SKKN Động cơ của học sinh, thái độ của cha mẹ ảnh hưởng đến việc học tiếng Anh của các em học sinh trường THPT

SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐỀ TÀI: "ĐỘNG CƠ CỦA HỌC SINH, THÁI ĐỘ CỦA CHA MẸ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN VIỆC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA CÁC EM HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG THPT" CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This introductory chapter provides three parts: the reason for choosing the topic, the aims of the study, the scope and significance of the study 1.1 Reasons for choosing the topic The study of motivation in second language acquisition (SLA) has become an important research topic with the development of socio-educational model on second language (L2) motivation (Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Gardner, 1985; Gardner & MacIntyre, 1993; Tremblay & Gardner, 1995) According to Gardner and Lambert (1972), motivation to learn an L2 is grounded in positive attitudes toward the L2 community and in a desire to communicate with valued members of that community and become similar to them This desire is integrative orientation, which is a support for language learning, while an instrumental orientation is associated with the desire to learn L2 for pragmatic gains such as getting a better job or higher salary (Dornyei, 2001; Gardner & Lambert, 1972) L2 motivation is indeed a prerequisite condition for the success of L2 learners like food for the brain Successful language learning can only take place if the learner has goals and an inner drive to achieve these goals (Crookes & Schmidt, 1991) L2 motivation can be seen as a desire to study the foreign language to understand and use the language that learners are learning and to serve their purposes For example, motivation in learning English as a foreign language (EFL) involves a student’s desire to participate in the English learning process (Gardner, 1985) Without L2 motivation, learners would feel bored, and then they just learn to pass the exams or please their parents (Krashen, 1982) Gradually, they would be afraid of studying L2 Motivation plays a significant role in the process of learning a language Language teachers cannot effectively teach a language if they not understand the relationship between motivation and its effect on language acquisition as well as its affecting factors The core of motivation is what might be called passion, which relates to a person's intrinsic goals and desires Successful learners know their preferences, their strengths and weaknesses, and effectively utilize strengths and compensate for weaknesses Successful language learning is linked to the learner’s passion (Karaoglu, 2008) One of the factors affecting L2 motivation maintaining is parents Parents can be considered as the most important in increasing and maintaining student motivation in L2 learning According to Wlodkowski and Jaynes (1990), parents can greatly influence and maintain their child’s motivation for a lifetime Parental influences are an integral part of students’ motivation Indeed, the home environment and family support may be major factors influencing the school student (Walberg, Paschal, & Weinstein, 1985 as cited in Hein & Wimer, 2007) Fortunately, many modern parents nowadays are aware of the fact that failure or success of their children depends greatly on the parents themselves - “the first and long life teacher” (Hein & Wimer, 2007) In order to succeed in education in general and in teaching English in particular, teachers should understand the factors affecting student motivation Once teachers can understand the parental influence, they would probably find ways to cooperate with parents to motivate students more so that the students could be successful English learners Important as motivation and the role of parents in maintaining and enhancing motivation are, it is a sad fact that in rural areas in Vietnam like Hungyen, the motivation for English is low Unlike parents in big cities such as Hanoi and Hochiminh city, many of whom are so involved in their children’s English learning as shown in the number of children taking extra courses and scoring so high in English, parents in non-urban areas not seem to have given due attention to this subject Unfortunately, no effort so far has been spent on exploring this aspect of learning as well as the attitudes of the parents towards their children’s English learning Obviously, an investigation into this area will bring about the information needed to gain an insight into how students in those less advantageous areas are driven toward the most important language in today’s globalization context, how their parents feel toward the subject and how these two aspects are inter-related 1.2 Aims of the Study The study aimed at investigating the level of student motivation and their parent’ attitudes and involvement in their English learning at DQH Senior High School 1.3 Scope and Significance of the Study The study was conducted at DQH Senior High School in Vangiang district, Hung Yen province The study focused on examining student motivation in the language that they are learning: English and their parents’ attitudes and involvement in their English learning It is expected to provide deeper understanding of how students in less advantageous areas in Vietnam feel toward the language and what kind of motivation is stronger It is also intended to draw a picture, though far from comprehensive, on how parents in those districts are involved in their children language learning From all this implications on how to better motivate the students, how to maximize parents’ support, how to initiate and sustain parents’ engagement could be drawn The study certainly had practical value for teachers teaching English in DQH Senior High School in particular, and for any researchers who would like to improve language teaching as well as learning in general Knowing the factors affecting student motivation would assist the search for better teaching and learning process CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Motivation as a significant factor in language learning has attracted interest of various researchers and the literature is, therefore, very rich This chapter, however, limits itself to issues that are most pertinent to the research focus They are types of motivation, roles of motivation and parental attitudes and involvement in children’s language learning The review also covers studies into possible roles of parents in shaping the students’ motivation for the language 2.1 Motivation in L2 learning 2.1.1 Definition Research on motivation in L2 learning has been heavily influenced by the work of Canadian psychologist Gardner and MacIntyre (1993) According to Gardner (1985), a highly motivated individual will want to learn the language, enjoy learning it, and strive to learn it The Gardnerian theory of L2 learning motivation is based on the definition of motivation as “the extent to which the individual works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to so and the satisfaction experienced in this activity” (Gardner, 1985) In this definition, motivation is described as goal-directed Gardner (1985) proposes that in order to understand why learners are motivated, it is necessary to understand the learner’s ultimate goal or purpose for learning the language He refers to this as the learner’s orientation (Gardner, 1985) Besides, he identifies two distinct orientations for learning a language, which are integrative and instrumental orientations 2.1.2 Types of Motivation 2.1.2.1 Integrative Motivation Integrative motivation or integrative orientation refers to a learner’s desire to learn more about the cultural community of the target language (TL) or to assimilate to some degree in the target community (Gardner, 1985) Moreover, integrative motivation refers to a desire to increase the affiliation with the target community Integrative motivation is characterized by the learner's positive attitudes towards the TL group and the desire to integrate into the TL community (Gardner, 1982; Gardner, 1985) In this sense, the student with integrative motivation likes to learn the TL as he wants to know more about its culture and people In addition, integrative motivation is a key component in assisting the learner to develop some level of proficiency in the language When someone becomes a resident in a new community that uses the TL in social interactions, it becomes a necessity to operate socially in the community and become one of its members It is also theorized that integrative motivation underlies successful acquisition of a native like pronunciation (Finegan, 1999) It is thought that students who are most successful in learning a TL are those who like the people that speak the language, admire the culture and have a desire to become familiar with or even integrate into the society in which the language is used (Falk, 1978) In EFL setting such as Vietnam, especially in small, quiet towns, where there are very few English speakers and the exposure to English cultures is very low, it is important to consider the actual meaning of the term "integrative." As Benson (1991) suggests, a more appropriate approach to the concept of integrative motivation in the EFL context would be the idea that it represents the desire of the individual to become bilingual, while at the same time becoming bicultural This occurs through the addition of another language and culture to the learner's own cultural identity As Vietnam is predominantly a monoculture society, opportunities to use the TL in daily verbal exchanges are relatively restricted, especially in the countryside where foreigners rarely appear Hence, there is limited potential for integrating into the TL community It could be anticipated that the integrative motivation under investigation would not be very strong 2.1.2.2 Instrumental Motivation Instrumental motivation or Instrumental orientation underlies the goal to gain some social or economic reward through L2 achievement, thus referring to a more functional reason for language learning (Gardner, 1985) Instrumental motivation is a more utilitarian orientation It refers to learner’s desires to learn the language in order to accomplish some non-interpersonal purpose such as to pass an exam, to get a scholarship, to advance a career, to meet the requirements for school or university graduation, to apply for a job, to achieve higher social status, and so forth (Clement et al., 1994; Dornyei, 1990; Hudson, 2000; Verma, 2005) This is generally characterized by the desire to obtain something practical or concrete from the language study In brief, it is clear that the latter refers to the need to acquire a language as a means for attaining goals such as career advancement or successful further study The former, however, refers to the desire to learn a language in order to become closer to the culture and society of the TL group To gain a clear and deep understanding about motivation roles, types, the following studies are supposed to be useful 2.1.3 Role of motivation in L2 learning The study of motivation in SLA has become an important research topic with the development of the socio-educational model on L2 motivation (Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Gardner, 1985; Gardner & MacIntyre, 1993; Tremblay & Gardner, 1995) According to Gardner and Lambert (1972), motivation to learn an L2 is grounded in positive attitudes towards the L2 community and a desire to communicate with valued members of that community and become similar to them The latter desire is integrative motivation, which is a better support for language learning, while instrumental motivation is associated with a desire to learn L2 for pragmatic gains such as getting a better job or a higher salary (Clement, Dornyei, & Noels, 1994; Dornyei, 2001; Gardner & Lambert, 1972).; Hudson, 2000; Verma, 2005) Without motivation, success will be hard to achieve (Ushioda, 2000) Motivation provides the primary impetus to begin learning a second/foreign language and to sustain the long and difficult learning process (Brown, 2000; Ely, 1986; Gardner, 1985; Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Nunan, 2000; Nunan & Lamb, 1996; Oxford & Shearin, 1994; Scarcella & Oxford, 1992; Williams & Burden, 1997) The role of orientation can help arouse motivation and direct it towards a set of goals, with either a strong interpersonal quality (integrative motivation) or a strong practical quality (instrumental motivation) (Dornyei, 2001) Studies in the psychology of learning affirm that without motivation little can be learned (Williams & Burden, 1997) Additionally, numerous research studies on L2 motivation reveal that, in general, motivation enhances SLA; learners ranking high on integrative motivation work harder and learn faster than those who are low on integrative motivation (Clement et al., 1994; Gardner, 1985; Gardner & MacIntyre, 1991; Tremblay & Gardner, 1995; Liu, 2007, etc.) Therefore, integrative and instrumental orientations or intrinsic and extrinsic motivations contribute to the learning of an L2 Nevertheless, as to which one is more important varies from context to context Likewise, students in different contexts may be motivated to learn an L2 by different orientations This is why the issue is still worth further exploration in situations with different groups of learners It is worth noting that L2 motivation is recognized as one of the prerequisites for successful language learning Motivation is “a very important, if not the most important factor in language learning” (Van Lier, 1996) without which even “gifted” individuals cannot accomplish long-term goals, whatever the curriculum and whoever the teacher Instrumental motivation as a contributing factor to learners’ effort and success in SLA: “the greater the value that individuals attach to the accomplishment of or involvement in the activity, the more highly motivated they will be to engage in it initially, and later to put sustained effort into succeeding in the activity” (Verma, 2005; Williams & Burden, 1997) 2.1.4 Studies into integrative and instrumental motivations It has been shown that both integrative and instrumental motivations are important A student might learn an L2 well with an integrative motivation or with instrumental motivation, or indeed with both, for one does not rule out the other or with other motivation Both integrative and instrumental motivations may lead to success, but lack of either would cause problems (Gardner, 1985) Firstly, integrative motivation has been found to sustain long-term success when learning an L2 (Ellis, 1997; Taylor, Meynard & Rheault, 1977) In some of the early research conducted by Gardner and Lambert (1972), integrative motivation is viewed as being of more importance in a formal learning environment than instrumental motivation (Ellis, 1997) In later studies, integrative motivation has continued to be emphasized, although now the importance of instrumental motivations is also stressed However, it is noteworthy that instrumental motivation has only been acknowledged as a significant factor in some research, whereas integrative motivation is continually linked to successful SLA It has been found that generally students select instrumental reasons more frequently than integrative reasons for the study of languages (Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Liu, 2007; Ushioda, 2000; Wong, 2005) They are also good language learners Nevertheless, it should be repeated that those who support an integrative approach to language study are usually more highly motivated and overall more successful in language learning Gardner and Lambert (1972) conducted an important study in the Philippines The researchers switched from the study of French to the study of English, which is the most prestigious language in the Philippines The subjects in this study were high school students who had approximately six years of formal training in English Additionally, English has been the means of instruction since the third grade In the study, Gardner and Lambert (1972) concluded that those students who were instrumentally motivated and received support in their homes succeeded in English language development more than those students who were not instrumentally oriented Nevertheless, those students who identified with the foreign language culture and language seemed to be in a position of advantage in the language acquisition process Finally, and most important, Gardner and Lambert (1972) concluded that in the foreign language setting, teachers and administrators should try to help students develop integrative motivation toward the foreign language and its culture In L2 setting, it is of fundamental importance to help students develop both instrumental and instrumental motivations Man-Fat’s (2004) study focused on the relationship between integrative motivation and L2 achievement among Chinese L2 learners in Hong Kong The respondents of the study included 41 students at St Francis Xavier's College (SFXC) SFXC is a boys' school in 10 completing English tasks, which could affect the children’s consolidation of the lesson learnt 4.2 Parental attitudes and involvement in children’s English learning as judged by parents Parental attitudes and involvement in children’s English learning were also measured by summing the scores from the twelve items in the questionnaire (items to 12) The higher the scores, the more positive attitudes and frequent involvement parents devoted to their children’s English learning The following section will report the findings from parents’ questionnaire in detail Table 5: PARENTAL ATTITUDES AND INVOLVEMENT IN CHILDREN’S ENGLISH LEARNING (n=92) N o Statements StrD D N A StrA M SD Md I think English is (2%) important 0 15 75 4.7 (0% (0% (16%) (82% ) ) ) 0.6 I stress the importance (8%) English will have for my child when he/she leaves school 0 23 62 1.0 I think that 58 because we (63% 25 live in the ) (27 countryside, %) 0.9 5 4.4 (0% (0 (25%) (67% ) %) ) (0% (9%) ) 41 (1%) 4.4 my child not need to study English I believe that 21 61 4.3 my child (10% (1% (0% (23%) (66% should spend ) ) ) ) more time learning English 1.2 5 11 I give my child (8%) everything that he/she needs to study English well 0 36 49 4.3 (0% (0% (39%) (53% ) ) ) 1.0 36 47 5% 4.2 (0% (39%) (51% ) ) 02 12 51 29 4.0 (0% (55%) (32% ) ) 0.9 I tell my child 15 0 37 40 3.9 to seek help (17% (0% (0% (40%) (43% from the ) ) ) ) teacher if he/she has problems with his/her English 1.3 1.1 I encourage my child to (5%) learn English well 12 I force my child to study (0%) English 10 I feel proud of 24 my child if (13 %) 0 40 28 42 3.5 he/she studies (26% (0% (0% (44%) (30% English well ) ) ) ) I encourage my child to (1%) watch English television programs 28 41 22 1.5 0% 3.5 (45%) (24% ) (30 %) I encourage my child to (3%) listen to English radio programs 31 40 18 1.0 (34 %) 3.3 (0% (43%) (20% ) ) I help my 90 child with (98 his/her %) English homework 0 (0 %) (0 %) (0%) 58 1.0 (2%) Total mean = 46.07; SD = 5.38; Md = 50; Min = 28; Max = 56 Table summarizes the results drawn from parents’ questionnaire Overall, the result in this part shows that most parents were concerned about their children’s English learning and constantly gave them support in their English studying They were the parents who paid due attention to their children’s studying in general and their English learning in particular Items 5, and had the highest mean scores: all retaining the mean score of over 4.4 In contrast, item - helping the child to English homework - took the 43 smallest mean score (M = 1.08), which in general replicate the findings in Table about the children’s perception of their parents’ support As can be seen in Table 5, the parents report to attach great importance to English despite the fact that they are not in direct contact with the language as in urban areas like Ha noi or Ho chi Minh city (items 5, and with the mean score in the range of 4.42 and 4.75) They believed more time budget should be spent on this subject (M = 4.34), tried to satisfy the needs connected to language learning (M = 4.30), urged them to study the language (M = 4.27), even made use of force (M = 4.05) In other words they said they had done everything they could to best facilitate the language learning There may be very good reasons behind this enthusiasm First, the parents might think that their children would need English to pass the National Graduation Exams as English are required as a compulsory subject Second, perhaps the parents may hope that their children might select English as the subject for university admission exam or the policy by Ministry of Education and Training may change and English could be included in the list of compulsory subjects for university entrance selection They could also be inspired by the media with positive news attached to professions connected to English such as journalists, teachers, office workers, tourist guides Items 7, I tell my child to seek help from the teacher if he/she has problems with his/her English, and item 10, I feel proud of my child if he/she studies English well demonstrate a significantly positive note too: 83% and 74% respectively Parents’ involvement can be illustrated in their effort in urging their children to watch English television programs and listen to those on radio to improve their children English competence As is shown in table 5, in cases of item , I encourage my child to watch English television programs, with M = 3.52, SD = 1.56 and item 9, I encourage my child 44 to listen to English radio programs, with M = 3.32, SD = 1.01, most parents have done the right thing However, it is worth noting that up to 30% of them never encouraged their children to so For the item 6, I help my child with his/her English homework, which takes the most modest mean score, two of the parents stated they ever helped their children with their English homework, while 98% definitely affirmed that they were not able to help their children with their English homework though they might wish to As commented above, a very similar pattern to that elicited by the students’ questionnaire is registered However, it should be acknowledged that the parents were more positive in evaluating their roles concerning the task of boosting the children’s motivation to English learning It is also interesting to direct attention to the fact that the number of students who clearly felt the pressure that the parents exerted on them with respect to leaning the language is slightly smaller than the number of parents who admitted forcing them to learn the subject In brief, parents’ attitudes and involvement in children’s English learning in the present study were encouraging Though parents were not able to help their children in English practice, they stimulated them by their verbal encouragement According to Madileng’s (2007) study, parents with poor educational background fail to provide help, monitor their homework or share them experiences in enjoying educative television and radio programs Moreover, virtually all the parents in this study were farmers with limited financial resources, which may restrain them from investing money into resources like books, magazines, newspapers, and other materials in English 45 4.3 Parental attitudes and involvement in children’s English learning perceived by students and parents Table 6: T-test value of mean scores of parents’ attitudes and involvement children’s English learning perceived by students and by their parents Group n Mean SD Students’ 92 44.03 in 6.50 perceptions Parents’ t 0.64 92 46.07 5.38 perceptions As shown in Table 6, the t-test was used to assess whether there was any difference between students’ perception and their parents’ judgement on parental attitudes and involvement in their English learning Although the means score for the students is slightly lower than their parents (students’ mean = 44.03; parents’ mean = 46.07), there is no significant difference (t = 0.64) This t-test result indicates that there is no statistical difference between the two means Interestingly, this finding was not the same as Sung and Padilla’s (1998) study, in which the t-value was so high with t = 9.67 Students in their study were reported to have downplayed parental involvement in their foreign language learning and revealed negative towards what they received from their parents’ attitudes 46 4.4 Correlation between students’ motivation and parental attitudes and involvement in children’s English learning Table 7: R- values of students’ motivation and PARENTAL ATTITUDES AND INVOLVEMENT Students’ motivation Integrative Instrumental Orientation Orientation Parental attitudes and involvement r = 054 r = 544 Parental attitudes and involvement – self- r = 007 r = 365 as perceived by students (n = 92) evaluating (n = 92)] As mentioned in section 3.4, data analysis, the correlation coefficient (r) was applied to assess whether there was any relationship between student integrative motivation, instrumental motivation and parental attitudes and involvement in their English studying Table reveals some interesting findings relating to the subjects motivation level and possible connection between this factor and parents’ support As confirmed in the previous sections, parents are affirmative in their roles toward enhancing the children’s learning and this is generally confirmed by the triangulation of data from the student questionnaire although the latter is less positive This, however, seems to have very little impact on the integrative motivation as displayed by the children (r = 054) and by parents’ judgement (r = 007) Despite the encouragement by the parents the subjects only connected English learning to their need to entertain with English songs and music The parents, perhaps, rarely mentioned the use of this global language in opportunities to 47 meet international people, get to know the beauty of other cultures, be immersed in an English culture or live a life of an English-speaking person This is by nature easy to comprehend: people in very closely-knit communities like rural area of Hung Yen may be terrified by the idea of leaving their own country, changing their identify or becoming an outsider in behaviors and attitudes There seems to be some stronger connection between parental attitudes and involvement perceived by students and that by parents with their instrumental motivation (r = 544, and 365 respectively) As can be seen in Table 2, the most positive responses are related to job and studies, in the same line as what is felt from the parents’ questionnaires The major findings from the study point to the sad fact that although the parents’ attitudes toward the language were strong and their pressure was clearly felt, they could not change the children’s motivation level to a more positive direction very effectively Direct involvements such as giving them a hand with English homework, sharing with them pieces music and songs, books, etc., which could help to enhance their motivation to a much higher level, unfortunately cannot be afforded by these parents of very limited academic background Mahlobo (1999) maintain that besides verbal encouragement, parents need to monitor whenever possible the learning process, provide and guide the children in selecting materials The parents’ socio-economic status clearly plays a role: as pointed out by Du Toit (1993) in Mahlobo (1999) the lack of facilities such as computers, magazines results in scarce exposure in English and in their intellectual matters 4.5 Summary It has been found that the motivation displayed by these 10 graders was generally low with instrumental one slightly higher than integrative It is also indicated that both parents and students themselves were generally content with the support given to English 48 However, it is felt that the connection between the parents’ healthy attitudes and enormous verbal support without direct involvement and guidance and supervision as a result of their poor background and limited financial resources cannot significantly booster the children’s motivation CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 5.1 Recommendations 5.1.1 Parents As clearly discussed in the previous chapter, contrary to the high level of parent’s perceptions and involvements in the children’s English learning, the latter’s motivation was not satisfactory at all, especially integrative motivation While it is worth acknowledging that motivation does depend on many factors as reviewed in Chapter 2, the role of parents needs highlighting here and lessons drawn from this case must be learnt Many studies (Gardner, 1968; Wlodkowski & Jaynes, 1990, for example) have suggested that parents’ support for and interest in their children’s progress are clearly linked to children’s motivation In this study, surely these attitude factors are not sufficient Parents need to show support by specific factors that they more rarely as reported in the research To maneuver the language motivation to a new level, parents need to adopt an active role, which is exemplified by activities such as providing guidance, supervising homework, reinforcing their successes (Gardner, 1968) This, unfortunately, is only feasible with families in which parents are capable of communicating in English as in the case of many intellectual, middle-class families in urban areas like Ha noi and Hochiminh city 49 As for parents of similar profile as those in this study passive form of support must be maximized They can this by creating a supportive affective family climate (Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998) Specifically, parents could try harder in making exposure to English programs on TV and radio more accessible Instead of watching/listening to films, documentaries in Vietnamese together, perhaps parents should discuss and save TV time for their children viewing in English With help available from Vietnamese Television and Radio Broadcasting they can easily decide which programs are suitable for their children In fact cartoons and children’s programs such as Humphrey Bear, Play School could give enormous chance for reviewing grammatical and vocabulary items learned at school as well as learning something new in both language and culture terms Also in passive role parents should learn more about the world, especially Englishspeaking ones and be prepared to share their stories with the children These activities will help to familiarize the children more with the culture in target, shorten the gap they may feel between their home culture and foreign one In brief, parents should be aware of the fact that they can assist their children even when they not know the language Bandura (1997) found that “parents who doubt their efficacy to help their children learn, turn over their children’s education entirely to teachers”, while parents who are confident in their ability to help usually “guide their children’s learning and participate actively in the life of the school” Knowing what they could to help, even in very passive role, will bringing them closer to the children and make their support more viable 5.1.2 Teachers Given the important role of motivation as reviewed in Chapter (Brown, 2000; Ely, 1986; Gardner, 1985; Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Nunan, 2000; Nunan & Lamb, 1996 to 50 name just a few) the low levels of both integrative motivation and instrumental motivation with almost no or weak correlation with parental attitudes and involvement suggest that undertakings be made by the teachers In this part recommendations are specified in relation to the two motivation types in this research focus and in relation to the parents’ roles only First of all, to enhance the student’s integrative motivation teachers show active motivational socializing behavior by, for example, modeling in terms of effort expenditure and orientations of interest in the language The love saved for the language compounded by patience and perseverance in exposing the learners to cultural elements of the TL will eventually succeed in generating a much higher level of interest Activities organized in class could be culture exploring ones such as reading about English speaking communities, poster sessions, poetry reading, song learning, games, mini talkshows With respect to instrumental motivation, guest speaking sessions given by alumnae who are working in English-speaking environments or have been to countries where the language is spoken could help the course participants to understand how important English might be to their future jobs and study Videos showing English speaking Vietnamese at work in international offices, factories, etc could be inspirational too Another important task for teachers is to improve the attitudes of the parents and guide them toward to specific behaviors aimed at nurturing the interests for English Meetings with parents could be held where teachers can talk about how to maximize children’s motivation, what books/TV/radio programs they should be encouraged to watch, etc If regular meetings are not possible, communication through letters, handouts could be useful too though this may require more supervising 51 5.1.3 School Schools should be supportive to any attempts displayed by either teachers or parents to motivate the children to learn English Schools could have a program like the Enrichment Program, which has been introduced in rural schools in Malaysia (Hussin et al., 2000) and has being proved to be working well The Enrichment Program is believed to be interesting, useful for language learners and especially suitable for Vietnamese students This language enrichment program should not be seen as separate from the school cirriculum Instead, it needs to complement and strengthen the development of language proficiency of students in schools Therefore, what occurs in the language classrooms must be extended beyond the walls of the classroom so that a link is created between what is learned in the classrooms with what occurs outside of the classrooms A healthy balance should be created between the immediate needs of examinations and the longterm needs of communicative competence Within the enrichment program, various activities and tasks which require active participation of the learners should be prepared Some examples of such activities are as follows A school library of English materials collected by teachers, parents and students where students can go there to read foreign language books, magazines, newspapers, short story books, references in English, etc A specific day of week or month or time and space devoted to the use of the language such as an English zone, spelling bee competition, story-telling corner, read-to-me corner, drama competition, poetry reading at the general assembly, for example in a flag saluting period 52 An English speaking club where students can exchange their secrets or experience to learn English well, and then they can practice English in a natural and comfortable way These activities, if organized by schools, should be supported by parents, teachers and students Classroom or school environments should provide simple strategies to encourage the use of English such as murals, i.e., large paintings done on a wall, labels in and around the school, consistent exposure to English language competitions (choral speaking, scramble, ie., game in which words are built up on a board marked with squares, using letters printed on blocks of wood and English notice board) All these need to be given acknowledgement and recognition in the form of rewards and encouragement (e.g., prizes, public mention, etc.) to motivate and sustain interest in the use of English (Hussin et al., 2000) In brief, teaching EFL to students in rural areas remains a great challenge because performance in exams is usually considered more important than for other purposes It requires not only courageous, well-determined, and committed teachers but also creative and innovative teaching techniques DQH teachers are supposed to find practical ways to motivate students to learn and appreciate English language, and at the same time, sustain students’ interest and motivation in English learning process 5.2 Conclusion and further research This study attempted to investigate DQH tenth-grade students’ English learning orientations, and parental attitudes and involvement in students’ EFL as well as the reasons behind students’ different motivation and the parental attitudes and involvement The findings indicate that DQH students were moderately motivated to learn English and owned stronger instrumental motivation than intgrative motivation Maybe due to limited contact with English native speakers or the TL, English language was not their immediate 53 need This finding was different from Gardner’s (1985), but was similar to Gardner and Lambert’s (1972), Liu’s (2007), Man-Fat’s (2004) and Wong’s (2005) To have a brighter future (such as a better job) seemed to be a driving force for these students to learn English rather than to live like the British people To be true, the common instrumental orientations found among these students were: getting a good job in future, meeting the school requirement (a compulsory subject), being better educated It can be said that these students with high instrumental motivation were aware that English language learning can work as an instrument to bring them success in life Besides, results reveal that parents are affirmative in their influence on promoting the children’s learning although their children’s perception was different from parents’ self-evaluation The thesis has ended with certain recommendations related to arousing and sustaining student motivation in English learning and improve closer relationship among parentsschool-teachers-students The study as a whole can be valued beneficial for some reasons as follows First, it has presented the precious information about student motivation that teachers, parents and school should know and understand From the findings, parents would have a closer view at their children’s expectation and they can support their children more to meet their desire Second, the study has showed DQH English language teachers understand students’ orientation when they learn English, so it had pedagogical value in English language classroom Teachers here have to be more careful when designing lesson plans to encourage students develop both students’ integrative motivation and instrumental motivation 54 Third, DQH authority can hold an appropriate program to motivate students to learn English subject as well as other subjects Last, because DQH Senior High School is a rural school in Hung Yen province, the findings may have some relevance for tenth-graders in other EFL learning situations across the province There are two important limitations that should be considered First, this study’s samples only consisted of students from one school As such inferences drawn from the results of this study are limited More samples from various schools are needed in future studies Replication of the study with language learners at similar tenth-graders with varying backgrounds in different learning context is necessary to understand how well the results may be generalized to other EFL students in the province Moreover, other research methods such as using interviews can be employed to supplement the survey so that the changes or differences in attitudes and motivations among students can be clearly explained Secondly, within the scope of this study other motivation-affecting factors such as teachers’ attitudes, learning environments were not included It is suggested that further research be directed to these areas It is hoped that the study will be of interest for not only the concerned language teachers, but for any parents and schools who are keen on promoting children’s motivation in studying English in Vietnam 55 ... item 15 in student questionnaire and item in parent questionnaire which The average score of five items The average score of nine items The average score of 14 items The average score of 16 items... parental involvement entails their assistance in high scholastic achievement, offering academic guidance and provision of resources on school related 19 tasks and managing and emphasizing educational... four items were adapted from Gardner’s (1985) with some minor changes For example, “English”, the TL of this study replaced “French”, the TL, in Gardner’s (1985) study Items 10 to 12 are statements