors have effects on students‟ English learning motivation These English non-major students have to fulfill their English competence to pass the test (at least 5.5 IELTS) and come back to their faculty to study other subjects in English The study was conducted with the population of 144 students and the data was gathered through questionnaire and semi-structured interview The findings revealed that these students have different motivation orientations like intrinsic, extrinsic (instrumental) and integrative orientation in which extrinsic motivation is dominant These students study English to pass the exams, have more education chances as well as good jobs afterwards For changes in students‟ English learning motivation, more than 50 percent of them report that their level of learning motivation has decreased The factors leading to motivation increased are various from the individual to individual while the reasons for decreased learning motivation are mainly “inappropriateness of the syllabi, the lack

of self-regulatory strategies and low grades” (Nguyen, 2011, p 61)

C1-level test is also a kind of test applied in ULIS that 2nd- year students have to take after studying at the University for 2 years, which brings about tremendous effects on their learning However, there is still a limited number of studies investigating this issue As a result, this research has an attempt to help bridge the gap by working out how students‟ learning motivation is affected and their solutions to the negative effects

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

The following chapter includes the description of the sample, justification for the data collection instruments (questionnaire and semi-structured interview) Furthermore, an elaborate report on the procedures of data collection and data analysis is also incorporated

1 Setting and participants

1.1 Setting

Since the academic year of 2012 -2013, the ULIS second-year students have had to take C1-level test at the end of the second year To make these students qualified as C1-level users of English within 2 years, English program at FELTE, ULIS is channeled into 2 main branches, i.e social and academic English In the first year, students have to take 2 subjects: English 1a, 2a (focuses on social English) and English 1b, 2b (focuses on academic English) From the second year, to facilitate students in C1-level test, English 3c and 4c are put into the curriculum besides social and academic subject as the first two semesters They study 50 minutes each sessions and for the number of sessions each week as well as course books used, see appendix

2 for more details

1.2 Participants

Classes from QH2013 E1 to QH2013 E20, make up the population of 483 students The students of classes QH2013.E1, QH2013 E2, and QH2013 E16 are students with higher level of language competence, therefore, the researcher decides

to exclude these students to minimize the number of variables

This study is carried out among 2nd- year mainstream students (from QH2013 E3 to QH2013 E15 and from QH2011 E17 to QH2011 E20), FELTE, ULIS, VNU, who have taken English as one of three subjects in the university entrance exam for 2 years They have experienced 3 terms of studying English at the university to

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enhance their English competence This period of time may be long enough for them

to have changes in their English learning motivation, realize which factors affecting their motivation as well as deal with different negative changes in their learning motivation These students are also preparing for C1-level test at the end of the second year Therefore, the effects of C1-level test on these students‟ learning seemed clearest to investigate Each class has from 17 to 26 students and there are

414 second-year mainstream students, FELTE, ULIS, VNU, which is quite large Therefore, there were 200 students taking part in doing the questionnaire

The large number of target population made it impractical to apply simple random sampling method here Cluster sampling (Cohen, Manion, & Morrion, as cited in Nguyen, 2011, p 32) was used instead In this sampling method, each class was considered as a cluster to be chosen, which saved time in delivery questionnaire procedure Then the researcher decided to choose 9 out of 17 classes to conduct the survey The classes chosen by simple sampling method were asked for participating

in this survey As mentioned by Moore and McCabe (2006, p.219), this strategy

contains n individuals from the population chosen in such a way that every set of n

individuals has an equal chance to be the sample actually selected

2 Data collection methods and procedures

2.1 Instruments

To answer the three research questions, the researcher will employ questionnaire and interview as the instruments Questionnaire was used to answer three research questions while interview was used for collecting further information

to answer these three questions

2.1.1 Questionnaire

Although the questionnaire was adopted and designed in English, Vietnamese version questionnaire was delivered to the participants This ensured that they could understand the questions with unfamiliar terms more easily and accurately as well as

of motivation before the main part of the questionnaire so that students could understand what “motivation” refers to The main content of the questionnaire contains 4 parts The first part is personal information of the participants so that it will be convenient for the researcher to contact with them for further information later The second concentrates on how C1-level test has effects on students‟ English learning situation Based on the definition of “L2 motivation” that this study adopted

and AMTB (see chapter 2 and Appendix 3), the effects of C1 level test on students‟

learning motivation are expressed through how it changes their level of English learning motivation for certain purposes, for desire to learn English, attitude toward both English speaking people and English learning, as well as how constant their effort put into learning English is

The next part is used to answer the second question: factors affecting students‟ English learning motivation in preparing for C1-level test As mentioned above (3.3-chapter 2), Nguyen (2011) conducted an investigation into students‟ perception of factors affecting English learning motivation of students in Strategic Mission Project These non-major English students came from different member universities of VNU and were mixed into classes to achieve at least 5.5 IELTS after studying at ULIS for one year This target put a lot of pressure on students as well as affected their English learning motivation very much, which is similar to the participants‟ situations in this study With the same research question as the second one of this research, Nguyen (2011) has designed a part of the questionnaire (see Appendix 4-Part II for more details) which was based on AMTB, a “frequently used standardized instrument” (Dornyei, 1998, p.123) and was utilized in various quantitative studies as stated by

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Hashwani (2008) Moreover, Nguyen‟s questionnaire not only fully analyzed factors having effects on students‟ English learning motivation but also received positive academic responses For these reasons, the researcher has asked Nguyen for permission to adopt this part to answer the second question of this research and got her permission After considering part II of her questionnaire, the researcher saw that question item 15a and 15b were double-barrel, so each of them was split into 2 questions In general, part III of the questionnaire in this research is divided into two sections, one for students with increased English learning motivation and one for decreased English learning motivation Each of them includes 23 close-ended questions The aim of each question item is summarized in the following table:

23 #5 Influence of the learner group

24 #6 Knowledge and use of regulatory strategies

25

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#9 Received feedback, praise, grades

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Table 5: Aims of question items (Adapted from Nguyen (2011))

Moreover, there were spaces at the end of the list of factors affecting their learning motivation so that the other factors involved would not be left out

Last but not least, the last part of the questionnaire explored how students overcame difficulties and enhanced their English learning motivation Both students with increased and decreased motivation answered this question It is worth noting that researcher‟s aim in this question is to help teachers understand what students did

to deal with decreased English learning motivation when preparing for the test Evaluating the effectiveness of these solutions is not the focus on this research question With this open-ended question, the space was large for them to list out all

on certain points in each case The interview was carried out with the participation of

10 students, 5 students with increased English learning motivation and 5 individuals with decreased information for further investigation of the effects of C1-level test on them (see Appendix 6) The interview questions are divided into 2 types, one for individuals with increased motivation and the other for students with decreased learning motivation This way of division makes it more convenient for the

2.2 Procedure

The process of data collection is composed of 3 phases

Phase 1: Designing and Piloting the questionnaire

The researcher designed a questionnaire based on the definition of L2 motivation that the study adopts, AMTB as well as the questionnaire of Nguyen (2011) (The researcher has asked for Nguyen‟s permission) A well-constructed questionnaire would enhance the quality of the information taken back Then the questionnaire was reviewed by both an experienced teacher and 3 mainstream students from FELTE, QH2013 By this way, the researcher revised the questionnaire based on the comments and suggestions for both content and format improvements from them The questionnaire was finalized afterwards and ready to be delivered to the participants

Phase 2: Surveying

The researcher contacted the office of FELTE to have the list as well as the studying schedule of 2nd- year mainstream students Before sending questionnaire to the subjects, researcher asked the teacher to inform the members of the research and the questionnaire in advance Because some questions items related to their perception of teachers, the researcher decides to deliver questionnaire at the rest of the lessons Therefore, the participants may feel free to express their opinions

First of all, the researcher introduced herself as well as the topic of this study, which aims at creating a rapport with the participants for their better contribution to doing the questionnaire and helping them understand about what they were supposed

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to do Then, the researcher delivered the questionnaire and provided participants with adequate time to finish without urging through observing participants‟ gestures, facial expressions, and even asking questions whether they have finish their answer

in a friendly way Finally, when collecting the questionnaire from the participants, the researcher checked carefully to ensure that all parts of the questionnaire has been finished In total, 195 questionnaires were returned

Phase 3: Interviewing

After synthesizing the collected questionnaires, 10 students who have significant changes in their English learning motivation were chosen for the interview 5 were of increased motivation level and the others were of decreased motivation level The researcher had contact with them via the phone number or email written in the questionnaire The interviews started with some informal talks to create a friendly atmosphere All the talks were recorded besides taking note for later information synthesizing

2.3 Data analysis methods and procedures

Firstly, 4 questionnaires with errors which seemed to be finished as soon as possible by participants‟ circling only one number for all of the questions were eliminated, reducing the number of questionnaires analyzed to 191 while the recorded interviews were transcribed Next, the collected data was classified to answer the research questions The data gathered through the questionnaires and interviews were expected to answer all the three research questions

Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data The data obtained from the close-ended questions were calculated manually and transferred into numerical form (percentage, mean and standard deviation) After that, for each research question, data were summarized into graphs to assist the synthesis, comparison and generalization of the data

Qualitative data like participants‟ answers to the open-ended questions in the questionnaire was summarized and categorized to be referred to when the research conductor illustrates the data analysis

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CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, all the collected data will be analyzed and discussed in details

to reveal the answers to each research question in turn Data collected from questionnaires and interviews will be integrated to support and complement each other The findings of the research are also compared to that of the previous studies

to highlight its new and outstanding results

Questionnaires:

Number of distributed questionnaires: 200

Number of responded questionnaires: 195

Response rate: 97.5 %

4.1 Research question 1- How C1-level test affects students’ English learning motivation

Number of students with increased motivation: 107 (56.02%)

Number of students with decreased motivation: 84 (43.98%)

Concerning students‟ changes in learning motivation during preparing for the test, more than half of surveyed students (56.02%) reported that their motivation

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increased This result is not in line with that of Amrein and Berliner (2003) and

Nguyen (2011)‟s investigation mentioned in literature review In 2003, Amrein and

Berliner‟s research found out that high school graduation test decreased students‟

learning motivation and even lead to higher drop-out rates More than 50% of students also revealed that there was a decrease in their learning motivation in

Nguyen‟s study (2011) There are several possible explanations for the difference

between the result of this study and the others‟ It could be possible that English is

the major of the students in this research Therefore, they tended to concentrate and put more efforts into learning English Another possible explanation for this might be

that students had interest in studying English already when entering the university, so

they gained great pleasure during English learning process

Q Preparing for C1-level

4 my desire to learn English 7.33% 15.71% 23.56% 26.70% 17.28% 9.42% 3.59 1.38

5 my attitude toward English

learning 8.90% 14.14% 30.37% 23.04% 17.28% 6.28% 3.45 1.34

6

my motivation to learn

English for practical

purposes (e.g., to get a

good job)

3.66% 5.24% 17.80% 25.13% 24.08% 24.08% 4.33 1.35

7 my effort to learn English 9.42% 15.18% 34.55% 21.47% 13.61% 5.76% 3.32 1.31

Table 6: Changes in students’ English learning motivation during preparing for

C1-level test