Students’ use of self regulated learning strategies in an online english course during the covid 19 pandemic a study at dao son tay high school

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - NGUYEN NU HOANG YEN STUDENTS’ USE OF SELF-REGULATED LEARNING STRATEGIES IN AN ONLINE ENGLISH COURSE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A STUDY AT DAO SON TAY HIGH SCHOOL Major: English Language Course code: 80220201 HO CHI MINH CITY, December/ 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - STUDENTS’ USE OF SELF-REGULATED LEARNING STRATEGIES IN AN ONLINE ENGLISH COURSE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A STUDY AT DAO SON TAY HIGH SCHOOL Submitted to the Faculty of English Language in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in English Language (19394 words) Course code: 80220201 By NGUYEN NU HOANG YEN Supervised by LE VAN TUYEN, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, December/ 2022 The thesis entitled STUDENTS’ USE OF SELF-REGULATED LEARNING STRATEGIES IN AN ONLINE ENGLISH COURSE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A STUDY AT DAO SON TAY HIGH SCHOOL was successfully defended and approved on…… at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH) Academic supervisor : Examination Committee Chair Reader Reader Member Secretary Member On behalf of the Examination Committee Chair i HCMC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE -Ho Chi Minh city, December 2022 MASTER’S THESIS REPORT Student name: NGUYEN NU HOANG YEN Sex: Female Date of birth: 9th February,1988 Place of birth: Nghe An Major: English Language Student code: 2041900022 I- Thesis title: STUDENTS’ USE OF SELF-REGULATED LEARNING STRATEGIES IN AN ONLINE ENGLISH COURSE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A STUDY AT DAO SON TAY HIGH SCHOOL II- Objectives and contents: This study aims at exploring the students’ use and attitudes toward SRL strategies use in an online English course during the Covid-19 Pandemic at Dao Son Tay high school The research objectives are as follows: ● to explore the extent of using SRL strategies in the online English course of the students at Dao Son Tay high school during the Covid-19 pandemic ● to discover the students’ attitudes towards the use of SRL strategies in the online English course at Dao Son Tay high school during the Covid-19 pandemic This study was conducted at Dao Son Tay high school in Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh city.The participants were the EFL high school students who were studying an online English course during Covid-19 pandemic In order to gain the results, I applied the mixed-method: quantitative and qualitative, two instruments were utilized: questionnaire and semi-structured interview in order to collect the data, both of which are applied for the students who have studied an online English course ii III- Starting date: 7th June 2022 IV- Completing date: 30th December 2022 V- Academic supervisor: LE VAN TUYEN, Ph.D ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR FACULTY DEAN (full name, signature) (full name, signature) iii CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: STUDENTS’ USE OF SELF-REGULATED LEARNING STRATEGIES IN AN ONLINE ENGLISH COURSE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A STUDY AT DAO SON TAY HIGH SCHOOL In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English Language, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology Ho Chi Minh City, December 2022 NGUYEN NU HOANG YEN iv RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, NGUYEN NU HOANG YEN, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (English Language) accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses Ho Chi Minh City, December 2022 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would want to offer my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who made it possible for me to finish my thesis First and foremost, I want to thank my supervisor, Dr Le Van Tuyen, for his patience, inspiration, and remarkable experience, as well as for his advice during the writing and research of my master thesis Personally, I could not have imagined how I could have accomplished this course without such a great supervisor and mentor Second, I want to express my gratitude to Dr Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, the Dean of the English Language Faculty, as well as Dr Tran Quoc Thao, who has assisted me not only in finishing my study but also in my learning process In addition, I would like to express my appreciation to all of my English teachers and students who took part in my survey at Dao Son Tay high school which enabled me to gather essential data and complete my study Last but not least, I would like to express my deep appreciation to my husband for his unwavering support and encouragement spiritually during the research and writing process for this study paper vi ABSTRACT It has been shown that self-regulated learning (SRL) is essential to language acquisition since learners may self-regulate their learning process However, the use of SRL strategies among EFL students at all educational levels, including high schools, remains challenging, especially in online courses during the Covid-19 pandemic Understanding this issue might be advantageous for practitioners Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the extent of students' use of and attitudes towards SRL strategies in an online English course during the Covid-19 pandemic The study was conducted at Dao Son Tay High school (DHS) in Ho Chi Minh City with the participation of 124 tenth-graders For data collection, two research instruments were employed, i.e., questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews so that both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used for data analysis The findings of the study revealed that among categories of SRL strategies, of them were used by the majority of students at a moderate level The only category that was used at a high level was “environmental structuring strategies" Moreover, the results showed that the students had positive attitudes towards the use of SRL strategies in terms of affective, behavioral, and cognitive aspects Last but not least, various pedagogical implications were provided for teachers and students to enhance online English teaching and learning in the context of the study ( 230 words) Key words: SRL strategies, online learning, online English course, high school, Vietnamese context vii Table of Contents CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY…………………………………………… iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………vi ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………… vii LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………….xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS…………………………………viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study…………………………………………………… 1.2 Statement of the problem 1.3 Aims and objectives of the study 1.4 Research questions…………………………………………………………… 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Significance of the Study………………………………………………………4 1.7 Definitions of key terms……………………………………………………… 1.8 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Online teaching and learning 2.2.1 Online teaching and learning 2.2.2 Online teaching and learning in Vietnam 2.3 Online Language Teaching and Learning 2.4 Self-regulation and Self-regulated learning 2.4.1 Self-regulation 2.4.2 Self-regulated learning 10 2.5 Self-regulation in language learning 11 2.6 Online self-regulated learning 11 2.7 Self-regulated language learning strategies 12 2.7.1 Goal setting and planning strategies 12 2.7.2 Task strategies 13 viii was trying to be persistent with how I did things to reach higher goals” "SRL strategies helped me keep track of my time and set goals Also, SRL strategies in my online English education gave me a sense of responsibility” S6: “ SRL strategies helped me manage my study time better I also learned how to balance between housework and homework” S7: “I had a lot of difficult time learning online which made me really nervous at first Unfortunately, I felt more relaxed and comfortable after I learned about SRL strategies, so I tried to apply flexible strategies to better my study” S8: “SRL strategies helped me plan my study I tried to set goals for my study I also learned how to manage my time” S9: “SRL strategies helped me manage time, concentrate more on my study When I was having trouble with my online English class, I asked my teacher for help All of the students could talk to her through Messenger, a Facebook group, and Zalo I knew my teacher was busy, but she did her best to answer my questions and give me advice on SRL strategies in a timely manner S10:” SRL strategies help me manage time Sometimes I didn't know which SRL strategies to use for a certain job or time I was lucky that I could talk to my teacher and other students They gave me helpful advice about when and how to 99 use SRL strategies I also know how to structure study environment" 11 Do you think SRL S1: "I not think it was difficult or to use SRL strategies are difficult and strategies because I was able to apply them in complicated to understand my learning Using SRL strategies helped me and apply? How? learn more and improve my language skills." S2:” It was a little difficult at first to use SRL strategies The more I used them , the easier they became In the future, I want to continue using SRL strategies” S3: “ For me, SRL strategies are difficult to use I think SRL strategies made me more responsible for my study” S4: “ I think SRL strategies were a bit difficult to use at first Later, when I got used to SRL strategies, they were easy to use, I was doing well in my course with the help of SRL strategies” S5: “SRL strategies were not complicated at all All I did during the course was planning well and being persistent” S6: “SRL strategies were not difficult but I didn’t use SRL strategies frequently because I was a bit lazy” S7: “ I think, SRL strategies were not difficult and complicated, SRLS make me self-regulated, self-motivated, help me find a good place to study” S8: “ I suppose SRL strategies were not difficult and complicated, SRLS benefit study” 100 S9: “ I think SRL strategies were a bit difficult as I didn’t use SRL strategies frequently due to lack of time” S10: "The strategies for SRL were rather simple to use They also helped me organize my study space, make the most of my time, and get help from my classmates and teacher” 12 Do you think that you still S1: “ Yes, I think SRL strategies are effective and continue using the SRL help me improve my English learning” strategies you applied in the S2: "Yes, without SRL strategies, I would not online English course in the have been able to well enough in English I future? Why / why not? was really proud of myself when I used the SRL to study English online I will use more SRL strategies in the future for sure” S3: I wish I had used SRL strategies more often to get better results Even though my grade was fine, I want to improve my learning by using SRL strategies in the next semester S4: “Yes, If there had not been for SRL strategies, I could not have achieved satisfying results in English I was so proud of myself that I was able to use SRL strategies in my online English learning I definitely would use more SRL strategies in the future S5: “Yes, SRL strategies were much more effective than traditional methods because I was able to set my own schedules and control how much time I spent studying I will use SRL strategies more in the future” 101 S6: “Yes, SRLS help me self-regulate my learning styles, better my academic achievements, motivation S7:” Yes, SRL strategies are effective in my study, help me learn better S8: “Yes Using SRL strategies, I did better in English I also became more independent in my learning; I was really afraid of learning English as my speaking and listening skills were not good After being informed about SRL strategies, I could find a better way to manage my study to improve my English skills I became more confident than before” S9: “Yes, I will keep using the strategies Using SRL strategies gave me more confidence and helped me better in school than traditional methods in my previous classes”; S10: ‘Yes, SRL strategies help me be more confident , achieve higher scores I knew where and from whom I could get help to solve my problems” 102 APPENDIX F Endorsement form APPENDIX G 103 Plagiarism Report 104