Findings from the questionnaires

4.1. The extent to which the students‟ learning autonomy can be enhanced through

4.1.1. Findings from the questionnaires

4.1.1.1. The changes of the students’ learning autonomy after doing project work

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Figure 4.1: Mean scores of students’ learning autonomy in English learning process and project work among the five groups

Figure 4.1 shows the difference in mean scores of students‟ learning autonomy between English learning process and project work process among the five groups. According to the bar chart, the students‟ learning autonomy increases in four areas, including determining objectives, choosing contents, selecting methods and techniques to be used, and evaluating what has been acquired when doing projects. Meanwhile the learners‟ autonomy decreases in monitoring acquisition procedure, which means that there is reduction in students‟ ability in deciding and managing time and place when doing the projects. Whether the project work has any effects on these changes of students‟ learning autonomy in each area will be presented below.

 Determining objectives

Table 4.1: Statistical test result in determining objectives Mean Standard Dev. Statistical test English learning process 11.34 4.00

√

Project work 13.44 3.08

As can be seen from the table 4.1, in terms of determining objectives, the

11.34

4.1

8.88 8.84

13.24 13.44

6.12

10.96

5.96

16.38

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Determining objectives

Choosing contents Selecting methods and techniques to be

used

Monitoring acquisition procedure

Evaluating what has been acquired English learning process Project work

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mean score of project work (13.44) is higher than that in English learning process (11.34). However, only mean scores cannot conclude that this improvement is statistically significant. Therefore, a hypothesis test is conducted to get the test statistic. The result from the table shows that the test result (2.941) is higher than the critical value (1.663), so there is a significant difference between learner autonomy in determining objectives during learning English process and when doing projects. The result reveals that thanks to project work, students can enhance their learning autonomy in determining learning objectives. In other words, students are able to set the objectives based on their needs and levels. More specifically, students themselves can set targets on using a wide range of vocabulary, using grammar structures and pronounce words correctly. They may also adjust these objectives if necessary.

 Choosing contents

Table 4.2: Statistical test result in choosing contents Mean Standard Dev. Statistical test English learning process 4.1 1.63

̅̅̅ ̅̅̅

√

Project work 6.12 1.51

It can be seen from the table 4.2 that when it comes to students‟ learning autonomy in choosing contents, the mean score of project work (6.12) is much higher than the mean score of English learning process (4.1). However, it is inadequate to draw a conclusion without taking a test. The result from the statistical test is 6.428 which is significantly higher than the critical value (1.663). Therefore, null hypothesis is rejected. It also indicates that project work has a strong effect on this increase. That is to say, thanks to project work, students have a potential capability for choosing learning contents and selecting the contents from different available sources.

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 Selecting methods and techniques to be used

Table 4.3.: Statistical test result in selecting methods and techniques to be used Mean Standard Dev. Statistical test

English learning process 8.88 3.3

̅̅̅ ̅̅̅

√

Project work 10.96 2.13

The number in the table 4.3 points out that in terms of students‟ learning autonomy in selecting methods and techniques to be used, the mean score in project work process is pretty higher than that in English learning process (10.96 > 8.88). However, it is not enough to conclude that project work has a positive impact on the development of learners‟ autonomy in selecting methods and techniques until the difference is proved statistically significant. As also illustrated in the table, the result of the test statistic is much higher than the critical value (3.744 > 1.663). As a result, it can be drawn a conclusion that these projects have an influence on the development of students‟ learning autonomy in this area. In other words, thanks to the projects, students can be able to choose the most suitable methods and techniques to learn vocabulary, grammar, improve pronunciation and develop groupwork and presentation skills.

 Monitoring acquisition procedure

Table 4.4: Statistical test result in monitoring acquisition procedure Mean Standard

Dev.

Statistical test

English learning process 8.84 2.96

̅̅̅ ̅̅̅

√

Project work 5.96 3.69

As can be seen from the table 4.4, unlike the other areas, the learners‟

autonomy in this field has a big change of decrease after doing the projects. The table shows that the mean score in English learning process was 8.84, meanwhile it is only 5.96 in project work. The result of the test statistic is a direct answer for the

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question whether the project work has an impact on this change of students‟

learning autonomy in monitoring the acquisition procedure. As presented in the table, the result of the test is -4.305, which is dramatically lower than the critical value (-1.663). Therefore, it should be concluded that learners‟ autonomy in monitoring acquisition procedure is gone down due to the project work.

 Evaluating what has been acquired

Table 4.5: Statistical test result in evaluating what has been acquired Mean Standard Dev. Statistical test

English learning process 13.24 5.41

̅̅̅ ̅̅̅

√

Project work 16.38 5.38

As illustrated from the table 4.5, when it comes to students‟ learning autonomy in evaluating what has been acquired, the mean score in English learning process (13.24) is lower than that in project work (16.38). However, only mean scores cannot conclude that this improvement is statistically significant. Therefore, a hypothesis test is conducted to get the statistical test result. The table shows the result of the test statistic, which is 2.91, is higher than the critical value (1.663). It means that thanks to the project work, students can develop their ability in checking whether they achieved their own objectives or not and self-evaluate their strengths and weaknesses after doing projects.

In brief, to answer the first research question, five statistical tests were conducted to find out the influence of project work on students‟ learning autonomy in five categories. After making these analyses, the researcher draws two conclusions. Firstly, learners‟ autonomy can be enhanced in terms of determining objectives, choosing learning contents, selecting methods and techniques to be used, and evaluating what has been acquired through project work. Secondly, there is a decrease in students‟ learning autonomy in terms of monitoring the acquisition procedure. To be more specific, the extent of the changes of students‟ learning autonomy in five categories is presented in 4.1.1.2.

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4.1.1.2. The extent of the changes of the students’ learning autonomy after doing the projects.

Figure 4.2: The extent of the changes of students’ learning autonomy after doing the projects

As can be seen from the pie charts, after doing the projects, students‟ learning autonomy increased by around 1% in determining objectives and selecting methods and techniques to be used, around 2.5% in choosing contents and evaluating what has been acquired. Besides, students‟ learning autonomy decreased from 19% to 11% in monitoring the acquisition process.

To check the result from the questionnairs and find out the reasons why there are the unforeseen changes, let have a look at the findings from the interview and students‟ diaries.