An investigation into factors influencing vietnamese students willingness to communicate orally in efl classrooms

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS INFLUENCING VIETNAMESE STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE ORALLY IN EFL CLASSROOMS A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By HOANG THI KIM OANH Supervised by Assoc Prof Dr LUU TRONG TUAN HO CHI MINH CITY, MAY 2023 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The completion of my thesis would have been an insurmountable challenge without the indispensable guidance, support, and encouragement of many individuals to whom I owe my sincere gratitude I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my esteemed supervisor, Associate Professor Dr Lưu Trọng Tuấn, who provided invaluable assistance during my most trying times when I had to start from scratch His unwavering guidance and advice were instrumental not only in completing my thesis, but also enhancing my learning strategies and project management skills He continuously motivated me to aim for excellence, both in my academic and personal pursuits, which has significantly contributed to my personal development I would like to express my profound gratitude to Dr Lê Hoàng Dũng, the Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, who permitted me to conduct my survey at Thu Duc campus and instructed me to prepare necessary documents for the official survey I would also like to thank all EFL teachers, learners, and administrative staff who assisted me in the data collection I would like to appreciate the dedicated instructions of all lecturers who provided me with invaluable knowledge about the theory and practice of teaching English, as well as the precious teaching experience shared during the lessons I would like to express my appreciation to my family, including my parents, my husband, brothers, and my two little daughters, for their assistance, encouragement, and support in my pursuit of higher education I would like to express my special gratitude to my friends, Thạch Thị Quyên and Trần Thanh Nga, my classmates in the Master of TESOL program They are people who gave me much motivation, inspiration, support, and positive reinforcement for my present thesis Without them, my thesis would not have been completed successfully ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I certify that this thesis entitled “AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS INFLUENCING VIETNAMESE STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE ORALLY IN EFL CLASSROOMS” is my own work This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, May 2023 Hoàng Thị Kim Oanh iii RETENTION OF USE I hereby state that I, Hoàng Thị Kim Oanh, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library 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 the care, loan or reproduction of the theses Ho Chi Minh City, May 2023 Hoàng Thị Kim Oanh iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY iii RETENTION OF USE iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES ix ABSTRACT x CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 12 1.1 Background of the study 12 1.2 Rationale of the study 15 1.3 Research aims and research questions 18 1.3.1 Research aims 18 1.3.2 Research questions 18 1.4 Significance of the study 19 1.5 Scope of the study 20 1.6 Organization of the thesis 21 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 22 2.1 Willingness to communicate (WTC) 22 2.1.1 Definition 22 2.1.2 Characteristics of WTC 22 2.1.3 WTC in L2 context 23 2.1.4 WTC in EFL context 26 2.1.5 The importance of WTC orally in language classrooms 27 2.1.6 Model of WTC 29 2.2 Factors influencing WTC 33 2.2.1 Personal factors 33 2.2.1.1 Self-confidence 33 2.2.1.2 Communication apprehension 35 2.2.1.3 Learning motivation 38 2.2.1.4 Language class risk-taking 42 2.2.2 Situational factors 43 2.2.2.1 Topic interest 43 v 2.2.2.2 Classroom atmosphere 44 2.3 Previous studies 46 2.4 Conceptual framework of the thesis 54 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 56 3.1 Research design 57 3.2 Research site 58 3.2.1 Rationale of choosing a context in Vietnam 58 3.2.2 The overview of research site 60 3.3 Participants 62 3.3.1 Rationale of choosing non-English major students as the sample 62 3.3.2 The overview of population 63 3.3.3 The sample 64 3.4 Research instrument 67 3.4.1 Description of the research instrument 67 3.4.2 Reliability and validity 72 3.4.2.1 The piloting 72 3.4.2.2 The main study 73 3.5 Data collection procedure 74 3.6 Data analysis procedure 75 CHAPTER RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 83 4.1 The results of Cronbach’s Alpha analysis 83 4.1.1 The Cronbach’s Alpha results of the piloting 83 4.1.2 The Cronbach’s Alpha results of the main study 84 4.2 Test for normality 87 4.3 The result of correlation matrix 89 4.4 The result of Multicollinearity 90 4.5 The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis 90 4.5.1 The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis for six factors 90 4.5.1.1 The first round of running EFA 91 4.5.1.2 The second round of running EFA 95 4.5.2 The EFA results for WTC 98 4.6 The result of Confirmatory Factor Analysis 100 4.7 Hypothesis testing for addressing the two first research question 104 4.8 Results of research question 119 vi 4.8.1 Differences between males and females in terms of willingness to communicate orally in Vietnamese EFL classrooms 119 4.8.2 Differences among departments in terms of willingness to communicate orally in Vietnamese EFL classrooms 123 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 128 5.1 Summary of the findings 128 5.2 Implications 129 5.2.1 Implications for EFL learners 129 5.2.2 Implications for EFL teachers 130 5.2.3 Implications for school administrators 132 5.2.4 Implications for textbook writers 133 5.3 Limitations and recommendations 133 REFERENCES 136 APPENDICES 145 APPENDIX 1A: THE QUESTIONNAIRE IN ENGLISH VERSION 145 APPENDIX 1B: THE QUESTIONNAIRE IN VIETNAMESE VERSION 150 APPENDIX 2: THE ADAPTATION OF QUESTIONNAIRE ITEM FROM THE ORIGINAL VERSION 155 APPENDIX 3: THE RESULTS OF CRONBACH’S ALPHA IN THE PILOT STUDY 159 APPENDIX 4: THE RESULTS OF CRONBACH’S ALPHA IN THE MAIN STUDY 163 APPENDIX 5: THE SCREE-PLOT OF EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS 170 APPENDIX 6: THE RESULT OF STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL ANALYSIS 174 APPENDIX 7: THE DESCRIPTIVE RESULTS OF THE STUDY’S SCALES 179 APPENDIX 8: THE ONE-WAY ANOVA RESULTS IN RELATION TO THE DIFFERENCES IN WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE AMONG DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS 181 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Review of previous studies 48 Table 3.1 Participants’ demographic information in the main study 66 Table 3.2 General information of the questionnaire 69 Table 3.3 Criterion for Cohen’s 𝒇𝟐 81 Table 4.1 Cronbach’s Alpha for the pilot study 84 Table 4.2 The Cronbach’s Alpha result of the subscales for the main study Error! Bookmark not defined Table 4.3 The coefficient alpha of all variables in the second run of Cronbach’s Alpha analysis 86 Table 4.4 Descriptive statistics of participants’ willingness to communicate in EFL classrooms 88 Table 4.5 Correlation matrix among variables Error! Bookmark not defined Table 4.6 The statistical results of multicollinearity test 90 Table 4.7 KMO and Bartlett's Test Results in the first EFA round 91 Table 4.8 Total variance explained by extracted components in the first EFA round 91 Table 4.9 Rotated component matrix in the first EFA round for the factors 93 Table 4.10 KMO and Bartlett's Test Results in the second EFA round 95 Table 4.11 Total variance explained by extracted components in the second EFA round 95 Table 4.12 Rotated component matrix in the second EFA round for the factors 97 Table 4.13 KMO and Bartlett's Test Results in the EFA for WTC 98 Table 4.14 Total variance explained by extracted components of WTC 98 Table 4.15 Rotated component matrix for WTC 99 Table 4.16 The indices of goodness of model fit 102 Table 4.17 The result of the scales’ convergent validity and discriminant validity 103 Table 4.18 The structural model index 105 Table 4.19 The results of path coefficients and effect sizes of the relationship between WTC and factors 108 Table 4.20 The result of Independent Samples T-test 121 Table 4.21 The statistic result of genders 121 Table 4.22 The results of One-way ANOVA test 125 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 The heuristic model of WTC conceptualized by MacIntyre and Charos (1996) 30 Figure 2.2 Conceptual framework of the present thesis 55 Figure 4.1 The result of Confirmatory Factor Analysis 101 Figure 4.2 Structural Equation Model 106 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS WTC: Willingness to communicate EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences AMOS: Analysis of Moment Structures SEM: Structural Equation Model L1: The first language L2: The second language x Appendix 5: The results of the correlation matrix WTC TOPIC Pearson Correlation WTC Sig (2-tailed) N Pearson TOPIC Correlation MOTIV 306 306 306 306 306 ** ** ** 359 000 306 306 306 306 306 ** ** N 306 306 306 ** ** ** 171 000 306 306 306 306 ** 001 003 N 306 306 306 306 ** ** ** ** 196 000 000 000 001 N 306 306 306 306 -.536** -.156** -.203** Sig (2-tailed) 000 006 N 306 ** -.190* * 290** 001 001 000 306 306 306 196 Sig (2-tailed) 577 218** 000 000 Correlation * 000 171 230 230 -.203* 003 Sig (2-tailed) Pearson 217** 006 000 Correlation * 000 000 273 273 001 359 194 194 -.156* 000 Sig (2-tailed) Pearson CA 306 ** Correlation 577** 000 ** 441 * 000 306 Correlation 441 -.536* 000 367 527 527 ** MOTIV 000 306 Correlation 483 ** CA 000 ** 483 ** RISK 000 N Pearson RISK 367 000 Pearson CONFI ** Sig (2-tailed) Pearson ATMOS 306 ATMOS CONFI -.286* * 413** 000 000 306 306 306 -.190** -.286** -.244** 000 001 000 306 306 306 306 ** ** ** ** 217 170 218 290 413 000 306 -.244* * 306 Sig (2-tailed) 000 000 000 000 000 000 N 306 306 306 306 306 306 ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) 171 306 APPENDIX 6: THE SCREE-PLOT OF EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS Appendix 5a: The scree-plot of exploratory factor analysis for factors impacting Vietnamese EFL learners’ willingness to communicate 172 Appendix 5b: The scree-plot of exploratory factor analysis for willingness to communicate 173 APPENDIX 7: THE RESULT OF STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL ANALYSIS Regression Weights: (Group number - Default model) Estimate S.E C.R P Label 238 033 7.238 *** -.278 036 -7.693 *** WTC < - CONFI WTC < - CA WTC < - MOTIV 224 034 6.564 *** WTC < - RISK 046 031 1.469 142 WTC < - ATMOS 173 027 6.455 *** WTC < - TOPIC 041 027 1.540 124 ATMOS4 < - ATMOS 1.000 ATMOS2 < - ATMOS 1.104 062 17.721 *** ATMOS8 < - ATMOS 1.049 062 16.914 *** ATMOS12 < - ATMOS 1.024 067 15.179 *** ATMOS1 < - ATMOS 1.038 061 16.913 *** ATMOS10 < - ATMOS 1.046 068 15.304 *** ATMOS7 < - ATMOS 925 060 15.310 *** ATMOS11 < - ATMOS 942 067 14.016 *** ATMOS5 < - ATMOS 905 061 14.716 *** ATMOS13 < - ATMOS 974 068 14.311 *** WTC7 < - WTC 1.000 WTC4 < - WTC 999 070 14.317 *** WTC5 < - WTC 1.068 073 14.648 *** WTC8 < - WTC 1.020 072 14.253 *** WTC1 < - WTC 1.050 068 15.547 *** 174 WTC9 < - WTC 1.031 068 15.163 *** WTC10 < - WTC 1.052 070 15.067 *** WTC6 < - WTC 1.124 070 16.059 *** WTC2 < - WTC 977 068 14.373 *** WTC3 < - WTC 1.105 076 14.527 *** MOTIV2 < - MOTIV 1.000 MOTIV7 < - MOTIV 965 067 14.452 *** MOTIV5 < - MOTIV 1.011 069 14.572 *** MOTIV3 < - MOTIV 1.010 069 14.565 *** MOTIV6 < - MOTIV 1.020 070 14.635 *** MOTIV1 < - MOTIV 979 075 12.984 *** RISK5 < - RISK 1.000 RISK1 < - RISK 931 071 13.162 *** RISK6 < - RISK 977 077 12.739 *** RISK3 < - RISK 874 073 11.917 *** RISK2 < - RISK 885 072 12.232 *** CA6 < - CA 1.000 CA4 < - CA 989 077 12.790 *** CA5 < - CA 943 077 12.237 *** CA2 < - CA 930 082 11.324 *** CA1 < - CA 862 080 10.735 *** TOPIC1 < - TOPIC 1.000 TOPIC4 < - TOPIC 989 073 13.624 *** TOPIC2 < - TOPIC 997 075 13.303 *** TOPIC3 < - TOPIC 910 073 12.495 *** CONFI1 < - CONFI 1.000 175 CONFI4 < - CONFI 1.187 095 12.458 *** CONFI3 < - CONFI 1.042 090 11.628 *** CONFI2 < - CONFI 888 080 11.053 *** Standardized Regression Weights: (Group number - Default model) Estimate WTC < - CONFI 350 WTC < - CA WTC < - MOTIV 319 WTC < - RISK 067 WTC < - ATMOS 275 WTC < - TOPIC 067 ATMOS4 < - ATMOS 820 ATMOS2 < - ATMOS 842 ATMOS8 < - ATMOS 816 ATMOS12 < - ATMOS 757 ATMOS1 < - ATMOS 816 ATMOS10 < - ATMOS 762 ATMOS7 < - ATMOS 762 ATMOS11 < - ATMOS 714 ATMOS5 < - ATMOS 740 ATMOS13 < - ATMOS 725 -.359 176 WTC7 < - WTC 783 WTC4 < - WTC 753 WTC5 < - WTC 767 WTC8 < - WTC 750 WTC1 < - WTC 803 WTC9 < - WTC 788 WTC10 < - WTC 784 WTC6 < - WTC 824 WTC2 < - WTC 755 WTC3 < - WTC 762 MOTIV2 < - MOTIV 784 MOTIV7 < - MOTIV 781 MOTIV5 < - MOTIV 786 MOTIV3 < - MOTIV 786 MOTIV6 < - MOTIV 789 MOTIV1 < - MOTIV 714 RISK5 < - RISK 779 RISK1 < - RISK 762 RISK6 < - RISK 738 RISK3 < - RISK 694 RISK2 < - RISK 711 CA6 < - CA 770 CA4 < - CA 760 CA5 < - CA 727 177 CA2 < - CA 675 CA1 < - CA 641 TOPIC1 < - TOPIC 788 TOPIC4 < - TOPIC 789 TOPIC2 < - TOPIC 770 TOPIC3 < - TOPIC 725 CONFI1 < - CONFI 731 CONFI4 < - CONFI 799 CONFI3 < - CONFI 734 CONFI2 < - CONFI 695 178 APPENDIX 8: THE DESCRIPTIVE RESULTS OF THE STUDY’S SCALES CONFI1 CONFI2 CONFI3 CONFI4 CA1 CA2 CA3 CA4 CA5 CA6 MOTIV1 MOTIV2 MOTIV3 MOTIV4 MOTIV5 MOTIV6 MOTIV7 MOTIV8 RISK1 RISK2 RISK3 RISK4 RISK5 RISK6 TOPIC1 TOPIC2 TOPIC3 TOPIC4 ATMOS1 ATMOS2 ATMOS3 ATMOS4 ATMOS5 ATMOS6 N 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 Descriptive Statistics Minimum Maximum 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 179 Mean 2.79 3.29 2.83 2.16 4.04 3.99 4.00 3.43 3.46 3.50 3.79 3.33 3.28 2.89 3.36 3.30 3.26 3.94 3.37 3.36 3.80 3.61 3.75 3.81 2.87 2.85 2.82 2.92 3.87 3.81 4.07 3.91 3.45 3.75 Std Deviation 902 843 936 979 773 793 874 749 747 748 872 812 818 929 818 823 786 689 808 822 831 564 850 875 923 943 913 912 903 931 980 866 868 899 ATMOS7 ATMOS8 ATMOS9 ATMOS10 ATMOS11 ATMOS12 ATMOS13 WTC1 WTC2 WTC3 WTC4 WTC5 WTC6 WTC7 WTC8 WTC9 WTC10 Valid N (listwise) 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 306 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 180 3.42 3.92 3.51 4.14 4.18 4.21 4.16 3.19 3.76 3.97 3.69 3.16 3.18 3.18 3.17 3.19 3.21 862 912 752 975 937 960 953 598 590 662 605 635 625 583 620 598 613 APPENDIX 9: THE ONE-WAY ANOVA RESULTS IN RELATION TO THE DIFFERENCES IN WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE AMONG DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS Descriptives F_WTC N Mean Std Std Deviation Error 95% Confidence Interval for Mean Minimum Lower Bound Maximum Upper Bound Sociology 88 3.3534 49223 05247 3.2491 3.4577 2.20 4.30 Philosophy Tourism communication History 36 3.4333 37796 06299 3.3054 3.5612 2.80 4.20 22 3.4955 50566 10781 3.2713 3.7197 2.60 4.30 58 3.3483 48204 06330 3.2215 3.4750 2.30 5.00 Geography 71 3.3197 55949 06640 3.1873 3.4521 1.00 4.30 Literature 31 3.4065 52086 09355 3.2154 3.5975 2.40 4.20 306 3.3696 49756 02844 3.3136 3.4256 1.00 5.00 Total Test of Homogeneity of Variances F_WTC Levene df1 df2 Sig Statistic 998 300 419 181 Post Hoc Tests Multiple Comparisons Dependent Variable: F_WTC (I) Faculty Tukey HSD Sociology Philosophy Tourism_com munication History (J) Faculty Philosophy Tourism_com munication History Geography Literature Sociology Tourism_com munication History Geography Literature Sociology Philosophy History Geography Literature Sociology Philosophy Mean Difference (I-J) -.07992 -.14205 Std Error 09875 11898 966 840 -.3831 -.5073 2232 2232 00513 03369 -.05304 07992 -.06212 08442 07963 10425 09875 13508 980 996 995 966 996 -.2540 -.2107 -.3731 -.2232 -.4768 2643 2781 2670 3831 3525 08506 11362 02688 14205 06212 14718 17574 08900 -.00513 -.08506 10591 10213 12230 11898 13508 12498 12180 13915 08442 10591 967 876 987 840 996 847 701 988 980 967 -.2401 -.1999 -.3486 -.2232 -.3525 -.2365 -.1982 -.3382 -.2643 -.4102 4102 4271 4023 5073 4768 5309 5496 5162 2540 2401 182 Sig 95% Confidence Interval Lower Bound Upper Bound Geography Literature Tamhane Sociology Philosophy Tourism_com munication Geography Literature Sociology Philosophy Tourism_com munication History Literature Sociology Philosophy Tourism_com munication History Geography Philosophy Tourism_com munication History Geography Literature Sociology Tourism_com munication History Geography -.14718 12498 847 -.5309 2365 02856 -.05818 -.03369 -.11362 -.17574 08834 11105 07963 10213 12180 999 994 996 876 701 -.2426 -.3991 -.2781 -.4271 -.5496 2998 2827 2107 1999 1982 -.02856 -.08673 05304 -.02688 -.08900 08834 10745 10425 12230 13915 999 966 995 987 988 -.2998 -.4166 -.2670 -.4023 -.5162 2426 2431 3731 3486 3382 05818 08673 -.07992 -.14205 11105 10745 08198 11990 994 966 998 985 -.2827 -.2431 -.3270 -.5215 3991 4166 1671 2374 00513 03369 -.05304 07992 -.06212 08222 08463 10726 08198 12486 1.000 1.000 1.000 998 1.000 -.2403 -.2184 -.3827 -.1671 -.4541 2506 2858 2767 3270 3298 08506 11362 08930 09153 998 975 -.1838 -.1612 3539 3884 183 Tourism_com munication History Geography Literature Literature Sociology Philosophy History Geography Literature Sociology Philosophy Tourism_com munication Geography Literature Sociology Philosophy Tourism_com munication History Literature Sociology Philosophy Tourism_com munication History Geography 02688 14205 06212 14718 17574 08900 -.00513 -.08506 -.14718 11278 11990 12486 12501 12661 14274 08222 08930 12501 1.000 985 1.000 986 942 1.000 1.000 998 986 -.3186 -.2374 -.3298 -.2444 -.2195 -.3516 -.2506 -.3539 -.5388 3724 5215 4541 5388 5710 5296 2403 1838 2444 02856 -.05818 -.03369 -.11362 -.17574 09173 11295 08463 09153 12661 1.000 1.000 1.000 975 942 -.2452 -.4032 -.2858 -.3884 -.5710 3023 2868 2184 1612 2195 -.02856 -.08673 05304 -.02688 -.08900 09173 11472 10726 11278 14274 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 -.3023 -.4362 -.2767 -.3724 -.5296 2452 2628 3827 3186 3516 05818 08673 11295 11472 1.000 1.000 -.2868 -.2628 4032 4362 184