An investigation into factors affecting learner autonomy of vocational students in learning englishn a survey at central highlands technology college

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY ∞0∞ TRAN THI MINH TRANG AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNER AUTONOMY OF VOCATIONAL STUDENTS IN LEARNING ENGLISH: A SURVEY AT CENTRAL HIGHLANDS TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE Tai Lieu Chat Luong MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL HO CHI MINH CITY, 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY ∞0∞ TRAN THI MINH TRANG AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNER AUTONOMY OF VOCATIONAL STUDENTS IN LEARNING ENGLISH: A SURVEY AT CENTRAL HIGHLANDS TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Major code: 14 01 11 MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: DINH THI MINH HIEN, Ed.D HO CHI MINH CITY, 2022 TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC MỞ THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH KHOA ĐÀO TẠO SAU ĐẠI HỌC CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM Độc lập – Tự – Hạnh phúc GIẤY XÁC NHẬN Tôi tên là: Trần Thị Minh Trang Ngày sinh: 06/11/1990 Nơi sinh: Buôn Ma Thuột, Đắk Lắk Chuyên ngành: Lý luận phương pháp dạy học môn Tiếng Anh Mã học viên: 1981401111024 Tơi đồng ý cung cấp tồn văn thơng tin luận án/ luận văn tốt nghiệp hợp lệ quyền cho Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh kết nối tồn văn thông tin luận án/ luận văn tốt nghiệp vào hệ thống thông tin khoa học Sở Khoa học Cơng nghệ Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh Ký tên (Ghi rõ họ tên) Trần Thị Minh Trang STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I affirm that the thesis entitles “An investigation into factors affecting learner autonomy of vocational students in learning English: A survey at Central Highlands Technology College” is my own work The data and findings are accurate and were done with the associates' consent No other's research has been used without proper attribution in the primary body of the thesis This thesis has not been submitted to Ho Chi Minh City Open University or any other institution for the award of a degree or diploma Ho Chi Minh City, July 18th 2022 TRAN THI MINH TRANG ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Firstly, I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude to Dr Dinh Thi Minh Hien (Ed.D), my supervisor, for all her enthusiastic support throughout the entire study Thanks to her instructions and valuable advice, I have kept and nourished my drive to fulfill this thesis Secondly, my sincere thankful words would be sent to all of HCMC Open University teachers who provided me with invaluable lessons and extensive knowledge My sincere gratitude goes out to the academic administrators and staff at the Graduate School of the HCMC Open University, for their unwavering assistance and timely reminders Thirly, I would like to convey my whole-hearted thankfulness to CHTC English teachers and the vocational students for their contribution to the completion of data collection, which was a crucial component of my work Last but not least, my appreciation goes to all my family members and friends for their ongoing assistance while I was doing my thesis, especially in the moments of difficulty ABSTRACT Despite the fact that learner autonomy has lately been acknowledged as an important approach for Vietnamese education, there have been few studies on the topic, particularly in vocational education The research investigated the learner autonomy of students at Central Highlands Technology College The aim of this study was to identify the students' autonomous learner characteristics, factors affecting their autonomy in the context of vocational education, and some suggestions to improve the students' learner autonomy The paper was conducted with 123 first-year vocational students come from five faculties at Central Highlands Technology College In addition, the researcher invited three English teachers to participate in one-on-one interviews about their understanding of learner autonomy The results from questionnaire were quantitatively analyzed using SPSS, while data from interviews were evaluated using the content analysis method Based on the findings, both students and English teachers consider that teachers play an integral role in the English classroom Students, on the other hand, are overly reliant on their teachers, despite the fact that they have the ability to decide on many activities related to their learning Additionally, the data showed that the students exercised less autonomy over learning activities Finally, two groups of participants are aware the use of technology in teaching and learning English can remarkably affect the learner autonomy of vocational students in teaching and learning English In conclusion, understanding learner autonomy from the view-point of both students and teachers in the context of vocational schools can support teachers in achieving the ultimate goal of foreign language learning, which is to improve students' English proficiency Hopefully, this research will be useful in enhancing students' learner autonomy at Central Highlands Technology College i TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS i LIST OF FIGURES iv LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Statement of the problem 1.3 Purpose of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 The rationale of the study 1.7 Overview of the chapters CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical background 2.1.1 The concept of Autonomy 2.1.2 Definition of autonomy in language learning 2.1.3 Learner autonomy in this study 10 2.1.4 The role of autonomy in language learning .11 2.1.5 Characteristics of autonomous learner .12 2.2 Factors affecting LA in language learning .13 2.2.1 Psychological factors 13 2.2.2 Contextual factors 16 2.2.3 Technological factors .20 2.3 Previous studies 22 2.4 Research gap 27 2.5 Research framework .28 ii 2.6 Summary 29 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 30 3.1 Research design 30 3.2 Research site and sampling .30 3.3 Participants 31 3.3.1 Students 31 3.3.2 Teachers 32 3.4 Research instruments 32 3.4.1 Questionnaire .32 3.4.2 Interview 33 3.5 Data collection and data analysis procedure 34 3.5.1 Data collection 34 3.5.2 Data analysis .36 3.6 Validity and reliability 38 3.6.1 Validity .38 3.6.2 Reliability 38 3.7 Summary 39 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 40 4.1 Data analysis 40 4.1.1 Students’ questionnaires 40 4.1.2 Teachers’ interviews .52 4.2 Discussion of the findings 67 4.2.1 Students’ autonomous learner characteristics 67 4.2.2 The factors influencing students’ LA .67 4.3 Summary of the chapter 69 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 70 5.1 Conclusions .70 5.2 Research implications .71 iii 5.2.1 Implications for students 71 5.2.2 Implications for teachers 73 5.2.2 Implications for administrative staff 74 5.3 Limitation and recommendations for further research 75 5.4 Summary 76 REFERENCES 77 APPENDICES 94