Rationale for the study
Out-of-class study time is essential in students‟ language learning, but few studies in ELT investigate students‟ out-of-class study: the time they spend on out-of-class learning and the strategies they use for this type of learning Most of the studies on EFL students‟ learning strategies focus on in- class learning strategies, leaving this important area of learning under- explored Teachers tend to pay more attention to the strategies students use inside than those outside classroom while “Out-of-class activities are also linked with real life applications; this connection is key to fostering more authentic language usage and autonomy” (Pearson, 2004) However,the relationship between motivation and learning strategies in Yen Dinh 3 high school where I work has not been studied, which prevents the application of proper methods of teaching and learning Therefore, I have carried out this research with the desire to find suitable teaching methods and know how to motivate the students to learn better, especially outside classroom.
Research aims and objectives
The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between students‟ motivation for language learning and their choice of learning strategies, especially the choice of out-of-class learning strategies
- To investigate the students‟ motivation in learning English as a school subject;
- To explore their choice of learning strategies, especially out-of-class learning strategies;
- To gain understanding about the influence of motivation on out-of-class learning strategies choice.
Research questions
The study focuses on the following research questions:
1) What is the students‟ language learning motivation?
2) How do they learn English outside class?
3) What is the relationship between students‟ motivation and their out - of class - learning strategies?
Scope of the research
This study focuses on measuring the students‟ motivation including intrinsic, extrinsic, integrative, and instrumental as well as amotivation; their choice of out-of-class learning strategies and the relationship between the two factors.
Significance of the research
The research result can help teachers determine the types of motivation amongst students and help students know about the importance of motivation as well as learning strategies in acquiring a foreign language Moreover, the research aims at assisting teachers to find suitable teaching methods so as to motivate their students to learn English better.
Organization of the thesis
The thesis is organized as follows:
Part A - Introduction: Provides the rationale of the study, aims, objectives, research questions, scope and significance of the study
Part B - Development: Consists of three chapters Chapter I – Literature review: Briefly introduces the theoretical backgrounds related to motivation, language learning strategies, out – of – class language learning as well as previous research on the relationship between motivation and out - of - class learning strategies
Chapter II – Methodology: focuses on research setting, research design, research methods and introduces the participants, instruments and procedure of data collection and process
Chapter III – Findings and discussion: presents the results of the study and some discussion
Part C – Conclusion: summarizes the main points of the study, compares the results with previous research in the field, points out the limitations and suggests further study
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Motivation
Despite a lot of researches done with motivation, its exact definition has been a challenge even among great researchers Dửrnyei (1998: 117) commented, “Although motivation is a term used in both education and research contexts, it is rather surprising how little agreement, one can find in the literature with regard to the exact meaning of the concept”
On examining research studies conducted in relation to motivation, it was found that the concept of motivation was defined in different ways Keller
(1983) defined motivation as “the direction of effort making a student willing to learn and as an intrinsic power” Relating motivation to learn a second language (L2), Gardner (1985) proposed, “Motivation is a term which is often used with respect to second language learning as a simple explanation of achievement” Schunk (1990) defined it as “inclining towards a process of behaviour oriented to a certain goal and sustaining it”; Brown (1994) gave the definition of motivation as “the extent to which you make choices about (a) a goal to pursue and (b) the effort you will devote to the pursuit.”
It is a well established belief among most researchers that motivation is crucial in students‟ learning However, the concept of motivation proves complex since it takes respectable number of different disciplines to arrive at a reasonable understanding of its different facets
The four main theories to be reviewed here are Gardner‟s motivation theory, the Self-determination theory, Goal theories and Attribution theory In addition, there is a critical reference to one of the most common model on language learning motivation - Dửrnyei‟s motivational self system
The most influential model of language learning motivation in the early sixties through the eighties of the previous century was that developed by Robert Gardner, a Canadian social psychologist The model came to be known as the Socioeducational Model (Gardner, 1985) Gardner defined motivation as a „combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favourable attitudes towards learning the language.‟ In his model, he introduced two components of motivation: attitudes towards the learning situation and integrativeness The most developed and researched facet of Gardner‟s (1985) motivation theory has been the integrative aspect The significant of this concept is attested to by its appearing in Gardner‟s theory in three different forms - integrative orientation, integrativeness, and the integrative motive (Dửrnyei,
2003) In broad terms, an “integrative” orientation concerns a positive interpersonal/ affective disposition toward the language learning group and the desire to interact with and even become similar to valued member of that community It implies an openess to and respect for, other cultural groups and ways of life; in the extreme, it may involve complete identification with the community Thus, a core aspect of the integrative disposition is some sorts of a psychological and emotional identification (Dửrnyei, 2003) Gardner (2005) stated that “individuals for whom their own ethno-linguistic heritage is a major part of their sense of identity would be low in integrativeness; those for whom their ethnicity is not a major component, and who are interested in other cultural communities would be high in integrativeness” The second facet involves attitudes toward the school, reactions to the textbooks, evaluation of the language teacher and the language course etc Clearly, the nature of the learning situation will influence a student‟s motivation
Figure 1- A simple representation of the socioeducational model
Adopted from Gardner (2001) The dotted square represents the borders of the integrative motivation
Deci and Ryan‟s (1985) self-determination theory is one of the most influential theories in motivational psychology (Dửrnyei, 2003) According to the theory, developed by Deci and his associate, „to be self determining means to experience a sense of choice in initiating and regulating one's own actions‟(Deci & Ryan,1985:580) Self-determination is the ability to make choices and exercise a high degree of control, such as what the student does and how they do it (Deci et al., 1991) Self-determination can be supported by providing opportunities for students to be challenged, such as leadership opportunities, providing appropriate feedback and fostering, establishing and maintaining good relationships between teachers and students These strategies can increase students' interest, competence, creativity and desire to be challenged and ensure that students are intrinsically motivated to study On the other hand, students who lack self-determination are more likely to feel their success is out of their control Such students lose motivation to study, which causes a state of "helpless learning" Students who feel helpless readily believe they will fail and therefore cease to try Over time, a vicious circle of low achievement develops
The theory distinguishes between two kinds of motivations: intrinsic and extrinsic The first refers to an individual‟s motivation to perform a particular activity because of internal rewards such as joy, pleasure and satisfaction of curiosity Whereas in extrinsic motivation the individual expects an extrinsic reward such as good grades or praise from others In line with the notion of autonomy and intrinsic motivation, the self determination theory offers a very interesting look at motivation by setting a different agenda for language teachers Rather than focusing on how people (e.g teachers in the classroom) can motivate others, the focus should be on „how people can create the conditions within which others can motivate themselves‟ (Deici &Ryan,1985)
Figure 2: Orientation subtypes along the Self- determination continuum -
The Attribution theory of students‟ motivation was largely influential in the 1980s (Dửrnyei, 2003) Attribution theory is a theory developed by psychologist, Fritz Heider that describes the processes by which individuals explain the causes of their behavior and events A form of attribution theory developed by psychologist, Bernard Weiner (1972), describes an individual's beliefs about how the causes of success or failure affect their emotions and motivations According to him, the most important factors affecting attribution are ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck Attributions are classified along three causal dimensions: (1) locus of control (two poles: internal vs external), (2) stability (do causes change over time or not?), and
(3) controllability causes one can control such as skills vs causes one cannot control such as luck, others‟ action, etc.)
When one succeeds, one attributes successes internally („my own skill‟)
When a rival succeeds, one tends to credit external (e.g luck) When one fails or makes mistakes, external attribution is often used, attributing causes to situational factors rather than blaming ourselves When others fails or makes mistakes, we will more likely to use internal attribution, saying it is due to their internal personality factors
As the main proponent of the theory, Bernard Weiner argued the subjective reasons to which we attribute our past successes and failures considerably shape our motivational disposition In a school context, learners tend to ascribe their failures or success (locus or causality) to a number of reasons: ability and effort, luck, task, difficulty, mood, family, background, and help or hindrance from others The previous can be placed on a continuum of internal vs external reasons depending on whether the individuals see themselves or others as the causes of their actions Because of the generally high frequency of language learning failure worldwide, attribution processes are assumed to play an important motivational role in language studies ((Dửrnyei,2003)
Individuals formulate explanatory attributions to understand the events they experience and to seek reasons for their failures When individuals seek positive feedback from their failures, they use the feedback as motivation to show improved performances For example, using the intrapersonal perspective, a student who failed a test may attribute their failure for not studying enough and would use their emotion of shame or embarrassment as motivation to study harder for the next test A student who blames their test failure on the teacher would be using the interpersonal perspective, and would use their feeling of disappointment as motivation to rely on a different study source other than the teacher for the next test
Goal-setting theory is based on the notion that individuals sometimes have a drive to reach a clearly defined end state Often, this end state is a reward in itself
There are two Goal theories that have been particularly influential in the study of motivation: the Goal Setting theory and the Goal Orientation theory
The Goal Setting theory was mainly developed by Locke and Latham (1990) within industrial and organizational psychology with frequent references to workplace setting The theory suggests that goals have two aspects: internal and external The Goal Setting theory suggests that there are three main characteristics of goals that cause them to differ: difficulty, specificity and commitment In Tremblay and Gardner‟s (1995) proposed motivation construct, they introduced the concept of “goal salience‟ as a central component, conceptualized as a composite of the specificity of the learner‟s goals and the frequency of Goal- setting strategies used (Dửrnyei, 2003)
Dửrnyei (2005) designed the motivational self-system of L2 learning The L2 motivational self-system forms links with conceptualizations of L2 motivation by Noels (2003) and Ushioda (2001) This motivational self- system has three components: the ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experience The ideal L2 self is a person‟s imagined ideal future self as a second language speaker This ideal L2 self promotes motivation by inspiring the present self to strive to become the ideal self, which promotes integrative and internalized instrumental motivation in language learning The ought-to L2 self includes the attributions a person believes they should have in order to meet expectations or avoid negative outcomes, which is associated with extrinsic motivational orientations The L2 learning experience component includes the situational and environmental aspects of the language learning process as well as one‟s subjective learning experience
One specific area in which motivational factors can be seen at work is in the use of different learning strategies Studies by Oxford and Nyikos (1989) showed that the “degree of motivation is the most powerful influence on how and when students use language learning strategies” To investigate the relationship between these factors further, it is important to first distinguish specifically what learning strategies are.
Learning strategy
The word “strategy” comes from the ancient Greek word strategia, which means steps or actions taken for the purpose of winning a war.The warlike meaning of strategia has fortunately fallen away, but the control and goal directedness remain in the modern version of the word (Oxford, 1990)
In defining the language learning strategy, Oxford & Crookall (1989) stated that “different researchers use different terms and different concepts”
According to Wenden & Rubin (1987), language learning strategies can be defined from the aspect of language learning behaviours, such as learning and regulating the meaning of a second or foreign language, cognitive theory, such as learners‟ strategic knowledge of language learning, and the affective view, such as learners‟ motivation, attitude, etc It is argued that three points of views can improve language learning O‟Malley, Chamot and their colleagues (O‟Malley et al., 1985, Chamot & O‟Malley, 1990) were devoted to studying the use of learning strategies by ESL learners in the US Based on their research, language learning strategies were divided into three main categories, metacognitive, cognitive, and social affective which refer to learners‟ planning their learning, thinking about the learning process, monitoring their own comprehension or production, and evaluating the outcomes of their own learning Next, Rubin (1987), defined language learning strategy as those “that contribute to the development of the language system which the learner constructs and (which) affects learning directly”
Moreover, the definition by Oxford (1990) also included cognitive, emotional, and social aspects of language learning strategies that enhance learners‟ language learning proficiency and self-confidence
1.2.2 Oxford’s language learning strategy inventory
Oxford (1990) classified learning strategies inventory as operations employed by the learner to aid in the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information Learners can adopt more specific strategies to make their learning more direct and effective Oxford categorized these learning actions as direct or indirect strategies Direct strategies help learners store and recover information; they assist learners in producing the language to fill in the gap of unknown knowledge Direct strategies include memory, cognitive, and compensation strategies Meanwhile, indirect learning strategies echo direct strategies, but manage language learning without direct involvement Indirect strategies are metacognitive, affective, and social strategies The functions of each strategy defined by Oxford (1990) are as follows:
- Memory strategies help learner link one second/ foreign language learning item or concept with another but do not necessarily involve deep understanding
- Cognitive strategies enable the learner to manipulate the language material in direct way, e.g., through reasoning, analysis, note-taking, summarizing, synthesizing, outlining, reorganizing information to develop stronger schemas (knowledge structures), practising in naturalistic settings, and practicing structures and sounds formally
- Compensation strategies (e.g., guessing from the context in listening and reading, using synonyms and “talking around” the missing word to aid speaking and writing; and strictly for speaking, using gestures or pause words) helps the learner make up for missing knowledge
- Metacognitive strategies (e.g identifying one‟s own learning style preferences and needs, planning for an L2 task, gathering and organizing materials, arranging a study space and a schedule, monitoring mistakes, and evaluating task success of any type of learning) are employed for managing the learning process overall
- Affective strategies: include identifying one‟s own mood and anxiety level, talking about feelings, rewarding oneself for good performance, and using deep breathing or positive self- talk
- Social strategies (e.g., asking questions to get verification, asking for clarification of a confusing point, asking for help in doing a language task, talking with a native speaking conversation partner, and exploring cultural and social norm) help the learner work with others and understand the target culture as well as the language
Rebecca Oxford‟s Strategy Inventory for Language learning (SILL) is the most influential instrument in the area of language learning strategies and lays out the most exhaustive hierarchy of learning strategies to date
Out-of-class learning strategies
Much interest has been expressed in out - of - class language learning strategies Pickard (1996) reported that some studies formulate useful typologies of strategy use (Naiman, 1978; Oxford, 1990; Rubin, 1975); all highlighted the importance of the out-of-class strategies employed voluntarily by learners outside the language classroom Pickard (1996, p 150) also reported that: “These language learning strategies encompass student-initiated activities, such as listening to the radio and reading newspapers.”
Rubin (1975) identified seven general characteristics of the good language learner, which include such out-of-class strategies as seeking out opportunities to use the language by looking for native speakers, and going to the cinema or to other cultural events
Out-of-class learning, as it relates to language learning, has recently been broadly defined as any kind of learning that takes place outside the classroom and involves self-instruction, naturalistic learning or self-directed naturalistic learning (Benson 2001: 62)
Benson (2001:62) divides out-of-class learning into three categories:
-Self instruction, where learners deliberately plan to improve the target language and search out resources to help them do this, for example by using self study grammar books to improve their grammar
- Naturalistic language learning, where they learn mainly unintentionally through communication and interaction with the target language group, for example when engaged in discussions with English speaking classmates or colleagues
- Self-directed naturalistic language learning, where learners create or seek out a language learning situation, but may not focus directly on learning the language while they are in that situation For example, learners may subscribe to an English newspaper everyday with the underlying aim of improving their vocabulary, but may read it mainly for the news without undertaking any specific learning activities
Benson (2001) referred to the dearth of research on out-of-class language learning, and its importance to the theory and practice of autonomy
Macaro (2001) proposed some activities which students would use into the habits of looking for the foreign language outside the classroom:
- Speaking outside the classroom: Not only can learners maximize exposure to the foreign language outside the classroom by reading or listening to language, they can also try to speak the foreign language outside the classroom
- Social strategies: There is a list of activities that students can do with their friends in order to develop this idea that language learning can take place outside the classroom and can involve social activities: writing a letter to their friends with 10 deliberate mistakes, asking them to underline the mistakes, recording a dialogue together, practicing a scene together, trying to work out a foreign language text together
-Taking notes: Teachers should allow students to take notes whenever they want It helps to remember and notice something interesting and different about their current knowledge and the input they are receiving
-Materials: We have also considered a dossier of materials which we can use in order to train learners to use strategies These materials are designed to ôscaffoldằ the strategy in question
1.1.4 The role of out-of-class learning in foreign language teaching
The significance of out-of-class learning was evident in a seminal study on Good Language Learners (GLLs) by Rubin in 1975 One of the characteristics of GLLs is their interest in looking for opportunities to use the language, for instance speaking to native speakers and going to the cinema This notion is strengthened by Stern (1992) who highlighted that a GLL possesses social learning strategy The strategy includes making communicative contact with target language and target language community Nunan‟s studies of successful language learners from variety of contexts and language learning backgrounds demonstrate, „the determination to apply their developing language skills outside the classroom‟ can play a crucial role for learners in terms of their second language development (Nunan, 1991)
Ellis (1994) concluded that learners get the most benefit from formal language instruction when it is coupled with opportunities for natural exposure to the language
In reality, many teachers tend to increase assignments or tests to encourage out-of-class study without considering how students‟ second language learning motivation affects their out-of-class learning strategies (Fukuda
&Yoshida, 2013) This fact neccesiates the research on the topic
1.1.5 Previous studies on the relationship between motivation and out- of - class learning strategies
Learners‟ motivation and their application of the learning strategies could have a correlated relationship Many researchers report that there is a relationship between motivation level and strategy use, and they affect each other (Oxford, 1990; Pintrich 1999; Oxford & Nyikos, 1989.) From 1990s, the interest in the effect of motivation on strategy use has risen Oxford
(1990) investigated the relationship between learners‟ motivation and strategy use, and she found that learners who have higher motivation towards language learning tend to use more strategies than learners who have lower motivation
Studies by Oxford and Nyikos showed that the “degree of motivation is the most powerful influence on how and when students use language learning strategies” (Scarcella & Oxford, 1992, p 53) Pintrich and Garcia (1995) posited that motivated students tend to use more learning strategies compared to less motivated one Besides, they suggested that intrinsically motivated students employed more cognitive strategies such as elaboration and organization Pintrich (1999) focused on the relationship between learners‟ motivational belief and self-regulated strategies (cognitive, meta-cognitive, resource- management strategies) in his study, and he found that having different motivational beliefs makes a difference in the use of self-regulated strategies On the other hand, the effect of strategy use on learners‟ motivation has also come to light in other studies Oxford and Nyikos (1989) claim that
“not only does high motivation lead to significant use of language learning strategies, but high strategy use probably leads to high motivation as well”
(1989, p.296) Studies have also shown that motivation and metacognition influence out-of- class learner behaviour (Pickard 1995, Wenden 2001, Lamb 2002) Both factors have been identified as important aspects of learner autonomy which affect the type of activities learners choose to complete and why, as well as what they learn from them
METHODOLOGY
The research setting
The research is carried out at Yen Dinh 3 high school in Thanh Hoa province This school is located in a rural area and the students learn English as a compulsory subject at school The students spend about 135 minutes studying English at school The materials used for teaching and learning English are English textbooks (belonging to seven-year program series) published by Education publisher
It is supposed that the students do not have high motivation in learning English because they have little opportunity to use English in real contexts
They might also use few learning strategies, especially those outside the classroom.
Research design
The survey research method is applied Questionnaire was delivered to students to find out students‟ motivation and out - of - class learning strategies
The participants were 90 students from the classes of grade 10 at Yen Dinh 3 high school, both males and females The total number of grade-ten students is 360 so the participants selected are big enough to present for the population They had learnt English discontinuously for more than four years.Their English proficiency varied but some of them demonstrated high level of English proficiency because they were highly motivated in learning English This raises a question of whether their motivation leads to their high level of proficiency, which is resulted from their appropriate out-of-class learning strategies This study is aimed to find an answer to this question
The data for this study were collected by means of survey questionnaire, which is composed of three parts Part I (both close and open questions ) includes personal information, reasons for learning English and their out- of – class learning activities This part aims at finding out the main reasons why students are learning English and what activities they often do outside classroom to learn English With the information collected, the author desires to have an overview of students‟ motivation and strategies in learning English Part II and III are questionnaires which ask frequency of students‟ language learning strategy use and motivation level Part II focuses on motivation and part III contains statements about out-of-class learning strategies The survey instruments of these parts involve two sets of questionnaires: (Part II) The Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) (Robert Gardner, 1985) – the English version and (Part III) the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning or SILL (Oxford, 1990) The SILL is a paper-and-pencil survey and widely used for investigating language learners‟ strategy use all over the world The questions of SILL are answered by 5- point Likert scale (1: Never or almost never true of me 2: Usually not true of me 3: Somewhat true of me 4: Usually true of me 5: Almost or almost always true of me) For answering the AMTB, 6-point Likert scale, students have to choose among the options: 1: Strongly disagree, 2: Moderately disagree, 3: Slightly disagree, 4: Slightly agree, 5: Moderately agree and 6:
The total number of the questions in the questionnaires in part II and III is
25 (15 about motivation and 10 about out of class learning strategies) The number of the questions are cut down to suit the students‟ ability and learning context The statements in the two parts of the questionnaires are not modified to assure the reliability and validity of the data collected Bilingual version of questionnaires is used, the first language is English and the other is Vietnamese to avoid ambiguity
-The data was processed by The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Computer Programme SPSS is a modern and useful software adopted by many researchers all over the world to process data related to social science and statistics The version used to process data in this study is IBM SPSS statistics 20
The survey method is adopted because of its following advantages:
• Can be developed in less time (compared to other data-collection methods)
Capable of collecting data from a large number of respondents
Numerous questions can be asked about a subject, giving extensive flexibility in data analysis
With survey software, advanced statistical techniques can be utilized to analyze survey data to determine validity, reliability, and statistical significance, including the ability to analyze multiple variables
A broad range of data can be collected (e.g., attitudes, opinions, beliefs, values, behavior, factual)
Standardized surveys are relatively free from several types of errors
Data Collection Procedure
- Before being handed out the survey questionnaires, the students were explained what to do to complete the paper correctly Then they were allowed to finish it individually within 30 minutes
The data then were collected to be processed
+ The students‟ types of motivation and out-of-class learning strategies are presented on tables or charts and the relationship between students‟ motivation and learning strategy are processed by The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Computer Program
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Reasons for learning English
Table 1: Reasons for learning English
I like it My parents want me to
Percentages and totals are based on respondents
Table 1 shows the reasons why the students are learning English As can be seen in the Table, the majority of students, which accounts for 77.8 per cent, learned English because they had to take English exams.The second reason is because of their interest in English, which makes up thirty four point four percent The third factor affecting students‟ study is their parents Fourteen point four percent of the participants in the survey reported that their parents wanted them to learn English Lastly, few students (3.3%) went for other reasons However, most of them reported they wanted to travel around the world, look for a good job or be able to communicate with other people
The results indicate that most of students learned English because of external factors, which account for 83 percent Therefore, extrinsic motivation plays an important role in encouraging students to acquire this language.
The students’ main types of language learning strategies and activities
Table 2: Summary of descriptic statistic for language learning strategy use
Strategy use Mean Std Deviation
As illustrated in Table 2, the means of the strategies ranges from 2.70 to 3.20 which are all above the average of the five – point scale Metacognitive strategies are the most frequently used (M = 3.2) and is followed by affective strategies (M = 3.20) Memory strategies with M = 3.05 rank third in descending trend Three other strategies, social, cognitive and compensation have the means 2.82, 2.79 and 2.70 respectively Compensation strategies are the least frequently adopted, so it can be infered that students did not always try to guess the missing words in the context or use gesture to explain for the words they forgot
From this result, it can be infered that students prefered indirect learning strategies with its sub-types, metacognitive and affective, having the highest mean scores Direct strategies seem not to be their favorite choice with the mean scores of the two sub-types, cognitive and compensation, at the lowest levels The students did not adopt any certain type of learning strategies because all the mean values concentrate around the average point (M= 2.5)
Therefore, it is better to encourage students to use all of these strategies flexibly to gain good results
3.2.2 Out – of – class learning activities Table 3: Out – of – class learning activities
N Percent Listen to English songs
Play games in English Read books in English Chat with foreigners on line
Listen to radio programs Other activities
The results from the second section of part I in the survey questionnaires provide some information about what students do to learn English outside class In general, students did not only acquire English through a single activity but many of them chose more options, so the total response adds up to
204 There is a big difference in the percentage of the choice the students have made „Listening to English songs‟ ranks first on the list with 76.1 percent of the cases, so the students prefered learning English through English songs to the other activities outside classroom This option is followed by
„playing games in English‟ with only five cases fewer Far from the two options on the top list is the activity „reading books in English‟, which accounts for 40.9 percent of the cases Half of that number belongs to
„chatting with foreigners on line‟ Apart from the above mentioned activities, a small number of students (3.4%) learned English through other activities
As being specified in the survey, these activities include watching films in English, sending emails or talking to foreigners in English Lastly, few students read English newspapers to improve their English and their choice lies at the end of the list which makes up only one point five percent of the cases More information about these activities is showed in the table 3 above.
Students’ motivation types
Through the survey, different types of motivation existing among students, namely intrinsic, extrinsic, integrative, instrumental and even amotivation have been investigated The results are made clear when the figures obtained are analyzed in detail
Table 4 shows the order of motivation types with their mean values in descending trend Instrumental motivation is at the top of the list with a very high mean value of 5.13, which means most of the students confirmed studying English was very important because they would need it for their career in the future The second position is extrinsic motivation, which has the mean value of only 0.01 less than the first one So it can be infered that the students‟ parents and relatives really believed learning English was very important to their children Integrative motivation ranks third with the mean value of 4.61 This figure shows that the students also desired to use English as an effective mean to communicate with other people and to join the English –speaking community Although the students knew the important role of English in their life and wished to learn English well, they were not really intrinsically motivated With the mean value of 4.37, intrinsic motivation stands at the fourth position on the list The result implies that internal factor is not strong enough for the students to learn English effectively However, they were all interested in learning English to a certain extent because no one strongly disagreed with the statements of intrinsic motivation or Through the survey, it can be seen that amotivation mean ranks last with the figure of 2.37, so the majority of students had motivation in learning English This mean value is far below the average point in the six-point scale The result of the last variable is compatible with those of the other ones in the above table
One of the sentences related to intrinsic motivation delivered to students is analyzed in the Figure below Figure 3 shows the percentage of the students‟ attitude towards the idea “Learning English is really great” The majority of students expressed their agreement with this statement in which strong agreement, moderate agreement and slight agreement account for 28.9 percent, 25.6 per cent and 23.3 per cent respectively These numbers add up to 77.8 percent The rest disagreed with the idea More precisely 6.7 percent slightly disagreed, 10 percent moderately disagreed and 5.6 percent strongly disagreed All the figures reveal that most of the students are interested in learning English or in other words, they are rather intrinsically motivated in acquiring English
Figure 3: Students’ attitude towards the interest of learning English
The relationship between students’motivation and their out-of-class
The results presented in the tables below were extracted from several correlation tables between motivation types and each of the learning strategies All the inputs were processed by SPSS correlation analysis It is hoped that the table can provide an overview of the results gained in the survey
Table 5: Correlations between motivation types and out-of-class learning strategies
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)
Pearson bivariate correlation analysis has been used to find out the relationship among the variables of motivation and strategies chosen in the survey The results are summarized in Table 5 above
Firstly, it is clearly that amotivation negatively correlated to all types of strategies with all correlation coefficients are below zero In ascending sequence, the results are metacognitive (r = -.467), memory (r = -.440), affective (r = -.436), cognitive (r = -.376), compensation (r = - 019) and social (r = -.008) It can be infered that the more demotivated the students are, the fewer strategies are used
On the contrary, almost all other types of motivation have positive and significant correlation with learning strategies Intrinsic motivation has the highest correlation coefficients with metacognitive, memory, cognitive, affective and social strategies with the following results: 539**, 510**, 489**, 373** and 337** respectively but with compensation strategy, the number is - 057 Besides, the relationship between extrinsic motivation and the strategies is showed in this order: social (r = 209*), metacognitive (r 179), cognitive (r =.177), memory (r = 130), affective (r = 047) and compensation (r = -.033) In order to have better learning strategies, students should be encouraged to find more interest in learning English
The Table also shows the positive correlation results between integrative motivation with the strategies The numbers are metacognitive (r = 287**), affective (r = 246*), cognitive (r = 245*), social (r = 213*), memory (r 100) and compensation (r = 003) The results mean that the more students wanted to integrate with English speaking community, the more strategies they adopted to learn the language
The type of motivation which has a half positive correlation with the learning strategies and the other half negatively correlated is instrumental
Positive coefficient results include memory (r = 281**), metacognitive (r 140), affective (r = 097) The rests are below zero with social (r = -.006) and cognitive and compensation (both r = -.53) Therefore, it is clear that instrumentally-motivated students did not adopt all the strategies but paid attention to certain types
Compensation strategy has negative correlation with all kinds of motivation except for integrative (with r = 003) The results mean that a great number of motivated students did not use compensation strategies
In addition,Table 6 shows the Pearson bivariate correlations between motivation and out-of-class learning strategies The motivation mean is computed from the motivation variables in Table 5, excluding amotivation
As can be seen, metacognitive strategies is mostly adopted by motivated students with r = 364** and it is followed by memory strategies (r =.323**)
The third place belongs to the correlation result of motivation and cognitive strategies Compensation strategies were negatively correlated with motivation (r =-.045) Two other strategies (social and affective) have nearly the same correlation results with motivation (r =.242* and 241* respectively)
Table 6: Correlations between motivation and out-of-class learning strategies
Major findings of the study
This study focuses on finding out students‟ motivation types, learning strategies, especially out-of-class strategies and the relationship between them Through the data collected in the survey, it is clear that students participated in many activities outside classroom to learn English and they were rather motivated to acquire this foreign language The answers to the research questions have also been found out basing on the results of the data analysis
Firstly, students were relatively motivated to learn English with all the mean values of the motivation types being above the average points of the six-point scale and amotivation value is low The instrumental motivation ranks first, so it can be concluded that students tried to learn English mostly because they knew it was important for them to pass exam and to find a good job in the future When being questioned about the main reasons why they learned English, more than three – quarters chose „for exams‟ option Besides, the students were more extrinsically than intrinsically motivated
Secondly, students used indirect learning strategies more often than direct ones Metacognitive strategies have the highest mean value and are followed by affective strategies Compensation strategies were least used In reality, students often did such activities as „listening to English songs‟, „playing games in English‟ or „reading English books‟ to learn English outside classroom They also did other activities like chatting with foreigners, sending emails or watching films but the percentage of students choosing each of these options is below 10 per cent So it is clear that students chose to take part in receptive skills rather than productive skills
Regarding to the research question “What is the relationship between motivation and their out – of – class learning strategies?‟, the results of the Pearson bivariate correlations demonstrate that the students used fewer strategies when they were less motivated This finding is compatible with the conclusion of the previous researches on the field (Oxford (1990), Pintrich and Garcia (1991)) Motivation has not only positive but also negative correlation with the learning strategies Intrinsic motivation is more correlated with cognitive, metacognitive, social, affective and memory strategies than extrinsic variable Although integrative motivation does not have the highest correlation coefficients, it is the only motivation type that shows positive correlation with all the learning strategies Surprisingly, the data processed shows the negative correlation between compensation strategies and all kinds of motivation except for integrative variable
Also, memory and metacognitive strategies were mostly adopted by motivated students while compensation strategies seem to be ignored by the students This implies that the students may not notice the gap between their current knowledge and their targeted knowledge, which is likely to affect the effectiveness of out-of-class learning This issue needs to be researched in the future.
Conclusions
The findings in the above provide valuable information to answer the research questions raised in the first part of this study
The answer to the first research question: “What is the students‟ language learning motivation?” is rather clear The students in this study were, to varying degrees, motivated to learn English They were mostly instrumentally motivated
To answer the second question: “How do they learn English outside class?”, the information in the survey can provide all the necessary information
Students prefered indirect learning strategies and they took part in a lot of activities outside the classroom such as listening to English songs and playing games in English Therefore, it can be concluded that out-of-class learning strategies plays an important part in students‟ learning
The third question: “What is the relationship between students‟ motivation and their out - of class - learning strategies?” is the most significant in this survey All the results obtained and analyzed show that there seems to be a correlation between their motivation and their use of learning strategies More motivated students seemed to use more metacognitive strategies Besides, instrinsically motivated students spent more time learning English out of the class.
Implications
From the results of the study, it can be seen that students were more extrinsically motivated but their intrinsic motivation was better correlated with their investment in learning strategies Therefore, teachers and parents should motivate students to learn English to inspire their intrinsic motivation
Once they are interested in learning English, more learning strategies will be adopted On the other hand, the more demotivated students were, the fewer strategies they deployed in learning the language
Furthermore, metacognitive strategy is the first selection of motivated students, thus it is necessary to enable students to plan, monitor and evaluate their out-of-class learning activities Teachers should help students „learn to think‟ and „think to learn‟ Memory strategy is also their favorable choice, so when learning English outside the classroom, students should implement any method that is good for memory enhancement
In addition, learning should not be limited in classroom with set textbooks and practice, students need to develop the ability to acquire knowledge both inside and outside their class context Because the majority of students learned English through such out-of-class activities as listening to English songs, playing games in English or reading English books, teachers should select useful materials of these types to introduce to their students or include them in the extra-lessons in their teaching curriculum Information technology should be applied to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning
Students should be motivated and interested by variety of activities so that they can get access to authentic sources of English More importantly, teachers should encourage students by both teacher - supported in - class and teacher - supported out - of - class learning so that they can get self - directed out - of - class learning.
Limitations of the study
Although the writer has tried her best to finish this study with the aim of finding the best way to assist her students to learn English, certain limitations can not be excluded Firstly, this paper only focuses on surveying the tenth- grade students so the results might not be applied to students in upper grades
Students‟ learning motivation and strategies might change as their national examination gets close and the requirements for the exams are renovated In addition, SILL is not the instrument specialized for out – of – class learning evaluation so it should be supplemented with other research tools such as diaries and interviews Moreover, there are still inconclusive results because of the negative correlation between intrinsic, extrinsic and instrumental motivation with compensation strategies; between instrumental motivation with social and cognitive strategies These results require logic and scientific explanation but with her limited knowledge, no satisfactory conclusion has been drawn.
Suggestions for further study
In order to extend the domain of this research, other techniques of gathering information such as interviews and observations can be used to gain richer and more detailed information Besides, the relationship between motivation and language learning outside classroom context can be examined by using other research instruments like new computer-assisted language learning technologies Moreover, action research can be carried out in which out – of – class learning activities can be included as a part of teaching plan so that teachers can check if these strategies can improve students‟ English ability as well as if the relationship between students‟ motivation and learning strategies changes An important are that needs to be further researched is the effectiveness of the students‟ use of out-of-class learning strategies on their English proficiency
Finally, it is hoped that the findings of this study can help teachers and students understand more about motivation and out-of-class learning strategies, two important factors in teaching and learning a foreign language and the relationship between them Their acquired knowledge can enable them to find easier and more efficient ways of teaching and learning English
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Survey questionnaires – Bảng câu hỏi khảo sát
This survey aims at finding out some information about motivation and learning strategies of grade-ten students at Yendinh 3 high school in learning English Please help me to complete it by doing the following tasks
Mục đích của khảo sát này là tìm hiểu một số thông tin về động lực và các chiến lược học tập tiếng Anh của học sinh khối 10 trường THPT Yên Định 3
Các em vui lòng giúp cô hoàn thành khảo sát bằng cách làm theo các yêu cầu dưới đây
I General information (Please fill in the blanks or circle the options)
Phần thông tin cá nhân (Các em hãy điền vào chỗ trống hoặc khoanh vào các phương án )
-What is your main goal for learning English (you can choose more than one)
Mục đích chính em học tiếng Anh là gì ( em có thể chọn nhiều hơn một phương án)
B I like it – Em yêu thích tiếng Anh
C My parents want me to do so – Bố mẹ em muốn em học tiếng Anh
Các lý do khác (nêu cụ thể)………
- Tick the activities you often do to learn English outside classroom Đánh dấu tick (√) vào các hoạt động em thường làm để học tiếng Anh ngoài giờ học
Tôi nghe các bài hát tiếng Anh
I listen to radio programs in English Tôi nghe các chương trình tiếng Anh trên đài phát thanh
Tôi đọc báo tiếng Anh
Tôi đọc sách tiếng Anh
I chat with foreigners on line in English Tôi trò chuyện trên mạng với các bạn nước ngoài bằng tiếng Anh
I play games in English Tôi chơi games bằng tiếng Anh
Other activites (If there is any, please specify)
Các hoạt động khác ( Nếu có vui lòng nêu cụ thể)
Bảng câu hỏi về động lực học tập
Following are a number of statements with which some people agree and others disagree Please circle one alternative (in corresponding number 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6) below each statement according to the amount of your agreement or disagreement with that item Which one you choose would indicate your own feeling based on everything you know and have heard Note: there is no right or wrong answer
Dưới đây là một số câu một số người đồng ý một số khác không đồng ý Em hãy khoanh vào một phương án trả lời ( tương ứng với các con số
1,2,3,4,5,6) bên dưới mỗi câu tùy theo mức độ em đồng ý hay không đồng ý với các câu đó đến đâu Em chon phương án nào tùy thuộc vào sự hiểu biết và suy nghĩ riêng của em.Xin lưu ý: không có câu trả lời nào là sai hay đúng ở đây
Strongly Moderately Slightly Slightly Moderately Strongly Disagree Disagree Disagree Agree Agree Agree
Hoàn toàn Không Có chút Hơi Khá Hoàn toàn không đồng ý đồng ý lắm không đồng ý đồng ý đồng ý đồng ý
1 Learning English is really great
Học tiếng Anh thực sự rất tuyệt
2 My English class is really a waste of time
Giờ học tiếng Anh thực sự là lãng phí thời gian
3 Studying English is important because I will need it for my career
Học tiếng Anh quan trọng vì tôi cần dùng nó trong nghề nghiệp của mình sau này
4 Knowing English isn‟t really an important goal in my life
Biết tiếng Anh thực sự không phải là mục tiêu quan trọng trong cuộc đời tôi
5 My parents and relatives feel that it is very important for me to learn English
Bố mẹ và người thân cảm thấy rằng học tiếng Anh là quan trọng với tôi
6 I feel confident when asked to speak in my English class
Tôi cảm thấy tự tin khi được yêu cầu nói trong giờ tiếng Anh
7 Studying English is important because it will allow me to meet and talk with more and varied people
Học tiếng Anh quan trọng vì nó sẽ giúp tôi gặp gỡ và nói chuyện với nhiều người khác nhau
8 I think my English class is boring Tôi nghĩ giờ tiếng Anh chán ngắt
9 Studying English is important because it will make me more educated
Học tiếng anh quan trọng vì nó giúp tôi được giáo dục nhiều hơn
10 I wish I could have many native English speaking friends
Tôi ước tôi có nhiều người bạn là người nói tiếng Anh bản xứ
11 I put off my English homework as much as possible
Tôi trì hoãn việc làm bài tập tiếng Anh về nhà càng lâu càng tốt
12 I plan to learn as much English as possible
Tôi dự định học tiếng Anh càng nhiều càng tốt
13 I would feel uncomfortable speaking English anywhere outside the classroom
Tôi cảm thấy không thoải mái khi nói tiếng anh bất kì nơi nào ngoài lớp học
14 I wish I were fluent in English Tôi ước tôi thông thạo tiếng Anh
15 When I leave school, I will give up the study of English because I am not interested in it Khi học xong phổ thông tôi sẽ từ bỏ tiếng Anh vì tôi không thích nó
III Questionnaire on language learning strategies
Bảng câu hỏi về các chiến lược học tập
This form of the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) is for students of English as a second or foreign language
Hình thức khảo sát chiến lược học ngôn ngữ ngữ này ( viết tắt là SILL) dành cho người học tiếng Anh như ngôn ngữ 2 hoặc ngoại ngữ
You will find statements about learning English Please read each statement On doing it, circle the response (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) that tells how true of you the statement is Các em sẽ thấy các câu nói về việc học tiếng Anh Vui lòng đọc từng câu Trong khi đọc khoanh vào các câu trả lời (( tương ứng với 1,2,3,4,5) để xác định các câu đó đúng với bản thân em đến đâu
1.Never or almost never true of me
Hoàn toàn hoặc gần như hoàn toàn không đúng với tôi
2.Usually not true of me Thường là không đúng với tôi 3.Somewhat true of me Hơi đúng với tôi
4.Usually true of me Thường đúng với tôi 5.Always or almost always true of me
Luôn luôn hoặc gần như luôn luôn đúng với tôi
1 I connect the sound of a new English word and an image or picture of the word to help me remember the word
Tôi liên hệ âm của từ mới tiếng anh với một hình ảnh hoặc bức tranh nào đó của từ mới để giúp tôi nhớ từ
2 I practice English with other students
Tôi thực hành tiếng Anh với các học sinh khác
Tôi ôn tập các bài thường xuyên
4 I watch English language TV shows spoken in English or go to movies spoken in English
Tôi xem các chương trình truyền hình bằng tiếng Anh hoặc xem phim tiếng Anh
5 I write notes, messages, letters, or reports in English
Tôi ghi chép, viết tin nhắn, thư hoặc các bài tường thuật bằng tiếng Anh
6 When I can‟t think of a word during a conversation in English, I use gestures
Khi tôi không nghĩ ra từ trong khi giao tiếp, tôi dùng cử chỉ
7 I look for opportunities to read as much as possible in English
Tôi tìm kiếm cơ hội đọc tiếng Anh càng nhiều càng tốt
8 I try to find as many ways as I can to use my English
Tôi cố gắng tìm nhiều cách có thể để sử dụng tiếng Anh
