Factors affecting learning engagement for task based language learning of non english majored students at ba ria vung tau university master of TESOL

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY - THESIS VU THI MINH TAM FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING ENGAGEMENT FOR TASKBASED LANGUAGE LEARNING OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY Ba Ria-Vung Tau 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY - THESIS FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING ENGAGEMENT FOR TASKBASED LANGUAGE LEARNING OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY Submitted to the Postgraduate Institute in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL Course code: 8140111 By Vu Thi Minh Tam Supervised by Tran Quoc Thao, Ph.D Ba Ria-Vung Tau 2022 The thesis entitled FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING ENGAGEMENT FOR TASK-BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY was successfully defended and approved on April 24th at Ba Ria Vung Tau University (BVU) Academic supervisor: Dr TRAN QUOC THAO Examination Committee ……………………………………………………… Chair …………………………………………… ………… Reader ……………………………………………………… Reader ……………………………………………………… Member ……………………………………………………… Secretary Member On behalf of the Examination Committee Chair (full name, title, signature) BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE Ba Ria Vung Tau, December 2021 MASTER’S THESIS REPORT Student name: VU THI MINH TAM Sex: Female Date of birth: 18/01/1992 Place of birth: Ba Ria Vung Tau Province: Vung Tau Major: English Language Student code: 18110049 I- Thesis title: FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING ENGAGEMENT FOR TASK-BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY II-Objectives and contents: This study aims at exploring the factors that affect the learning engagement for TBLT of non-English-majored students in the context of BVU The specific objectives of the research are as follows: To determine the learning engagement for TBLT of non-English-majored students at BVU To find out the factors that affect learning engagement for TBLT of non-English-majored students at BVU To examine if there is any significant relationship in the learning engagement for TBLT and the factors affecting learning engagement for TBLT of non-English-majored students at BVU This study is conducted at BVU in Vung Tau city There are over 4000 students with different abilities For those who are not specialized in English, completing the courses of learning English with LIFE course-book is compulsory for their graduation Therefore, the participants of this study are the 200 non-English-major students who are using this textbook as well as having chances of studying different topics and experiencing TBLT in classrooms To achieve the desired results, the researcher conducts a semi-structured interview and delivers questionnaires to the participants to collect data Besides, the mixed methods design is employed, and two analytical methods utilized are SPSS and content analysis III- Starting date: (as stated in the Decision issued by the University) IV- Completing date: V- Academic supervisor: (full name,title) TRAN QUOC THAO, Ph.D ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR SCHOOL HEAD ((full name, signature) ((full name, signature) CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING ENGAGEMENT FOR TASK-BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by Higher Degree Committee of Postgraduate Institute, Ba Ria Vung Tau University Ba Ria Vung Tau province, December 2021 VU THI MINH TAM RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Vu Thi Minh Tam, being a candidate for the degree of TESOL accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses Ba Ria Vung Tau, December 2021 Signature …………………… Vu Thi Minh Tam ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere thanks to those who have made great contributions to my thesis completion First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to Dr Tran Quoc Thao, my supervisor, for his valuable comments and suggestions during the whole research process His dynamism, enthusiasm, vision as well as his patience have deeply inspired me Without his support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed Secondly, I am very grateful to the school board staff including the principal and the Postgraduate Institute of Ba Ria – Vung Tau University who have given me encouragement, support of time and finance, and permission to complete the MA course and implement this thesis there My sincere thanks also go to my friends and colleagues for all their help and motivation I would like to thank the research participants who have contributed to this study Last but not least, I warmly thank my family for their countless support, greatest sympathy, and unconditional love who have provided me strong spiritual and material support ABSTRACT It is universally acknowledged that Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) plays an integral role in the language teaching and learning process In many countries all over the world, TBLT is applied to the process of teaching and learning English widely and effectively Nevertheless, when it comes to the context of education in Vietnam, especially the English subject, examinations are mainly grammar focused Hence, English teaching and learning is purely examination-based This leads to the fact that students lose their interest in acquiring the new language and fail to speak fluent English Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to explore the factors that affect the learning engagement for TBLT of non-English-majored students at Ba Ria Vung Tau University (BVU) This study involves 200 non-English-major students who are using this textbook as well as having chances of studying different topics and experiencing TBLT in classrooms taking part in answering the questionnaire and sixty students in responding to the semi-structured interview questions The data gained from the questionnaire are analyzed by SPSS in terms of descriptive statistics (means, standard deviation, & frequency) The findings of the study show that teacher-related, learning context-related and learner-related factors have positive impacts on learning engagement for TBLT The researcher then analyzes the data taken from the semi-structured interview to make the results of the study clearer These preliminary findings are hoped to contribute to a better understanding of the current perspectives of the factors that affect the learning engagement for TBLT, with a view to bringing some practical implications in the Vietnamese context, thereby improving the quality of the teaching in English language for non-majored English students in Ba Ria Vung Tau university in specific and Vietnam in general (280 words) Keywords: TBLT, factors, learning engagement, non-English majored students TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Statement of the problem 1.3 Aims of the Study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Definitions of the Terms 1.8 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 2.2 An overview of TBLT 2.3 Tasks in TBLT 2.3.1 Definitions of tasks 2.3.2 Types of tasks 11 2.4 Learning engagement 14 2.5 Factors affecting learning engagement for TBLT 17 2.5.1 Learner-related factors 17 2.5.2 Teacher-related factors 21 2.5.3 The learning context-related factors 24 2.6 Previous studies 26 2.7 Conceptual framework 30 2.8 Summary 31 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 32 3.1 Research design 32 My classmates help me improve my English ability I have many opportunities to cooperate with my classmates in learning English I have a chance to experience with my classmates 71 APPENDIX INTERVIEW PROTOCOL (In English) Guideline for Group Interview Date: _ Location: _ Time to start: _ Time to finish: _ Introduction I am grateful for your volunteering and signing the consent form to participate in this 10-minute-interview You will be asked some questions during the interview, and you may wish to stop the interview anytime you want This interview aims at figuring out students’ learning engagement for task-based language teaching (TBLT) in the context of BVU This interview does not serve the purpose of evaluating your knowledge or English competence Please acknowledge that the interview will be audio-recorded All information you share with me is kept confidential and anonymous Please ask if you have any questions? If not, we are about to begin A Interviewees’ background Number of interviewees: Group name: B Questions for Focus Group Discussion Students’ learning engagement for TBLT: Do you think that TBLT is important for non-English-majored students? In what ways TBLT help you to improve your study outcomes? Please order the factors below from high (number 1) to low (number 10) importance - Teachers’ language proficiency - Teachers’ motivation - Teachers’ methods 72 - Facilities - Materials - Peers - Learners’ motivation - Learners’ Language proficiency - Learners’ perception THANK FOR YOUR COOPERATION! 73 APPENDIX Table 3.2 Cronbach’s Alpha of Learner-related factors Perception Scale Mean if engagement Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Cronbach’s Alpha = 774 PE1 14.83 PE2 14.80 PE3 14.76 PE4 14.92 PE5 14.62 5.478 5.769 5.467 5.798 5.453 Corrected Item-Total Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 528 534 637 524 517 739 736 702 739 744 Table 3.3 Cronbach’s Alpha of Learner-related factors Language Scale Mean if Scale Corrected Cronbach's proficiency Item Deleted Variance if Item-Total Alpha if Item engagement Item Deleted Correlation Deleted Cronbach’s Alpha = 818 LP1 14.55 6.661 607 783 LP2 14.50 6.613 684 761 LP3 14.58 6.887 600 785 LP4 14.40 7.155 589 789 LP5 14.56 6.589 577 794 Table 3.4 Cronbach’s Alpha of Learner-related factors Motivation Scale Mean if engagement Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Cronbach’s Alpha = 709 ME1 14.74 ME2 14.73 ME3 14.74 ME4 14.79 ME5 14.78 5.362 5.316 5.412 5.413 5.502 Corrected Item-Total Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 502 534 493 401 410 646 634 649 689 684 Table 3.5 Cronbach’s Alpha of Learning context-related factors Facility Scale Mean if engagement Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Cronbach’s Alpha = 701 74 Corrected Item-Total Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted F1 F2 F3 F4 11.72 11.73 11.62 11.68 2.263 2.070 2.439 2.339 570 492 442 453 589 637 663 657 Table 3.6 Cronbach’s Alpha of Learning context-related factors Material Scale Mean if engagement Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Cronbach’s Alpha = 754 M1 11.81 M2 11.81 M3 11.91 M4 11.84 2.248 2.406 2.428 2.309 Corrected Item-Total Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 574 529 562 539 684 709 692 704 Table 3.7 Cronbach’s Alpha of Learning context-related factors Peer Scale Mean if engagement Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Cronbach’s Alpha = 698 PE1 11.14 PE2 11.33 PE3 11.62 PE4 11.42 2.123 2.305 2.223 2.412 Corrected Item-Total Correlation 517 536 553 565 Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 654 679 682 734 Table 3.8 Cronbach’s Alpha of Teacher-related factors Teacher Scale Mean if Scale Corrected Cronbach's language Item Deleted Variance if Item-Total Alpha if Item proficiency Item Deleted Correlation Deleted engagement Cronbach’s Alpha = 705 TLP1 15.61 3.888 347 619 TLP2 15.51 3.739 532 673 TLP3 15.58 4.024 414 637 TLP4 15.59 3.661 592 693 TLP5 15.56 4.087 519 693 Table 3.9 Cronbach’s Alpha of Teacher-related factors Teacher Scale Mean if Scale Method Item Deleted Variance if Engagement Item Deleted Cronbach’s Alpha = 754 75 Corrected Item-Total Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted TM1 TM2 TM3 TM4 TM5 15.51 15.43 15.40 15.51 15.40 5.176 5.493 5.308 5.628 5.388 543 500 545 481 527 701 717 700 723 707 Table 3.11 Cronbach’s Alpha of Teacher-related factors Teacher Scale Mean if Scale Corrected Cronbach's motivation Item Deleted Variance if Item-Total Alpha if Item Engagement Item Deleted Correlation Deleted Cronbach’s Alpha = 611 TME1 15.36 3.840 344 567 TME2 15.36 3.649 365 557 TME3 15.34 3.713 399 540 TME4 15.37 3.692 344 568 TME5 15.41 3.690 374 552 Table 3.12 Cronbach’s Alpha of Learning engagement factors Cognitive Dimension Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Cronbach’s Alpha = 792 CD1 10.98 CD2 10.95 CD3 10.86 CD4 10.97 CD1 10.98 4.638 5.439 5.532 4.637 4.638 Corrected Item-Total Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 771 447 472 758 771 655 820 803 661 655 Table 3.13 Cronbach’s Alpha of Learning engagement factors Behavioral Dimension Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Cronbach’s Alpha = 785 BD1 10.99 BD2 10.96 BD3 11.08 BD4 11.07 BD1 10.99 4.347 4.526 4.637 4.383 4.347 Corrected Item-Total Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 629 598 571 568 629 Table 3.14 Cronbach’s Alpha of Learning engagement factors 76 712 729 742 745 712 Emotional Dimension Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Cronbach’s Alpha = 676 ED1 11.29 ED2 11.28 ED3 11.38 ED4 11.27 ED1 11.29 2.991 2.733 2.406 2.731 2.991 77 Corrected Item-Total Correlation 605 450 471 384 605 Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 560 615 608 663 560 APPENDIX 78 79 80 APPENDIX A TBLT LESSON PLAN UNIT 6: Celebrations Time: 60 minutes I TEACHING/LEARNING CONTEXT - Institution: Foreign language center of Ba Ria Vung Tau University at Truong Van Bang street - Resources: Room 2306 The room is quite small but clean and cozy It has one big whiteboard and a smaller one with rows of movable chairs and tables and a projector installed - Timetable fit: 60 minutes for each lesson every Monday morning - Materials: Breakthrough Plus (2) 2nd edition - Teaching aids: flashcards, boards, markers, handouts - Assumed knowledge: the tenses such as: present simple future tense with modal “will” - Learners: - Level: Elementary - Age: From 19 to 21 years old - Number of learners: 20 (12 girls and boys) - Learning styles: The students are interested in getting to know more about English However, they are quite shy and inactive to participate in some activities They are also not confident in speaking in front of class or expressing their own ideas II AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 81 Aims Objectives By the end of the lesson, students are expected to: • To teach students new vocabulary • Memorize and use the about celebrations vocabulary in appropriate • To enhance further speaking skills cases • Carrying out some short through the activities of making a short conversation for them to practice • To apply the words and phrases they conversations on what they have learnt and applying have learnt in real-life situations based them appropriate in real-life situations III LESSON PROCEDURE TIMING CONTENT AIM DETAILS Get the students + T organizes the activity called mins Pre-task into the “Break the ice” In this activity, learning Ss must think of one adjective that environment has the same initial letter with their Vietnamese name +T sets the time, gives each of them a number and calls them randomly + T asks Ss if they could repeat their friends’ names 82 10 mins Arouse + T shows on the screen two students’ pictures of different celebrations interest in the and has them work in pairs to topic of the discuss the following questions lesson and 1) What can you see? bring students 2) What is happening? closer to the + T gives them a list of different idea of the celebrations around the world and lesson they are asks them if they know anything going to study about these special events (Carnival, Independence Day, New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving) 10 mins Teach Ss new + T gives Ss hands out different vocabulary activities in some celebrations and related to the asks them to match the phrases topic with the pictures below, then check with their partners Task-cycle 15 mins Help Ss get + T lets Ss listen to a short familiar with conversation about plans for the the situation New Year’s Eve related to the + T has Ss work in pairs and topics and practice the conversation forming their + T asks some pairs to the role- own play with the newly learnt conversations conversation based on the + T shows on the screen the three cues tables with three lists of words about plans for different celebrations From that, Ss work 83 with their partners and try to invent the new conversations Help Ss practice their vocabulary in real-life situations + T has Ss works in groups of three and delivers each group one 15 mins picture The picture is about their university festival and the task asks Ss to make a list of things their group decides to do, then speak out their ideas + T walks around and makes sure Ss work effectively in groups + After 10 minutes, T asks students to form new groups and talk about their plans for the university festival + When all the groups have finished their task, T invites some representatives of the new groups to present the ideas in front of the class 84 + T gives feedback and asks the class to choose the best plan for the university festival mins Language Let Ss review + T gives them some feedback for focus the whole the whole lesson, review lesson, give vocabulary one more time and ask them feedback them to write a 150-word essay of and remind an important occasion that they are them the going to celebrate soon homework assignment 85 ... OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY - THESIS FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING ENGAGEMENT FOR TASKBASED LANGUAGE LEARNING OF NON- ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY. .. FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING ENGAGEMENT FOR TASK- BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING OF NON- ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY was successfully defended and approved on April 24th at Ba Ria Vung. .. authorship of the Master? ??s Thesis submitted today entitled: FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING ENGAGEMENT FOR TASK- BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING OF NON- ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY