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STUDENTS’ LEARNING STRATEGIES AT HO CHI MINH CITY INDUSTRY AND TRADE COLLEGE:
A GENDER PERSPECTIVE
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts (TESOL)
TRUGNG 9AI HOC MO TP.HCH |
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HƯ VIÊN
Submitted by: PHAN THI THU
Supervisor: MR NGUYEN DINH THU, Ph.D
HO CHI MINH CITY, NOVEMBER 20106
Trang 2ABSTRACT
The idea for this study arises from the male students’ English result which is always worse than their female counterparts at Ho Chi Minh City Industry and Trade College (HITC) Can their result be blamed for a difference in learning strategy? This study’s major aim is to find out the relationship between gender and strategy use Besides, it also investigates the students’ overall strategy use and the teachers’ strategy instruction And lastly, the teachers’ difficulties in instructing learning strategies at
HITC is also examined
To fulfill the aims, a survey was conducted at HITC with the enthusiastic participation of 174 students (87 males and 87 females) and 10 teachers of English Data on students’ learning strategy use and teachers’ strategy instruction were collected by questionnaires adapted mostly from SILL by Oxford (1990) And then, an interview with 10 students ( 5 males and 5 females) was carried out to find further information which could not be fully exploited in the questionnaire
Statistical analysis of the questionnaires and critical analysis of the interview revealed that (1) the students at HITC used learning strategy only infrequently; (2) gender affected the students’ strategy use and the females surpassed their male counterparts in overall strategy use, especially in memory and compensation groups; (3) the teachers at HITC taught students to use learning strategies quite often, however, they were facing certain difficulties sourcing from the students as well as the management Basing on the findings, some recommendations was given at the last chapter for the students, the teachers as well as the managements at HITC to improve learning strategy use in general and quality of teaching and learning English in particular
Trang 3TABLE OE CONTENTS Statemenfs Of authorShIp - - - SH ng HH TH nh Hưng i Acknowledgem€TIfS - - - - vn nen ii 0 0 1H Table of Contents 20.0 ố iv In viii In -10 T0 IX Iug li 0n X INTRODUCTION 1 [.1 The (00 0o 0uảii 1 1 IV Vui Tuà 0 4 IENNuini 0i Tồ 4 I Đa J00 1 5 IRWEioirooi sua i7 nh : 6 CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY - 7 1.1 Overview of HIÏÍC <=<c 55 5< 5 0 9x S9 0005960906988 00% 7 1.1.1 Development hiSfOry .- - - SH HH TH ng ve 7 Uy 8 1.1.3 Faculties and training disciplines aseeeeeneeseseeeeonees 9 E6 am Ơ.ồỒồỒồỎ 9 II va 2 na 10 PS 10
1.2 Eaculty of Foreign LanØÙ€S doc c0 HA c9 0 se de 10 1.2.1 Overview of Faculty of Foreign Langtages .-‹- s-cc-< s55 10 1.2.2 Teaching staff of Faculty of Foreign Languages 11 1.2.3 English curricmlum .cc:cceesccssesecsceeceseecenseeseeseseneeeneeeseeeeenseenees 11
Trang 41.2.3.1 An introduction of English curriculum 1] 1.2.3.2 Objectives ofthe subJecf -+ «+ ss+ehreeeieeere 13 1.2.3.3 English assessment methods . - 13 1.3 SummrV o 0G G0 SH 09.00006068 04646400008 80000000608004-0400008 884 14
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW sssscsssscsscsessserscsssenacsnesecesoossees 15
2.1 Factors of good language learning co kằ #911001 1e 15 2.1.1 Personalities - Sàn H* nành kh re 15 2.1.2 Learning straf€g1€S + S SSx S9 1121111 1e re 16 s9 2á 8 17 PP chon 17 2.1.3.2 Age OaCQU1SIfÍOTI -SĂ +1 +3 HH9 H11 1011 1k krr 17 2.2 Learning sfrafepÏ€S -ecce< «se nằeĂes HH 00 00000800 0889000 18 2.2.1 Definition 0n 18 s4 0ï 10v i0 19 2.2.3 ClasSIfiCcatiOTS - Ác cọ ng HH HH TH 188 1 h 20 2.3 Recent researches on gender effect on learning strategy use 30 2.4 Researches on learning language learning strategies in Vietnam 33 2.5 SUMMALY scccessecsecssssscrsccesscccessccssssesseseceecssveesecsevsssessesesersersssseeseereeres OO
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOOY on n1 100 0908489408946 37
3.1 Research quesfÏOIS .- - 5c 9100005905601 0316195089950 5e 37 NO 0n 37
3.2.1 Subjects of the study -c««c«x« 38 3.2.1.1 Subject of the questiOnniaIT€S - . - 5-5-5 + se seeerreestrrsse 38
3.2.1.1.1 Characteristics of studenIs -. - 2-2 c+hneierre 40
3.2.1.1.2 CharacteristIcs of teachers - + o5 sensehhie 41 3.2.1.2 Subjects of the Inf€TVI€W - cành Hari 41
3.2.2 InSfTUI€TÉS - G5 G55 <5 0.465 26 0654.54608490884990688950008989908888996 42
Trang 5-c1» N9) i9 ae 42 3.2.2.1.1 Questionnaire for students - 5c scss<xssesss 43 3.2.2.1.2 Questionnaire for teacherS - ‹ occs xnxx eesez 44
3.2.2.2 ÏTIẨCTVICW HH HH ng HH cm ve 45 3.3 Data collection DFoC€CUFC . - G55 < 5° S9 0950 n9 45
3.3.1 Administering the qu€stiOnTIaIT€S - + 5-< - n3 3c 45 3.3.1.1 Questionnaire for students - 5-5 sSs+c+<<sxsssseses 45 3.3.1.2 Questionnaire for teaChers cccecccseeccssenceeeeeecceeecceeeeeeeees 46 3.3.2 Conducting the In†CTVICW cọ HH ng TH ng và 46 3.4 SUIMIMAFY SG G Gì S0 900 TH 00.00 0 000006004 0000884 9 6 0g 46
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS -<< 47
4.1 Analysis of the students’ questÏonnaÏF€ - << o s23 <5 S159 69556 47 4.1.1 Students’ awareness of learning strategies . - +5 47 4.1.2 Learning strategies used by students at HITC - . - + +5 50 4.1.2.1 Learning strategies used by students at HITC 50 4.1.2.2 Effects of gender on learning strategy use 54
4.1.3 Students’ expectations of teachers 0.0.0 cccceeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeceneeeneeaeen 59
4.2 Analysis of the teachers” ques(ÏOnnaÏF€ - c2 3555555645 61
4.2.1 The difference between male students and female ones 61 4.2.2 English learning strategy instrucfion . - + ccs<s<sk2 62
4.2.2.1 Teachers’ instruction of learning strategIes . 63
4.2.2.2 A comparison between strategies used by students and strategies instructed by t€aChers HH He, 63 4.2.3 Difficulties in nstructing learning strategies at HTTC 64
4.3 Analysis of the ÏI(CTVÏCW cĩc 0 9 9g 4 c9 4464516660068 65
4.4 EFÏndÏngs <<- se sọ HO HH 0 00006 08000 The 68
4.5 SUIHITTY G0, THƠ TH 0809 0 000 4 080606000 00.149094.00869 50 71
Trang 6CHAPTER V: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 72
5.1 Recommendafions . - = SH S090 5090000010966 0060899000 608 72 5.1.1 Students occ 72
5.1.1.1 Setting goals for their English learning -‹+ : 72
5.1.1.2 Using learning strategies and assessing their own learning strategy SE DUTPOS€ẨỤÏY ẶĂ LH nàn H2 1102211 kg g1 k1 tre 73 So 74
5.1.2.1 Enhancing the students’ attitude towards leaming English 74
5.1.2.2 Functioning as a source of learning strategies - 75
5.1.2.3 Enhance their efficiency of learning strategy instruction 75
5.1.2.4 Helping students to choose the best strategies for them 76
5.1.2.5 Helping all-male-classes improve their English result 76 1S uc e 77 5.1.3.1 Smaller classes 0.0 cesceseeeeeceeseesneereesssseeeeeeseenseeeseeesetes 77 hố e 77 5.2 Suggestions for the further researches -«‹-s5===<==+5 78 5.3 ConCÏUSION - co cọ H0 664496686888899400090080000000880884 + 79 REEFERENCTES << <5 SH 98980930016084099906040884080900 9000 81 APPENDICES .-. - 2G SG G5 S2 n0 0000.1806000 0000498844248604.40609008894 87 Appendix 1A: Questionnaire for students (English version) - 87
Appendix 1B: Questionnaire for students (Vietnamese version) 92 Appendix 2: Questionnaire for teacheTrs_ -+-++s+crseessreee 96 Appendix 3A: Script for female students" Int€rVI€W - «se 101 Appendix 3B: Script for male students” In†€rVI€W àà Ăn 106 Appendix 4: Basic English curriculum -++-++<<<+s+<cessrrrsrr 111
=
Trang 7LIST OF FIGURES
Trang 8LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1: Students result of English in the last four years (2004-2009) 3
Table 1.2: The result of the placement test of 32"°.course-studenfs 3
Table 2.1: Brown and Palinscar’s classification of language strategies 21
Table 2.2: Chamot’s classification of language strategles 21
Table 2.3: Rubin”s classification of language strategles 22
Table 3.1a: Summary of male studenfs” charaC†€rIsfICS ‹ 40
Table 3.Ib: Summary offemale students” characterIsfiCS - 40
Table 3.2a: Summary of teachers’ characteristiCs - «+5 41 Table 3.2b: Summary ofteachers” charaCf€TIS{ICS «>+-+++ss+ssscss 4] Table 4.1: | Frequency of students’ satisfaction of their English learning 48
Table 4.2: | Frequency of students’ awareness of English learning strategies and their learning pTOC€SS . - ‹ +<<<5- 49 Table 4.3: Frequency of the students’ source of information about learning 3 SUPALEQICS oo eeeeceeeeeeeseecsseeeaeceseeceesssusseesseeeseceseesaeesnseseaseneeseseenaes 50 Table 4.4: Means ofstudents' use ofmetacognItive strategies 52
Table 4.5: Means ofstudents” use ofŸcompensation sírategies - - 52
Table 4.6: Strategies used frequently by the students at HITC 53
Table 4.7: Effects ofgender on learning strategles choice .- - 54
Table 4.8: Means of female and male students’ use of memory strategies 55
Table 4.9: Means of female and male students’ use of compensation SUPAtEQICS oo 56
Table 4.10: Strategies used significantly more frequently by female students than maÌe Orn€s - + +5 +2 112v 9 9 ve re 58 Table 4.11: Frequency of students” expectations of teachers - - 59
Table 4.12: Gender effects on students” expectations ofteachers 60
Table 4.13: Teachers’ comments on students English learning and h1U50 1100708010027 62
Table 4.14: Difficulties in instructing English learning strategies at HITC 64
Trang 9LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
HITC: Ho Chi Minh Industry and Trade College SILL: Strategy Inventory Language Learning VLS: Vocabulary learning strategies
Trang 10INTRODUCTION
Since 1970s-1980s, with the development of communicative approach, learner- centeredness has exerted great impact on language learning and teaching Since
then, learners have not only become the center of the class but also the center of
studies (Wenden, 1987) As a result, many researchers have shifted their focus from
teachers (how to teach well, roles of a teacher, etc) to students (how they learn,
what factors affects their learning, etc)
One of the issues which has recently been investigated by many researchers is students’ learning strategies which are proved to play an important role in learning
process (Rubin, 1987; Chamot, 1987; Oxford, 1990) It has been reported by many
researchers such as Wenden (1987); Oxford (1990); Sewell (2003) that the use of appropriate language learning strategies leads to the improvement of students’ language proficiency as well as student’s language skills They also add that students who are able to employ some learning strategies are generally more successful language learners Thus, it appears to be extremely important that teachers of English should know about their students’ learning strategies in order to help students learn better
1.1 Problem of the study
Researchers have reported some factors affecting learning strategy choice such as age (Ok, 2003); gender and proficiency (Goh and Foong, 1997; Tercanlioglu, 2004; Liu, 2004); national origin (O’Malley and Chamot, 1990; Ok, 2003) or difficulty of texts (Feng and Mokhtari, 1998) However, the study reported in this thesis primarily investigates the influence of gender on students’ learning strategies because of the following reasons:
Trang 11(Goh and Foong, 1997; Ok, 2003; Liu, 2004) On the contrary, some researchers
found out that girls use fewer learning strategies than boys (Tran, 1988; Tercanlioglu, 2004) Different from all above- mentioned researches, a study in Palestine by Shmais (2003:10) found out “no main effect for gender on strategy use” Some researchers (Oxford, 1990; Tercanlioglu, 2004) ascribed these differences to different cultural background, learning environments, levels of the students involved in those studies Therefore, the relationship between gender and learning strategies of Vietnamese students is still worth studying
Secondly, Ho Chi Minh Industry and Trade College where this survey is conducted is an interesting place to investigate the influence of gender on learning strategy choice At HITC, some classes consist of only male students such as Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Electricity On the contrary, more than ninety percent of
students in Garment and Accounting classes are females Thus, if gender affects learning strategy use, these classes will be the most interesting ones to investigate
Trang 12Table 1.1.: Students’ result of English in the last four years (2004-2008 ) Faculty Course Number Gender Retaking the Average of exam (percent) students Males Females 28" 336 336 0 104 (30%) Electrical and 29% 386 386 0 132 (34%) Electronic 30" 308 308 0 89 (29%) 30.3 Engineering 31" 434 434 0 123(28%) 28" 114 114 0 50 (44%) Mechanical 29% 146 146 0 49 (38%) Engineering 30" 184 184 0 68 (36%) 39 31% 446 446 0 172 (38%) 28" 274 23 242 34 (12%) Economics 29" 262 42 120 40 (15%) 30" 368 54 314 54 (15%) 12.3 31% 530 75 458 41 (7%) 28" 182 14 168 35 (19%) Garment 20" 222 12 210 44 (20%) 30" 180 18 162 9 (5%) 16.5 31" 170 12 158 38 (22%)
On the contrary to those facts, it is surprised to know that the males’ level of English before entering college is not much worse than the females’ In 2008, HITC organized
an English placement test for all 32""-course-students In general, the result was low but the difference between the males’ result and the females’ was not significant The
details can be seen in Table 1 2 as follow
Trang 13As indicated in Table 1 2, more than 80% of both male and female students got below mark 5 Therefore, it is not stable enough to attribute the males’ worse result of English to their lower level of English before entering the college
From the above facts, some questions are raised here:
1 Can we ascribe the males’ worse result of English to their less frequent use of learning strategies than the females?
2 Do the students at HITC use learning strategies frequently?
3 Have the teachers of English at HITC been teaching students to use learning strategies?
The study is conducted to find out the answer to above questions If female students are found to use more effective learning strategies than males and they learn English better, then the thesis will focus more on bringing out some suggestions on how to instruct students, especially males, to use learning strategies
1.2 Aims of the study
This study aims primarily at investigating the effect of gender on students’ learning strategy choice and the frequency of students’ strategy use On the teachers’ side, it is hoped to find out the frequency of teachers’ learning strategy instruction together with difficulties that they are encountering when they instruct learning strategies to their students at HITC
1.3 Significance of the thesis
This study is conducted aiming to identify whether gender affects Vietnamese learning strategy choice More importantly, the result of this study can identify possible causes of all-male-student-classes’ failure in learning English at HITC Lastly, it is hoped that this study can contribute to raising awareness of the importance of learning strategies on students’ side and promoting the strategy training
Trang 141.4 Overview of the thesis
This thesis has 5 chapters together with an introduction at the beginning
The introduction states the problem and then introduces the aims, the overview, the significance, as well as the limitations of the study
Chapter I sets a background to the study by giving information about Ho Chi Minh City Indutry and Trade College where the study was carried out It includes the college’s development history, its facilities, faculties and training disciplines, library, teaching staff Besides, the Faculty of Foreign Languages is introduced together with English curriculum and English assessment methods
Chapter II, containing 3 parts, provides some literature review on learning strategies The first part reviews some theories on the factors of a good language learner The second part deals with theories on learning strategies in which the definition, the characteristics of learning strategies and the factors affecting learning strategy choice are highlighted The third part summarizes some recent studies on learning strategies under gender perspective carried out in many countries in the world And the last part mentions about some researches on learning strategies done in Vietnam in recent years
Chapter II presents the methodology employed in the study This chapter firstly discusses the research design, and then describes the subjects, the instruments and the data collection procedures of the thesis
Chapter IV consists of two parts The first part presents the results of the surveys done at HITC The second part presents the findings of those surveys
Chapter V gives out some recommendations referring to improving the students’ frequency of learning strategy use and then brings out some suggestions for further
research Lastly, it concludes the thesis by summarizing the content of the study and
Trang 151.5 Limitations of the study
Due to time and financial constraints, this study will investigate the effect of gender on students’ learning strategies with 174 students at HITC only As a result, the findings of this study may not be generalized to all Vietnamese students
Moreover, this study focuses on investigating the effect of gender on learning
strategy use only Therefore, it cannot provide a comprehensive look on the factors
Trang 16CHAPTER I: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
This part of the study firstly provides information about Ho Chi Minh City Industry and Trade College Besides, the Faculty of Foreign Languages as well as the English curriculum and assessment methods is also introduced because they directly influence the subjects participating in the survey It is hoped that the given
information can clarify the background to the study
1.1 OVERVIEW OF HO CHI MINH CITY INDUSTRY AND TRADE COLLEGE (HITC)
In this part, an overview of HITC including detailed introduction about the development history, material facilities, faculties and training disciplines, library,
teaching staff, students and the school’s mission is introduced Besides, the author also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of teaching and learning English at
this college
1.1.1 Development history
Ho Chi Minh City Industry and Trade College (HITC) has 34-year-development history which can be divided into four phases as follows:
Phase 1: From 20" October, 1976 to 30" July, 1991
HITC was founded on 20" October, 1976 In this period, the school was named Light Industry Vocational School and administered by the Ministry of Light Industry The school’s duties included training intermediate technicians as well as management staff for Light Industry in Southern area
Phase 2: From 30 July, 1991 to 27 December, 2000
During this time, the school was upgraded to Thu Duc Technical and Economic Light Industry school, directly under Ministry of Industry The school was assigned
Trang 17Phase 3: From 27 December, 2000 to 20 January, 2009
The school was once again upgraded to The Technical and Economic Industry College II During this time, the school’s duties included training regular and in- service college level as well as intermediate vocational training In addition, the
school offered Transferred Diploma training in three areas: Accounting, Textile
technology and Mechanical Technology Phase 4: From 20 January, 2009 to now
The school’s name has been changed into Ho Chi Minh city Industry and Trade
College, directly under Ministry of Industry and Trade The school’s management as well as all teaching staff has been exerting themselves to complete the assigned duties and improve the training quality in order to upgrade the school to a university in 2012 HITC is located at 20, Tang Nhon Phu street, Phuoc Long A ward, District 9, Ho Chi Minh city It is quite far from the main roads, which can protect it from noise of vehicles However, it is surrounded by factories, so the students and teaching staff
sometimes have to suffer from noise and smoke 1.1.2 Facilities
HITC covers an area of 20 hectares with one seven-floor building, one five-floor building, one four-floor building, one three-floor building and one lecture-hall area
Totally, it has 100 classrooms and 6 lecture halls which are all equipped with
modern projectors Besides, it also has 60 workshops, laboratories and practice rooms Yet, there is not an audio room for English study, so the students here still learn English in a quite traditional way
Trang 181.1.3 Faculties and training disciplines
HITC now consists of 11 faculties, including: Finance & Banking; Accounting & Business Administration; Chemical Technology; Electricity and Electronics; Mechanical Engineering; Information Technology; Garment Technology, Leather and Shoemaking Technology and Chemistry Technology, Foundation Studies; and Foreign Languages
The school offers 19 college-level training branches which are divided into 2 groups: economic branches and technical-technological ones The economic branches are Accounting, Finance & Banking, and Business Administration The technical- technological branches consist of Mechanical Engineering, Electromechanics, Automotive Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Automation Engineering, Thermal Refrigeration Engineering, Information Technology, Garment — Fashion Design, Textile Technology, Fiber Technology, Chemical Technology, Dyeing Technology, Paper Technology, Leather and Shoemaking Technology
In short, HITC offers a wide range of disciplines that meet the social needs However, its traditional training branches such as Fiber, Dyeing, or Paper are gradually vanishing because they do not attract many learners
1.1.4 Library
The library, located right at the heart of the college with an area of 1000 square meters, is accommodated with 500 seats for readers It is a three-floor building equipped with air-conditioners and wifi Internet It consists of 4 rooms: reading room, service room, newspaper and magazine room, photocopy and stationery room and self-study room
Trang 19In a word, although the library is quite modern, it still needs expanding to serve
nearly 13.000 regular students studying in the school campus
1.1.5 Teaching staff
The teaching staff includes 200 full time teachers with 5 PhD, 98 MSc Besides,
every school year, more than 50 lecturers from other colleges and universities are
invited to teach many different subjects
1.1.6 Students
As it was mentioned above, there are nearly 13.000 regular students, Besides, there
are more than 5000 Transferred students, in-service ones who are learning at night
or in other provinces such as Binh Thuan, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, etc The students
come from all over Vietnam, therefore, they bring to the school a diversity of
backgrounds, local culture, knowledge, and especially English level, which causes
certain difficulties in teaching English
1.2, FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
The Faculty of Foreign Languages and its staff involve directly in this study
Therefore, in this part, an overview of the faculty, its staff as well as the English curriculum will be introduced and discussed
1.2.1 Overview of the Faculty of Foreign Languages
The Faculty of Foreign Languages was formed on the basis of the English group, which once belonged to the Foundation Studies Faculty In March, 2007 it was
Trang 20for teaching English for the whole students and managing the school’s English
center
1.2.2 Teaching staff of the Faculty of Foreign Languages
Totally, there are 11 people in the faculty, including 10 lecturers and | secretary
Besides, 3 other teachers have always been invited to corporate with the faculty
Their age ranges from 53 to 30 with an average of 34.5 Five lecturers are attending
Master of Art classes The detailed information on teaching staff can be found in Chapter III
The lecturers of Faculty of Foreign Languages come from different provinces and graduated from different universities: the two oldest are graduates from Ha Noi Foreign Languages University, Faculty of Russian; two teachers got their B.A degrees from Vinh university; one from Da Nang university; two others from Ho Chi Minh University of Pedagogy; the rest graduated from University of Social Siences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh city All the lecturers here are enthusiastic with teaching However, they usually suffer from overload because of the increasing
number of students On the average, the teachers have to double their workload,
which partly influence their teaching quality 1.2.3 English curriculum
1.2.3.1 An introduction of English curriculum
At HITC, the students learn three levels of English: Basic English 1, Basic English 2 and English for Specific Purposes In this study, only basic English curriculum for
college level is introduced because the subjects’ English proficiency was assessed basing on their results of basic English
There are 150 periods of basic English which are usually taught in two terms The textbook used for teaching is New Headway Elementary-The third edition by John
and Liz Soars, published by Oxford University Press in 2007 The book contains 14
Trang 21units and is enclosed with a workbook The curriculum for English at HITC is as the following:
In the first term, the students learn basic English 1 in 75 periods The units from 1 to 7 in the above-mentioned book are used including:
Unit 1: Hello everybody Unit 2: Meeting people Unit 3: The world of work Unit 4: Take it easy
Unit 5: Where do you live? Unit 6: Can you speak English? Unit 7: Then and now
Each unit is taught in approximately 10 periods The rest five periods can be used for midterm test and review
In the second term, basic English 2 is taught in another 75 periods with units from 8 to 14 They are:
Unit 8: A date to remember Unit 9: Food you like! Unit 10: Bigger and better Unit 11: Looking good Unit 12: Life is an adventure Unit 13: Storytime
Unit 14: Have you ever?
After learning every four units, there is one period for stop and check The detailed curriculum can be seen in Appendix 4
Trang 22comparisons Most grammar points are developed in two lessons, which gives students an opportunity to practice more In addition, the topics in this book are close to students’ everyday life such as people, workplaces, food and drinks, houses, future plans, etc However, some reading parts are too long and contain too much new vocabulary such as in unit 10: Viva la danze or in unit 12: Born free Lastly, although there are always speaking activities and an everyday English part in each lesson, the teachers at HITC always find it hard to make use of them to develop students’ speaking skill since most of the classes are too big
1.2.3.2 Objectives of the subject
After learning basic English, the students can get several objectives of knowledge,
skills, attitude, etc, which are listed as follows:
Knowledge: Firstly, the students can reach their elementary level of English and can communicate in English at basic level Secondly, the students can use five English tenses including present simple, present continuous, present perfect, past simple, and be going to
Besides, the students can use modal verb “can”
Skills: The students can practice speaking, writing, reading and listening skill at
elementary level
Attitude: The students can be inspired to learn English
Others: Group work and pair work can be formed and the students are more self-confident when using English
(Translated from basic English curriculum designed by Faculty of Foreign Languages, 2009)
1.2.3.3 English assessment methods
There are two types of assessment applied at HITC: on-going and summative The formative assessment makes up 25% of the final result including attendance (10%); midterm test (10%); and learning attitude (5%) The summative assessment is a final test whose score accounts for 75% of the final result The final test contains 80% of multiple choice questions and 20% of translation
However, big classes at HITC causes a lot of difficulties for teachers in assessing the students’ English level, especially checking attendance and learning attitude
Trang 23Moreover, there are usually too many students in an examining room so it is not easy for examiners to ensure a absolute discipline during the examination
1.3 SUMMARY
Trang 24CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter sets a theoretical background to the study Firstly, it reviews some factors of good language learners to emphasize that learning strategies have been proved to affect English learning result Then, theory about learning strategies including definition, characteristics, classification, factors affecting learning strategy choice is summarized from different studies Lastly, some researches on learning strategies in Vietnam are synthesized
2.1 FACTORS OF GOOD LANGUAGE LEARNERS
At any schools and in any classes, it is easy to see that some students learn English particularly faster and better than the others although they have similar background and learning environment This fact has raised a question that whether there are some factors such as personalities, learning strategy use, age of acquisition, etc that help a learner learns language more efficiently This question has attracted many researchers’ attention The following part will review some researches on this
matter
2.1.1 Personalities
Although the ideal language learning personality cannot be sketched now, it has been proved that some personalities relate to learners’ ability to acquire language (Rubin and Thompson, 1994; Sewell, 2003, etc) Firstly, extroversion is very important It is reported that extrovert people are often better in language than
introvert ones (Bond, 2002; Larson-Freeman and Long, 1991 cited in Sewell, 2003)
Under the same learning condition, extrovert people who use every possible chance to communicate may be more successful, because “by initiating and maintaining contacts, they have more chances to hear and use the new language” (Rubin and Thompson, 1994: p.6) Secondly, the preparedness to take risks is helpful Good language learners are people who are willing to take risks and are not afraid of making errors (Ruben, 1979 cited in Sewell, 2003: p.1; Bond, 2002: p.3) It can be
Trang 25seen that fear of making mistake prevents learners from adopting new, more flexible approach to learn language Lastly, motivation also plays an important part in learning a language and intrinsic motivation has been reported to have great effect
on learners’ success (Sewell, 2003)
2.1.2 Learning strategies
Adopting learning strategies is very important to the success in learning languages in general It is reported that good language learners often use better and more learning strategies than the others (Rubin, 1975; Oxford, 1990; Griffiths, 2004, etc) Rubin (1975: p.43) concludes that learners who are better at language tend to use more communication strategies, they are eager to communicate, good at guessing and not afraid of making errors than the poorer ones Having a similar concern, Stern (1983) also comes to a conclusion that good language learners usually employ
four basic strategies : active planning strategy, ‘academic’ learning strategy, social
learning strategy, affective learning strategy (cited in Othman, 2002: p.2)
Several recent researches have reported a relationship between good language
learners and learning strategy use Firstly, Goh and Foong (1997: p.11) asserted that high proficiency students in China tended to use more cognitive and compensation
strategies than lower level students Similar to Goh and Foong’s conclusion,
Griffiths (2004: p.14) reported in his study in New Zealand that high level students use learning strategies more frequently, and that they use more strategies “relating
to interaction with each other, to the tolerance of ambiguity, to the management of
the feelings, to the management of studying and to the utilization of available resources” In addition, similar to Griffiths’ research, Ok (2003) did a survey with more than 300 students in Korea and also asserted that students with higher
proficiency of English used more learning strategies than those with lower level
Trang 26In short, although many researchers from different countries and different time affirmed that there was a relationship between the students’ level and their learning strategy use in their studies, the specific strategies used by better language learners
remain inconsistent 2.1.3 Other factors
2.1.3.1 Aptitude
The role of aptitude which is defined as “a person’s predisposition to learn a foreign language” (Rubin and Thompson, 1994) in language learning is under debate Some researchers believe that some people are born to be good at learning a language Wenden (1987: p.107) did a research with 25 people who had lived in the Unites States for less than two years and were attending advanced level class She reports that aptitude is one of the personal factors considered to be “necessary for language learning” Rubin and Thompson (1994: p.5) asserts that there is a strong relationship between a learner’s aptitude and his/her ability of learning language In contrast, many researchers think that it is hard to come to a conclusion about the effects of aptitude on language learning Lightbown and Spada (1993), for example, are doubtful about the conclusion of the relationship between aptitude and language ability because they think that it is hard to identify the “abilities that constitute aptitude” (p.38)
In a word, although there have been many researches on aptitude and language learning and the results are not conclusive, Othman’s (2002: p.7) assertion “some people are born to be good at language, but others can be helped to become good” is worth taking into consideration
2.1.3.2 Age of acquisition
The relationship between age of acquisition and success of language learning has been an interesting topic to researchers It seems that the younger learners have more potential to be good at learning a language in terms of pronunciation (Lightbown and Spada, 1993; Rubin and Thompson, 1994) These researchers
Trang 27assert that children in immigrant families can speak “the language of their new community with native-like accent” (p.43), which their parents can rarely achieve that level They also cite Patkowski’s study (1980) which provides a similar result However, they all agree that except for native-like accent, it is hard to determine which age is better to learn a second language According to Rubin and Thompson (1994), both adults and young learners have their own advantages and disadvantages For children, they have longer time to study a language, are not afraid of making mistakes, and are easy to make new friends to practice the language For adults, they have better memories, longer attention span, clearer aims, and more motivated than children Therefore, the best time to start learning a foreign language is “when your need is clearest and you have efficient time” (Rubin and Thompson, 1994: p.5)
2.2 LEARNING STRATEGIES
In the previous parts, learning strategies have been proved to play an important part in forming a good language learner So, what are learning strategies? The following part provides some theory about leaning strategies and reviews some researches on
this matter
2.2.1 Definition
Trang 28emphasize more on learning strategies, Cohen (1996), for example, gives an appropriate part of strategies for using the language In his opinion, learning strategies consist of language learning and language use strategies, and “they constitute the steps or actions selected by learners either to improve the learning of a second language, the use of it, or both” (p.1)
In short, although learning strategies are defined differently, they have something in common Firstly, they are “what learners do to learn” (Rubin, 1987: p.19) intentionally, although, some students may not be aware of them or may not know what to call them Secondly, the aim of using learning strategies is to facilitate the learning process Thus, helping students to explore their own learning strategies or
guiding them to use appropriate learning strategies is very useful for their learning
2.2.2 Characteristics
Like the definitions mentioned above, characteristics of learning strategies have not been reached a complete consensus among researchers However, they share some common factors Wenden (1987), for example, describes six criteria that she supposes to characterize the learning strategies In her view, learning strategies:
- Refer to specific actions or techniques
- Can be observable or can not be observable
- Are problem oriented
- Can contribute to learning directly or indirectly
- May be consciously deployed
- Are amenable
(Wenden, 1987: p.7& 8) Clouston (1997), in his article “Language learning strategies: An overview for L2
teachers”, summarizes four characteristics which are “generally accepted view of
language learning strategies” (p.2) Clouston asserts that language learning strategies:
Trang 29- are learner-generated, it means that they are what learners use intentionally in their learning process
- enhance language learning and help develop language competence
- may be visible (steps, behavior, techniques) or invisible (thought, metal process) - involve information and memory (vocabulary knowledge, grammar rules) (Clouston, 1997: p 2) Apart from the six criteria by Wenden listed above, Oxford (1990) adds that learning strategies: allow learners to become more self-directed - are flexible
- expand the role of language teachers
- involve many aspects, not just the cognitive - are influenced by a variety of factors
- take communication competence as the main goal
(Oxford, 1990: p 8-14)
In conclusion, the characteristics of learning strategies listed by the authors above once again confirm the importance of learning strategies to learning process Moreover, they also show that learning strategies are not magic, they can be seen, and more importantly, can be taught
2.2.3 Classification
Different researchers have different classifications of learning strategies In this
study, the classification will be reviewed from the least detailed to the most detailed
one
Trang 30Table 2.1 Brown and Palinscar’s classification of learning strategies
Metacognitive strategies Cognitive
+ Thinking about learning process + Manipulation of the material to be learnt
+ Planning for learning
+ Monitoring of learning while it is taking place
+ Self -Evaluation after learning activity
Chamot (1987) agrees partly with Brown and Palinscar’s classification However, after doing a study with seventy ESL students and twenty-two teachers in Virginia, she found out a classification system which is “the most useful for organizing the learning strategies identified” (p.80) Learning strategies, in her opinion, should be grouped into metacognitive, cognitive and social-affective as in Table 2.2
Table 2.2 Chamot’s classification of learning strategies
Metacognitive Cognitive Social- affective
- Advance organizer - Repetition - Cooperation
- Directed attention - Resourcing - Question for clarification
- Selective attention - Directed physical response
- Self- management translation
- Advance Preparation - Grouping
- Self- monitoring - Note-taking
- Delayed production - Deduction
- Self- evaluation - Recombination - Imagery - Auditory Representation - Key word - Contextualization - Elaboration - Transfer - Inferencing
Rubin (1987) groups learning strategies basing on how they contribute to language learning Thus, she divides learning strategies into three groups:
+ Learning strategies are defined as strategies which “contribute to the development of the language system which the learner constructs and affect learning directly”
Trang 31(p.23) This type of strategies consists of metacognitive and cognitive learning strategies in which cognitive strategies are divided into six sub groups and metacognitive strategies consist of 5 sub groups | + Communication strategies less directly contribute to language learning and are used by learners when they participate in a conversation or when “ there is a different between the learner’s knowledge and the learners’ communicative intent” (p.26)
+ Social strategies, according to Rubin (1987: p.27), are activities which students use to give themselves opportunities for practice
Rubin’s classification of learning strategies can be shown in Table 2.3 below Table 2.3 Rubin’s classification of learning strategies Learning strategies Communication Social strategies strategies
Cognitive Metacognitive 1 Using communicative | 1 Creating situation with
1 Clarification/ 1 Planning and linguistic natives
vertification strategies knowledge 2, Initiating conversation
2 Guessing/ inductive 2 Self management 2 Avoidance strategies with other people
3 Deductive reasoning | 3 Advance organizer 3 Clarifying the 3 Spend extra time in
4 Practice 4 Selective attention speaker’s intention language lab
5 Memorization 5 Delayed 4 Listen to television,
6 Monitoring production radio
5 Read extra books in first native language,
then in target language
Among the researchers mentioned, Oxford (1990) has the most detailed classification First, she distinguishes between direct language learning strategies (LLS), "which directly involve the target language"(p.37), and indirect LLS, which "support and manage the language learning without directly involving the target language” (p.135) Then, she further divides them into six groups:
Trang 32+ Cognitive strategies enable learners to understand and produce new language by many different means
+ Compensation strategies allow learners to use the language although they are not really good at the language
+ Metacognitive strategies allow learners to control their own cognition
+ Affective strategies help learners to regulate emotions, motivations and attitudes + Social strategies help learners learn a language by interaction with others
These six groups are then divided into 19 sub groups which are further divided into 64 strategies They can be shown in Diagrams 1 &2 below
Trang 39In short, there has not been a consensus in the way researchers define as well as
classify learning strategies as Oxford (1990, p.17) concluded:
There is no complete agreement on exactly what strategies are; how many strategies exist; how they should be defined, demarcated, and categorized; and whether it is-or ever will be-possible to create a real, scientifically validated hierarchy of strategies ( ) Classification
conflicts are inevitable
Cohen (1996) also thinks that there is still an inconsistency in the way learning strategies are classified He attributes those problems to different criteria for classifying strategies used by different researchers and the lack of a clear-cut among types of strategies In his Statistic, learning strategies have been grouped under certain criteria such as: strategies which contribute directly and indirectly to learning process; those are behavioral and can be seen while others are metal and invisible; those used by successful learners and those used by unsuccessful ones (p.4)
However, in this study, Oxford’s (1990) classification is used as a source to investigate students’ use of learning strategies since “it can provide a useful base for understanding language learning strategies and for launching research.” (Griffiths, 2004: p.5)
2.3 RECENT RESEARCHES ON GENDER EFFECT ON LEARNING STRATEGIES USE
The relationship between gender and language learning has drawn a lot of researcher’s attention Some of them investigated gender effects on learning strategies such as
Ehrman and Oxford (1989, cited in Griffiths, 2004); Goh and Foong (1997) etc.,
whereas some of them were interested in its impact on other factors such as_ learners’
motivation (Mori & Gobel, 2005; Lai & Chan & Wong, 2006) or beliefs about
Trang 40are closely related to this study and their results can be used to compare with the findings of this research
So far, there have been many researches on gender effect on frequency of overall strategy use and strategy choice Although different researches have come to different conclusions in terms of whether gender has any effects on frequency of strategy use, women, in many cases, have been proved to use language learning strategies more
often than men
Lee’s (2003) study in Korea can be taken as an example Her study aimed at investigating the relationship of sex and frequency of learning strategy use The subjects participating in her study were 163 boys and 162 girls from a Korean secondary school where they learned English as a foreign language With Korean translation of Strategy Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) (Oxford, 1990) used as the main instrument, she discovered that in general, girls used all six groups of strategies more often than boys Interestingly, the significant difference was found in five groups: compensation, memory, metacognitive, cognitive and social strategies, which led to her strong recommendation that boys should be taught to use more
learning strategies
In addition, a similar conclusion can be found in Liu’s (2004) study in China Using the same instrument, SILL by Oxford (1990), she found out from a survey with 428 English-major-students at a technological institute that taking overall learning strategy
use into account, female students reported more frequent use than their male
counterparts However, different from the result of Lee’s (2003) research, the significant difference could be found in two categories: memory and affective only The gender effect on learning strategy use can also be found in Hong-Nam and Leavell’s (2006) study They investigated the strategy use of 55 ESL students (25 males and 30 females) from Northwestern university Using SILL by Oxford (1990) as