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Nghiên cứu này là một nghiên cứu hành động thực hiện trong một khóa học môn Reading cho sinh viên năm thứ hai chuyên ngành tiếng Anh tại một trường đại học ở Hà Nội, Việt Nam. Với sự tham gia của một nhóm 26 sáu sinh viên năm 2 từ cùng một lớp học, nghiên cứu này nhằm mục đích 1) xác định phong cách học tập các lớp học được và mức độ hiện tại của động lực học tập; 2) lên dự án và thực hiện một số sự khác biệt khi giảng dạy dựa trên phương thức học tập khác nhau của học sinh nhằm nâng cao động lực học tập của họ; và 3) đánh giá tác động của các can thiệp tâm lý sư phạm vào mức độ động lực của học sinh. Sử dụng các bảng hỏi, phỏng vấn với các học sinh, và tự quan sát nghiên cứu và phản ánh là những công cụ nghiên cứu chính, nghiên cứu cho thấy những sinh viên này có mức độ thấp hiện tại của động lực học tập mà có lẽ là do phong cách học tập khác nhau. Trên cơ sở hiểu biết về phong cách học tập của học sinh, sự da dạng hóa các phương pháp dạy được khuyến nghị sử dụng với hy vọng để nâng cao động lực của những sinh viên này.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Dr Le Van Canh for his expert guidance and priceless encouragement during my completion of this MA thesis Reviewing the first manuscript in spite of his hectic schedule, he made some important suggestions which greatly contributed to the final improvements Special thanks should also be sent to my students at University of Languages and International Studies, without whom the data procedures could not have ever been completed Finally, I take this opportunity to record my sincere gratitude to my family, for their patience, support and encouragement I am also profoundly indebted to my fiancé, Dang Tuan Thanh, for his remarkable tolerance and unshakeable faith which motivated me enough to accomplish this paper on schedule i ABSTRACT Motivation which has a profound impact on students’ academic achievement at university is determined by a lot of factors Among them, students’ learning style is one of the most important one The correlation between motivation and learning styles has been documented in a lot of research This paper reports an action research undertaken in a reading course for secondyear English majors in a university in Hanoi, Vietnam Involving a group of twenty-six sophomores from the same class, this study aims to 1) identify the given class’s learning styles and current level of academic motivation; 2) project and implement some instructional differentiations upon the students’ different learning modalities aiming to improve their academic motivation; and 3) evaluate the impact of the psycho-pedagogical intervention on the students’ motivation level Using two questionnaires, interviews with students, and researcher’s self-observation and reflection as the main research instruments, the study shows that these students had low current level of motivation which was probably caused by different learning preferences Basing on the insight into the students’ learning styles, differentiated instructions were employed in hope to raise their motivation ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of contents Page Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………… ii Abstract ………………………………………………………………………… iii List of tables, figures and abbreviations ………………………………………… vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Statement of the problem …………………………………………………… Aims, objectives and research questions of the research …………………… 3 Significance of the research ………………………………………………… 4 Scope of the research ………………………………………………………… 5 Organization of the research ………………………………………………… CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Key concepts ………………………………………………………………… 1.1 Learning styles ……………………………………………………… 1.2 Differentiated instruction …………………………………………… 19 1.3 Learning motivation in ESL/EFL context ………………………… 28 Related studies ……………………………………………………………… 32 2.1 Evidence of effectiveness of differentiated instruction …………… 32 2.2 Differentiated instruction and learning style ……………………… 36 2.3 Differentiated instruction and ESL/EFL motivation ………………… 39 iii CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY Participants …………………………………………………………………… 41 Class problem from the teacher’s perspective ……………………………… 44 Action research ……………………………………………………………… 45 Research instruments ………………………………………………………… 47 Procedure of data collection ………………………………………………… 54 Procedure of data analysis …………………………………………………… 56 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Research question ………………………………………………………… 57 Research question ………………………………………………………… 62 Research question ………………………………………………………… 68 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS Summary of the major findings of the research …………………………… 76 The teacher-researcher’s reflection on the project, limitations and suggestions for next cycle …………………………………………………………………………… 78 REFERENCES APPENDICES LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS iv List of tables Table Kolb’s model of learning styles Table Dunn and Dunn’s learning style theory (VAKT) Table Two out of six learning styles in Reid’s model Table Three classroom elements for differentiation List of figures Figure Kolb’s model of learning styles Figure Learning cycle and decision factors used in planning and implementing differentiated instruction Figure The flow of instruction in a differentiated classroom Figure Low prep vs high prep differentiation Figure Components of foreign language learning motivation Figure The rationale behind differentiated classes Figure Range of activities in a differentiated classroom Figure The proportions of the students by their study record in the first year Figure Equivalent scales of 12 mini-AMTB items Figure 10 AMTB questionnaire keys Figure 11 The research first cycle Figure 12 Students’ perceptual learning style preferences Figure 13 The participants’ level of motivation before the intervention v Figure 14 Motivational intensity over a six-week period (Sept to Oct 2012) Figure 15 English teacher evaluation over a six-week period (Sept to Oct 2012) Figure 16 Desire to learning English over a six-week period (Sept to Oct 2012) List of abbreviations AMTB: Attitude motivation battery test PLSPQ: Perceptual learning style preference questionnaire LS: Learning style(s) LSI: Learning style inventory ESL: English as a second language EFL: English as a foreign language vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter containing the rationale, general objectives (guided by research questions) and organization of the study is expected to provide readers background materials and a map of the research paper Statement of the problem As a lecturer in an English-major university, the researcher of this study has been teaching several courses of English skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing) so far Therefore, she has had to deal with different teaching situations as well as various kinds of English major students Through her continuous classroom self-observation, informal interviews with students and evaluation of students’ lesson journals (a learning dairy which students were personally asked to keep writing from the beginning of each course to reflect their perspectives and feelings of the lessons and teachers), the researcher has recently identified some questionable problems in her reading class: 1) the students were not motivated enough to actively join in class activities; 2) some students were somehow more involved in certain activities while sometimes the others even showed no interest in these ones at all Different activities may evoke different reactions and feelings from different students These concerned the researcher so seriously that she decided to investigate the situation to look for the answers in a structured manner, rather than in an informal one like before Reviewing the body of knowledge which is expected to probably result in the current problem, the researcher has found some factors having a considerable influence on students’ motivation such as their beliefs, affective state, aptitude, personality, age, and learning styles (To and Nguyen, 2009) Although these elements all affect students, and thereby worth studying, the researcher intend to keep focus only on learning style factor in relation to motivation due to her interest and the obvious disadvantages of researching many conditions at the same time Owing to the development of brain and psychology research into individual differences, the field of learning style theory has drawn much attention from educational researchers since the 1970s However, it was not until the 1980s with the decline of behaviorism (stimulus/ response model), the concept of individual learning preferences was taken into serious consideration in some studies as a basic influential factor to students’ learning Some studies at that time could be mentioned, for example, Cafferty’s study of the match in teacher’s and student’s cognitive style (1980), Dunn’s work on students’ identifying their own learning style (1983), or learning strategies developed from learning styles differences (Willing, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1988) These studies have come to some important findings 1) learners have different preferred learning styles which determine their reactions and attitudes towards particular types of in-class activities and 2) teachers’ accommodation to different learning styles can have impact on students’ motivation (Hunt, 1979, quoted in Willing, 1988, 1988, p.57) Because learning style is an influential factor on motivation, teacher’s accommodation to students’ different learning mode appears to probably raise the level of motivation Many researchers have been arguing about matching/mismatching theories which suggest teachers should either try to match their teaching styles to students’ learning styles or try to expand their comfort zone by forcing them to study with different learning styles Acknowledging almost all the existing theories, differentiated instruction approach recently has gained much attention in educational settings According to Tomlinson (2001), the goal of the approach is to encourage teachers to proactively prepare and offer a wide range of activities which can cater for students’ differences (including learning styles) Despite a lack of numerous empirical studies over the effectiveness of differentiated instructions, positive feedbacks from teachers during the application of the approach in a variety of school settings have been reported worldwide For the aforementioned reasons, the researcher decided to start an action research project named “The effects of teacher’s differentiated instructions based on students’ learning styles on their motivation: An action research” to find the solutions to the classroom problem Though solutions suggested by other researchers’ studies may have been proved to be effective, they may never work for her generally unique circumstance Action research has been employed for its practical goal of solving problem, rather than other kind of research for theory construction or testing This study, after finished, is supposed to contribute to a relatively neglected area of research in Vietnam or may be implemented by other practitioners for their shared classroom problem Aims, objectives and research questions of the research a Aims and objectives of the research This study is supposed to examine the relationship among three concepts learning styles, differentiated instructions and academic motivation in higher education classroom setting This action research project was conducted to aim at solving the problem of low motivation level which possibly caused students’ low achievement at university In the light of that general aim, some specific objectives are drawn up to outline the actual directions of the study as follows: 1) To identify the given class’s learning styles and current level of academic motivation; 2) To project and implement some instructional differentiations upon the students’ different learning modalities aiming to improve their academic motivation; 3) To evaluate the impact of the psycho-pedagogical intervention on the students’ motivation level b Research questions In brief, the objectives of the research could be specified into these research questions: 1) What are the students’ learning styles and their current level of motivation? (Identifying the problem) 2) To what extent does the new intervention cater for the students’ learning styles? 3) How does differentiated instruction approach affect the students’ motivation level in terms of their motivational intensity, lecturer evaluation and English learning desire? Significance of the research Once having been finished, this action research is expected to find the solutions to the problem of the researcher’s own class; otherwise, its findings would shed light on necessary further studies in order to solve the issue of students’ lack of motivation in learning English as a foreign language In case the intervention of differentiated instructions works for this class, it may suggest a good potential treatment to the problem of students’ low motivation It does not only help the researcher herself to overcome the difficulty in teaching but it can also be regarded as a possible suggestion to other teachers who encounter classes of demotivated students In addition, this research with its thorough literature review and reliable research instruments could function as a basic reference on the subject matter Therefore, it may benefit other researchers or teacher practitioners on their way to gain a deep insight into the issue of learning styles, differentiated instructions and motivation Besides, another simultaneous consequence of this action research is to raise students’ awareness of their learning style differences Many students hardly understand their learning styles In fact, students are likely to admire advanced classmates, so they tend to imitate their learning styles or methods in the hope that they can improve their study results This impulsive thought might then result in the students’ failure because of the incompatibility of applied learning styles and their major ones Consequently, this unsuccessful attempt usually leads to their lack of confidence and motivation In this 25 I learn best in class when I can participate in related activities 26 In class, I work better when I work alone 27 I prefer working on projects by myself 28 I learn more by reading textbooks than by listening to lectures 29 I prefer to work by myself Thank you so much for your cooperation! Appendix - PERCEPTUAL LEARNING-STYLE PREFERENCE SCORING SHEET Instructions There are questions for each learning category in this questionnaire The questions are grouped below according to each learning style Each question you answer has a numerical value SA Strongly agree A U D Agree Undecided Disagree xv SD Strongly Disagree Fill in the blanks below with the numerical value of each answer For example, if answered Strongly Agree (SA) for question (a visual question), write and number (SA) on the blank next to question below When you have completed all the numerical values for Visual, add the numbers Multiply the answer by 2, and put the total in the appropriate blank Follow the process for each of the learning style categories When you are finished, look at the scale at the bottom of the page; it will help you determine your major learning style preference(s), your minor learning style preference(s), and those learning style(s) that are negligible Visual Question Tactile Score Question 11 10 14 12 16 24 22 29 25 Total Score Total Score = Total Score = Total Auditory Group xvi Question Score Question 17 21 20 23 Total Score Total Score = Total Score = Total Kinesthetic Question Individual Score Question 13 18 15 27 19 28 26 30 Total Score Total Score = Total Score = Total Major learning Style Preference 38-50 Minor Learning Style Preference 25-37 Negligible 0-24 xvii Appendix - MOTIVATION TOWARDS ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING SURVEY (Adapted from the Attitude Motivation Test Battery) Instruction Following are a number of statements with which some people agree and others disagree Please circle one alternative below each statement according to the amount of your agreement or disagreement with that item The following sample item will serve to illustrate the basic procedure a Spanish football players are much better than Brazilian football players Strongly agree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree In answering this question, you should have circled one alternative Some people would have circled “Strongly Disagree”, others would have circled “Strongly Agree”, while others would have circled any of the alternatives in between Which one you choose would indicate your own feeling based on everything you know and have heard Note: there is no right or wrong answer xviii Please give your immediate reactions to each of the following items Don’t waste time thinking about each statement Give your immediate feeling after reading each statement On the other hand, please not be careless, as it is important that we obtain your true feelings I make a point of trying to understand all the English I see and hear Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree I look forward to going to class because my English reading teacher is so good Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree I have a strong desire to know all aspects of English Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree My English reading teacher is better than any of my other teachers Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree I keep up to date with English by working on it almost every day Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree My English reading teacher has a dynamic and interesting teaching style Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree If it were up to me, I would spend all of my time learning English Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree When I have a problem understanding something in my English class, I always my teacher for help xix Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree My English reading teacher is a great source of inspiration to me Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree 10 I want to learn English so well that it will become natural to me Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree 11 I really like my English reading teacher Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree 12 I would like to learn as much English as possible Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree 13 I really work hard to learn English Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree 14 When I am studying English, I ignore distractions and pay attention to my task Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree 15 I wish I were fluent in English Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree 16 I don’t think my English reading teacher is very good Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree xx 17 The less I see of my English reading teacher, the better Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree 18 Knowing English isn’t really an important goal in my life Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree 19 My English reading teacher is one of the least pleasant people I know Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree 20 I don’t pay much attention to the feedback I receive in my English class Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree 21 I sometimes daydream about dropping English Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree 22 I don’t bother checking my assignments when I get them back from my English reading teacher Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree 23 I would prefer to have a different English reading teacher Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree 24 I’m losing any desire I ever had to know English Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree 25 I put off my English homework as much as possible xxi Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree 26 I tend to give up and not pay attention when I don’t understand my English reading teacher’s explanation of something Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree 27 To be honest, I really have no desire to learn English Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree 28 My English reading teacher doesn’t present materials in an interesting way Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree 29 I haven’t any great wish to learn more than the basics of English Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree 30 I can’t be bothered trying to understand the more complex aspects of English Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree - THE END - xxii Moderately agree Strongly agree Appendix - MOTIVATION ATTITUDE TEST BATTERY SCORING SHEET Instruction 30 items of the adapted AMTB survey belong to three categories There are 10 questions for each group as follows: Questionnaire Item No Scale Positively keyed Motivational Negatively keyed 1, 5, 8, 13, 14 20, 22, 25, 26, 30 2, 4, 6, 9, 11 16, 17, 19, 23, 28 3, 7, 10, 12, 15 18, 21, 24, 27, 29 Intensity English Teacher Evaluation Desire to learn English Each question in the questionnaire has a numerical value There is a reverse difference between positively keyed and negatively keyed items Positively keyed items Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree xxiii Moderately agree Strongly agree Negatively keyed items Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Slightly disagree Slightly agree Moderately agree Strongly agree Fill in the blanks below with the numerical value of each answer xxiv Negatively keyed Negatively keyed Positively keyed Motivational Intensity Score 23 28 13 14 Total 20 22 25 26 30 Desire learn English Score Negatively keyed English Teacher evaluation Positively keyed Total Positively keyed 19 11 16 17 Total xxv 10 12 15 18 21 24 27 29 to Score Appendix - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WITH THE STUDENTS Please answer these following questions sincerely, which would guarantee the success of the research All of the information you provide will be treated with the strictest confidence and used only for the purpose of the study The interview will last about 20 minutes A Students’ awareness of their learning styles Q1: Do you know what your learning style is? If yes, how you know it? Q2: (If Ss answer yes to Q1) How you use your understanding of your learning styles for your study at university? B Students’ motivational intensity Q3: Apart from in-class time, how much time you spend learning English every day? Has the length of your self-study time changed recently? Q4: What you when encountering difficulties in learning English (e.g new words, lack of time, complex aspects)? Q5: Do English homework and assignments take you a lot of time and effort? C Students’ perspective of teacher’s teaching methodology Q6: What you think of your teacher and her teaching methods? Q7: What class activities you like and/or dislike? Q8: How you usually feel after each lesson? D Students’ desire to learn English Q9: How great is your passion for English? Q10: What are your purposes of learning English? Thank you for your time! - THE END - Appendix - CLASSROOM SELF-OBSERVATION CHECKLIST Date of observation Lesson’s objectives Duration Material(s) Activit(ies) Instructions Teacher’s roles What learners respond (behavior and attitude) Catered style(s) learning SELF REFLECTION OF THE TEACHER (AFTER THE LESSON) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Selfreflection