Intrinsic motivations problems of the english majored students of bentre college in studying speaking skill

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES INTRINSIC MOTIVATIONS & PROBLEMS OF THE ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS OF BENTRE COLLEGE IN STUDYING SPEAKING SKILL SUMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF TESOL TRẦN BẢO DUY HOCHIMINH CITY 2006 -1- CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: INTRINSIC MOTIVATIONS & PROBLEMS OF THE ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS OF BENTRE COLLEGE IN STUDYING SPEAKING SKILL in terms of the statement of the Requirements for Theses and Field Study Reports in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee Ho Chi Minh City, January 2006 TRẦN BẢO DUY RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS -2- I hereby state that I, TRẦN BẢO DUY, being the candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL), accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the University library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the University 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 theses Ho Chi Minh City, January 2006 TRẦN BẢO DUY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Nguyeãn Tiến Hùng, who provided valuable instructions, comments, criticisms, support and encouragement in the preparation and completion of this thesis -3- I would like to give my special thanks to the organizers of this master course, the teaching staff, the librarians, and my friends who all gave me the knowledge, the instructions, facilities and encouragement for my thesis Last, but not least, I would wish to thank all the teachers of English and the majored students of BTC for their help and moral support -4- ABSTRACT Many educationalists believe that motivation is the key factor in language learning and many researches have been done to prove it It’s hard to say what kind of motivations we should pay much attention to in the course of teaching and learning English This thesis begins with the definitions of motivation and describes types of motivation Then, it focuses on the intrinsic motivation and states how important intrinsic motivation is in learning English in general and spoken English in particular This thesis has been done to study whether the teachers and the majored students acknowledge the importance of intrinsic motivation in teaching and learning spoken English It also studies the problems that Bentre College majors have to face to when they lack of intrinsic motivation in learning speaking skill Finally, it shows some possible solutions of how the teachers can motivate students in learning spoken English Table of Contents Pages Chapter One: Introduction 1-8 -5- The background of the study The purpose of the study The overview of the chapters Chapter Two: Literature Review 9-34 The nature of motivation Motivation in speaking English 15 Problems with speaking activities 16 Summary 34 Chapter Three: Methodology 35 -37 Data hypotheses 35 Data collection 36 Chapter Four: Results and Discussion 38 -74 Data analysis and Findings 38 Discussion 51 Chapter Five: Conclusion and Implications 76 - 80 Conclusion 76 Implication 78 Appendices 81 - 100 Table 81 Table 82 Table 83 Table 84 Table 87 Questionnaire 89 Questionnaire 92 Questionnaire 94 -6- Questionnaire 96 Chart 97 Chart 98 Chart 99 Chart 100 Types of speaking activities 101 References 102 - 103 ABBREVIATION CBT: Bentre College CFBT: Council of British teachers EFL: English as a foreign language ELTTP: English Language Teacher Training Project DFID: Department of foreign investment and development -7- VMOET: Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training VSO: Voluntary Service Organization CHAPTER I: THE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study: 1.1.1 English teaching and learning in Vietnam English is now considered as the most popular language in the world It is a means of communication in the important fields of science, technology, business and diplomacy It is also the means to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation among different countries in the fields of culture and politics In Vietnam, after the Resolution of renovation in 1986, especially since the United States lifted its economic embargo against Vietnam, English has become a very -8- essential language for the Vietnamese nation in foreign affairs, business cooperation, and education… The need of mastering English is increasing and English becomes the most popular foreign language in Vietnam Broughton (1980:6) said “A good command of English in a second language situation is considered as a passport to social and economic advancement” To meet the urgent social demands, VMOET puts the English language into the national syllabus and considers it as one of the main foreign languages that should be taught at schools All Vietnamese universities and colleges are deeply involved in studying the methods of teaching and learning English For many years, the quality of teaching and learning English has been far worse than it is desired It is because that English teaching and learning have paid much attention to grammar and reading It is of the misapprehension that Vietnamese learners only need the skills of reading and writing for their academic work or further study Nowadays, in practice, the Vietnamese people realize that listening and speaking skills are also very important for foreign communication Although English learners’ skills of speaking and listening are more focused now, learners’ competence and performance are not good Lots of theories of English teaching, especially of teaching spoken English, are studied and lots of training courses and methodology workshops of English teaching have been held As a result, the quality of English teaching and learning has been improved but it is also unsatisfactory Thus, educationalists and teachers of English have the responsibilities to study and apply new methods in teaching and learning English to heighten the learners’ competence and performance of English, especially in speaking skill, to meet the great demand of the national industrialization and modernization 1.1.2 Teaching speaking at Bentre College -9- The English department was founded in 1989 Up to now, 17 courses have been held and more than 600 English majors have been trained Most of the graduates became English teachers and a few of them became interpreters, tourist guides, officials of foreign affaires…Now most of them can their jobs well but they also think that English speaking is still their weak point For nearly ten years, spoken English was taught in insufficient and ineffective ways: the teacher read the conversations, the students listened and repeated The students sometimes played the roles or had some small discussions Although the course book was of spoken English (Streamlines English - Departures and Connections for the three years of English major training course), the teacher taught the lessons in the same way of teaching reading and grammar In addition, the facilities for English teaching and learning were poor There were no cassettes, video recorders, computers, projectors… There were also no English speaking clubs, no native speakers…As a result, most of the students felt difficult to speak English when necessary The students couldn’t have a chance to make full use the authentic English and they didn’t like the spoken English subject either In 1986, when there was a great demand of having a renovation in teaching and learning English, the college sent some teachers to many workshops and short-term training courses of methodology to upgrade their teaching abilities In 1998, two teachers participated in the two-year course of English teaching held by ELTTP-a project signed by DFID-The United Kingdom and VMOET They became trainers afterwards in their school and they did the training for the teachers of junior high schools in Bentre province as well The quality of teaching and learning English has greatly been improved New methods of teaching have been applied in combination with new course books such as: Headway, New Interchange, Interaction, Speaking - 10 - D Others:…………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… What you think about the topics you teach your students? A The topics are of your interest and experience B The topics are of your students’ interest and experience C The topics are compulsory because they are in the textbooks D Other ideas: ……………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… Have you ever thought that your students know the strategies of speaking English? A Yes B No C I think it’s not important D No, but I will ask them Do you think a teacher should be a good organizer, facilitator, and monitor in a language class? A Yes, he should B No, not necessary C Yes, but he’d better focus on his teaching D Other ideas:………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………… 10 Have you ever given praises and encouragement to your students even when they make mistakes? A Yes, I always it B Yes, I sometimes it C No, I only give praises when they their good jobs D No, but I think It’s a good idea - 95 - Bentre College Department of Social sciences and Humanities English section Name: QUESTIONNAIRE 2: TEACHERS’ SOLUTIONS TO INCREASE STUDENTS’ INTRINSIC MOTIVATION Questions Yes No Do you make the instructions clear to your students? Do you often give your students too many tasks to at the same time? Do you think that the given topics should be of your students’ needs and interests? Do you often encourage your students present a topic in their own ways and create the language use? Do you teach you students how to overcome the shortcomings - 96 - and problems in speaking? Do you often give appropriate feedback to make your students record their progress? Do you often join the activities to give example or to facilitate the task when monitoring? Do you share the equal length of time for all students to speak? Do you often give encouragement and praises to you students, especially timid students? 10 Do you think pair/group work is better than individual work in developing speaking skill? - 97 - Bentre College: English Section: Name: Class: QUESTIONNAIRE 3: THE 1st, 2nd & 3rd YEAR STUDENTS’ PROBLEMS IN AN ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASS Pre- questions: For 1st year students: Do you love learning speaking English? Have you ever practiced speaking English before? Do you think speaking English is easy or difficult? For 2nd & 3rd year students Do you love learning speaking English? What you think about your last results in speaking subject? What you think about the course books and the forms of activities? What you think about the teacher’s attitude and method? Please tick into the boxes Statements Agree Disagree No idea You always use Vietnamese – English translation when speaking English You don’t have much vocabulary to use - 98 - 3.You are afraid of making mistakes in pronunciation and grammar and receive criticism from your teacher and friends 4.When you and your friends work in groups you always need the teacher’s help You don’t have time to speak English because there are some stronger students who dominate the group The teacher doesn’t call you for speaking because your speaking is not good You don’t know what to say because the topics are not of your knowledge and your interests 8.Your teacher’s instructions are not clear so you don’t know what to 9.You don’t know how to begin your speaking 10.You don’t know if you speak in the correct way or not because the teacher never gives you any feedback - 99 - Bentre College Department of Social sciences and Humanities English section Name: QUESTIONNAIRE 4: STUDENTS’ INTRINSIC MOTIVATION - 100 - Statements Agree Disagree No ideas 1.You like speaking English in your class 2.You are pleased with your English speaking skill 3.You feel confident when speaking English with your teacher and your friends 4.You like speaking English to prove your good skill and you want your friends respect you 5.You speak English because you want to join the exciting language activities in class 6.You want to join the English speaking activities because you like the topics and have some knowledge of them Everyone speaks English in class so you have to it 8.You really want to get much progress in your English speaking class 9.You only want to practice because you want to get good marks or your teacher’s praises 10 You want to join speaking activities in class because you really want to cooperate with your friends to produce something - 101 - Chart 1: TEACHERS’ ATTITUDE TO THE IMPORTANCE OF INTRINSIC MOTIVATION IN LEARNING SPEAKING ENGLISH (%) 80 60 A 40 B C D 20 10 Questions - 102 - Chart 2: TEACHERS’ SOLUTIONS TO INCREASE STUDENTS’ INTRINSIC MOTIVATION (%) 100 80 60 Yes No 40 20 10 Questions - 103 - Chart 3: STUDENTS’ PROBLEMS IN LEARNING SPOKEN ENGLISH (%) 100 80 60 1st year 2nd year 3rd year 40 20 10 Questions - 104 - Chart 4: STUDENTS’ INTRINSIC MOTIVATION IN LEARNING SPOKEN ENGLISH (%) 100 80 60 1st year 2nd year 3rd year 40 20 10 Questions Notes: - Columns of 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 in the chart show the percentage of students who agree This shows they have the intrinsic motivation in learning spoken English - Columns of 2, 7, and in the chart show the percentage of students who disagree and this shows they have the intrinsic motivation in learning spoken English Conclusion: The chart shows that 2nd year students have less intrinsic motivation in learning spoken English than the 2nd and 3rd year students - 105 - TYPES OF SPEAKING ACTIVITIES Here are some examples of types of activities: • Getting the whole class talking • Improving discussion lessons • Getting teenagers to talk • Improvisations • Find the murderer • Bingo mingle • Short projects to get them talking - Lists • Superlative questions • Summer destinations • Interview the experts • Discussion bingo • Mini-talks • Erase the dialogue • Fun discussion of controversial topics • Motivating speaking activities • Third conditional guessing game • Preposition basketball • Running dictation • Simple picture activity • ARM exercises - 106 - • Doctors and patients • Nursery rhyme role-play REFERENCES Abbott, G.et al 1981 The Teaching of English as an International Language Glasgow: Collins Antony, J P 1998 Language Teachers at Work Berger, R M & M.A Patchner 1989 Implementing the Research Plan Sage Publications, Newbury park Bialystok, E 1990 Communication Strategies Oxford: Blackwell Adrian, D.1988 Teach English Cambridge University Press Baker, J and Westrup, H 2000 The English Language Teacher’s Handbook, Continuum Brown, H D 1994 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching Englewood Cliffs, N J: Prentice- Hall, Inc Brown, H D 2001 Teaching by principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, Second Edition Addison Wesley Longman, Inc Brown, G & G Yule Yule 1983 Teaching the Spoken language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 10 Burns, A., & Joyce, H (1997) "Focus on speaking." 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