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TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS Pages ABSTRACT CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research background 1.2 Purpose of the study 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Organization of the study CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Language learning motivation 2.1.1 Definitions of language learning motivation 2.1.2 Classification of language learning motivation 2.1.3 The significance of motivation 2.1.4 Factors that affect language learning motivation 2.2 Gender differences in language learning motivation 2.3 Previous related research 2.4 Summary CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Participants 3.2 Data collection 3.3 Data collection procedures 3.4 Data analysis CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 The English learning goals of male and female high school students in Phu Vang District 4.1.1 Comparison of the mean scores of “Desire to Learn English” between the male and female students 4.1.2 Comparison of the mean scores of “Goal Salience” between the male students and female ones 10 4.2 Factors affecting language learning motivation of the male and female students 11 4.2.1 Comparison of the mean scores of “Motivational Intensity” between the male and female students 11 4.2.2 Comparison of the mean scores of “Attitudes toward learning English” between the male and female students 12 4.2.3 Comparison of the mean scores of “Integrative Orientation” between the male and female students 13 4.2.4 Comparison of the mean scores of “Instrumental Orientation” between the male and female students 14 4.2.5 Comparison of the mean scores of “Student Perceptions of English” between the male and female students 15 4.2.6 Comparison of the mean scores of “Parental Encouragement” between the male and female students 15 4.2.7 Comparison of the mean scores of “Self-determination” between the male students and female ones 16 4.2.8 Comparison of the mean scores of “Self-efficacy” between the male students and female ones 17 4.2.9 Comparison of the mean scores of “Tolerance of Ambiguity” between the male and female students 18 4.3 Teachers’ perceptions of motivating the male and female students effectively 19 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 20 5.1 Summary of the main findings 20 5.2 Implications 22 5.3 Limitations of the study 23 5.4 Suggestions for further research 23 REFERENCES 24 ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to investigate gender differences in English learning motivation of students in upper secondary schools in Phu Vang District of Thua Thien Hue Province The sample of the study consists of 100 male and female students from four upper secondary schools in Phu Vang district The data are mainly collected through questionnaire and interviews The students participated in completing a questionnaire reflecting their goals for learning English and the factors affecting their English learning motivation Follow up interviews with 10 students help to deepen understanding of the results In addition, interviews with ten teachers of English were conducted to explore the ways these teachers used to motivate their male and female students effectively The findings revealed that the students have a fairly strong desire to learn English and clearly determine their goals for their learning The findings also indicated that there are slight differences between the male and female students in all the nine factors examined, with females scoring higher With regard to teachers’ perceptions of motivating the male and female students effectively, the teachers suggested some ways such as creating a pleasant and supportive atmosphere in the classroom, offering rewards and extra grades, helping students to set achievable goals for learning, giving timely and informative feedback CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research background Motivation is one of the most important keys to success to language learning English learning is influenced directly or indirectly by many factors Among these factors, gender is the one to which the least attention has been paid As an English teacher for seven years in coeducational classes, I have discovered that schoolgirls’ achievement is better than that of schoolboys Therefore, it is necessary to make systematic analysis and research of gender differences in motivation to learn English so that teachers can fully understand the differences of motivation between the male and female English learners In language learning, several studies suggest that female learners generally better than male peers (Boyle’s, 1987; Sung and Padilla (1998; Kissau, 2006) Gender is one of the personal variables that have been related to differences found in motivational functioning It is, therefore, necessary to pay much attention to gender differences in English learning motivation so that teachers can apply appropriate strategies in teaching to help both male and female learners to achieve better study performance As a teacher of English in one of the high schools in this area, I have realized that most of my students, at Thuan An high school, are not good at English- about 40 percent out of them attain average grades This situation urges me to identify what kinds of motivation my students employ as well as to explore how to motivate them effectively Another problem is that the majority of my male students tend to prefer scientific subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry They neglect studying and show boredom in English classes as they are obliged to study English to pass compulsory exams It is, therefore, necessary to find out the reasons why these male students have such negative attitudes toward English and how to deal with these male students successfully Meanwhile, no study has been conducted so far so as to provide information for teachers and school administrators on English learning motivation and gender differences in high school students’ motivation in Phu Vang District I set out to conduct this study to explore male and female students’ motivation towards English learning in Phu Vang District so that I will be well-equipped to help my students study English better 1.2 Purpose of the study The goal of this study is to investigate gender differences in language learning motivation of high school students in Phu Vang District, identify and explore gender differences in various factors that influence these students’ motivation Points to be investigated will include the following: - Goals of male and female students of high schools in Phu Vang District in learning English - Factors affecting language learning motivation of male and female students in high schools in Phu Vang District - The ways to motivate these students effectively 1.3 Scope of the study This study will focus on investigating gender differences in English learning motivation, especially integrative and instrumental motivation, of high school students in Phu Vang District It attempts to explore the differences in motivation for learning English of these male and female students Furthermore, factors affecting these male and female students’ motivation are considerable to study This research also aims to make an important contribution to English learning and teaching in some high schools in Phu Vang District by pointing out some effective ways to motivate male and female students of Phu Vang’s high schools in learning English 1.4 Research questions What are the goals for learning English of high school male and female students in Phu Vang District? What factors affect language learning motivation of these male and female students? What should teachers to motivate these male and female students effectively? 1.5 Organization of the study Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: Literature Review Chapter Three: Research Methodology Chapter Four: Findings and Discussions Chapter Five: Conclusions and Implications CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Language learning motivation 2.1.1 Definitions of language learning motivation In the field of second language acquisition, the concept of motivation came from social psychology According to Ur (1996) it is easier and more useful to think “motivation” in terms of a motivated learner, who is willing or even eager to make an effort in learning activities or to progress In Gardner’s Socio-Educational Model of SLA, motivation to learn the second language requires three elements Motivation is conceptualized as “the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes towards learning the language.” (Gardner, 1985, p 10) Gardner (1985) also states that all the three elements mentioned above are necessary to distinguish between more motivated learners and less motivated ones According to Oxford and Shearin (1994), motivation is not the same as motivational orientation in Gardner’s view They state that motivation reflects the power, which stems from the desire to attain the goal, positive attitudes toward learning the language, and effortful behaviour, to attain the goal reflected in the motivational orientation The concept of language learning motivation can be summarized in the words of Dörnyei (1998): “L2 motivation is one of the most important factors that determines the rate and success of L2 attainment: it provides the primary impetus to initiate learning the L2 and later the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process” (p.117) 2.1.2 Classification of language learning motivation Integrative motivation is employed when learners wish to integrate themselves within the culture of the second language group, to identify themselves with and become a part of that society Instrumental motivation refers to motivation to acquire a language as means for attaining instrumental goals This kind of motivation is employed when learners desire to learn a language for practical goals in order to gain some social or economic reward through second or foreign language achievement 2.1.3 The significance of motivation Most researchers agreed that motivation plays a crucial role in the learner’s achievement It is one of the major factors determining successful language acquisition Gardner (1985) stated that motivation also contributes importantly to language achievement in terms of linguistic outcomes He thought that motivation to learn a second or foreign language as well as language aptitude is essential to acquire that language successfully He also revealed that the research findings on the role of attitudes and motivation in second language learning point out that there is a relationship between learners’ success and their positive attitudes and motivation 2.1.4 Factors that affect language learning motivation Oxford and Shearin (1994) identified six factors that affect motivation in language learning: attitudes, beliefs about self, goals, involvement, environmental support, and personal attributes Gardner’s Socio-educational Model proposed that motivation is affected by three classes of variables: Instrumentality, Integrativeness and attitudes to learning situation Dornyei (1994) conceptualizes a general framework of L2 motivation consisting of three levels: the Language Level, the Learner Level, and the Learning Situation Level Another model of motivation was developed by William and Burden (1997): Reasons for doing something  Deciding to something  Sustaining the effort or persisting 2.2 Gender differences in language learning motivation Dörnyei and Clement (2001) argue that there may be gender differences in motivation They claimed that female students scored significantly higher than male peers on the scales of all of the five motivational dimensions in most of the target languages: direct contact with L2 speakers, instrumentality, integrativeness, vitality of L2 community and cultural interest From the results of the previous researches, it is clear that females tend to show higher level of motivation and in language learning than males 2.3 Previous related research In a number of studies on different variables of motivation, gender differences have been detected Shaaban and Ghazi (2000) examined the motivation of 180 university-bound Lebanese students to learn English as a foreign language Csizér and Dörnyei (2005a) carried out a study with more than 8000 Hungarian students in order to describe motivational profiles of L2 students through cluster analysis With regard to studies focusing on gender in motivation to learn L2, Scott Kissau (2006) conducted a study to investigate gender differences in second language motivation among Grade EFL students in Ontario to learn French in 2003 Additionally, Mori and Gobel (2006) examined the gender variable for the differences in motivational sub-constructs Recently, HyeShin Sim (2007) conducted research to explore the factors that affect motivation and attitude and to determine whether these factors are gender-biased or not 2.4 Summary The literature review above shows the significant role of motivation in learning languages in general and English in particular as well as gender differences in language learning motivation CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Participants The participants in this study were 100 students selected from four high schools in Phu Vang District In addition, 10 teachers of English from these four schools were invited to participate in the interviews so as to give more insight to the investigated phenomenon 3.2 Data collection * A questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from student-participants * Interviews which were used to collect qualitative data for the study aimed to confirm what had been done in the questionaire and to get more concrete information that might not be obtained from the questionaire 3.3 Data collection procedures 100 copies of the Questionnaire for students were administered to 100 students at four high schools in Phu Vang District The interviews were conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the factors affecting learning motivation as well as possible gender differences in regard to motivational factors in EFL classroom 3.4 Data analysis In this study, the data collected from questionnaires would be fed into the computer and then analyzed in terms of frequency and percentage (quantitatively) by using SPSS Furthermore, qualitative information from the interviews would be used to give an insightful description of the investigated phenomenon CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 The English learning goals of male and female high school students in Phu Vang District 4.1.1 Comparison of the mean scores of “Desire to Learn English” between the male and female students In one of the sections of the questionnaire, the respondents were asked to answer ten questions on a five-point scale in order to show their desire to learn English Table 4.1: Descriptive statistics for individual items in Desire to Learn English 34 31 36 31 17 13 40 23 27 % Mean 11 11 16 16 34 3 12 12 31 8 18 18 36 13 13 33 33 31 43 43 24 24 17 56 56 10 10 13 34 34 8 40 60 60 11 11 33 33 24 24 23 34 34 9 27 Overall Mean Score: 3.14 % Strongly agree % Agree 10 18 10 19 21 % Uncertain 10 18 10 19 21 Disagree Strongly disagree Item1 Item2 Item3 Item4 Item5 Item6 Item7 Item8 Item9 Item10 % 32 53 38 21 11 32 53 38 21 11 3.73 4.32 4.04 3.56 2.66 2.27 3.02 2.15 2.94 2.69 The frequency distribution and mean scores of the responses to the ten items showing desire to learn English indicate that the students had a fairly strong desire to learn English Table 4.2: Descriptive statistics of the mean scores of “Desire to Learn English” of the male and female students Descriptive Statistics Sex male N Minimum Maximum Mean Desire 50 Valid N (listwise) 50 female Desire 50 Valid N (listwise) Std Deviation 2.20 3.80 3.12 33 2.30 4.10 3.16 34 50 In regard to gender difference, the male students slightly differ in desire to learn English from the female peers The findings indicate that the girls have stronger desire to learn English The girls investigated admit enjoying learning English and wish to pursue it in the future 4.1.2 Comparison of the mean scores of “Goal Salience” between the male students and female ones Table 4.3: Descriptive statistics for individual items in Goal Salience 15 53 30 12 55 30 16 % Mean 34 34 34 34 15 6 23 23 53 8 45 45 30 44 44 19 19 12 6 19 19 55 35 35 25 25 30 23 23 30 30 16 Overall Mean Score: 3.00 % Strongly agree % Agree 16 25 28 % Uncertain 16 25 28 Disagree Strongly Disagree Item11 Item12 Item13 Item14 Item15 Item16 Item17 % 18 11 19 18 11 19 2.51 3.83 3.32 2.18 3.85 2.91 2.43 Table 4.3 revealed that the students’ goal salience was of medium level with the overall mean score of 3.00 10 Table 4.4: Descriptive statistics of the mean scores of “Goal Salience” of the male and female students Sex male Goal Valid N (listwise) female Goal Valid N (listwise) Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean 50 1.71 4.29 3.04 50 50 2.14 4.00 2.97 50 Std Deviation 49 36 From the table, we can see that in the factor of goal salience the male students seem to be more clearly aware of their goal for learning English than the females 4.2 Factors affecting language learning motivation of the male and female students 4.2.1 Comparison of the mean scores of “Motivational Intensity” between the male and female students Table 4.5: Descriptive statistics for individual items in Motivational Intensity 31 31 34 34 13 13 20 20 62 62 10 10 9 25 25 48 48 31 31 51 51 7 10 10 35 35 36 36 53 53 14 14 20 20 19 19 39 39 23 23 52 52 16 16 10 10 31 31 26 26 12 12 33 33 22 22 34 34 Overall Mean Score: 2.82 13 17 15 1 % 13 17 15 1 Mean % Strongly agree % Agree 9 12 15 21 30 % Uncertain 9 12 15 21 30 Disagree Strongly disagree Item18 Item19 Item20 Item21 Item22 Item23 Item24 Item25 Item26 Item27 % 2.90 2.90 3.71 2.62 3.48 2.45 2.82 2.18 2.23 2.91 The mean score of all the participants’ motivational intensity was below the medium range (M=2.82) This suggests that the English learning motivational intensity of the high school students investigated in this study is rather weak 11 Table 4.6: Descriptive statistics of the mean scores of “Motivational Intensity” of the male and female students Sex male Intensity Valid N (listwise) female Intensity Valid N (listwise) Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean 50 2.00 3.50 2.79 50 50 2.10 3.30 2.85 50 Std Deviation 29445 29082 The table shows that the mean score of males in motivational intensity is 2.79, and that of the females is 2.85 In this study, the motivational intensity of female high school students in Phu Vang was found to be higher than that of the male students However, neither the male group nor the female one reached the medium range of motivational intensity 4.2.2 Comparison of the mean scores of “Attitudes toward learning English” between the male and female students Table 4.7: Descriptive statistics for individual items in Attitudes toward learning English 8 22 22 40 40 15 15 30 30 36 36 2 8 47 47 10 10 38 38 33 33 23 23 39 39 22 22 49 49 17 17 11 11 38 38 20 20 28 28 41 41 20 20 4 Overall Mean Score: 3.16 % Mean % Strongly agree % Agree 15 34 % Uncertain 15 34 Disagree Strongly disagree Item28 Item29 Item30 Item31 Item32 Item33 Item34 Item35 % 23 11 43 15 13 23 11 43 15 13 3.64 3.27 4.31 3.45 3.19 2.48 2.98 1.97 With an overall mean score of 3.16 and five items with the mean scores over 3.0, we can see that the attitudes toward learning English of the students investigated is fairly positive 12 Table 4.8: Descriptive statistics of the mean scores of “Attitudes toward learning English” of the male and female students Sex male Attitude Valid N (listwise) female Attitude Valid N (listwise) Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean 50 2.25 3.88 3.09 50 50 2.38 3.88 3.24 50 Std Deviation 31586 38403 From Table 4.8, we can see that in terms of Attitudes toward learning English, the mean scores of both groups are over the medium range, which proves their positive attitudes toward learning English However, the attitudes of the female students were found to be a little more positive than those of the male ones 4.2.3 Comparison of the mean scores of “Integrative Orientation” between the male and female students Table 4.9: Descriptive statistics for individual items in Integrative Orientation 6 9 47 47 7 23 23 49 49 4 29 29 37 37 Overall Mean Score: 3.89 % Mean % Strongly agree % Agree 2 % Uncertain 2 Disagree Strongly disagree Item36 Item37 Item38 % 35 19 28 35 19 28 4.05 3.76 3.85 The data collected for Integrative Orientation in Table 4.9 show that the students have very high degree of integrative motivation (Overall mean score= 3.89) Table 4.10: Descriptive statistics of the mean scores of “Integrative Orientation” of the male and female students Sex male Integrative Valid N (listwise) female Integrative Valid N (listwise) Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean 50 1.33 5.00 3.83 50 50 2.00 5.00 3.95 50 13 Std Deviation 83907 66449 According to Table 4.10, the female group have a higher level of integrative orientation than the male group (Female, M = 3.95; Male, M = 3.83) 4.2.4 Comparison of the mean scores of “Instrumental Orientation” between the male and female students Table 4.11: Descriptive statistics for individual items in Instrumental Orientation 41 45 49 43 20 % Mean 20 20 28 28 41 3 16 16 45 2 17 17 49 2 14 14 43 23 23 29 29 20 Overall Mean Score: 3.76 % Strongly agree % Agree % Uncertain Disagree Strongly disagree Item39 Item40 Item41 Item42 Item43 % 34 29 40 22 34 29 40 22 3.27 4.06 3.99 4.19 3.29 With that mean score in the table, we can see that the students investigated in the study are highly instrumentally motivated Table 4.12: Descriptive statistics of the mean scores of “Instrumental Orientation” of the male and female students Sex male Instrumental Valid N (listwise) female Instrumental Valid N (listwise) Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean 50 1.20 5.00 3.71 50 50 2.40 4.80 3.81 50 Std Deviation 71052 53515 It is clear from the table that the mean score of the female students is higher than that of the male ones (female, M= 3.81; male, M= 3.71) This indicates that the females are more instrumentally motivated than the males to learn English as a foreign language 14 4.2.5 Comparison of the mean scores of “Student Perceptions of English” between the male and female students Table 4.13: Descriptive statistics for individual items in Student perceptions of English 35 35 33 33 5 32 32 11 11 25 25 41 41 16 16 4 Overall Mean Score: 2.41 % Mean % Strongly agree % Agree 13 29 33 % Uncertain 13 29 33 Disagree Strongly disagree Item44 Item45 Item46 % 14 14 2.72 2.41 2.09 An overall mean score of 2.41, a little lower than the medium range, reveals that the participants’ perceptions of English are not much gender bias in the students’ perception of English learning Table 4.14: Descriptive statistics of the mean scores of “Student perceptions of English” of the male and female students Sex male Perception Valid N (listwise) female Perception Valid N (listwise) Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean 50 1.33 5.00 2.87 50 50 1.00 3.67 1.94 50 Std Deviation 98949 70531 The result points out that the higher mean score of the male participants (M=2.87) means that the male students’ perceptions of English are not as positive as those of the female ones 4.2.6 Comparison of the mean scores of “Parental Encouragement” between the male and female students Table 4.15: Descriptive statistics for individual items in Parental Encouragement 15 40 53 35 45 55 16 20 24 24 24 % Mean 14 28 28 40 18 18 53 35 35 35 10 20 20 45 15 15 55 Overall Mean Score: 3.78 % Strongly agree 14 10 % Agree 2 % Uncertain 2 Disagree Strongly disagree Item47 Item48 Item49 Item50 Item51 % 16 20 24 24 24 3.54 3.82 3.75 3.81 3.97 The overall mean score of this scale ( 3.78) indicates that these students receive great encouragement to learn English from their parents Table 4.16: Descriptive statistics of the mean scores of “Parental Encouragement” of the male and female students Sex male Parental Valid N (listwise) female Parental Valid N (listwise) Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean 50 1.60 5.00 3.74 50 50 1.60 5.00 3.82 50 Std Deviation 74313 68194 The mean score for the two gender groups reveals that the female students (M=3.82) receive a little greater parental encouragement to learn English than the male counterparts ( =3.74) 4.2.7 Comparison of the mean scores of “Self-determination” between the male students and female ones Table 4.17: Descriptive statistics for individual items in Self-determination 1 22 22 54 54 11 11 14 14 51 51 2 29 29 55 55 Overall Mean Score: 3.80 22 18 14 22 18 14 3.95 3.64 3.81 61 61 7 9 16 16 30 30 33 33 21 21 31 31 5 Overall Mean Score: 2.50 14 14 2.10 3.31 2.10 % % Mean Strongly agree % % Agree Context - Failure 21 21 Item55 7 Item56 40 40 Item57 Uncertain Disagree Strongly disagree Effort - Failure Item52 Item53 Item54 % From Table 4.17, we can see that the mean scores of all the three items (item 52, item 53, item 54) of Effort scale are much higher than the medium range 16 Table 4.18: Descriptive statistics of the mean scores of “Effort scale” to measure self –determination of the male and female students Sex male Effort Valid N (listwise) female Effort Valid N (listwise) Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean 50 2.00 5.00 3.78 50 50 2.67 4.67 3.82 50 Std Deviation 66534 53963 Table 4.19: Descriptive statistics of the mean scores of “Context scale” to measure self –determination of the male and female students Descriptive Statistics Sex male Context Valid N (listwise) female Context Valid N (listwise) N 50 50 50 50 Minimum Maximum Mean 1.00 3.67 2.61 Std Deviation 59992 1.33 68243 4.00 2.39 The result of Effort scale shown in Table 4.18 points out the mean score of the male students is 3.78, which is a bit lower than that of the female peers (M=3.82) This indicates that the female students are more clearly aware of the reason for their failure in English than the male ones They knew that it was due to their lack of effort From Table 4.19, we can know that the mean score of the male participants in Context scale is 2.61, a little higher than the mean score of the female ones (M=2.39) This result reveals that more male students thought that their low results in English are due to context 4.2.8 Comparison of the mean scores of “Self-efficacy” between the male students and female ones 4 8 49 21 21 55 55 19 19 54 54 14 40 40 30 30 10 42 42 32 32 Overall Mean Score: 2.86 49 14 10 % Mean 13 11 16 22 % Strongly agree 13 11 16 22 17 % Agree Disagree % Uncertain Strongly Disagree Item58 Item59 Item60 Item61 Item62 % 38 2 38 2 4.19 2.66 2.77 2.46 2.18 As shown in Table 4.20, all the items have low mean score except item 58 Up to 87 students expected to well in English class Table 4.21: Descriptive statistics of the mean scores of “Selfefficacy” of the male and female students Sex male Efficacy Valid N (listwise) female Efficacy Valid N (listwise) Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean 50 1.80 4.20 2.83 50 50 1.60 4.20 2.89 50 Std Deviation 55844 54374 The findings suggest that the females are a little more confident in their English ability than the males although both groups’ mean scores didn’t reach the medium range 4.2.9 Comparison of the mean scores of “Tolerance of Ambiguity” between the male and female students Table 4.22: Descriptive statistics for individual items in Tolerance of Ambiguity 41 64 48 41 26 51 46 47 51 25 % Mean 22 22 17 17 41 8 15 15 64 5 21 21 48 9 26 26 41 26 26 33 33 26 7 19 19 51 9 22 22 46 16 16 18 18 47 6 23 23 51 15 51 30 30 25 Overall Mean Score: 3.48 % Strongly Agree % Agree 10 14 19 % Uncertain 10 14 19 Disagree Strongly Disagree Item63 Item64 Item65 Item66 Item67 Item68 Item69 Item70 Item71 Item72 % 20 11 16 10 21 22 13 17 11 20 11 16 10 21 22 13 17 11 3.59 3.74 3.55 3.24 3.94 3.82 3.79 3.45 3.73 2.94 From Table 4.22, we can see that the overall mean score is 3.48, which indicates a low tolerance of the ambiguity of the participants 18 Table 4.23: Descriptive statistics of the mean scores of “Tolerance of Ambiguity” of the male and female students Sex male Tolerance Valid N (listwise) female Tolerance Valid N (listwise) Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean 50 2.10 4.20 3.44 50 50 2.50 4.70 3.52 50 Std Deviation 46427 49502 The mean score of the female students which is higher than the mean score of male students indicates that the female students are less tolerant of ambiguity in learning English than the male peers 4.3 Teachers’ perceptions of motivating the male and female students effectively When asked about the importance of motivation to the learners’ achievement, all the teachers agreed that there is a relationship between motivation and the learners’ success in learning English Some of them reasoned that if a student is highly motivated, he / she will spend much time and energy studying English Most of the teachers stated that their female students are more motivated than the male peers With regard to factors affecting students’ motivation, the teacher interviewees came up with various factors The most common factors provided by the teachers are students’ interest in English, their perception of English’s importance, desire to achieve a goal, and interesting performance of teachers The teachers interviewed suggested different ways to motivate the girls and boys to learn English effectively Most of the teachers in the interviews agreed that a pleasant and supportive atmosphere in the classroom will stimulate the students’ learning A few teacher interviewees thought that offering rewards and extra grades is also an effective way to motivate the students Some of the interviewed teachers said that in order to motivate students to learn, the teacher should help them to set achievable goals for learning because unrealistic goals may disappoint and discourage students In addition, the teachers also added that teachers should help students see how they have progressed and succeeded after their efforts to learn, which enables students to be more confident of their ability 19 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS This chapter begins with the summary of the main findings of the study in section 5.1 In section 5.2 implications are discussed Next, section 5.3 discusses some of the limitations of the study and finally section 5.4 makes suggestions for future research 5.1 Summary of the main findings This study aims at investigating gender differences in language learning motivation, identifying and exploring gender differences in various factors that affect the motivation of high school students in Phu Vang District The main findings of this research consist of three categories: (i) the English learning goals of the male and female high school students, (ii) factors affecting language learning motivation of these male and female students, and (iii) teachers’ perceptions of motivating the male and female students effectively Research question 1: What are the goals for learning English of high school male and female students in Phu Vang District? Regarding the English learning goals, two factors – desire to learn English and goal salience – are investigated The results show that these students have a fairly strong desire to learn English, and the girls show a little stronger desire in comparison with the boys Moreover, the findings also reveal that the participants clearly determine their goals for learning English: they clearly know their purpose of learning English, have a clear idea of how much English they want to learn and they all admit their main reason for learning English is to pass the exams However, in regard to gender difference, the girls tend to show less goal salience than the boys Research question 2: What factors affect language learning motivation of these male and female students? In terms of factors affecting language learning motivation, the study examines nine factors including motivational intensity, attitudes toward learning English, integrative orientation, instrumental orientation, student perceptions of English, parental encouragement, self-determination, self-efficacy and tolerance of ambiguity The results indicate that the motivational intensity of the investigated students is rather weak although their attitudes toward learning English are not negative The participants are also found to have high degree of integrative and instrumental motivation as well 20 as to have positive perceptions of English The students reveal that they receive great encouragement from their parents in learning English and that their unsuccessfulness is due to their lack of effort They not highly appreciate their ability in English and admit their low tolerance of ambiguity in English classes With reference to gender differences in those nine factors, the findings show that there are slight differences between the male and female students in all the factors mentioned Perhaps, because of the limited number of students investigated, those differences are not great; however, they are significant because in such factors as student perceptions of English, attitudes toward learning English, context scale of selfdetermination, considerable differences are found between the male and female students The girls show higher degree of motivational intensity, more positive attitudes toward learning English, greater integrative and instrumental motivation, higher self-determination, more confidence in their English ability, and less negative perceptions of English than the boys, whereas the boys are more tolerant of ambiguity than the girls in English class Research question 3: What should teachers to motivate these male and female students effectively? With regard to teachers’ perceptions of motivating the male and female students effectively, all the teachers interviewed emphasize the importance of motivation in students’ success in learning English Most of the teachers also state that their female students show higher motivation than the male peers In views of factors affecting students’ motivation, the teachers provide various factors, such as interest in English, students’ perception of English’s importance, desire to achieve a goal, and interesting performance of teachers, interesting topics, students’ efficacy etc In addition, the teachers also suggested different ways to motivate the girls and boys in learning English effectively Some of the ways stimulating students to learn given by the teachers are creating a pleasant and supportive atmosphere in the classroom, offering rewards and extra grades, helping students to set achievable goals for learning, giving timely and informative feedback Although these ways are good for both male and female students, it is important for teachers to classify their students properly so that they can motivate these students effectively 21 5.2 Implications From the findings of this research, some implications are suggested for teachers, educators as well as researchers as follow: Based on the findings of the present study the high school students investigated highly desire to learn English and clearly know their goals for English learning However, they are not successful in learning English; this may be due to their setting inappropriate goals Thus, teachers should help the students set attainable goals and make them feel that they are capable of achieving these goals in order to increase their motivation Lock & Latham (1990) found that if teachers help students set specific, short-term, achievable goals for learning, students will be motivated to learn because very general or unrealistic goals tend to disappoint and frustrate students When students believe that they are able to make differences in their learning process and outcomes, they actively exert effort in pursuit of their goals In spite of their high desire to learn English, these students’ motivational intensity is found to be rather weak Teachers should, thus, put emphasis on increasing students’ motivational intensity, which can be improved by students’ setting attainable goals and teachers’ feedback on progress In addition, the students are found to have low tolerance of ambiguity, which can interfere with the learning process Teachers, then, are responsible for helping students in their efforts to succeed in language learning They should set an agenda and share it with their students to help them increase their awareness of classroom procedures as well as the content to be learnt When learners are informed about classroom procedures, they feel more comfortable, confident and motivated in the language classroom (Dörnyei, 2005; Williams and Burden, 1997) Also, with these low proficiency level students, teachers should adopt a teaching approach that includes more insight into negative affective factors influencing language learning Differences have been found in the motivational factors investigated between male and female students Therefore, teachers should also carefully consider ways to address this issue Besides, teachers should pay more attention to the male students who are in favour of scientific subjects and neglect English in order to make them put more efforts in learning and develop a sense of success; otherwise, they might gradually lose interest in learning English Perhaps, if teachers can give them more attention in 22 order to foster their motivation, these male students may become more successful language learners Furthermore, teachers need to create an encouraging and flexible learning environment for students to reflect on their expectations of their learning and develop a strong sense of self-efficacy 5.3 Limitations of the study It must be acknowledged that there exist some limitations in this study The first limitation is the narrow scale of the research The number of participants in the survey is 100 students and only 10 of them are interviewed, so it is not possible to ensure that this limited number of students is truly representative of the entire population of high school students in Phu Vang District, or across Thua Thien Hue Province For this reason, the findings of this study can not be generalized to all high school students in Phu Vang District Another limitation is that this study mainly focuses on Gardner’s socioeducational model of second language- exploring integrative and instrumental motivation, which may limit the results collected from participants 5.4 Suggestions for further research Motivation plays a key role in language learning and gender is one personal variable related to differences found in motivational functioning Therefore, a similar study should be conducted with a larger sample size in other high schools to find out more detailed gender differences in motivation in order for teachers to help both male and female learners to get better achievements in English learning In addition, future research may also look at the developmental differences in students’ motivation to learn English across the transition from secondary to high school and changes in motivation according to gender in the above grade levels Though this study has only focused on gender differences in motivation to learn English of high school students within a limited scope, it is hoped that its findings could help teachers of English in similar settings realize some gender differences in motivation to learn English so that they can apply appropriate strategies to motivate their male and female students effectively in language teaching and learning Moreover, this study can be a basis for further investigations into language learning motivation and gender differences in more depth and width 23 REFERENCES 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