Factors demotivating Electronics-major students to learn ESP at Sao Do University

Factors demotivating Electronics-major students to learn ESP at Sao Do University Vũ Thị Thữ Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn Thạc sĩ ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp giảng dạy tiếng Anh Mã số: 60.14.10 Người hướng dẫn: TS. Tô Thị Thu Hương Năm bảo vệ: 2012 Abstract: This study aimed at investigating factors demotivating Electronics-major students in English for Specific Purpose (ESP) classes at Sao Do University (SDU) and provided suggestions to help students overcome their demotivation in learning ESP. A survey questionnaire was completed by 89 Electronics-major students at SDU. In addition, to clarify the data collected, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 students who were randomly chosen after they finished the questionnaire. Other semi-structured interviews wer also conducted with three female teachers who taught English for Electronics at SDU. This study showed that factors demotivating Electronics-major students in ESP classes at SDU included three categories. The first one was student-related factors which related to five issues, namely students’ experiences of failure, students’ English ability, students’ lack of specialized background knowledge, students’ lack of self-confidence and students’ expectations. Secondly, teacher-related factors, which were strongly demotivating factors, comprised teachers’ teaching methods, teachers’ lack of specialized background knowledge and especially their lack of care of learners’ needs that was represented by the lack of learners needs analysis throughout their teaching. The study also found that the course book used in teaching English for Electronics considerably demotivated students in learning ESP. Keywords: Tiếng Anh; Hứng thú học tập; Sinh viên; Phương pháp giảng dạy Content PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Motivation is one of the crucial learner factors affecting foreign language teaching - learning and therefore has been abundantly explored in the field of English as a Foreign Language teaching and learning. Many researchers have also examined motivation and its negative side, demotivation in teaching and learning general English in universities. However, few researchers have directed their attention to demotivation students tend to carry in the course of learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP) although English continues to dominate as the lingua franca of business, technology, medicine, media, education and research. As a result, the demand of ESP is growing rapidly in many countries including 2 Vietnam which has become a member of WTO and has witnessed unprecedented growth in communications with other countries. In response to the great demand of English in academic, vocational and professional contexts, more and more universities in Vietnam are offering ESP courses to meet the global trend as well as to meet students’ future career needs. Sao Do University is not an exception. All students at Sao Do University must pass examinations in ESP to graduate, but many are failing to study it successfully. Based on my experience of teaching ESP, English for Electronics, for 3 years, I have found that many Electronics-major students demotivated to learn ESP. For these reasons, I decided to study factors demotivating the Electronics-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University, so that effective solutions can be found to help my students get better results in learning ESP. 2. Aims of the study The study was carried out with an aim to help my students get better results in learning ESP. It, therefore, was designed to meet the following objectives: - to identify factors that demotivate Electronics-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University. - to give suggestions and recommendations to ESP teachers/students at Sao Do University, on the basis of the findings, for even better ESP teaching - learning. 3. Research questions In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the following research questions were asked in the study: Question 1: What are the factors that demotivate Electronics-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University? Question 2: What should be done to minimize these factors and help students overcome their demotivation? 4. Significance of the study The study is the first investigation of demotivators in learning English for Electronics at Sao Do University. The proposed study provides students, of English for Electronics in particular, at Sao Do University with solutions to overcome their demotivation in ESP classes. In addition, the proposed study will help ESP teachers at Sao Do University to have a deeper understanding of their students in ESP classes. Thus, they will be able to make suitable changes and adjustments in their teaching English for Electronics to motivate their students for even better results. The proposed study will benefit and help future researchers specializing in ESP and motivation with meaningful insights from the findings. 5. Scope of the study The study is limited in scope of finding out factors that demotivate the Electronics- major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University. The subjects chosen for this study were 89 Electronic-major students at Sao Do University who have just finished ESP. Thus, it 3 cannot be said that the results of this study are generalized to the demotivation of other non- English-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University as well as in other universities in Vietnam. 6. Method of the study The study used mixed methods for data collection and analysis. Survey questionnaire for students and semi-structured interviews were used. The questionnaire for students and semi- structured interviews were used to get students’ opinions on their demotivation factors in learning ESP. Semi-structured interviews for teachers were also used to find out their ideas about factors demotivating their students in ESP classes. 7. Organization of the study The study consists of three parts. Part A, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale, aim of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, method of the study and organization of the study. Part B, DEVELOPMENT, includes three main chapters: Chapter 1, LITERATURE REVIEW, presents theoretical background on motivation, and demotivation in language learning. The main issues related to ESP are also presented in this chapter. Chapter 2, RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, presents the methodology used in the study. Chapter 3, RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS, gives a detailed presentation of data and detailed description of data analysis. The implications of the study are also given in this chapter. Part C, CONCLUSION, is a review of the study. Furthermore, this part also points out the limitations of the study and provides some directions for further studies. PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1. Motivation 1.1.1. Conceptions of motivation 1.1.2. Classification of motivation in language teaching – learning 1.2. Demotivation 1.2.1. Conceptions of demotivation 1.2.2. Student demotivating factors in foreign language teaching – learning 1.2.2.1. Student-related factors  Intelligence  Personality  Aptitude  Learning strategies  Learner beliefs 4  Confidence, anxiety  Age of acquisition 1.2.2.2. Teacher-related factors - Enthusiasm - Commitment to the students' progress - Teachers' expectations - Good relationship with the students 1.2.2.3. Teaching and learning conditions - Physical conditions - A pleasant and supportive atmosphere in the classroom 1.2.2.4. Course books 1.3. Related issues of ESP 1.3.1. Definitions of ESP 1.3.2. Classification of ESP 1.3.3. ESP teachers 1.3.4. ESP learners 1.3.5. ESP materials 1.3.6. Assessment 1.4. Overview of study of demotivation CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.0 Research questions and design The study seeks answers to the two following questions: Question 1: What are the factors that demotivate Electronics-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University? Question 2: What should be done to minimize these factors and help students overcome their demotivation? The research design is survey with mixed methods for data collection. 2.1. Situation analysis 2.1.1. Setting of the study Teaching staff There are 21 teachers of English aged from 25 to 45 in Tourism and Foreign Language Faculty of Sao Do University now. Nine of them have finished MA course at University of Language and International Studies- Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Two teachers are working toward an M.A degree and the rest hold a bachelor degree in English language teaching. The number of teachers is limited and there are no teachers who are in charge of ESP teaching separately. Among them, 4 are engaged in teaching English for Electronics in which one teacher has seven-year experience and two teachers have four-year 5 experience and the other have three-year experience. All of them are female. They are energetic and willing to devote their time and energy to teaching. However, they find it difficult to deal with unfamiliar and unaccustomed subject matter. They, therefore, have to face with many difficulties and they themselves have found that their ESP classes are not really interesting. English for Electronics English for Electronics is in the undergraduate training program of electronic engineers. It is a compulsory subject and occupies 3 credits. Students study English for Electronics in 3 rd semester after finishing Basic English 1, 2 in the two first semesters. Students and their background Normally, each course is divided into two classes of electronics, which are made up about 100 students. The age of the students varies from 18 to 25. They come from different provinces in the country. Some of them are from the rural or remote areas, where there are no good opportunities for studying English, these students commonly did not spend much time learning English at high school before. The others come from cities. Theoretically, they have all finished three years or seven years of learning English at secondary schools before entering Sao Do University. Most of them are male students (about 70%). To some extent, there are some students whose English is very good, but generally the target students' English proficiency is still low level. Most of them learn English to read specialized documents rather than speak English to foreigners. Some have strong pressure to pass exams with high marks; the others would prefer ESP enhance their specialized knowledge, which is required in their future jobs. The others are afraid of studying general English as well as English for Electronics. The course book The books "Knowhow 1, 2” (A1, A2 Level – Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) has been used recently for General English (GE). In addition, the book "English for Electronics" are subjectively selected by the teachers are held to evaluate students' language knowledge. The course book "English for Electronics" are subjectively selected by the teachers and then compiled into the material to teach students of Electronics at SDU in 45 periods (three credits), and with the following features: - "English for Electronics" consists of fifteen units designed in combination with electronic topics to enable students to develop both their language skills (reading and writing) and vocabulary relating to electronics. - Each unit is often divided into three parts, namely: Reading, Language study and Technical reading or Writing. In the reading parts includes reading texts related to electronics and tasks designed to help students deeply understand the texts. In the second part, language study, the main grammar phenomenon which appeared in the texts is introduced such as reduced-time clause, if-sentences, passive voice, linking words etc. The last part is writing or 6 technical reading. In the part of writing, students are taught how to link facts and ideas, describe transmission processes, describe diagrams and request information in a formal letter. In some units, writing is replaced by technical reading, in which students are instructed to read technical information on electronic devices such as: remote control system, alarm systems and transmission lines. Teaching facilities Teaching facilities also play an important part in teaching English and may affect the teaching process positively or negatively. All teachers are supplied with speakers and laptops to use for their class contact when necessary. In all classes of SDU are equipped with projectors. It is very convenient for teachers in teaching. Moreover, there is one library with some sorts of materials for reference like English books, magazines, newspapers but it mainly provides book of electronics in Vietnamese, not English books, especially ESP books. Testing and evaluation Testing and evaluation is very important in teaching and learning. At SDU, ESP students will be evaluated with teachers’ assessment, 3 regular classroom tests and a final examination. However, in fact, because of the test-oriented symptom, almost teachers have been forced to enhance the students’ scores. To some extent, thus, test scores have not reflected quality of teaching and learning English for Electronics as well as other subjects at my school. That’s the reason why I will not mention students’ final scores in my study. 2.1.2. Subjects In order to achieve the aims of the thesis and answer the above research questions, the main subjects of the study include a group of 3 female teachers of English for Electronics currently teaching at SDU and 89 second-year students of electronics. At the time the study was being carried out, there were two classes with 89 students of electronics at SDU who had recently finished their ESP course. These two classes comprised thirteen females and seventy-six males. 2.2. Data collection There are a number ways in which information about the needs can be gathered such as questionnaires, interviews, observation, etc. The researcher of this study decided to choose questionnaires and semi-structured interviews as main tools for collecting information. 2.2.1. Questionnaire for students The demotivation questionnaire (Appendices 1 and 2) for students consisted of 28 questions, including 27 five-point Likert type questions and one open question. These 28 questions designed to measure four factors derived from previous studies: student-related factors (statements 1, 2, 3, 4, 7,8 ,9 ,10, 27 ), teacher-related factors (statements 5, 6, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26), and teaching and learning conditions (statements 11, 12, 13) and the course book used in ESP classes (statements 15,16, 22, 23, 24). For questions 1-27, participants were required to tick the column that represented their best answer: Strongly 7 Disagree/ Disagree/ Undecided/ Agree/ Strongly Agree. What’s more, for the question 27 had space for students to write their expectations in the ESP course. The questionnaire also included one open-ended question for students to write their solutions that help students overcome their demotivation. 2.2.2. Interview for students The interviews were carried out in Vietnamese in the form of informal conversations between the researcher and 10 students randomly chosen from the 2 classes after they had done the survey questionnaire. The 20-minute interview was semi-structured with 3 main questions (Appendix 3). The questions were based on those questions in the questionnaire, but were extended to get more thorough understanding of the matter. The data were recorded, transcribed for the analysis purpose, and then translated into English for writing up by the researcher then checked for correctness by an experienced translator. 2.2.3. Interview for teachers The interview was carried out in English in the form of an informal conversation between the researcher and 3 teachers of English for Electronics (there were only three teachers because at the time the study was carried out there were 4 teachers at SDU taking part in teaching English for Electronics, including the researcher). The semi-structured interviews were organized with 5 main questions (Appendix 4) and lasted 30 minutes. The questions were used to identify:  Teachers’ ideas about factors demotivating their students in ESP classes  What they often do in ESP classes  The process in which they designed the course book of English for Electronics  Whether they analyzed students’ need before, while and after teaching ESP  Their suggestions to help students overcome their demotivation in learning ESP. The data were recorded, transcribed for analysis. 2.3. Data analysis Data from questionnaires were analyzed quantitatively for descriptive statistics such as frequency, mean, standard deviation. Data from interviews were transcribed and analyzed interpretively around the 5 topics represented in the 5 interview questions. CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 3.1. Results 3.1.1. Data analysis of students’ survey questionnaire and interviews 3.1.1.1. Personal information of the students taking part in the survey The total number of the students in the study was 89 students of which 82 students were aged from 19 to 20 and 17 were aged from 20 to 24. All of them had been learning English for at least 7 years or even more than 7 years. 13 students were female and 76 were male students. It is clear that most of Electronics-major students are male. 3.1.1.2. Student-related demotivating factors 8 Most of the students in the survey thought that they got lost in how to self-study for ESP lessons. Around two-thirds of them stated that they felt demotivated in learning English for Electronics because their English ability was not good enough to handle ESP course requirements. More than half of them agreed that their lack of specialized background knowledge and their difficulty in memorizing specialized words and phrases affected their motivation in ESP classes. About half of them supposed that factors demotivating them in learning ESP are: they were left behind the classmate and ESP course did not come up to my expectations. 3.1.1.3. Teacher-related demotivating factors It is shown that two-thirds of the students thought that they felt demotivated in ESP classes because their teachers only focused on teaching specific lexicon and explaining specialized knowledge and they taught so fast. Around half of them stated that the reason for demotivating them was their teachers’ lack of specialized knowledge and the teachers’ confusing explanations 3.1.1.4. Teaching and learning conditions Most students agreed that teaching and learning conditions did not demotivate them. 3.1.1.5. The course book The course book was also the source of students’ demotivation to learn ESP because there were too many new words in the lessons, too long and difficult specialized reading texts in the course book. 3.1.1.6. Solutions to help students overcome their demotivation - Teachers should instruct students how to learn vocabulary effectively, teachers should tell them the different ways to learn vocabulary. - Teachers should give clearer instructions for students to do their housework. - Teachers are suggested to teach and consolidate general English for students while teaching ESP. - Teachers should spend suitable time on teaching each part of lessons. Teachers focused much on explaining specialized knowledge and teaching terminologies. - Teachers are advised to organize games to motivate students. - Teachers should use group-work in teaching ESP. - The contents of some lessons in the course book should be shortened. - There should be Grammar bank and Vocabulary bank at the end of the course book for students to revise easily. - The course book should focus on speaking and listening skills, not only reading and writing skills. 3.1. 2. Data analysis of teacher interviews 1. In your opinion, what demotivated your students to learn ESP? All 3 teachers in the interview said that one of the most important demotivating factors was the students’ English ability. What’s more, all of them thought that their students had 9 difficulty in memorizing the specialized words and phrases made them demotivated in learning ESP. 2 of them agreed that their students, in fact, did not want to study English for Electronics; they were not interested in ESP. They believed that many students were too lazy. 2 of 3 teachers disagreed that there were problems with the course book. Only one teacher thought that the course book needed improving. 2. What do you often do in ESP periods? All teachers said that they often followed what were designed in the course book in most ESP classes. 3. Can you tell a little bit about the process in which you designed the English for Electronics course book? 2 teachers who were in charge of designing English for Electronics course book, answered that firstly, they chose materials based on objectives of English for Electronics; however, she had a lot of difficulty in collecting materials because there were few textbooks of English for Electronics. Both of them agreed that because of limitations in finding materials and their electronic knowledge, they had difficulties in designing the course book of English for Electronics. 4. Do you analyze your students’ needs when you designed the course book, while you taught and after finishing each ESP course? Ms. A. and Ms. C. answered that they did not pay much attention to analyzing student’s needs when they designed the course book. 5. In your opinion, what solutions can help your students to overcome their de- motivation? All of them suggested that the disease of test-oriented teaching - learning needed to disappear. Only 1 teacher suggested that to help students overcome their demotivation in learning ESP, teachers should spend more time on understand specialized background knowledge and give more cares to students. 3.2. Discussions of findings on factors that demotivate students to study ESP at SDU The original research question asked what factors demotivating the Electronics-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University were. In this study, factors demotivating the students in ESP classes were divided into 3 categories: student-related factors, teacher-related factors and the English for Electronic course book. 3.2.1. Student-related factors In the study, five factors related to student were found as follows: 1. Students’ experiences of failure 2. Students’ English ability 3. Students’ lack of specialized background knowledge 4. Students’ lack of self-confidence 5. Students’ expectations 10 3.2.2. Teacher-related factors According to data analysis above, their behaviors did not make their students feel demotivated in ESP classes. The study has shown that there are three demotivating factors related to teachers. The first one is teachers’ teaching methods: their teachers’ teaching speed was too fast, and they focused so much on teaching specific lexicon and explaining specialized knowledge, forgot other parts in lessons. Moreover, students thought that their teachers organized quite few activities. Another is teachers’ lack of specialized background knowledge. Lastly, teacher’s lack care of learners’ need analysis was found to be a strong cause of demotivation. 3.2.3. The course book In students’ opinions, the course book of English for Electronics was not good enough for some reasons, which demotivated them in learning ESP. Firstly, it contained many long and difficult specialized reading texts. Secondly, there were lots of new words and difficult terms; it should include a vocabulary bank for students to follow easily. Last but not least, ESP course book only focused on reading and writing skills, ignored speaking and listening skills which students were supposed to need for their future careers. 3.2.4. The teachers’ perception of the demotivators in ESP classes An interesting and surprising finding was that teachers perceived very little about their roles as a demotivator in ESP lessons. There was a considerable difference between teachers’ and students’ perceptions of demotivation in learning ESP although both agreed that students’ English ability played an important role in demotivating students. While most students blamed teachers and the course book for their demotivation in learning ESP, teachers tended to blame their students for their laziness and bad English ability. Only one teacher thought that teachers played an important role in demotivating students in learning ESP. PART C: CONCLUSION 1. Conclusion This study showed three categories of factors demotivating Electronics-major students in ESP classes at SDU. The first one was student-related factors which related to five issues, namely students’ experiences of failure, students’ English ability, students’ lack of specialized background knowledge, students’ lack of self-confidence and students’ expectations. Among five ones, students’ experiences of failure were perceived as students’ strong demotivating factor. Secondly, teacher-related factors were strongly demotivating factors such as teachers’ teaching methods, teachers’ lack of specialized background knowledge and especially their lack care of learners’ need analysis. The study also found that the course book used in teaching English for Electronics considerably demotivated students in learning ESP. 2. Pedagogical implications [...]... means that the findings cannot be generalized to all ESP teachers, all ESP students at Sao Do University as well as in other universities in Vietnam However, based on the findings of the study, the following should be considered in order to avoid students demotivation in learning ESP - ESP teachers, educators and syllabus designers need to be aware of what their students really need and expect in ESP. .. team-teaching and so on 3 Limitations of the study Although the study was carefully designed and based on reliable data, it still had the following major limitations Firstly, the study only carried out an investigation of demotivating factors of Electronics-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University, so to some extent, the findings may not be generalized to all ESP students at SDU as well as in other... Secondly, there were many factors demotivating Electronics-major students in learning ESP, but the number of factors taken into account in the study was still limited Thirdly, the study did not show that how demotivating factor categories were different in terms of levels In addition, the study did not find the differences between male and female students in their demotivation in learning ESP Finally, suggestions... on learners’ need analysis, they could design a suitable and interesting ESP course book to motivate students - To design a good ESP course book, it is necessary for ESP course book designers to be given enough time and be paid appropriately - To improve students general English ability to help them be ready to study ESP, it is essential for the disease of test-oriented teaching - learning to come to. .. learning to come to an end - ESP course book should include Grammar Bank and Vocabulary Bank so that it is easy for students to look up or revise - ESP teachers may tend to exaggerate the importance of the carrier content versus real content in ESP teaching ESP teachers may tend to evaluate carrier content in the same way that they evaluate real content They seem to forget that they are only language... enough to help students to overcome their demotivation in learning ESP 4 Directions for future research Based on the findings, and taking into account the limitations of this study, some recommendations can be made for future research Further studies should have an insight look 11 into other types of English for specific purposes, other aspects of demotivation in ESP such as impact of demotivation,... of demotivation, how demotivators are different in terms of levels of impact Secondly, as this study failed to address the differences between male and female students in their demotivation in learning ESP, future research may investigate whether male and female students differ in their demotivation in ESP classes Furthermore, future researchers may specifically evaluate ESP course books in Vietnamese... 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(1988), ESP after twenty years: A re-appraisal, In M Tickoo (Ed.), ESP: State of the Art (pp 1-13), Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Centre 36 Sun Yun-Fang (2008), Motivation to speak: Perception and attitude of non-English major students in Taiwan, PhD thesis, Indiana University, USA 37 Wenden, A L (1987a), Conceptual background and utility, In A L Wenden & J Rubin (Eds.), Learner strategies in language learning, . students to study ESP at SDU The original research question asked what factors demotivating the Electronics-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University were. In this study, factors demotivating. Question 1: What are the factors that demotivate Electronics-major students in ESP classes at Sao Do University? Question 2: What should be done to minimize these factors and help students overcome. showed that factors demotivating Electronics-major students in ESP classes at SDU included three categories. The first one was student-related factors which related to five issues, namely students