A comparison of non english major students’ perceptions of learner autonomy in english language learning by different ethnicities at a university in viet nam

Trang 1 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN THI TUYET A COMPARISON OF NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNER AUTONOMY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING BY DI

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN THI TUYET A COMPARISON OF NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNER AUTONOMY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING BY DIFFERENT ETHNICITIES AT A UNIVERSITY IN VIET NAM M.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 THAI NGUYEN - 2024 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN THI TUYET A COMPARISON OF NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNER AUTONOMY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING BY DIFFERENT ETHNICITIES AT A UNIVERSITY IN VIET NAM M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Minh Loan, Ph.D THAI NGUYEN – 2024 ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN TRƯỜNG NGOẠI NGỮ NGUYỄN THỊ TUYẾT SO SÁNH NHẬN THỨC VỀ TÍNH TỰ CHỦ CỦA NGƯỜI HỌC TRONG VIỆC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH THEO DÂN TỘC TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Ở VIỆT NAM LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ (Định hướng ứng dụng) Ngành: Ngôn ngữ Anh Mã số: 8220201 Cán bộ hướng dẫn: TS Nguyễn Thị Minh Loan THÁI NGUYÊN– 2024 DECLARATION I, Nguyen Thi Tuyet certify that the thesis named “A comparison of non- English major students’ perceptions of learner autonomy in English language learning by different ethnicities at a university in Viet Nam” performs the result of my study I also declare that the thesis has not been submitted for any degree to any other universities or institutions Approved by Author’s signature SUPERVISOR Nguyen Thi Minh Loan, PhD Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Date, January, 2024 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without the invaluable assistance and unwavering support of a lot of people, the successful completion of this thesis would not have been possible First and foremost, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thi Minh Loan, whose persistent guidance, insightful feedback, and enthusiastic encouragement were instrumental in this endeavor Secondly, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to the Thai Nguyen University of Science (TNUS) for creating conditions for me to conduct research and to the K20 students at TNUS for their prompt and wholehearted responses to my survey questionnaires and interviews Last but certainly not least, I want to give my deepest thanks to my family and friends, who have consistently provided me with their support, sympathy, and motivating words throughout the writing process ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF FIGURES vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii ABSTRACT viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Rationale 1 1.2 Aims of the study 3 1.3 Scope of the study 3 1.4 Significance of the study 4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 5 2.1 Learner autonomy (LA) .5 2.1.1 The concept of learner autonomy (LA) 5 2.1.2 Learner autonomy in language learning .6 2.2 Perceptions of autonomous language learning 12 2.2.1 Learners' autonomous perceptions 12 2.2.2 Learners’ autonomous activities 13 2.3 Factors affecting students’ autonomy in language learning 13 2.4 Previous studies on students’ perceptions of LA in English language learning at higher education 15 2.4.1 Overseas studies .17 2.4.2 Studies in Vietnam 18 2.4.3 Gaps in previous studies 20 2.5 Summary of the chapter .21 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 23 3.1 Research Design .23 3.2 Subjects and locale of the study 23 iii 3.2.1 Subjects 23 3.2.2 Locale of the study 24 3.3 Research Instruments 26 3.3.1 Survey questionnaire 26 3.3.2 Semi-structured interviews 28 3.4 Data Gathering Procedure 30 3.5 Data analytical method .31 3.6 Summary of the chapter .32 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 33 4.1 Results 33 4.1.1 Survey questionnaire 33 4.1.2 Interview 58 4.2 Discussion 61 4.2.1 Non-English major students’ perceptions of LA in English language learning 61 4.2.2 The difference in the student's perception of autonomous English learning between ethnicities .66 4.3 Summary of the chapter .69 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS .70 5.1 Conclusion 70 5.2 Implications of the study 71 5.2.1 For EFL teachers 71 5.2.2 For EFL students 72 5.2.3 For curriculum developers 72 5.3 Limitations of the study .73 5.4 Suggestions for further research .73 REFERENCES 75 APPENDICES 81 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 A brief review of previous studies 16 Table 3.1 Summary of the information of the English program (in the academic year 2022-2023) .25 Table 3.2 Information about interview students .29 Table 4.1 The demographic information of the participants 34 Table 4.2 Descriptive statistics of autonomous English learning 38 Table 4.3 Descriptive statistics of non-English major students’ perceptions of their abilities 39 Table 4.4 Analysis of compare means for their abilities to act autonomously while learning English .40 Table 4.5 Descriptive Statistics of non- English major students’ perceptions of their responsibilities 42 Table 4.6 Analysis of Comparative Means for Their Responsibilities during English Language Classes 42 Table 4.7 Descriptive Statistics of Non-English Students’ perceptions of their motivation level .43 Table 4.8 Descriptive Statistics of Non-English Students’ perceptions of their activities 44 Table 4.9 Analysis of Compare Means for their activities outside and inside the class 45 Table 4.10 Pearson correlation coefficient between observed variables 48 Table 4.11 Analysis of one-way ANOVA for variables by ethnicity .49 Table 4.12 Summary of the mean scores of the variables in the study 50 Table 4.13 Analysis of a two-way ANOVA for learner autonomy 53 Table 4.14 Analysis of a two-way ANOVA for learner autonomy by ethnicity and major 55 Table 4.15 Analysis of a two-way ANOVA for learner autonomy by ethnicity and English 2 scores .57 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Model of learner autonomy (Benson, 1997; Oxford, 2003) .8 Figure 2.2 Model of learner autonomy (Trinh, 2005; Nguyen and Habok, 2020) 9 Figure 2.3 Model of learner autonomy (Nguyen and Habok, 2020, 2022) .11 Figure 4.1 The proportion of distribution of ethic groups, gender, majors, and English 2 scores .35 Figure 4.2 The percentage of students’ responses about their abilities related to LA according to “Likert scale” 41 Figure 4.3 The percentage of students’ responses about responsibilities related to LA according to the “Likert scale” 43 Figure 4.4 The percentage of students’ responses about motivation levels related to LA according to the “Likert scale” 44 Figure 4.5 The percentage of students’ responses about activities related to LA according to the “Likert scale” 46 Figure 4.6 A scatter plot of the correlation between students’ abilities, responsibilities, motivations, and activities .47 Figure 4.7 The mean scores of LA and attributes: abilities, responsibilities, motivation level, and activities of ethnic groups 50 Figure 4.8 The mean score value of perception of LA by gender 54 Figure 4.9 The mean score value of perception of LA by ethnicity group and gender 54 Figure 4.10 The mean score value of perception of LA by majors 56 Figure 4.11 The mean score value of perception of LA and English 2 scores 58 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS % : Percent LA : Learner Autonomy M : Mean score SD : Std Deviation EFL : English as a Foreign Language vii