A study of how to motivate second-year English majors at the Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of Education

In the field of teaching and learning foreign languages in general and the English language in particular, motivation has always been playing an essential role to achieve success and imp

A study of how to motivate second-year English majors at the Faculty of English, Hanoi National

University of Education

Trần Ngọc Giang

Trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ Luận văn ThS Chuyên ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15

Người hướng dẫn: Assoc.Prof Dr Trần Xuân Điệp

Năm bảo vệ: 2010

Keywords: Tiếng Anh; Kỹ năng nghe; Phương pháp dạy học

Content:

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

In the field of teaching and learning foreign languages in general and the English language in particular, motivation has always been playing an essential role to achieve success and improvement In many cases, students are still unsuccessful just because they lack motivation to learn That is why many researchers and educationalists have been sharing the same idea that the best method of teaching is to improve their motivation in the learning process

Being an English teacher at a university for nearly three years, the author has always tried best to facilitate the students’ study of English Through teaching experiences and everyday observation, the author notices that when studying English at university, the author’s students normally encounter many difficulties in listening skill Moreover, their lack of motivation in learning and practicing this skill has been recognized All of these have inspired the author to make an attempt

to carry out this research in order to find out the way to motivate the students in their listening classes

Another reason for conducting this research study is the appropriateness of its type, which is action research, in the present situation of the author Being a teacher teaching English at a university, the author has to fulfill the tasks of teaching and doing research at the same time Clearly, carrying out action research to find out the answers to the problems emerging in classrooms can help the author successfully accomplish these challenging tasks

Furthermore, an earlier research study was conducted in Beijing and achieved many encouraging results However, the context of Chinese students is clearly different from that of Vietnamese students Besides, the research done in Beijing did have some limitations in the data collection process These did give an account for the author’s wish of carrying out this research study to gain more reliable findings in the context of these Vietnamese students

2 Research hypothesis

This study was designed to verify the following hypothesis:

The way applied by the research author in listening classes can enhance the FOE, HNUE second-year English majors’ motivation in studying the skill of listening

3 Aims of the study

The ultimate purpose of the research is to investigate the effectiveness of several changes made during the listening course in terms of boosting the motivation of second-year English majors at FOE, HNUE in acquiring listening skill It specifically aims at:

 Looking at the students’ motivation and the present situation of teaching and training the listening skill to second-year English majors at FOE, HNUE

 Investigating changes in the students’ motivation during and after the application of some changes made in the listening course

 Examining the students’ attitudes towards the changes made during the course

 Giving some recommendations for improving the students’ motivation in learning the skill of listening and other macro skills

4 Significance of the study

4.1 Theoretical significance

Through this study, theories of motivation are revisited Main definitions together with leading concepts and notions about motivation are represented with details Moreover, common strategies to improve and sustain students’ motivation in classroom are also reintroduced Besides, the study also reconfirms the importance of motivation in education and in language learning

4.2 Practical significance

The study is expected to facilitate better understanding of motivation in foreign language learning in general and in EFL in particular Practically and pedagogically, the findings of the study are strongly believed to help English teachers see more clearly the essential roles of motivation in the teaching of English and to supply them with some basic ideas of how to find suitable ways of motivating their students in learning English, especially listening skill In addition, the author expects that this research study can provide other teachers and those who may be concerned with ideas and fundamental grounds to conduct further research studies in the

field of boosting students’ motivation in EFL

5 Scope of the study

An infinite variety of ways can be used to motivate students in learning English However, due to the limit of time and capacity, the researcher only focuses on exploiting the effectiveness of three changes made during the listening course at FOE, HNUE in enhancing the second-year English majors’ motivation in learning and practicing this challenging skill What was changed during the course is the way to start it, the way in which each lesson is conducted and managed, and the way to assess the students

6 Methods of the study

This study was designed in the form of an action research According to Gina (2001), action research is the type of research we carry out with our students in order to try out an idea or innovation, or to test a hypothesis about the students’ learning and see what would happen Besides, Michael (1998) also points out that action research involves the collection and the

analysis of data related to certain aspects of our professional practice In this study, the researcher applied a number of different methods, based on both qualitative and quantitative approaches: classroom observations, students’ writing journal, interviews, and questionnaires First and foremost, a pre-treatment questionnaire was employed to reveal some information about the students’ motivation and the work of teaching and learning the skill of listening they had been receiving so far Bearing in mind the hypothesis that some changes made to the course can improve students’ motivation, the researcher carried out these modifications on the students during the semester In order to investigate the motivational effectiveness of these changes, classroom observation, students’ journal, and informal interviews together with a post-treatment questionnaire were used to get necessary data In the final stage the data collected were analyzed

to verify the hypothesis

7 Design of the study

The study report is divided into three main parts

Part one is the Introduction featuring the rationale for the study as well as the objectives, the

significance and the methods employed in the research In addition, it also briefly introduces the scope of the study together with the overall design of the research report

Part two is the Development consisting of three chapters:

o Chapter 1, Theoretical background, covers main issues and concepts related to

motivation and teaching listening skill Different strategies to boost and maintain motivation in language learning and teaching are also included in this chapter

o Chapter 2, Methodology, is devoted to describing elaborately the research methodology

which comprises the information of the research subjects, settings, and data collection instruments and procedures

o Chapter 3, Data analysis, Findings, and Discussions, presents the results from the

detailed analysis of collected data and provides several discussions related to them

Part three is the Conclusion that recapitulates the main contents of the study report Some

limitations and suggestions for further research are also presented in this part

REFERENCES

1 Armstrong, E & Ferguson, A (2009) Researching communication disorders: research

and practice in Applied Linguistics New York: Palgrave Macmillan

2 Benson, P (2000) Teaching and researching autonomy in language learning London:

Longman

3 Bligh, D A (1971) What is the use of lecturing? Devon: Teaching service center,

University of Exeter

4 Burns, A (1999) Collaborative action research for English language teachers

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

5 Colletta, S P., Clement, R., Edwards, H P (1983) Community and parental influence:

Effects on students’ motivation and French second language proficiency Quebec:

International Center for Research on Bilingualism

6 Davies, P (2000) Success in English teaching Oxford: OU

7 Dawson, C (2009) Introduction to research methods (4 ed.) Begbroke, Oxford: How

To Books Ltd

8 Dornyei, Z (2001) Teaching and researching motivation London: Longman

9 Dornyei, Z (2001) Motivational strategies in the language classroom Cambridge,

England: Cambridge University Press

10 Dornyei, Z & Csizer, K (1998) Ten commandments for motivating language learners:

results of an empirical study Language teaching research 2: 203 – 29

11 Dornyei, Z & Malderez, A (1999) Group dynamics in foreign language learning and

teaching In Arnold, J (ed.) Affective language learning Cambridge: CUP pp 155 – 69

12 Ellis, R (1997) Second language acquisition Oxford: OUP

13 Forsyth, D R., and McMillan, J H "Practical Proposals for Motivating Students." In R

J Menges and M D Svinicki (eds.), College Teaching: From Theory to Practice New

Directions in Teaching and Learning, no 45 San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991

14 Gardner, R C., & Lambert, W (1972) Attitudes and motivation in second language

learning Rowley, MA: Newbury House

15 Gardner, R C (1985) Social psychology and second language learning: the role of

attitudes and motivation London: Edward Arnord

16 Gillham, B (2000) Developing a questionnaire London and New York: Continuum

17 Gillham, B (2000) The research interview London and New York: Continuum

18 Gina, W (2001) The postgraduate research handbook New York: Palgrave

19 Harmer, J (2001) The practice of English language teaching London: Longman

20 Hedge, J (2000) Teaching and learning in the language classroom Oxford: OUP

21 Johnston, O (1999) Listening activities: photocopiable resource Ali

22 Lennerberg, E (1967) Biological foundations of language New York: Wiley

23 Littlewood, T W (1984) Foreign and second language learning Cambridge: CUP

24 Loughran, J , Mitchell, I & Mitchell, J (2002) Learning from teacher research

Australia: Allen & Unwin

25 Marzano, R J., Pickering, D J & Pollock, J E (2001) Classroom instruction that

works Virginia, The USA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

26 Maehr, M L., & Meyer, H A (1997) Understanding motivation and schooling: Where

we’ve been, where we are, and where we need to go Educational Psychology Review, 9,

371-409

27 Michael, J W (1998) Action research for language teachers Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press

28 Naiman et al (1991) The good language learners Toronto: Ontario institute for studies

in education

29 Norton, L S (2002) Action research in teaching and learning New York: Routledge

30 Oxford, R & Shearin J (1996) Language learning motivation in a new key Oxford: Inr

31 Oxford, R (1994) Language learning strategies: what every teacher should know New

York: Newburry House Publisher

32 Oyama, S (1982) A sensitive period in the acquisition of a non-native phonological

system In S Krashen, R Scarcella, & M Long (eds) Child – adults differences in

second language acquisition Boston: Newbury house

33 Rost, M (1990) Listening in language learning London: Longman

34 Rost, M (2001) Listening In R Carter & D Nunan (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to

teaching English to speakers of other languages (pp 7-13) Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press

35 Sass, E J (1989) Motivation in the college classroom: What students tell us Teaching

of Psychology, 16(2), 86-88

36 Schumann, J H (1998) The neurobiology of affect in language Oxford: Blackwell

37 Stevens, G (2001) BBC academic listening BBC learning English

38 Stipek, D (1988) Motivation to learn: From theory to practice Englewood Cliffs, New

Jersey: Prentice Hall

39 Ur, P (1996) A course in language teaching: practice and theory Cambridge: CUP

40 Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J S (2000) Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation

Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 68-81

41 William, M & Burden, R (1997) Psychology for language teachers Cambridge: CUP

42 Woldkowski, R J (1998) Enhancing adult motivation to learn San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass

43 Woolfolk, A (2001) Educational Psychology (8th ed.) The United States: Allyn Bacon