Efl high school students readiness for learner autonomy an investigation in a rural area of vietnam

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH OPEN UNIVERSITY CHAU THI MY NGAN READINESS FOR LEARNER AUTONOMY: AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL HIGH SCHOOL ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIORS IN A RURAL AREA OF VIETNAM A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Ho Chi Minh City, 2021 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH OPEN UNIVERSITY CHAU THI MY NGAN READINESS FOR LEARNER AUTONOMY: AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL HIGH SCHOOL ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIORS IN A RURAL AREA OF VIETNAM Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Major code: 8140111 MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: Dr DANG TAN TIN Ho Chi Minh City, 2021 i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I, hereby state that, I, Chau Thi My Ngan, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan, or reproduction of thesis Ho Chi Minh City, September, 2021 CHAU THI MY NGAN ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I, Chau Thi My Ngan, certify that this thesis entitled Readiness for learner autonomy: An investigation into EFL high school attitude and behaviors in a rural area of Vietnam is my own work Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution Ho Chi Minh City, September, 2021 CHAU THI MY NGAN iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who have greatly helped and encouraged me to complete my research Without their support, it would have been impossible for me to complete this thesis Accordingly, I would like to gratefully acknowledge their substantial contribution I would like to express my whole-hearted appreciation and deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Dang Tan Tin for his dedicated support, comprehensive counsel as well as energetic encouragement during the time of carrying out the study I own a great debt to Dr Ho Thanh My Phuong and Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen for their fruitful suggestions on the modification of the Vietnamese version of the questionnaire In addition, I highly appreciate the contribution of the managing board, the English teaching staff, the form teachers and 620 students at Binh Phuc Nhut high school in the school year 2020-2021 to the completion of data collection Without their willingness, my research could not have been accomplished My thanks are reserved for my MTesol017a classmates, who shared happiness and difficulties with me during the courses Particularly, I am indebted to Le Khai Minh Tri and Nguyen Tan Loi for their enthusiastic encouragement and honest advice in the most difficult moment on the way of doing the thesis Last but not least, I am deeply grateful to my parents, and my parents-in-law for their love and encouragement while I was doing my thesis Especially, my greatest thanks should go to my beloved husband and two little sons for their mental support and sharing of feelings iv ABSTRACT The issue of boosting learner autonomy in language learning has sparked the attention of scholars, practitioners, and educators worldwide In the general educational curriculum of Vietnam, fostering learner autonomy has been highlighted as a fundamental goal In spite of the large number of research projects on the advantages of learner autonomy and on the strategies intended to promote it, less ss to accept responsibility in learning, which is considered a prerequisite for the development of learner autonomy Such investigation is even scarcer in the context of high schools in rural areas The present study was aiming at determining the readiness for learner autonomy of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) high school students by measuring their attitudes towards learner autonomy and their actual autonomous learning behaviors, as well as the link between those two concerns Adopting a quantitative correlational research design, the study was carried out with 501 students from a high school in a rural area in Tien Giang province Data was collected from a questionnaire The findings indicated that students' attitude towards learner autonomy was typically positive, but that their autonomous learning behaviors were merely moderately performed Students' attitudes and behaviors were positively correlated, although the connection was not strong The overall result suggests that EFL high school students in rural areas seem to be unready for learner autonomy Some suggestions were made to promote learner autonomy in rural areas of Vietnam Keywords: Learner autonomy; Autonomous learning behaviors; Attitude; High school students; Rural areas v TABLE OF CONTENTS RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ABSTRACT iv LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS x CHAPTER INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Background of the study 1.1.1 LA in language teaching education 1.1.2 LA in Vietnamese education 1.1.3 EFL in high school education in Vietnam .4 1.2 Statements of the problem 1.3 Objectives of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Scope of the study 1.7 Definition of terms 1.8 Organization of the thesis .10 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW .12 2.1 Concept of LA .12 2.1.1 Definitions of LA 12 2.1.2 Dimensions of LA 14 2.2 Importance of LA 16 2.3 18 2.4 Readiness for LA 19 2.4.1 Definition of readiness for LA 19 2.4.2 Record of attitudes towards LA in various contexts .21 vi 2.4.3 Profile of the relationship between attitudes towards LA and autonomous learning behaviors 26 2.5 Conceptual framework 26 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 31 3.1 Research design 31 3.2 Objectives and hypothesis 32 3.3 Research site and participants 32 3.3.1 Research site 32 3.3.2 Participants 33 3.4 Instrument .36 3.4.1 Structure of the questionnaire 37 3.4.2 The development of the questionnaire 37 3.5 Procedures 40 3.5.1 Data collection .40 3.5.2 Data analysis 41 3.6 Reliability .42 3.7 Validity 42 3.8 Ethical considerations 44 CHAPTER RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 45 4.1 Reliability of the instrument 45 4.2 Findings 47 4.2.1 Attitude towards LA 47 4.2.1.1 Perceived values of LA 47 4.2.1.2 48 4.2.1.3 Emotions regarding LA 49 4.2.1.4 Intention to take responsibility .50 4.2.1.5 attitude towards LA 51 4.2.2 Dimensions of LA practiced by students .51 4.2.2.1 Initiating learning opportunities 53 vii 4.2.2.2 Monitoring the learning process 53 4.2.2.3 Evaluating learning 55 4.2.2.4 Summary of autonomous learning behaviors 55 4.2.3 C and their actual autonomous learning behaviors .56 4.3 Discussion on the findings 58 4.3.1 Attitude towards LA 58 4.3.2 Dimensions of LA practiced by students .60 4.3.3 and their actual autonomous learning behaviors .63 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS 65 5.1 Summary 65 5.2 Empirical contributions 66 5.3 Pedagogical suggestions .67 5.4 Limitations and recommendations for further research 69 REFERENCES 70 APPENDICES 85 APPENDIX 3A: English scores of students in the entrance exam (school years 2018- 2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021) .85 APPENDIX 3B: Questionnaire (English version) 86 APPENDIX 3C: questionnaire (Vietnamese version) 92 APPENDIX 3D: Some screenshots of the Vietnamese online version of the questionnaire 98 APPENDIX 3E: Ethics approval from the school under investigation 100 APPENDIX 4A: Descriptive statistics of the items .101 APPENDIX 4B: Reliability analysis of the sub-scales 105 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Dimensions of LA 27 Figure 2.2: The ABC model of attitude (Eagly and Chaiken, 1993) 28 Figure 2.3: Attitude towards LA (adaptation from ABC model of Eagly and Chaiken, 1993) 29 Figure 2.4: Relationship between attitude towards LA and autonomous learning behaviors 30 94 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 5 24 25 26 5 phép Anh 23 27 28 95 III em Em v em C Luôn TT 29 30 31 5 34 35 32 Anh 33 Em 36 Em 37 Em 96 38 39 40 Em 41 Em 5 5 46 47 48 49 5 5 42 43 tin cho 44 45 Em Anh 50 51 52 53 Em 97 54 55 Em 5 98 Appendix 3D SOME SCREENSHOTS OF THE VIETNAMESE ONLINE VERSION OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE 99 100 Appendix 3E ETHICS APPROVAL FROM THE SCHOOL UNDER INVESTIGATION 101 Appendix 4A DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF THE ITEMS (N=501) Skew Kurtosis 4.30 5% Trimmed Mean 4.36 -1.191 3.285 4.23 4.28 -.877 1.761 1 5 4.21 3.90 4.25 3.92 -1.025 -.456 3.913 476 4.26 4.29 -.559 949 3.59 3.62 -.301 -.631 1 5 3.84 3.89 3.86 3.94 -.354 -.684 134 460 2.60 2.61 016 -.736 3.42 3.42 -.160 -.525 2.18 2.12 714 728 3.89 3.94 -.688 673 3.88 3.89 -.488 1.164 2.13 2.08 441 -.037 3.98 4.00 -.281 019 3.86 3.90 -.497 362 Items Min* Max* I appreciate the values of LA LA helps sts learn E effectively I need to develop LA I will choose what strategies to use to learn E I feel inspired to become an autonomous learner LA enables sts to learn effectively even without the help of Ts I will plan my E learning LA enables sts to learn effectively through online or distance learning I think Ts are responsible for choosing what to learn outside class for sts 10 I will decide how long to spend on each activity in class 11 I think Ts are responsible for giving sts regular tests to evaluate their learning 12 LA enables learners to transfer E learning strategies to other subjects 13 I will evaluate the E course if I am allowed 14 I think Ts should help sts make progress outside class 15 I feel comfortable exercising autonomous learning 16 LA helps sts feel more secure in their learning Mean 102 17 I think Ts are responsible learning E 18 LA enhances motivation for E learning 19 I will choose what to learn outside class 20 I feel excited about autonomous learning enthusiasm for E learning 22 I will choose learning activities outside class 23 I think Ts are responsible for providing answers questions relating to E learning 24 I think Ts are responsible for making sts work hard 25 I will evaluate my own learning if I am allowed 26 LA promotes lifelong learning 27 I think Ts should decide what activities sts to learn E outside class 28 I will set my learning goals 29 I read reference books on E grammar, vocabulary, or skills on my own 30 I E self-study in a group 31 I make suggestions to my E teacher when studying E in class 32 I assess my own work to know my strengths and weaknesses in E learning 33 I make my schedule so that I will have enough time to study E 34 I read E materials (newspaper, magazines, books, 1.95 1.88 817 694 4.02 4.06 -.768 1.585 3.60 3.61 -.354 -.085 3.82 3.84 -.482 960 3.90 3.92 -.495 928 3.69 3.71 -.381 061 2.04 1.98 729 085 2.57 2.55 279 -.414 3.94 3.95 -.408 745 4.09 4.14 -.779 903 2.71 2.72 090 -.649 4.15 4.18 -.793 3.026 3.01 3.02 -.102 1.250 2.69 2.69 023 455 2.65 2.66 -.186 580 3.52 3.54 -.425 624 3.02 3.02 -.072 272 2.66 2.65 -.003 618 103 35 I learn the cultures of Espeaking countries to supplement my E learning 36 I notice my E mistakes and use that information to help me better 37 I reflect on what I learn and look for something important 38 I write in E (letters, email, face book, blog, zalo, 39 I check to make sure that I understood the lesson 40 I try to improve my weaknesses 41 I search the Internet when I have a question about E 42 I watch movies or TV programs in E without Vietnamese subtitles 43 I talk directly, phone or send messages to my E teacher about my E learning 44 I ask my teacher understand something about E 45 I try to study E regularly even with limited time 46 I listen to E songs 47 I take E online tests to check my level 48 I preview the learning materials for classroom studying 49 I talk to foreigners in E 50 I discuss E learning problems with my classmates 51 I practice E with my friends 52 I think about my progress in learning E 2.51 2.51 -.109 -.059 3.46 3.48 -.373 183 3.36 3.37 -.378 294 2.64 2.65 -.235 275 3.35 3.35 -.185 -.030 3.90 3.93 -.628 994 4.03 4.10 1.077 2.077 2.65 2.64 -.035 105 1.97 1.89 1.033 1.578 3.05 3.04 109 274 3.11 3.10 035 572 1 5 3.58 2.39 3.63 2.37 -.83 379 996 583 3.66 3.70 -.669 800 1 5 1.70 3.43 1.65 3.45 934 -.409 1.294 289 3.01 3.02 -.165 752 3.50 3.51 -.260 247 104 53 I go to an E speaking club 54 I make good use of materials and resources when studying E at home 55 I evaluate the quantity of the knowledge that I have acquired 1.74 1.69 832 1.144 2.96 2.96 011 450 3.51 3.58 -.435 597 * Min and Max values rated by the participants (1 = Strongly disagree/Never, = Disagree/Rarely, = Undecided/Sometimes, = Agree/Often, = Strongly agree/Always) 105 Appendix 4B RELIABILITY ANALYSIS OF THE SUB-SCALES Corrected Perceived values of LA Item-Total (8 items, = 807) Correlation LA helps sts learn E effectively .485 18 LA enhances motivation for E learning .567 26 LA promotes lifelong learning .513 LA enables sts to learn effectively even without the 496 help of Ts LA enables sts to learn effectively through online 514 or distance learning 12 LA enables learners to transfer E learning 497 strategies to other subjects 16 LA helps sts feel more secure in their learning .529 600 Beliefs about t (7 items, = 701) I think Ts are responsible for choosing what to learn outside class for sts 11 I think Ts are responsible for giving sts regular tests to evaluate their learning 14 I think Ts should help sts make progress outside class interest in learning E 23 I think Ts are responsible for providing answers 24 I think Ts are responsible for making sts work hard 27 I think Ts should decide what activities sts to learn E outside class Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 790 779 786 792 787 789 784 776 Corrected Item-Total Correlation 423 Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 665 307 693 467 655 375 677 407 669 482 648 416 667 106 Corrected Item-Total Correlation I appreciate the values of LA .489 I need to develop LA .438 I feel inspired to become an autonomous learner .525 15 I feel comfortable exercising autonomous learning .458 20 I feel excited about autonomous learning .565 Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 690 708 677 701 659 Corrected Item-Total Correlation 403 429 283 Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 685 680 717 422 423 484 401 418 681 680 666 686 683 Corrected Item-Total Correlation 422 417 436 406 478 389 442 Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 685 686 682 690 671 693 682 Emotions regarding LA (5 items, = 734) Intention to take responsibility (8 items, 713) I will choose what strategies to use to learn E I will plan my E learning 10 I will decide how long to spend on each activity in class 13 I will evaluate the E course if I am allowed 19 I will choose what to learn outside class 22 I will choose learning activities outside class 25 I will evaluate my own learning if I am allowed 28 I will set my learning goals Shading: Corrected Item-Total Correlation < Intention to take responsibility (7 items, 717) I will choose what strategies to use to learn E I will plan my E learning 13 I will evaluate the E course if I am allowed 19 I will choose what to learn outside class 22 I will choose learning activities outside class 25 I will evaluate my own learning if I am allowed 28 I will set my learning goals 107 Cronbach's Corrected Alpha if Initiating learning opportunities Item-Total Item 894) (12 items, Correlation Deleted 29 I read reference books on E grammar, vocabulary, 596 886 or skills on my own 30 I E self-study in a group .643 883 31 I make suggestions to my E teacher when 572 887 studying E in class 34 I read E materials (newspaper, magazines, books, 658 882 35 I learn the cultures of E-speaking countries to supplement my E learning 38 I write in E (letters, email, face book, blog, zalo, 712 879 608 885 42 I watch movies or TV programs in E without Vietnamese subtitles 46 I listen to E songs 48 I preview the learning materials for classroom studying 49 I talk to foreigners in E 51 I practice E with my friends 53 I go to an E speaking club .653 883 519 495 890 891 644 525 672 883 889 882 Monitoring learning process (10 items, 881) 33 I make my schedule so that I will have enough time to study E 36 I notice my E mistakes and use that information to help me better 37 I reflect on what I learn and look for something important 39 I check to make sure that I understood the lesson 41 I search the Internet when I have a question about E 43 I talk directly, phone or send messages to my E teacher about my E learning Cronbach's Corrected Alpha if Item-Total Item Correlation Deleted 629 868 611 869 709 862 658 507 866 877 515 876 108 understand something about E 45 I try to study E regularly even with limited time 50 I discuss E learning problems with my classmates 54 I make good use of materials and resources when studying E at home Evaluating learning (5 items, 815) 32 I assess my own work to know my strengths and weaknesses in E learning 40 I try to improve my weaknesses 47 I take E online tests to check my level 52 I think about my progress in learning E 55 I evaluate the quantity of the knowledge that I have acquired .606 870 663 560 866 873 629 868 Cronbach's Corrected Alpha if Item-Total Item Correlation Deleted 723 741 552 491 559 704 794 812 792 747 ...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH OPEN UNIVERSITY CHAU THI MY NGAN READINESS FOR LEARNER AUTONOMY: AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL HIGH SCHOOL ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIORS IN A RURAL AREA OF. .. Swatevacharkul and Boonma (2020) interviewed 23 graduate students from China, Myanmar and Thailand, who were participating in the Master of Arts in English Language Teaching in an international... support, and assessing progress initiating, monitoring, and evaluating planning, monitoring, and regulating strategy use and monitoring, monitoring the learning process and performance, formulating