NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITYFACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGESDEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ENGLISHDUONG THI HOP A STUDY ON APPROACHES TO PROMOTE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN READING CLASSES AT NATIONAL EC
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY occs<ess=see 13
Research method sscccsssssscscsssscssessssssssessssesessssesessssesesensesesessesesessosessnsesessesee 13
The researcher adopts quantitative survey method to evaluate student engagement and measure students’ satisfaction with approaches of promoting student engagement in reading classes The primary date including opinions of survey subjects was collected through the questionnaire This survey involves the participation of 154 students who are having English reading lessons in the first semester of 2023 or second semester of 2022 at NEU The participants can express their opinions and attitudes about their engagement and engaging approaches in reading classes based on an online survey The survey data is analyzed in the form of charts, including pie charts and clustered column charts, tables, and descriptive statistics Specifically, pie charts are used to present data on participant intake and participant gender With the support of clustered column charts, tables, and descriptive statistics, student's self-perceived engagement in reading classes through three dimensions(behavioral, emotional, and cognitive) and student’s satisfaction on engaging approaches to English reading lesson are calculated.
Research participant and Setting -<5e<=<csessesesessssesessssesesssse 13
Participants refer to those who engage in and contribute to an activity In this study, participants are the research subjects The purpose of the research is measuring student satisfaction with approaches of promoting student engagement in reading classes, therefore 154 students are involved in the survey The questionnaire is distributed online via the internet to student groups and directly in classes at National Economics University, where students have been learning reading skill Thereby, the researcher collects the results to assess NEU student engagement and their satisfaction with engaging approaches being applied in reading classes.
Duong Thị Hợp — 11192141 - Business English 61B
The research setting is at the National Economics University, one of the top universities in economics, management, and business administration Besides training programs in Vietnamese, the university also has other programs in which students are required to study in English such as Business English, advanced programs, and POHE Students enrolled in these programs are equipped with knowledge of the 4 skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing during the first 4 semesters with the aim of improving their language proficiency before studying specialized subjects For reading classes, students are equipped with knowledge with increasing difficulty, respectively from the basic level, reading
1, reading 2, reading 3 and reading 4 Students are trained under the guidance of highly qualified foreign language instructors Below is some background information about NEU and the Faculty of Foreign Languages, in which students take reading classes in large numbers.
National Economics University, founded in 1956, is one of Vietnam’s top universities in economics, management, and business administration (BA).
Throughout the establishment and development, NEU has always affirmed its position as one of the largest training and retraining centers for economic and business managers in Vietnam NEU has trained many generations of regular, dynamic students who are adaptable to the market economy and capable of absorbing innovative technologies.
In addition, NEU is a prestigious economic science research center The university has implemented a lot of major research projects on economics and business in Vietnam, directly assigned by the government to many large and important research projects NEU also cooperates on research with other universities, research institutes and international organizations.
Finally, NEU is a center for consulting and technology transfer of economic management and business administration The university has made great contributions in advising central, local, and business organizations The far- reaching influence of NEU on the entire innovation process is enhanced by its close links with agencies.
Duong Thị Hợp — 11192141 - Business English 61B
3.2.2.2 About Faculty of Foreign Languages
Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL), established on 26/11/2003, is one of the young units with a history of rapid and sustainable development of National Economics University (NEU) Implementing the multidisciplinary development strategy of the university from the academic year 2006-2007, the FFL officially started enrolling and training Bachelor of Foreign Languages majoring Business English (BE) The program includes subjects of English major, focusing on BE, and integrates several additional Business Administration (BA) subjects in English to make a difference and increase the competitiveness of the program, while also making the most of the strengths of the NEU in foreign language training associated with majors in economics and BA This is a very favorable condition for students majoring in BE to have access to the subjects of BA in English and at the same time achieving two goals: practicing specialized English and supplementing economic and business knowledge, which contributes to improving the employability for students in the future and expanding job opportunities when they graduate.
The FFL’s main mission is to train foreign languages for long-term regular students, English for students majoring in Business English, English for students of advanced and POHE programs, Vietnamese for foreign students, and English for affiliate programs such as the FE Bachelor of Financial Economics, Bachelor of BA program affiliated with Dongseo University, Korea, Bachelor of Financial Accounting, etc The FFL is also the unit in charge of intensive foreign language training for students of bachelor’s degree and master’s programs and exam preparation for English classes to help students achieve the input and output English standards.
More than 1200 students majoring in Business English have graduated from university and there are about 500 students majoring in Business English studying at the faculty, along with the number of about 9,000 students of other courses who are studying foreign languages taught by nearly 50 faculty members as of October 2022 Currently, the lecturer and staff of the faculty include 48 members, including 01 Associate Professor, 05 PhDs, and 10 Masters The teaching staff of the FFL have been teaching BE for a long time both in the main curriculum and in the extracurricular program The FFL also has a force of lecturers trained from abroad who can teach specialized subjects of economics and BA in English The international cooperation process of the
Duong Thị Hợp — 11192141 - Business English 61B
NEU, especially of the FFL also provides the school with good facilities along with a variety of textbooks, lectures and reference resources that are always updated These are favorable conditions for the development of the BE training program at bachelor’s level In addition to highly qualified permanent lecturers,the FFL also maintains a team of enthusiastic visiting teachers with skilled professional competence.
MAJOR EINDINGS .oo- Go Ăn ng ng n6 17
Student's self-perceived engagement in reading cẽasses ô- 18
BE1 BE2 BE3 BE4 BES
Figure 4.3 Student’ self-perceived behavioral engagement
Firstly, the study measures NEU student behavioral engagement through attendance, concentration, effort, and participation in class activities to assess their engagement in reading classes 154 students evaluate five different statements given by the researcher Generally, it can be seen from the chart (Figure 4.3) that most of the responses in the survey are from the level 3 to Strongly Agree with the statements (>24%, >36%, and >10% respectively).
Specifically, more than 36% of participants show their agreement with all behaviors (BE1-40.3%, BE2-45.5%, BE3-45.5%, BE4-40.3%, and BE5-36.4% respectively), in which the behaviors such as BE2 “J speak confidently in reading class” and BE3 “I listen to the lecturer and other students attentively” have very
Duong Thị Hợp — 11192141 - Business English 61B positive results Moreover, the percentage of students who strongly agree with all statements is not small with over 10% (BE1-24.7%, BE2-10.4%, BE3-16.9%, BE4-14.3%, and BES-16.9%), particularly the behavior of attending reading lessons fully (nearly 25%) Meanwhile, only a small number of survey takers rate their behavioral engagement at a low level (namely Strongly Disagree and level 2), especially BE3 “J listen to the lecturer and other students attentively” and BE4 “I complete all reading assignments and handouts on time” as no respondent disagrees strongly with these two statements However, a significant portion of participants evaluates their behavioral engagement in reading classes as average (level 3), accounting for more than 24% (BE1-26%, BE2-24.7%, BE3- 31.2%, BE4-32.5%, and BE5-35.1%).
Table 4.1 Student’ self-perceived behavioral engagement
BEI: I fully attend reading lessons 3.78 0.98 BE2: I speak confidently in reading class 3.43 1.01 BE3: I listen to the lecturer and other students 3.73 0.82 attentively
BE4: I complete all reading assignments and 3.56 0.9 handouts on time
BES: I actively participate in reading activities 3.57 0.94
The table 4.1 describes the mean and standard deviation (SD) of the students’ evaluation on behavioral engagement Overall, NEU students’ attitude in this group is assessed quite positively, demonstrating enthusiastic engagement in reading classes because the mean of variables fluctuates above average (3.43- 3.78) The variable BE1 “J fully attend reading lessons” has the highest mean (3.78), indicating the greatest agreement, meanwhile, the behavior BE2 “J speak confidently in reading class” receives the lowest agreement with mean of 3.43 It means that students rate their attendance very adequately; however, they do not yet speak confidently during their reading lessons in class On the other hand, while other variables have SD less than 1, the SD of variable BE2 is 1.01, which proves that there is a big difference in students’ assessment With a mean score of
3.43, this variable has above average student agreement but a SD value greater than 1 means students’ responses range from 2.43 to 4.43, indicating a heterogeneous satisfaction.
Duong Thị Hợp — 11192141 - Business English 61B
EG1 EG2 EG3 EG4 EG5
Figure 4.4 Student’ self-perceived emotional engagement
Figure 4.4 depicts NEU student’ self-perceived emotional engagement in reading classes Overall, the figure illustrates that more than 51% of students polled agree with all statements (EG1-45.5%, EG2-33.8%, EG3-45.5%, EG4- 46.8%, and EG5-51.9% respectively) Meanwhile, less than 4 survey takers (2.6%) strongly disagree with the above statements, especially EG3 “J highly appreciate class discussions and groupworks”, EG4 “I have a clearly defined GPA for reading class”, and EGS “I am always supportive when my peers need and vice versa’, with a very limited number of participants However, when assessing their emotional engagement, many students rate their behaviors as average (level 3), ranging from 30 to 56, indicating that their involvement is not yet so prominent in this group.
Table 4.2 Student’ self-perceived emotional engagement need and vice versa
EGI: I like to interact with my lecturer and peers 3.64 0.93
EG2: My reading class is very fun 3.29 0.96
EG3: I highly appreciate class discussions and 3.68 0.87 groupworks
EG4: I have a clearly defined GPA for reading 3.69 0.85 class
EGS: I am always supportive when my peers 3.92 0.84
Duong Thị Hợp — 11192141 - Business English 61B
The mean and SD of the students’ evaluation on emotional engagement are illustrated in table 4.2 Students quite highly evaluate their emotional engagement in reading classes with higher average scores than the behavioral engagement group The highest mean belongs to EG5 “! am always supportive when my peers need and vice versa” (3.92), while EG2 “My reading class is very fun” has below average agreement (3.29), indicating that NEU students are always willing to help their peers in the class, but find that their reading class is not very fun Moreover, it can be seen from the table that all variables have SD less than 1, showing that there is no big difference in students’ answers and student satisfaction is homogenous.
CG1 CG2 CG3 CG4 CG5
Figure 4.5 Student’ self-perceived cognitive engagement
The illustration for student cognitive engagement in reading classes is clearly shown in the figure 4.5 From an overall perspective, it can be easily seen that the responses focus on from level 3 to Strongly Agree More than half of participants show their agreement with the above statements, especially CG1 “J can learn from my peers in reading class” and CG4 “I fully concentrate to understand the material when the lecturer explains it”, with 49.4% and 50.6 % respectively In contrast, less than 1.3% of students disagree completely with the above cognitive behaviors, including only 4 respondents In addition, the number of students who evaluate their cognitive engagement as average and highest also
Duong Thị Hợp — 11192141 - Business English 61B accounts for quite a high percentage with over 23.4% and 13% Only CG3 “I tried to finish reading assignments even though it was late at night” has a higher percentage of people rating at level 3 than the rest, which proves that NEU students have not really put enough effort into completing reading assignments.
Table 4.3 Student’ self-perceived cognitive engagement
CGI: I can learn from my peers in reading class 3.91 0.83
CG2: I practice more types of reading exercises 3.44 1.01 after class
CG3: I tried to finish reading assignments even 3.56 0.99 though it was late at night.
CG4: I fully concentrate to understand the material 3.65 0.85 when the lecturer explains it.
CGS: I concentrate on my thoughts when the 3.65 0.89 lecturer asks questions.
Table 4.3 presents the mean and SD of students’ assessment on cognitive engagement in reading classes at NEU Students’ cognitive attitudes toward learning reading lessons are quite positive with a high fluctuating average assessment score (3.44-3.91) The CG1 “J can learn from my peers in reading class” with the highest mean (3.91) suggests that most students agree that they can learn from their classmates, meanwhile, the CG2 “I practice more types of reading exercises after class” ‘s lowest score means they have not spent much time practicing their types of reading assignments after class Specially, with the variable CG2, the SD is 1.01 while the mean is above average, which proves that students’ responses to this behavior are heterogeneous.
In general, from the findings above, NEU students evaluate the level of their engagement in reading classes quite positively through the above average mean scores of the assessments, especially the behavior “J am always supportive when my peers need and vice versa” of emotional engagement Meanwhile, many students report that they found their reading class not fun with a low average rating.
Therefore, multiple reading activities should be paid the most attention in the class so that students feel that reading is enjoyable In addition, students’ responses are
Duong Thị Hợp — 11192141 - Business English 61B inconsistent in two assessments, including “J speak confidently in reading class” and “J practice more types of reading exercises after class”.
4.3 Student’s evaluation on engaging approaches to English reading lesson 4.3.1 Behavioral engaging approaches
BEA1 BEA2 BEA3 BEA4 BEAS mO RFExtremely dissatisfied 2 m3 m4 mExtremely satisfied
Figure 4.6 Student’s evaluation on behavioral engaging approaches
To measure the student satisfaction with engaging approaches to English reading lessons, the study first assesses five teaching methods that promote student behavioral engagement (Figure 4.6) Overall, students are quite satisfied with the methods given by the researcher as the answers are concentrated at level 3, 4, and 5 (Extremely satisfied) Over 35% of survey takers show their agreement with all approaches with BEA1-35.1%, BEA2-50.6%, BEA3-44.2%, BEA4-40.3%, and BEA5-36.4%, while the number of participants who extremely dissatisfied and dissatisfied with these approaches is small, accounting for less than 5.2% and 10.4% respectively Moreover, the number of students with average satisfaction with the above teaching methods is also significant, with BEA1 -23.4%, BEA2-, BEA3-15.6%, BEA4-19.5%, and BEA5-26% Finally, there are still a few of students who have yet to experience the BEA1, BEA2, and BEA3 approaches in their reading class, specifically two students per item.
Duong Thị Hợp — 11192141 - Business English 61B
Table 4.4 Students’ evaluation on behavioral engaging approaches
BEAI: Student collaboration activities (projects, 3.74 1.13 think-pair-share, presentations, etc.)
BEA2: Technology devices/equipment (interactive 3.84 1.1 whiteboards, laptops, smartphones, etc.)
BEA3: Peer-tutoring (have a student teach a 3.48 1.1 concept)
BEA4: Collaboration tools (clickers, kahoot, 3.88 1.1 quizlet)
Table 4.4 clearly shows the mean and SD of students’ evaluation on behavioral engaging approaches In general, five methods receive above average level of student satisfaction, ranging from 3.48 to 3.88 In this group of behavioral engaging approaches, two items including BEA2 “Technology devices/equipment (interactive whiteboards, laptops, smartphones, etc.) and BEA4 “Collaboration tools (clickers, kahoot, quizlet)’ have the highest satisfaction ratings with 3.84 and 3.88, which proves that they highly appreciate tools and devices that support their learning It can be explained that technology and the internet are increasingly being used in classrooms to enhance the learner experience and engage students Therefore, instructors should make the most of technological devices and assistive tools in their reading lessons to improve students’ behavioral engagement The only approach BEA3 “Peer-tutoring (have a student teach a concept)” has the lowest satisfaction from students, indicating that this approach is not satisfactory enough to engage them in reading classes.
This is because students are not yet capable of explaining as well as teaching their peers in the class due to the lack of qualifications and knowledge, therefore lecturers are expected to replace this method with others to engage more students.
In addition, it can be easily seen from the table that the SD of the variables are all greater than 1, indicating that student satisfaction with all behavioral engaging approaches is not the same.
Duong Thị Hợp — 11192141 - Business English 61B
EGA3 mO #Fxtremely dissatisfied 2 m3 #4 RExtremely satisfied
Figure 4.7 Student’s evaluation on emotional engaging approaches
The chart above reflects student’s satisfaction with emotional engaging approaches in reading classes It can be clearly seen from Figure 4.7 that the responses are all focused from level 3 to the most satisfactory level with the rate of more than 24%, 32%, and 18% respectively Over 32% of students are satisfied with all methods given, especially the method EGA2 “Gamification (Quiz,
Competition, Kahoot, Word games, etc.)” with the number of 68 participants.