Đang tải... (xem toàn văn)
The modern language teaching approach puts a strong emphasis on communicative language teaching and learnercentered activities. Therefore, motivational strategies in speaking have been worldwide applied in English Language Teaching. In teaching English to children in Vietnam, motivational strategies have recently utilized but only in a few learning centers in big cities. In attempts to figure out the motivational strategies applied in speaking lessons, the researcher investigated into the frequency of applying motivational strategies by teachers at center A Hanoi for the 4th and 5th graders in Lower Mover classes and the strategies that motivate learners most as perceived by themselves. A highly visible advantage of motivational strategies for young learners is increasing their speaking skills. As a result, the survey research aims at discovering motivational strategies used by teachers and the frequency of utilized strategies as well as favored strategies according to learners. To answer these questions, two sets of detailed questionnaires were designed for teachers and learners involved in this study. Analysis of data collected among 25 young learners with teachers in charge of Mover Lower classes has revealed that teachers and learners mostly favor the same strategies though they do have their own reasons for some different strategies. Findings of the study provide a reference for teachers and authorities that involve in teaching and monitoring students of the project. Appropriate action for further improvement of the project in the future is suggested at the end of the paper.
ABSTRACT The modern language teaching approach puts a strong emphasis on communicative language teaching and learner-centered activities Therefore, motivational strategies in speaking have been worldwide applied in English Language Teaching In teaching English to children in Vietnam, motivational strategies have recently utilized but only in a few learning centers in big cities In attempts to figure out the motivational strategies applied in speaking lessons, the researcher investigated into the frequency of applying motivational strategies by teachers at center A Hanoi for the 4th and 5th graders in Lower Mover classes and the strategies that motivate learners most as perceived by themselves A highly visible advantage of motivational strategies for young learners is increasing their speaking skills As a result, the survey research aims at discovering motivational strategies used by teachers and the frequency of utilized strategies as well as favored strategies according to learners To answer these questions, two sets of detailed questionnaires were designed for teachers and learners involved in this study Analysis of data collected among 25 young learners with teachers in charge of Mover Lower classes has revealed that teachers and learners mostly favor the same strategies though they have their own reasons for some different strategies Findings of the study provide a reference for teachers and authorities that involve in teaching and monitoring students of the project Appropriate action for further improvement of the project in the future is suggested at the end of the paper i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgement i Abstract ii Table of contents iii List of figure and tables vi List of abbreviations .vii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the research problem 1.2 Theoretical background and practical rationale for the study 1.3 Research aims and research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Organization of the paper .3 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Motivation 2.1.1 Definition of motivation 2.1.2 Motivational theories .6 2.1.2.1 Goal orientation theories 2.1.2.2 Gardner’s Motivation theory 2.1.2.3 Self- Determination Theory (SDT) 2.2 Motivational strategies frameworks .11 ii 2.2.1 Wlodkowski and a detailed description of 60 motivational strategies .11 2.2.2 William and Burden’s (1997) framework of L2 motivation 11 2.2.3 Dornyei’s L2 motivational strategies framework 12 2.3 An overview of the 4th and 5th graders 13 2.3.1 Characteristics of the 4th and 5th graders 13 2.3.2 Ways children learn languages 16 2.4 English learning motivation in Vietnam 16 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 3.1 Settings of the study 19 3.1.1 The organization 19 3.1.2 The language teaching for the 4th and 5th graders at center A 19 3.1.2.1 Level division 19 3.1.2.2 Teaching and learning materials 20 3.2 Selection of subjects 21 3.2.1 The 4th and 5th graders 21 3.3.2 Teachers of English 22 3.3 Data collection 23 3.3.1 Data collection instruments 23 3.3.1.1 Questionnaire 23 3.3.1.2 Semi- structured interviews .28 3.3.2 Data collection procedure 28 3.4 Data analysis 30 iii CHAPTER RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Research question - Motivational strategies used by teachers at center A for 4th and 5th graders in Lower Mover classes and frequency of utilized strategies.31 4.1.1 Activity design .31 4.1.2 Participation structure 33 4.1.3 Teacher discourse 33 4.1.4 Encouraging positive retrospective self-evaluation 35 4.2 Research question - Motivational strategies that the 4th and 5th graders are motivated most .37 4.2.1 Activity design 37 4.2.2 Participation structure 38 4.2.3 Teacher discourse 39 4.2.4 Encouraging positive retrospective self-evaluation .40 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary of major findings 42 5.2 Implications .43 5.3 Limitations of the study 44 5.4 Recommendations for further research 45 REFERENCES .46 APPENDICES 51 iv LIST OF FIGURE AND TABLES PAGE Figure 2.1 Table 3.1 Gardner’s integrative motive diagram The 25 observational variables measuring the teacher’s 24 motivational practice Table 4.1 Activity design strategies (teachers’ opinions) 32 Table 4.2 Participation structure strategies (teachers’ opinions) 33 Table 4.3 Teacher discourse - teachers’ opinions (teachers’ opinions) Table 4.4 34 Encouraging positive retrospective self-evaluation (teachers’ 36 opinions) Table 4.5 Activity design strategies (learners’ preference) 37 Table 4.6 38 Participation structure strategies (learners’ opinions) Table 4.7 Teacher discourse - learners’ preference (learners’ opinions) 39 Table 4.8 40 Encouraging positive retrospective self-evaluation (learners’ opinions) LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v ULIS: University of Languages and International Studies VNU: Vietnam National University, Hanoi EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language vi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION This initial chapter states the problem and the rationale of the study, together with the aims, objectives and the scope of the whole paper Above all, it is in this chapter that the research questions are identified to work as clear guidelines for the whole research 1.1 Statement of the research problem Motivational strategies are closely related to Communicative Language Teaching (Cummins & Davison, 2007) as they are used commonly in interactive, cooperative, learner-centered and task-based learning, the four main different types of learning associated with CLT In the world, it has been a regular feature of an English class for a long time; however, the situation is quite different in Vietnam Except for universities specializing in foreign languages, motivational strategies seem to be more easily found in certain English teaching centers than in numerous public schools and colleges Besides, motivational strategies are basically limited as a result of the strong influence of existent traditional English teaching methods Therefore, motivational strategies can be claimed to be infrequently used in English classes for children in Vietnam Furthermore, the traditional teaching method – teacher-centered is still widely employed in Vietnamese primary schools, resulting in students’ low engagement in classroom activities Consequently, most Vietnamese primary learners are likely to develop a passive learning habit and tend to have a low learning motivation in English speaking lessons Therefore, as one attempt to examine this researched topic, the researcher has decided to conduct a study on motivational strategies in speaking for 4th and 5th graders 1.2 Theoretical background and practical rationale for the study Speaking seems intuitively the most important of all the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) since people who know a language is referred to as a ‘speaker’ of that language, as if speaking included all other skills of that language (Ur, 1996) However, learning how to speak English fluently and accurately is always a grand, difficult task for students and even a harder job to young learners The reasons are either lacking speaking activities, or young learners’ shortage of motivation to speak, raise their voices and express their ideas Motivation in learning has captured a lot of attention from researchers as a complicated and important phenomenon that influences learners’ learning performance Dorneyi (2001) states that motivation is what decides people’s behavior and plays a very important role in determining the success or failure of learners in any learning context Language learning is definitely not an exception Particularly, the overall findings of research in English Language Teaching (ELT) show that learner’s positive attitudes and motivation relate to success in second language learning (Gardner, 1985, cited in Lightbown & Spada, 1999) Therefore, being aware of the types and effectiveness of motivation that have impacts on learners is of great importance Several research have been done to explore students’ motivation (Gardner, 1990; Kimberly, 2006, etc.) However, these research put more focus on adult learners and their language acquisition rather than speaking skills for children Basing on the fact that there have been rare research, which are related to motivational strategies for young learners, the researcher is highly motivated to conduct this research on motivational strategies in speaking lessons for 4th and 5th graders in Lower Mover classes at foreign language center A, Hanoi 1.3 Research aims and research questions The research aims at exploring motivational strategies used by teachers at center A in speaking lessons for the 4th and 5th graders in Lower Mover classes In addition, pedagogical implications for speaking lessons for young learners can be drawn from this research To achieve these goals, the research attempts to answer the following questions: 1) What are the motivational strategies that teachers often use in teaching speaking and the frequency of utilized strategies? 2) What kind (s) of motivational strategies motivate(s) th and 5th graders most as perceived by learners themselves? 1.4 Scope of the study The study was carried out among 4th and 5th graders in Lower Mover classes at center A, Hanoi Thirty young learners studying Lower Mover level were chosen randomly to a survey about motivational strategies, which teachers often use in teaching English speaking skills Besides, two foreign teachers who were teaching these classes were also invited to take part in this study 1.5 Significance of the study The study is probably the first formal research on motivational strategies in speaking for young learners at language centers in Vietnam Overall, the results of the research can be used as a source of reference to teachers teaching English to young learners either at language centers or primary schools From a macro level, necessary changes in methodologies of teaching speaking for young learners might be considered by the authorities concerned in accordance with the research’s implication 1.6 Organization of the paper Chapter – Literature review – provides the background of the study, including definition of key concepts, theories on motivation as well as related studies Chapter – Methodology – describes the participants and instruments of the study, as well as the procedure employed to collect and analyze research data Chapter – Data analysis and discussion – presents, analyzes and discusses the research findings Chapter – Conclusion – summarizes the main issues discussed in the paper, acknowledges the limitations of the research, and proposes pedagogical recommendations concerning the research topic as well as suggestions for further studies Following this chapter are the Bibliography and Appendices APPENDICES APPENDIX – QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS Motivational strategies in speaking for 4th and 5th graders in Lower Mover classes at foreign language center A, Hanoi Dear teacher, I am Tang Thi Quynh Tho, a 4th year student from class 08.1.E4 at FELTE, ULIS I am doing my thesis to gather information on ‘’ Motivational strategies in speaking for 4th and 5th graders in Lower Mover classes at foreign language center A, Hanoi ‘’ I would be grateful if you could spare some time to this survey for me All of your information and opinions will be kept strictly confidential Thank you very much for your contribution If you have any questions regarding the study, please contact me at : tangquynhtho@gmail.com or reach me at 0987771345 PART I: Personal information (This is known to the researcher only and for the researcher to contact you for further information) - Full name - Gender: Male/ Female - Cell phone number: - Email address: PART 2: Questions Please tick the option that best reflects the frequency of the motivational strategies applied in your Lower Mover classes for 4th and 5th graders in general (not in any particular speaking lesson) on a scale from to Never Seldom Sometimes Often 51 Frequency band Motivational strategies Generating, maintaining, and protecting situation-specific task motivation Activity Design 12 + team competition 13 + individual competition 14 + tangible task product 15 + intellectual challenge 16 + creative/ interesting/ fantasy element 17 + personalization 18 + tangible reward Participation structure 19 Group work 20 Pair work Teacher Discourse 21 Referential questions 22 Promoting autonomy 23 Promoting cooperation 24 Scaffolding 25 Arousing curiosity or attention 26 Promoting instrumental values 27 Promoting integrative values 28 Establishing relevance 29 Stating communicative purpose/utility of activity 30 Signposting 31 Social chat (unrelated to the lesson) Encouraging positive retrospective selfevaluation 32 Class applause 33 Effective praise 34 Elicitation of self/peer correction session 35 Process feedback session 36 Neutral feedback session APPENDIX – QUESTIONNAIRE FOR GRADE AND LEARNERS Phiếu điều tra dành cho học sinh 52 Chiến lược tạo hứng thú học nói cho học sinh lớp lớp trình độ Lower Mover trung tâm ngoại ngữ A - Hà Nội Các em học sinh thân mến, Tôi Tăng Thị Quỳnh Thơ, sinh viên năm thứ lớp 08.E4, khoa sư phạm Tiếng Anh, trường Đại học ngọai ngữ - Đại học quốc gia Hà Nội Tôi làm khóa luận nghiên cứu chiến lược tạo hứng thú học nói cho cho học sinh lớp lớp lớp Lower Movers trung tâm ngọai ngữ A, Hà Nội Mong em bớt chút thời gian để hịan thành phiếu điều tra Tất thông tin ý kiến em bảo mật tuyệt đối Nếu có thắc mắc liên quan đến nghiên cứu này, em liên hệ với qua địa email: tangquynhtho@gmail.com số điện thoại 0987771345 Cảm ơn đóng góp em! PHẦN I: Thơng tin cá nhân Xin em vui lịng cung cấp thơng tin sau để tơi liên lạc cần thêm thơng tin Các em n tâm tính bảo mật thơng tin bạn cung cấp cho - Họ tên: - Tuổi: Phần II: Câu hỏi Đánh dấu () cho lựa chọn thể rõ ý kiến em chiến lược phát triển kỹ nói mà thầy giáo hay sử dụng giảng dạy trung tâm ngoại ngữ A, Hà Nội Rất khơng thích Khơng thích Bình thường 53 Thích Rất thích Mức độ yêu thích Các chiến lược tạo hứng thú cho học sinh học nói mà giáo viên thường sử dụng 37 Giáo viên tổ chức cho lớp họat động thi đua theo nhóm Ví dụ: Giáo viên chia lớp thành bốn nhóm, bốn nhóm thi đua làm tập đó, nhóm hòan thành xong trước với số câu nhóm thắng 38 Giáo viên tổ chức cho lớp họat động thi đua theo cá nhân Ví dụ: Giáo viên cho câu hỏi tập, học sinh có câu trả lời khen thưởng 39 Giâo viên cho học sinh làm sản phẩm liên quan đến học Ví dụ: giáo viên cho em vẽ tranh vật em u thích, sau em đứng lên miêu tả vật 40 Giáo viên câu hỏi, tập tình khó mà em phải nỗ lực cố gắng làm Ví dụ: Ghi nhớ, giải đố, tìm thơng tin thiếu, bị 41 Giáo viên lựa chọn họat động thú vị học nói Ví dụ: Giáo viên cho em xem phim họat hình nhất, sau hỏi em số câu hỏi phim vừa xem trình diễn thời trang để 54 em ôn lại cách mô tả quần áo, trang phục, hay đóng vai nhân vật thần thoại cổ tích, APPENDIX SAMPLE OF QUESTIONS FOR SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS WITH TEACHERS **Note: Questions in each interview varied in accordance to the information each participant provided in the questionnaires • How often you use those motivational strategies to be exact? • Why you highly value some particular strategies? • Why don’t you use some strategies as much as the favoured ones? 55 APPENDIX - SAMPLE TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW WITH TEACHER A Interviewer – I; Teacher A - A I: Base on the survey, there are some motivational strategies that you sometimes or often use such as team competition, tangible task product, personalization, ect How often you use these motivational strategies to be exact? Every lesson, every week or term? A: I use them almost every lesson I: Why you highly value team competition, personalization, group work and pair work strategies? A: The reasons why I often use such strategies is they really motivate learners In terms of team competition, I use this strategy every lesson I divide the whole class into four big groups and my students work in their group during the lesson The competition as observed by myself motivates my students a lot I recommend team competition because the kids would have time to get to know one another more thoroughly once they were in a team and spent a significant amount of time together to achieve their goals With personalization strategy, it highly develops learners’ creativeness I use this strategy mostly every lesson since we always have small projects that backup for the learning items As for group work, the reason is the same with team competition, my students work in a group of four and we change the groups’ names and members every lesson Sometimes members in a group can work in pairs In my opinion, group work or pair work supplies opportunities for young learners to use the language for themselves and also motivated them greatly The quality of work produced by a group or pair, as being assessed by me, was often higher by any individuals of that group I: How about teacher discourse strategies? Promoting cooperation for example A: Promoting cooperation definitely helps students work better and more effectively I: And arousing curiosity or attention? A: Arousing curiosity really helps me to call more attention from my students by asking them to guess what they are going to next They are always eager to give me answers I: How about social chat and establishing relevance? 60 A: Those two strategies help me minimize the gap between me and my students, especially when it’s the first day of a new term and for those who are shy Besides, it provides my students more opportunities to speak more confidently and fluently I: Regardless encouraging positive retrospective self-evaluation strategies, why you often use effective praise and neutral feedback session? A: Kids always encouraged doing the tasks if they would be praised for what they have done well As for me, I often start my feedback with praise, either on my students’ manner, language or the choice of ideas, which was really a big encouragement to learners Since feedback is very important to learners’ motivation, I always have neutral feedback session I never get angry when my students have wrong answers It doesn’t matter if the kids not get the right answers The importance is they try their best to involve in the lesson I don’t mind going over the answers with my class I: Ok, and now, can you explain why you don’t use some strategies like tangible reward or signposting as much as these above strategies? A: I know that 100% kids love tangible reward and actually the effectiveness of tangible reward in motivating learners is undeniable However, I don’t use this strategy very often because if I give tangible rewards to my learners too often, they would probably study just to reap rewards As for signposting, I’m afraid that kids at this age can fully understand the lessons objectives I: Thanks a lot for sharing with me Your opinions are very informative, which helps me have further information about the subject of my study A: You’re welcome Feel free to contact me if you need anything else 61 APPENDIX - SAMPLE TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW WITH TEACHER B Interviewer – I; Teacher B - B I: Base on the survey, there are some motivational strategies that you sometimes or often use such as team competition, tangible task product, personalization, ect How often you use these motivational strategies to be exact? B: Mostly every lesson I: Why you highly value team competition, personalization, group work and pair work strategies? B: When learners are put in a team and they compete to finish a task as soon as possible, they actually work harder and cooperate much more I often see that my students share the workload for everyone in a team so that everyone is working I like personalization since it provides learners with a lot of creativeness For example, today my students practise the chant that contains vowel /{/ After practising, they write their own chant that also contains the vowel Some of my students the task really well I can see that my students are interested in this activity and this is a very good way to for kids to learn and practise new items I: Ok, how about group work and pair work? B: The same reasons as team competition I have group work every lesson At the beginning of the lesson, I name my students ‘’ A , B, C, D ‘’ Those who are A are in group, those who are B in a group and so on Then I let them choose a name for their group like super stars, lovely kangaroos, etc It’s really fun My students work in that group for the whole lesson Each time they finish the task first, they get one or two points for their group I also give bonus points or take away some points if my students are not working seriously or too noisy At the end of the lesson, my students and I count the points for each team Team with highest points is the winner As for pair work, sometimes my students work in pair between either girls and boys or just the two people sitting next to each other I: How you value promoting cooperation? B:I highly value this strategy since group work can’t be effective without it I: And arousing curiosity or attention? 62 B: You know, kids are always curious Once we raise their curiosity, we definitely call their attention It’s a good way to get them pay more attention to the lecture and they won’t get bored I: What you think about social chat? B: I always chat with my students during their break time It’s true that social chat help learners improve their speaking skills I often ask about their family, friends or their favourite singers Social chat lets my students know that I care about them and I’m always willing to listen to them, especially for some girls who are shy also It breaks the ice between my students and I I: And how about establishing relevance? B: Learners study and remember better when there is a link between the knowledge and the daily life Especially for kids, they find it very interesting and easy to remember a grammatical point that is about their favourite football players, singers or dancers I: In terms of encouraging positive retrospective self-evaluation strategies, why you often use effective praise and neutral feedback session? B: Kids feel motivated if we praise them for their hard work Being proud of themselves, kids tend to try harder for the next questions As for neutral feedback session, to me it doesn’t make any sense or help students if teachers get angry or disappointed with learners’ wrong answers Kids may even hesitate to give answers if they see that their teachers are not happy about them Instead, going over the answers with the class, explaining carefully why the answer must be this is much better for kids They see the positive feedback, they try harder for the next time I: Alright, now can you explain why you don’t use some strategies like tangible reward or signposting as much as these above strategies? B: Tangible rewards have some certain advantages in motivating students I don’t deny it but we must be very careful since it can brings some disadvantages If you reward your students too often, your students will probably study just to get the prize, not for the seek of knowledge Then tangible rewards diminish the value of education And as for signposting, I think it’s more suitable for older learners than kids at Mover Lower level I doubt if my students can understand fully the aims of this strategy I: Thank you so much for spending time for this interview Your opinions help me a lot with my study B: You are warmly welcome 63 APPENDIX CÁC CÂU HỎI ĐƯỢC SỬ DỤNG TRONG KHI PHỎNG VẤN HỌC SINH • Vì em thích chiến lược tạo hứng thú học nói? • Vì em khơng thích chiến lược tạo hứng thú học nói? 64 APPENDIX - SAMPLE TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW WITH LEARNERS Interviewer – I; Learner - L I: Chào em, cảm ơn em đồng ý tham gia vấn với chị L: Vâng I: Chị hỏi em số câu hỏi không? L: Dạ I: Khi em nhóm em thưởng hồn thành tập xuất sắc, em có thích khơng? L: Có Em thích I: Vì sao? L: Vì phần thưởng để ghi nhận thành tích học tập chúng em Chúng em thấy vui tự hào thưởng chúng em cố gắng cho lần sau I: Cơ giáo có sử dụng chi tiết thú vị dạy em khơng? L: Dạ có ạ, em thích chi tiết Nó kích thích trí tị mị em bạn lớp I: Vậy cô giáo cho em bạn nhóm làm vật phẩm liên quan đến học em thấy nào? Ví dụ hôm em học loại khủng long em cắt dán để làm công viên khủng long ấy? L: Em thích chị Em cảm thấy thư giãn, đỡ căng thẳng sau học làm vật phẩm I: Chị thấy hôm sau dạy em vè để tập phát âm nguyên âm, cô giáo cho em tự sáng tác vè có nguyên âm Em có thích họat động khơng? L: Em thích, sáng tác vè khó chị Em thấy vè nhóm em khơng hay I: Em có thích làm việc theo nhóm theo cặp khơng? L: Cũng có lúc thích lúc khơng thích chị I: Tại vậy? 65 L: Khi em làm việc theo nhóm bạn nhóm làm việc nhanh, nhóm em nhóm xong em vui Nhưng bạn nhóm làm việc chậm ỷ lại vào bạn khác em khơng thích I: Đấy làm việc theo nhóm, làm việc theo cặp sao? L: Em khơng thích phải làm việc với bạn nữ chị Em thích nhóm với bạn nam I: Ừ chị hiểu I: Cơ giáo có hay trị chuyện với em khơng? L: Dạ có I: Em có thích nói chuyện với khơng? L: Có Em hay nói chuyện với I: Vậy giáo với em hay trị chuyện chủ đề gì? L: Nhiều Về bạn em, bố mẹ em, bóng đá Nói chung nhiều chị I: Em có thích giảng đưa ví dụ liên quan đến sở thích em khơng? L: Ví dụ ạ? I: Ví dụ đưa ví dụ ngơi bóng đá em thích L: À có ạ, em thấy thú vị buồn cười Hì I: Khi giáo tun dương em có vui khơng? L: Em vui lắm, em thấy tự hào có động lực để cố gắng I: Cơ giáo có tỏ khơng hài lịng em trả lời sai không? L: Không chị , cô không mắng chúng em chúng em trả lời sai Cơ giải thích lại cho chúng em hiểu giúp chúng em tìm câu trả lời Em thấy khơng bị xấu hổ chị I: Ok, cảm ơn em nhiều Các thông tin em cung cấp cho chị hữu ích cho khóa luận chị L: Dạ khơng có chị 66 ... participants of the research are the th and 5th graders at Lower Movers level Currently, 4th and 5th graders in Lower Mover classes at center A are placed into six classes, named from Lower Mover. .. Guilloteaux (2007) made, there are three standards that competence can be measured: absolute standard, intrapersonal standard and normative standard Although the great contribution of goal orientation... motive diagram The 25 observational variables measuring the teacher’s 24 motivational practice Table 4. 1 Activity design strategies (teachers’ opinions) 32 Table 4. 2 Participation structure strategies