Factors affecting non-English major students’ motivation in learning English listening skills at College of Industrial Techniques hứng thú học kĩ năng nghe tiến

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** LÊ MINH HƯỜNG FACTORS AFFECTING NON-ENGLISH M

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

LÊ MINH HƯỜNG

FACTORS AFFECTING NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS

AT COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUES

CÁC YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN HỨNG THÚ HỌC KĨ NĂNG NGHE TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

LÊ MINH HƯỜNG

FACTORS AFFECTING NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS

AT COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUES

CÁC YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN HỨNG THÚ HỌC KĨ NĂNG NGHE TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111

Supervisor : Dr Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa

Hanoi, 2014

DECLARATION

I certify that the thesis entitled “Factors affecting non-English major students' motivation

in learning English listening skills at College of Industrial Techniques" is entirely my own

work The substance of this thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree to any other universities or institutions

I would also like to send my sincere thanks to all staff, teachers and members at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies of University of Languages and International Studies-Vietnam National University for their work and services Especially, I am grateful to the librarians who supplied me with a lot of materials

My gratitude is also to my colleagues and students at the College of Industrial Techniques who were willing to answer my questions and complete my questionnaires They gave me invaluable advice and suggestions on the thesis Without them, my thesis could not be completed and successful

Last but not least, I would like to send my thanks to my beloved people, my parents, my husband and my daughter for their encouragement and support which help me overcome difficulties to complete this study

ABSTRACT

Motivation is one of the most important factors that influences the rate and success of second language learning This study aims to investigate the factors affecting non-English major students' motivation in learning English listening skills at the College of Industrial Techniques In this study, 55 first-year non- English major students from different faculties

of College of Industrial Techniques were chosen as the subjects A survey questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were used as the data collection instrument The findings

of the study showed that the factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills derive from 3 sources: students, teachers, learning conditions In details, the first factor is that students‟ lack of basic knowledge, lack of confidence, personality and belief in learning English listening skills The other factor is that students have to face are teachers‟ behaviors and methods in teaching English listening In addition, inadequate school facilities, lack of target language environment, textbook and exam- orientation are also factors affecting that prevent students at College

of Industrial Techniques from concentrating and motivating in their learning English listening skills Based on the findings of the study, some discussions and implications of learning English listening skills are made along with recommended suggestions for further research At last, it is hoped that the results of this study could be of much benefit for students in learning English listening skills at College of Industrial Techniques

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF CHARTS vii

LIST OF TABLES vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 The research questions 2

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Method of the study 3

6 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Theoretical background of motivation 5

1.1.1 Definition of motivation 5

1.1.2 Types of motivation in foreign language learning 6

1.1.3 The role of motivation in second language learning 7

1.2 Theoretical background of listening skills 8

1.2.1 Definition of listening skills 8

1.2.2 Teaching listening skills 9

1.2.3 The factors affecting motivation in learning listening skills 10

1.2.3.1 The student-related factors 10

1.2.3.2 The teacher-related factors 12

1.2.3.3 Teaching and learning conditions 14

1.3 Previous studies in the world and in Vietnam 15

1.4 Summary 16

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17

2.1 The setting of the study 17

2.2 Participants 18

2.3 Instrument for collecting data 20

2.4 Data collection procedures 21

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 22

3.1 Findings 22

3.1.1 Level of students‟ motivation 22

3.1.1.1 Students‟ attitudes towards the learning of listening English 22

3.1.1.2 Students‟ motivation in learning listening English 25

3.1.2 Factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT 27

3.1.2.1 The student-related factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills 27

3.1.2.2 The teacher-related factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills 29

3.1.2.3 Learning conditions affecting students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills 31

3.2 Discussions 32

PART C: CONCLUSION 34

1 Conclusions 34

2 Recommendations 34

3 Limitations of the study 36

4 Suggestions for further research 37

REFERENCES 38 APPENDICES I

APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE I APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW III APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS IV

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CIT : College of Industrial Techniques

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1: Students‟ attitudes towards the learning of listening English Chart 2: Students‟ participation in speaking lessons

Chart 3: Students‟ motivations on learning listening skills

Chart 4: Teachers‟ factors

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The student-related factors

Table 2: Learning conditions

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Among four macro skills of languages, listening skills make a significant contribution to the process of acquiring language Listening skills play a crucial role in communication It has been estimated that the time people spend on communication activities 45 percent is devoted to listening, only 30 percent to speaking, 16 percent to reading and a mere 9 percent to writing by Rivers, W.M & Temperley, M.S (1978) In addition, it also requires a wide range of knowledge and ability: knowledge of phonology, vocabulary, semantics of the language in use, culture of its people, and their life experiences in the topic, their ability to predict and respond However, how to listening English well is a problem for many learners of English, especially for the students of colleges and universities Despite the fact that the students have been learning English since they were at secondary or high school, most of students are weak at listening skills and have a lot of difficulties in listening acquisitions They even become stressful and ignorant in listening lessons

In literature, there have been numerous studies conducted by the international teachers and researchers to investigate a multitude of factors that may affect language learning Among all, motivation has been proved to play a significant role in determining whether students succeed or fail in school In other words, there has been a highly positive relationship between motivation and learners‟ achievement in language learning According to Oxford and Shearin (1996, cited in Ha 2009: 163-164), motivation directly influences how much effort students make, how often students use L2 learning strategies, how much students interact with native speakers, how much input they receive in the language being learned, how well they do on curriculum related achievement tests, how high their general proficiency level becomes, and how long they preserve and maintain L2 skills after language study is over Ely (1986); Oxford & Shearin (1996) Particularly, toward learning listening skills, motivation is one important element in foreign language teaching in general and learning English listening skills in particular

With six years of teaching English at College of Industrial Techniques (CIT), the researcher has realized that students normally lack of motivation in learning English in general and in listening skills in particular In fact, most students have passive attitudes toward learning listening English due to the previous experiences that listening skill is hard

to learn and they fail to take listening input Many of them get bored and become motivated when listening classes start They are generally less aware of its importance In addition to the lack of well-equipped facilities, classes at colleges and universities are usually very large-between fifty and sixty students Another problem is students‟ low level

de-of prde-oficiency in terms de-of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, skills Listening skill is treated equally as other skills in terms of time allocation The foreign language they learn

is often presented in the first language, the emphasis is on grammar only with the aim to help students pass the exams given by either the school examination board or the Ministry

of Education and Training All of these have inspired the author to make an attempt to carry out the research “Factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT” This will be the basis for the researcher in general and the teachers of English at CIT in particular in arousing motivation for students in listening skills, helping them to get involved in different listening activities, keep their efforts during learning process and then achieve successes

2 Aims of the study

This survey is conducted in order to investigate the factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT

Objectives of the study are summarized as follows:

- To investigate the non-English major students‟ level of motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT

- To identify the factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT

3 The research questions

To achieve the aims mentioned above, the following research questions were proposed:

1 How motivated are the non-English major students in learning English listening skills at CIT?

2 What are the factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT?

4 Scope of the study

This study mainly focuses on the factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT However, due to the limit of time and the scope of a minor thesis, the researcher only carried out to investigate the non-English major students‟ level of motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT and identify the factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT The other study of this minor thesis would be beyond of the scope

5 Method of the study

This survey research uses two instruments to collect the data Firstly, the survey questionnaire was conducted with 55 students randomly chosen from about 300 first year students at CIT Secondly, semi-structured interviews with 5 students, who have done the survey questionnaire, were carried out

6 Design of the study

This study consists of three main parts: the introduction, the development and the

conclusion

Part A is the Introduction It lays out the reasons for choosing the topic for this thesis and points out the aims, the scope, the methods and the design of the study

Part B is the Development It consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1: Literature Review presents the theoretical background of motivation, the

theoretical background of listening skills and discussion of issues and aspects concerning the topic of the study

Chapter 2: Methodology gives the situation analysis, participants; instruments for

collection data and data analysis method are discussed in this chapter

Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions present the results from the detailed analysis of

collected data and provides several discussions related to them

Part C is the Conclusion It summarizes the major findings and points out the limitations of the study Furthermore, some suggestions for further studies are also given in this part

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents the theoretical background of motivation, the theoretical background of listening skills and discussion of issues and aspects concerning the topic of the study

1.1 Theoretical background of motivation

1.1.1 Definition of motivation

Motivation plays an important role in the process of English learning – teaching Research shows that motivation is one of the main determining factors in an individual‟s success in developing a L2, it is crucial for L2 learning by Dornyei (1994); Oxford & Shearin (1996) because it directly influences how much effort students make, how often students use L2 learning strategies, how much students interact with native speakers, how

much input they receive in the language being learned, how well they do on curriculum related achievement tests, how high their general proficiency level becomes, and how long

they preserve and maintain L2 skills after language study is over

For many years, a lot of different proposed definitions of motivation have been provided According to Dornyei (2001), motivation is one of the most important factors that influences the rate and success of second language learning He states, “Motivation provides the primary impetus to initiate learning the L2 and later the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process” He claims that without sufficient motivation, even individuals with remarkable abilities couldn‟t accomplish long-term goals However, high motivation can make learners get considerable achievement in spite

of their language aptitude and learning condition

As Dornyei (2001: 7) claims that “ motivation explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are going to sustain their activities.” While Woldkowski, R J (1998) explains that in the broadest sense, motivation is "a value and a desire for learning" Motivation involves a student‟s desire to

participate in the learning process It is also concerned with the reasons or goals which underlie a student‟s participation in learning activities

According to Crooks and Schmidt (1991), motivation is defined in terms of interest in and enthusiasm for the teaching methods used in the class; persistence with the listening task as indicated by levels of attention or action for an extended duration; and levels of concentration and enjoyment From the researcher‟s point of view, this definition is exactly right for the motivation in this study The motivation being investigated in this study is the levels of students‟ motivation generated in the listening lessons whether students are interested and enthusiastic in listening task with high concentration and enjoyment

1.1.2 Types of motivation in foreign language learning

Motivation can be classified in different ways In some studies, motivation is

categorized: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation Besides, motivation in foreign language

learning is more broadly categorized into two types: integrative and instrumental motivation In addition, there are some different categorized of motivation as follows: global, situational, task, resultative motivation Yet due to the scope of the study, the focus

was on two types: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation: Intrinsic motivation is generally possessed by people having personal

interests in doing something and helping to set their goals People are intrinsically motivate not because accomplishing the activity they do brings a rewards, but because doing the

activity itself is a reward by Dornyei (2001:51)

Dornyei (2001) notes that a student with intrinsic motivation participates in his/ her learning for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the learning it permits, or the feelings of accomplishment it evokes

Extrinsic motivation: Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, derives from an anticipation

of rewards such as praise, awards, prizes, and evaluation and fear for punishment as extrinsically motivated students does the activity itself, and this kind of motivation refers

to learning situations where the reason for doing a task is something other than an interest

in the task itself by Williams & Burden (1997:40)

The goal connected with intrinsic motivation is a positive learning effect that lasts a long time, but the goal of an extrinsic motivated student is completely different Ur (1996) points out that extrinsic derives from the influence of some kind of external incentives, as distinct from the wish to learn for its own sake or internet in learning tasks Many sources

of extrinsic motivation are beyond the influence of important people, such as parents However, other sources are certainly affected by teacher action, including success and its rewards, failure and its rewards, failure and its penalties, authoritative demands, tests, competition Teachers use extrinsic motivation to stimulate learning or encourage students

to perform in a particular way It is one of the most powerful motivations It is operative when an individual is motivated by an outcome that is external or somehow related to the activity in which she or he is engaged

In short, the category of motivation is useful for carrying out this study Based on the analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation mentioned above, the teacher can stimulate students to participate in tasks actively by the innovation of teaching methods

1.1.3 The role of motivation in second language learning

Learner motivation has become more and more commonly recognized as one of the major defining factors for success in learning English

Reece & Walker (1997) express that “motivation is a key factor in the second language learning process” They stressed that a less able student who is highly motivated can achieve greater success than the more intelligent student who is not well motivation Among the things that do clearly affected mastery of a second language is the kind of motivation that a learner has Finegan (1994:466)

As Littlewood (1984:53) puts it “in second language learning as well as in other fields of human learning, motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he preserves” Besides, Hedge (2000: 23) affirms, “motivation is of crucial importance in the classroom, whether learners arrive with it or they acquire it through classroom experiences”

Furthermore, Dornyei (2001) states that a learner with enough motivation is likely to gain

an acceptable knowledge of an L2 despite his language aptitude or other cognitive

characteristics Even the brightest student without enough motivation is unlikely to persist long enough to achieve any really useful language Therefore, motivation is crucial for L2 learning, and it is essential to understand what our students‟ motivations are

1.2 Theoretical background of listening skills

1.2.1 Definition of listening skills

In second language learning and teaching, listening is defined as the process of understanding speech in a second or foreign language

Listening plays a vital role in our social life that no one can deny Indeed, listening takes

up as much as fifty percent of our everyday communication time and it is the most used language skill at work and at home by God (2002)

According to Rost (1994) listening now becomes an essential element of communication Listening is essential for interaction A learner can express himself orally but never be able

to communicate with speakers of English if unable to understand what is said to him

As Grant (1987), he states that the listening skill includes everything from learning particular sounds to comprehending complicated messages Without this skill, communication can break down Therefore, successful communication really depends on listener or receivers of messages

Yagang (1993) provide a simpler definition as listening is considered “the ability to identify and understand what others are saying.” In order to understand what is listening, the concept of listening by Underwood (1989) is extracted „listening is the activity of paying attention to and trying to get meaning from something you hear.” Also according to Underwood (1989) to listen successfully to spoke language, we need to

be able to work out what speakers mean when they use particular words in particular ways

on particular occasion, and not simply to understand the words themselves

All in all, listening involves a multiplicity of skills It is a complex, active processes of interpretation in which listener match what they hear with what they have already know

1.2.2 Teaching listening skills

Teaching listening as well as learning listening is not simple, complex and difficult processes Teachers and students meet many challenges in this skill

Mendelsohn (1998) emphasizes that in teaching listening; teachers need to help students become self-regulated learners He claims that listening should be changed from product to process, and the role of teacher is to teach his/her learner “how” to listen, not to test their listening proficiency during listening lessons

Vandergrift (1999) composed a pedagogical sequence in which teachers and students‟ responsibility were indentified clearly in listening lessons This consequence can develop teachers‟ awareness of the process of listening and help students acquire the met cognitive knowledge to success in listening comprehension The consequence consists of three main

monitoring comprehension during a listening task and valuating the approach and outcomes of a listening task

For the period of planning for the successful completion of a listening task, pre-listening activities takes a very important role These activities help students make decisions about what to listen for and, subsequently, to focus attention on meaning while listening During this critical phase of the listening process, teachers prepare students for what they will hear and what they are expected to do First, students need to bring to consciousness their knowledge of the topic, their knowledge of how information is organized in different texts and any relevant cultural information Second, a purpose for listening must be established

so that students know the specific information they need to listen for and/or the degree of detail required Using all the available information, students can make predictions to anticipate what they might hear

During the listening process, students monitor their comprehension and make decisions about strategy use Students need to evaluate continually what they are comprehending and check the consistency with their predictions, and the internal consistency, for example, the ongoing interpretation of the oral text or interaction Teacher intervention during this phase

is virtually impossible because of the ephemeral nature of listening Periodic practice in

decision-making skills and strategy use can sharpen inference skills and help students to monitor more effectively

In addition, students need to evaluate the results of decisions made during a listening task The teacher can encourage self-evaluation and reflection by asking students to assess the effectiveness of strategies used Group or class discussions on the approach taken by different students can also stimulate reflection and worthwhile evaluation Students are encouraged to share individual routes leading to success, for instance, how someone guessed the meaning of a certain word or how someone modified a particular strategy

In order to help students consciously focus on planning, monitoring and evaluation before and after the completion of listening tasks, teachers can develop performance checklists These instruments help students prepare for a listening task and evaluate their own performance

1.2.3 The factors affecting motivation in learning listening skills

There are a variety of factors influencing learners‟ motivation such as learners, parents, community, the learning context, the teacher, the subject matters, teaching and learning conditions, ect However, the author of this research pays much of the attention to some influential factors, namely: students‟ factors, teachers‟ factors and learning conditions

1.2.3.1 The student-related factors

Personality: Personality of the students constitutes a major factor contributing to success

or failure in language learning For example, Ellis (1997) proves that extrovert students are advantaged in the development of language associated with interpersonal communication From the same point of view, Lightbown & Spada (1999) give a number

of personality characteristics: extroversion, inhibition, self – esteem, empathy, dominance, talkativeness, responsiveness To sum up, personality characteristics are likely to affect second language learning including extroversion, relaxation, self-esteem (self-confidence), anxiety and empathy

other” In learning listening, they are expressed through the awareness of the importance of listening, learners‟ needs (personal growth, cultural enrichment, practical goals, and integrative reason) and learners‟ effort and interest in learning and practicing listening

Students’ lack of basic knowledge of English: Among these factors, the first and most

influential factor is their background knowledge Background knowledge refers to the existing information on a specific topic in each language lesson Therefore, if students lack this type of knowledge, it is really challenging for them to get involved in learning activities They are likely to be unable to comprehend new knowledge, and more seriously, they may lose their interests in learning lessons Realizing the importance of this factor, the teacher needs to provide students with suitable background information for the lesson and helps them use it effectively

Besides language items such as vocabulary and grammatical structures may have impact

on students‟ feelings This causes them difficulties in getting meaning as well as practicing language skills Just as Underwood (1989:17) said, “ For people listening to a foreign language , an unknown word can be like suddenly dropped barrier causing them to stop and think about the meaning of the word and thus making them miss the next part of the speech” When hearing unknown words, they easily become worried and stop continue hearing the next part of speech to try to work out the meaning of the new word Students need to develop the skill of keeping up with the speaker even if this means letting part which they have failed to sort out pass

Students’ preference: It refers to learning styles involving an individual‟s natural habitual,

preferred ways of absorbing, processing and retaining new information and skills There

are two types of learning styles related to second language learning:

- Perceptual learning styles include learning through the eyes (visual), through the ears (aural) and through touch and body movement (hap tic)

- Cognitive learning styles: field-independence and field-dependence, reflectivity and impulsivity and ambiguity tolerance

Students’ beliefs: Learners have strong beliefs about how their language instruction should

be delivered or expectations of how classes should be organized and taught “These beliefs

are usually based on previous learning experiences and the assumption (right or wrong)

that a particular type of instruction is the best way for them to learn.” Lightbown (1999: 59) Hence; teachers should help learners expand their repertoire of learning strategies and thus develop greater flexibility in their ways of approaching language learning

Students’ lack of confidence: Learner‟s motivation can strongly decrease depending on

how much confidence learner‟s lack As a result, when a learner lacks confidence toward the language they are learning and the environment they are in, they can easily get anxiety which not only de-motivate them but also is related to proficiency as suggested by Clemen,

Dorneyi and Noel (1994)

Aptitude: According to Lightbown & Spada (1999:53), aptitude is the factor that “predicts

whether individuals become efficient learners of foreign language in a classroom setting”

An aptitude is an innate Aptitude comprises different types of abilities: auditory ability (the ability to identify and memorize new sounds), grammatical sensitivity (the ability to figure out grammatical rules from language samples, the ability to understand the function

of particular words in sentences) and memory (the ability to memorize new words)

1.2.3.2 The teacher-related factors

The teacher also needs to be clearly aware of learners‟ needs, their motivation and their purposes of their learning A good teacher should be the one who is capable of pulling the student and the lesson closely together

Teacher’s behaviors: The first factor affecting the motivation of learners is the teacher‟s

attitudes and behaviors The way the teacher feels, thinks, and behaves while teaching surely has a profound influence on learners‟ motivation and the learning atmosphere When the teacher has personal and interpersonal variables such as good mood, warmth, respect, empathy, understanding, sensitivity, enthusiasm, good sense of humor, the learning environment is likely to be relaxing and enjoying to students It is suggested that when learners have chances to work with an instructor who shows students excitement about the subject matter being taught, or simply expresses their love for teaching job, inevitably they are affected by this energy and will engage themselves more actively in the

learning process

Moreover, when the teacher shows that their expectations are put on students‟ abilities, they are more likely to reach higher levels of achievement and feel more confident Learners tend to perform at the level that is consistent with the teacher‟s belief and expectations

Teaching methods: Besides, the teacher‟s teaching techniques and activities are of great

impact on learners‟ motivation Without proper techniques and activities in the learning process, learners could be left in confusion and boredom while dealing with the subject matter That is why the teacher should invest more time and efforts in designing and processing teaching materials as well as in finding out appropriate techniques and activities that can best facilitate learners in their learning For example, in listening, teaching methods of one lesson can be different, they depend on three stages: pre – listening, while – listening and post – listening

However, when deciding what teaching method to use, a teacher needs to consider students' background knowledge, environment, and learning goals The teachers aware that students learn in different ways so they must use techniques which cater to multiple learning styles to help students retain information and strengthen understanding

Enthusiasm: Teachers' love, dedication and passion together with their commitment toward

the subject matter will give students willingness to pursue knowledge Moreover, based on Good & Brophy (1994), teachers should clearly identify reasons for their love and interest

in the L2 and then share these reasons with their students

Ability to listen and pay attention to students: The teacher can convey his/ her personal

attention to the students by remembering their names, smiling at them, asking them about their lives outside school

Teacher’s competence: It refers to teacher‟s proficiency, social and cultural background

knowledge The proficiency shows by the level of mastering and using the second language, the ability to perform teachers‟ mastery suitably to the content of each lesson Social and cultural background knowledge is known with the understanding of society and culture in both the second language community and the mother tongue community and shown in teaching

1.2.3.3 Learning conditions

Physical conditions: Physical conditions in the classroom include the classroom size,

chairs, desks, table, lights, boards and even bulletin boards affect students' motivation either positively or negatively The decoration (poster, flowers, funny objects) also has a strong influence on the classroom atmosphere Moreover, according to Dornyei (2001: 42), personalizing the classroom can be seen as students exercising increasing control over their environment

Besides, noise and quality of listening facilities might cause students‟ listening become challenging Noise including both background noises on the recording and environmental noises, can take the listener‟s mind off the content of the listening passage Furthermore, listening material on tape or radio lacks visual and aural environmental clues Not seeing the speaker‟s body language and facial expressions makes it more difficult for the listener

to understand the speaker‟s meaning Moreover, unclear sounds resulting from quality equipment can interfere with the listener‟s comprehension

poor-Classroom atmosphere: Teacher must be aware of how important to create a pleasant and

supportive classroom atmosphere The teacher's rapport with the students, the students' relationship with each other and the norm of tolerance will help students feel safe and comfortable taking risk Moreover, teacher should make students know that making mistakes is a natural part of learning Therefore, students are encouraged to express their own opinion and thinking As Lightbown & Spada (1999), they state that the supportive

and non- threatening atmosphere made a contribution to learners' motivation

Learning materials: One of the most important factors that influence the learner‟s

motivation is learning materials Interesting, relevant, and carefully-designed materials will surely more motivate students in learning the subject matter For example, students will easily lose their interest in dealing with reading text containing too many new words, complex structures and ambiguous ideas And if the content of the reading is nothing relevant to the topic at hand of the lesson, students are definitely uninterested in working with it In addition, the lack of diversification in tasks used also makes students reluctant to fully engage with the learning activity

1.3 Previous studies in the world and in Vietnam

The impact of motivation in foreign language learning has been recognized significantly by many educational researchers

Gardner (1985), Dornyei (2001), Brown (1994) etc., have generated the concept of motivation, its effects in foreign language learning and applicable strategies for improving learners‟ motivation in class In the light of their researches, teachers are able to answer the question how to motivate learners for success and their findings encourage or support educational researchers to do more research in different aspects of language teaching Sakai and Kikuchi (2009) investigated 6 factors from reviewing previous studies of de-motivation in learning, concluding teachers, characteristics of classes, experiences of failure, class environment, class materials, and lack of interest They administrated a 35-item questionnaire to 656 Japanese high school students and identified the following sources of de-motivation: 1) Learning contents and materials, 2) Teachers‟ competence and teaching style, 3) Inadequate school facilities, 4) Lack of intrinsic motivation, and 5) Test scores In contrast to both previous studies, teacher-related factors were not the most de-motivating factors, that learning contents and materials and test scores are the prominent

de-motivating factors for various students

Kikuchi (2011) conducted a research among 1334 Japanese senior high school students at

7 high schools The questionnaire was used as the data instrument The de-motivation was found from these sources: students‟ difficult experience or loss of interest in learning In addition, influence from teachers also causes de-motivation and material focusing on difficult reading passage and/or vocabulary causes the strongest sense of de-motivation Kikuchi‟s study also reviews on de-motivation and de-motivators of previous study in detail The questionnaires he used depend on analysis of other study and chose the most effective points such as from Dornyei, Oxford and Gardner His study is one part of the background for this study However, only questionnaire was used If there were interviews

with students, the deeper information could be collected from students

Relating to factors affecting students‟ motivation to study English, Tuyen, N.T (2012) did research on “factors affecting students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at An Lao high school” The researcher uses a questionnaire of two parts and interview as the data

collection The study revealed that students lacked listening strategies, but teachers didn't teach those listening strategies regularly Teachers had to face in teaching listening was that students lacked language knowledge and vocabulary Moreover, learning environment and learning facilities also badly affected teaching and learning listening

Another study conducted by Huong, N.T.T (2010) to investigate non-majors‟ motivational factors in learning English listening at Hai Phong private university Participants were 186 English non - major students at TOEIC level 2 in total of 1078 students from seven different classes The data was collected using a survey questionnaire in Likert Scale pattern After analyzing five learners‟ related factors, the findings showed that the effect of each factor on students‟ motivation was different while, for each factor, the ideas were shown rather similarly in both groups of participants coming from the country and from the urban areas

Overall, there have been number of studies in motivation in foreign language learning and learning English skills However, there has been little research into factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at College of Industrial Techniques This is the gap that the current thesis study tries to bridge By doing research through questionnaires a semi-structured interview, this study hopes to add further evidence to the small but growing body of research on this topic

1.4 Summary

In this chapter, motivation has not been paid more attention from Vietnamese students and researchers From the factual contexts that the researcher works in and finds the matter interesting and necessary, this study aims to measure the factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT

Among the factors identified by previous researchers and depending on the context of teaching and learning English at CIT, the researcher wants to put emphasis on the following factors: the teacher-related factors, the student-related factors, and learning conditions

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter deals with the setting of the study, participants, instrument for collecting

data and data collection procedures

2.1 The setting of the study

The study was conducted at College of Industrial Techniques It is located in the center of Bac Giang city, a mountainous province of Vietnam The main duty of this college is to train and foster thousands of managers, highly qualified technicians and skilled workers for the country in general and the province in particular

The teaching of English at CIT is divided into two phases In the first phase, students acquire General English with the four language skills through New English File Elementary course book by Clive Oxenden, Christina Latham-Koenig, Paul Seligson, published by Oxford University Press The course book consists of 09 units with 09 different topics relating to our life such as holiday, friends, entertainment, survivors, travel, fashion, health, experiences and so on Especially, the book supports students with some supplementary such as grammar reference, functional language, tape script, workbook and key

According to the course book New English File Elementary, listening skills are learnt generally with other skills in each unit Students listen to the subject matters related to the unit topic; new vocabulary is presented in listening sessions Listening lesson includes 2 -

3 tasks (matching, multiple choice questions, true/false, comprehension questions, filling, taking notes, etc.) aiming at developing students‟ comprehensive listening

gap-In the second phase, students acquire English for Specific Purposes depending on their major Students at CIT have to learn English from the first term The time allocated to English is five 45-minute periods per week in 15 weeks for each semester

At CIT, six teachers take charge of teaching Basic English Among them, four have Master Degree and the rest hold a bachelor degree in English Language Teaching Two of them have more than three years teaching experience