LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH - LÝ THỊ ÁNH NGUYỆT - ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE ADULT LEARNERS’ LEARNING STRATEGY PROBLEMS A CASE STUDY AT VINH LONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ @ Tài liệu học tập và nghiên cứu Luận văn đính kèm theo đây với tựa đề tài: “ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE ADULT LEARNERS’ LEARNING STRATEGY PROBLEMS - A CA

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ: GIÁO DỤC HỌC

Chuyên ngành: Lí luận và Phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh

CẦN THƠ, 2009

Kho tai lieu Ketnooi.com

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

CAN THO UNIVERSITY

LÝ THỊ ÁNH NGUYỆT

MASTER THESIS: EDUCATION

Supervisor: TRƯƠNG THỊ KIM LIÊN

CANTHO, 2009

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BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CẦN THƠ

LÝ THỊ ÁNH NGUYỆT

NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG CHIẾN LƯỢC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA

HỌC VIÊN TRƯỞNG THÀNH TẠI TRƯƠNG CAO ĐẲNG CỘNG ĐỒNG

VĨNH LONG

Chuyên ngành: Lí luận và Phương pháp dạy học Tiếng Anh

Mã số: 60 14 10

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ: GIÁO DỤC HỌC

Người hướng dẫn khoa học: Th.s GVC: TRƯƠNG THỊ KIM LIÊN

CẦN THƠ, 2009

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BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CẦN THƠ

LÝ THỊ ÁNH NGUYỆT

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ: GIÁO DỤC HỌC

Chuyên ngành: Lí luận và Phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh

CẦN THƠ, 2009

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Luận văn đính kèm theo đây với tựa đề tài:

“ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE ADULT LEARNERS’ LEARNING STRATEGY PROBLEMS - A CASE STUDY AT VINH LONG COMMUNITY

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I hereby certify that this thesis entitled “English as a foreign language adult learners’

learning strategy problems - a case study at Vinh Long Community College” is my

own work

I declare that this thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma

at any other situations

Can Tho, 2009 Supervisor

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I count myself very fortunate to have had Ms Truong Thi Kim Lien as my supervisor, and I would like to show my great thanks for her patience, advice, and support during the writing of the thesis

I would like to express my special thanks to the instructors of MA class course 13, who provided me with valuable knowledge so that I could finish my thesis

I would also thank my colleagues who have helped gather data, who have assisted with data analysis, and who have helped by reading and giving advice

I am grateful to many students at Vinh long Community College who participated in the study by filling out questionnaire and by attending the interviews

Special thanks are due to the Head of Vinh Long Community College and the colleagues in Socio- Economics Department for much support and encouragement when I was studying and writing so that I could finish the thesis

Finally, this paper could not be possible without my family who have supported me much with love and encouragement

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A BSTRACT

It is practically recognized that English learning in early and late adulthood has been an urgent duty for learners in the time of information exchange and international integration in Vietnam However, it is proved not to be an easy task to fulfill, and learners face difficulties in their English learning This paper examined the extent to which EFL adult learners perceive about language learning strategy problems In addition, this paper considered the correlation between those problems and the factor of age and other factors In order to achieve these objectives, a survey was conducted on 135 adult learners majoring in Bureau Administration and Trade Union at Vinh Long Community College The participants completed the basic English course in three semesters each of which lasted for 60 to 90 periods From the survey result, 20 learners were selected for interview, and four classroom observations were carried out

The main findings of the survey showed that affective strategies were the most serious problem The results indicated that among the correlations between those language learning strategy problems and age, gender, and belief about foreign language aptitude, the correlation between the problems and age was considerably significant

In short, the thesis investigated the extent to which EFL adult learners at Vinh Long Community College perceived about language learning strategy problems The paper examined the correlations between age, gender and belief about foreign language aptitude with those problems Based on the findings, the study offered some recommendations to teachers, learners, curriculum designers, and administrators in order to improve adult learners’ English language learning strategies at Vinh Long Community College

KEY WORDS: adult learners and learning, language learning strategy problems, memory strategy problems, compensation strategy problems, affective strategy problems, social strategy problems, belief about foreign language aptitude

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T ÓM TẮT

Thực tiễn cho thấy việc học tiếng Anh của học viên trưởng thành là nhiệm vụ cấp thiết trong thời đại trao đổi thông tin và hội nhập quốc tế Tuy nhiên, những học viên thường gặp nhiều khó khăn trong việc học tiếng Anh Đề tài này khảo sát mức độ khó khăn trong chiến lựợc học ngoại ngữ của những học viên trưởng thành Ngoài ra, đề tài còn khảo sát xem có mối tương quan nào giữa những khó khăn trên với yếu tố về độ tuổi và những yếu tố khác Để đạt được mục tiêu trên, một cuộc khảo sát được tiến hành trên 135 học viên trưởng thành đang theo học các chuyên ngành Quản trị Văn phòng và Quản trị Công đoàn tại trường Cao đẳng Cộng đồng Vĩnh long Các học viên tham gia trong đề tài này đều đã hoàn tất chương trình Anh văn

cơ bản trong 3 học kì, mỗi học kì kéo dài từ 60 đến 90 tiết học Qua kết quả khảo sát có 20 học viên được chọn để phỏng vấn Ngoài ra còn có bốn cuộc quan sát được thực hiện trên lớp học

Kết quả cho thấy các học viên trưởng thành gặp khó khăn nhiều nhất trong chiến lược tình cảm Ngoài ra, trong các mối tương quan giữa những khó khăn trên với các yếu tố về độ tuổi, giới tính và niềm tin về năng khiếu học ngoại ngữ, thì mối tương quan với độ tuổi là mạnh nhất

Từ những kết quả tìm được, đề tài đưa ra những đề xuất với giảng viên, học viên, chuyên viên thiết kế chương trình giảng dạy, và các cấp có thẩm quyền với mong muốn giúp cho chiến lược học tiếng Anh của các học viên trưởng thành tại trường Cao Đẳng Cộng Đồng Vĩnh Long được tốt hơn và có hiệu quả hơn

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Certificate of originality ii

Acknowledgements iii

Abstract iv

Tóm tắt v

List of abbreviations vi

Table of contents vii

List of figures xi

List of tables xii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 The rationale of the study 1

1.2 Aims and significance of the study 3

1.3 General background of the study 3

1.4 Organization of the study 5

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 6

2.1 An overview of adult learners and learning 6

2.1.1 Adults 6

2.1.2 Adult learners 7

2.1.3 Characteristics of adult learners 7

2.1.4 Adult learning 8

2.1.4.1 Principles of adult learning 8

2.1.4.2 Adult motivation to return to school 10

2.1.4.3 Barriers 11

2.2 Foreign language learning strategies 11

2.2.1 Definition of a language learning strategy 11

2.2.2 Classification of language learning strategies 12

2.2.3 Direct strategies 13

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2.2.4 Indirect strategies 14

2.2.5 The importance of language learning strategies in language learning 15

2.3 Factors affecting language learning strategies 17

2.3.1 Age factor 18

2.3.2 Gender factor 20

2.3.3 Factor of belief about foreign language aptitude 22

2.3.3.1 Aptitude and foreign language aptitude 22

2.3.3.2 Belief about foreign language aptitude 22

2.4 Summary 23

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHOD 25

3.1 Research questions and hypotheses 25

3.2 Research design 25

3.2.1 Participants of the study 26

3.2.1.1 Participant selection 26

3.2.1.2 Characteristics of the participants 27

3.2.2 Instruments 31

3.2.2.1 Questionnaire 32

3.2.2.2 Interview 35

3.2.2.3 Observation 37

3.3 Summary 40

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS 41

4.1 Learners’ responses to the survey questionnaire 41

4.1.1 Learners responses to the difficulties in language learning strategies 41

4.1.1.1 Learners’ responses to memory strategy problems 43

4.1.1.2 Learners’ responses to compensation strategy problems 44

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4.1.1.3 Learners’ responses to affective strategy problems 45

4.1.1.4 Learners’ responses to social strategy problems 46

4.1.1.5 Learners’ responses to belief about foreign language

aptitude 47

4 1 2 The correlations between the factors of age, gender, BAFLA and LLSP 49

4.2 Interview 50

4.3 Observation 52

4.4 Summary of the findings 54

4.5 Summary 54

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 55

5.1 Discussions 55

5.1.1 Discussions on the main findings 55

5.1.2 Recommendations 59

5.1.2.1 Recommendations to teachers 60

5.1.2.2 Recommendations to learners 62

5.1.2.3 Recommendations to curriculum designers 63

5.1.2.4 Recommendations to the administrators 65

5.1 3 Limitation of the study and suggestions for further research 66

5.2 Conclusions 67

References 68

Appendices 77

Appendix 1: Questionnaire (Vietnamese version) 77

Appendix 2: Questionnaire (English version) 81

Appendix 3: Interview (Vietnamese version) 85

Appendix 4: Interview (English version) 86

Appendix 5: Interview sample transcriptions 87

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Appendix 6: Inside classroom observations 93 Appendix 7: Raw calculations 95

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Chapter 3

Figure 3.1: Reasons why learners study at Vinh Long Community College 29

Figure 3.2: Difficulties in adult learning 31

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Chapter 3

Table 3.1 Summary of the participants’ characteristics 27

Table 3.2 Reasons why learners study at Vinh Long Community College 28

Table 3.3 Difficulties when learners try to complete their learning 29

Table 3.4 Classroom observations 39

Chapter 4 Table 4.1 General perception about adults’ language learning strategy problems 42

Table 4.2 The extent of difficulties in memory, compensation, affective and social strategies 42

Table 4.3 Memory strategy problems 43

Table 4.4 Compensation strategy problems 44

Table 4.5 Affective strategy problems 45

Table 4.6 Social strategy problems 46

Table 4.7 The extent of difficulties about that adult learners of different ages and sexes perceived 47

Table 4.8 Belief about foreign language aptitude 48

Table 4.9 Correlation between the factor of age, gender, belief about foreign language aptitude (BAFLA) and language learning strategy problems (LLSP) 49

Table 4.10 Learners’ responses to interview 52

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In Chapter One Introduction, the researcher presents in detail (1) the rationale of the study

relevant to problems related to language learning strategies in terms of memory, compensation, affective aspect, and social aspect that adult learners at Vinh Long Community College encounter when they learn non-major English, (2) the aims and significance of the study, (3) the general background of the study, and (4) the organization of the thesis

1.1 The rationale of the study

As an international language, English gains an important position at present time The spread of English can cover almost everywhere in the world It becomes the world’s second language, without considerable competence in which, it is difficult for man to

be active and successful in international business, in science, in technology, in politics, and in many other fields We human beings are now living in the world of such constant progress The need for an educated citizenry and workforce without the discrimination according to age in today’s world is the concern of many nations A lifelong learning policy offers a person at any age chances to get further education and raise academic standard in order to catch up with the world’s progress The role of English learning and teaching, therefore, is more crucial

In Vietnam, the English language has been learned and taught as a foreign language, like other foreign languages such as French, Russian, Chinese, and in these days, Korean, German, Japanese, and so on The new “open door” policy of the economic reform known as “doi moi” in 1987, the event when Vietnam joined the ASEAN (Association of South- East Asian Nations) in 1997, and especially the important event when Vietnam became the official member of WTO (World Trade

increase the quality of English language education” in Vietnam (Pham, 2006) To meet the requirement of socio – economic development in Vietnam, the government officially issues the need in which all government workers at all ranks are to achieve a certain level of English proficiency in response to the new situation English learning and teaching at most schools, colleges and universities in Vietnam, thus, have considerably been improved

Vinh Long Community College, located in Vinh Long city, has an unshakeable relationship with many universities from the time of its establishment

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The need of training the educated workforce for the region is the big concern of the authorities, especially in the period of international economic integration Vinh Long Community College has recruited a number of learners of all types, young learners, adult learners, full time learners, part time learners In the curriculum, English is one

of the compulsory subjects that learners are to study and take the examination after every semester However, to many adult learners, learning English is difficult They often share with each other and with other people their worries as well as their nervousness in learning a foreign language in general and English in particular

I have been working as a teacher of English at Vinh Long Community College since 1996 Most of my university students are adult learners I have talked to them for many times and I have learned that their biggest fear when they study here is English learning, and if they had a choice, they would choose to learn another subject in their mother tongue instead of English learning In addition to the fear of English learning, most adult learners said that unlike the younger learners, they had problems with their ability to remember the English vocabulary In the winds of change accompanying globalization and the emergence of the knowledge-based economy, nowadays, more and more learners, especially government workers, enter the college or university to get more knowledge, and adult learners still encounter problems with their study of English

major and urgent duty, there has been little analysis of the adult learners’ learning strategy problems and relatively little attention has been paid to this topic Nguyen, an

experienced instructor from the University of Da Nang wrote an article entitled A

study on teaching English to adult learners in the department of English, college of foreign languages, the University of Da Nang In this paper, some challenges for adult

learners in learning English were presented and some solutions were suggested to improve the quality of teaching and learning English of adult learners However, similar issue has not been mentioned in community colleges In fact, until now, no attention has been paid to how to make adults’ language learning better, and to offer solutions to learners’ problems in terms of language learning strategies

On the basis of those realistic matters, I decide to carry out the research on the problems that adult learners at Vinh Long Community College have in their English learning strategies From the investigation into the difficulties and some factors affecting those difficulties, some recommendations are offered to improve the quality

of adult learners’ English learning at the college

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1.2 Aims and significance of the study

1.2.1 Aims of the study

The aims of the present paper are to examine the extent to which EFL adult learners perceive about the problems in language learning strategies and to find out whether the age factor and other factors correlate with these problems

1.2.2 Significance of the study

The present study is an investigation into the extent to which adult learners perceive

factor and the other factors correlate with those problems or not The results are valuable in offering solutions to the difficulties in adult learners’ language learning strategies From the findings, the study comes up with feasible suggestions to English teachers and learners, curriculum designers, and administrators for the purpose of improving adults’ English learning at Community Colleges in general and at Vinh Long Community College in particular

1.3 General background to the study

This section is a brief description of Vinh Long Community College and its adult learners, the main coursebooks and the syllabus at the college The purpose here is to provide the background information essential for understanding the issues discussed in the study

In the winds of social development in many fields, training models and methods have been changing in appropriate ways to meet the need of industrialization and modernization The model of Community College is a new model in education and training This model is of the community, established by the community It serves the community with various levels and branches, and fields of training; it provides the community with human resources; it offers long- life learning for everyone in the community

educational base was In- Service University Faculty founded in 1979 During 30 years

of building and developing and 7 years of conducting the new training model, Vinh Long Community College has been one of the educational institutions in the area that serves the community at its best

Together with training students at college degree for the region, Vinh Long Community College cooperates with many other universities in the country following

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the model of training articulation to train learners in form of part- time learning meeting the requirement of training the intellectual force for the area To all the learners trained by articulation model, learning English is compulsory

The coursebooks used are not the same in teaching learners of different majors

(2001), but from the school year 2008 the coursebooks are composed by the group of

English teachers of English Department entitled Learning Breakthrough 1 (for the first semester), Learning Breakthrough 2 (for the second semester), and Learning

Breakthrough 3 (for the third semester) Each English semester lasts 45 periods except

for the first semester with 60 English periods Learning Breakthrough is a three-level

general English course at false-beginner, elementary, and pre- intermediate level The coursebook has been designed to offer choice and flexibility in English teaching and learning

To learners trained by Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Science and

Humanities and Technical Pedagogy University, the coursebooks are New Headway

English Course by Liz and John Soars, published by Oxford University Press in 1996,

book one and two including student’s books and work books The coursebooks include new features, activities, and new material to make the learning of English stimulating and motivating for both adults and young adult learners

Trade Union University uses New Cambridge One and New Cambridge Two

by Michael Swan and Catherine Walter, published by Cambridge University Press in

1990, including student’s books and work books The student’s book contains everything necessary for class work The presentation of new material is followed up

by summary, revision and test Work book provides students with a variety of exercises which are useful for learners to practise what has been learned

In general, the coursebooks used in the syllabus are all of integrated skills in which learners are trained the four language skills – listening, speaking, reading, and writing Additionally, pronunciation and grammar points are focused After every four

or five units, there is a review section which helps to revise and consolidate basic structures and vocabulary, and extend students’ linguistic and communicative competence

The basic English is learned in three semesters, each semester lasts for 45 or

60 periods depending on the main program In each semester, learners are asked to do the mid term test which lasts for 45 minutes, and the final test which lasts for 60 or 75

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minutes All the tests are in written form Apart from the final tests, learners are evaluated and graded during their process of learning by the teacher, regarding attendance, participation, and assignments

In this study, adult learners finishing the three semesters of English were selected as participants of the study I decided to choose the second-year and third-year learners because they could provide useful, reliable information and the ideas about their English learning strategies, especially about their difficulties in terms of memory, compensation, affective, and social strategies

1.4 Organization of the study

The thesis consists of five chapters Chapter one gives the introduction to the thesis as

a whole Chapter two presents a review of relevant theoretical framework Chapter three describes the research method employed in the study This chapter includes a presentation of research questions and hypotheses, the research design, the description

of the participants, the instruments, and data collection procedures for each instrument Chapter four analyzes the findings of the questionnaire, interview, and observation Chapter five draws on the discussions of the main findings and the conclusions of the study

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This chapter presents the theoretical framework relevant to the study The chapter includes (1)

an overview of adult learners and learning, (2) foreign language learning strategies, (3) factors affecting language learning strategies and (4) the summary of theoretical background

2.1 An overview of adult learners and learning

This section reviews theories related to adults and adult learners, their characteristics, and adult learning The review offers interesting framework necessary for the study

2.1.1 Adults

The term “adulthood” is defined within the realm of the culture of every society In most western cultures, for example, in the United States, adults are defined by legal age and by achievement of certain social or psychological milestones The law defines adulthood as well As an adult, a person has the right to vote, to join the military, and

to make contractual agreements However, in many other countries, adulthood can be defined by biological maturity, that means when boys and girls reach their puberty, then, they are considered adults In other words, each culture has its own definition for adulthood

It is obvious that there is not single defining factor that applies in every case There are multiple criteria for determining who is and who is not an adult Gary (undated) identified four categories of criteria for the definition of adult The first category was based on physical development and maturity At the early mid – teens, girls became women and boys became men They could be considered adults because they were physically and sexually mature, but they usually did not meet other criteria

of adulthood, for instance, they did not experience married life and family life, and they did not have adult responsibility for childcare The second category related to legal age People who were defined as adults when they could drive (at age 16 or 14 or even earlier under some circumstances), vote and serve in the military (at age 18), and drink alcohol (at age 21) The legal requirements were inconsistent within themselves

as well as inconsistent with other criteria of adulthood The third category deriving from social roles indicated that adults expected to play roles in their communities and society Some examples of social roles were economical self-supporting, maintaining a

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home, getting married and having children, and being a responsible member of the community The fourth category was of internal hallmarks of adulthood such as development stages and cognitive abilities

From what Gary mentioned, it is clear that these various criteria of adulthood

do not offer a unified picture A person can meet one or several of the criteria and still

be called (or not called) an adult As adult educators, we sometimes face learners who (in our opinion) exhibit some but not all of the characteristics of an adult

2.1.2 Adult learners

The term “adult learners” can be described as “nontraditional learners” (Wilson, Benshoff and Lewis, 1992; Timarong et al, undated) According to Richardson and King (1998), the definition of an “adult learner” was arbitrary It varied within and across national system of higher education For instance, in the United States, learners aged over 22 on their admission to higher education were classified as “adult learners” However, in some other agencies, adult learners were 17 or over years olds (Solomon and Gordon, 1981) In the United Kingdom, adult learners were those at the age 21 or over, but in Australia, students aged 25 or over were described as “mature – age – student”, or “adult learners” Cross (cited in Benshoff and Lewis, 1992) defined that the nontraditional students were adults who returned to school as full time or part time students while still maintaining responsibilities like employment, family, and other aspects of adult life It is obvious that we cannot say exactly how old an adult learner

is The age of adult learners may be determined in this education, but in the other education, the age is different – it may be a few years younger or older

In this study, learners in early and late adulthood are the ones that finished high school, or college, or university, and now they want to return to school to gain more knowledge They are the ones that engage responsibilities for family and society Thus, the term “adult learners” in the present study matches the definition by Cross most

2.1.3 Characteristics of adult learners

According to Knowles (1992), the pioneer of the field of adult learning, adult learners were autonomous and self – corrected, goal directed, experienced, relevancy oriented, practical, and respectful

– directed They needed to be free to direct themselves in learning and they were motivated to learn from situations that they saw the need to learn In other words,

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those nontraditional students needed to be actively involved in determining how and what they learned, and they preferred active learning experiences to passive ones

Second, adult learners were goal – oriented to the broad range of affairs in life, not to narrow subjects When enrolling in the course, they usually knew what goal they wanted to attain Due to goal- orientation in learning, adult learners appreciated an educational program which was organized well and which had clearly defined elements

Third, adult learners were the ones that learned from their experiences With useful past experiences, they were more realistic and had insight about what was likely

to work and what was not Their experiences were helpful for them in learning because they were more readily able to relate new facts to experiences

Fourth, adult learners were relevancy- oriented When they learned something, they had to realize the reasons for their learning Therefore, their learning had to be applicable to their work or other responsibilities to be of value to them

Fifth, adult learners were practical In fact, they focused on the aspects of a lesson that was most useful to them in their work Therefore, they might not be interested in knowledge which was for its sake Instead, they paid attention to the aspects that were for their work

Sixth, adult learners needed to be treated with respect They might be pleased when their experiences were brought to the classroom and their contributions were highly appreciated

In short, as adult educators, in order to make teaching and learning effective,

we should understand clearly about the characteristics of adult learners

2.1.4 Adult learning

2.1.4.1 Principles of adult learning

In adult education, it is very important to understand the principles of adult learning Knowles (1970), the father of adult education, developed andragogy (adult learning) which was crucial understanding and practice for the facilitator From his work on andragogy, Knowles indicated that adults and children were not the same in the way they learned The basic foundation for andragogy was that adults learned differently from children, and so Knowles described four major principles of adult learning as follows:

- Adults resented to be treated like children

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- Adults had previous experiences

- Adults had to be ready to learn

- Adults were problem-centered From the work of Knowles (1970), seven more beliefs of adult learning were identified The beliefs were meaningful information, active learning, multi-sense learning, repeated practice, feedback, rewards, primacy (the first piece of instruction) and recency (the last piece of instruction) Adults took greater notice of these points of the instruction in order to be successful in their learning

From the time of Knowles, there was no definite list of adult education principles in the literature However, a great deal of agreement about what constituted good practice in adult education was developed by synthesizing information from a number of sources Understanding how adults learned best was a part of being an effective instructor (Lieb, 1991) Imel (1998) and Dewar (1999) introduced the major tenets of adult learning which they compiled from many sources Imel (as quoted in Brookfield (1986), Draper (1982), Drave (1997), Grissom (1992), Knowles (1992), and Vella (1994)) listed the principles as follows:

- Involving learners in planning and implementing learning activities

- Drawing upon learners’ experiences as a resource

- Cultivating self-direction in learners

- Creating a climate that encourages and supports learning

- Fostering a spirit of collaboration in the learning setting

- Using small groups With a clearer view point, Dewar (1999) raised the following adult learning principles which were derived from Zemke (1988), Brookfield (1986), Brundage and Mackeracher (1980), and Smith (1982) The first two principles had the source from Zemke’s (1988) According to Zemke, a person’s sense of self-esteem and pleasure were strong secondary motivators for engaging in learning experiences Zemke also noted that in order to raise active learner participation, new knowledge had to be integrated with previous knowledge Taking the source from Gibb (1960), Brookfield (1986) indicated that adult learning had to be problem and experience centered To Brundage and Mackeracher (1980), a certain degree of arousal was necessary for learning to occur They also suggested collaborative modes of teaching and learning in

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enhancing the self- concept which resulted in more meaningful and effective learning

of those who were involved According to them, adult learning was facilitated in the following situations First, the learner’s representation and interpretation of his own experience were accepted as valid, acknowledged as an essential aspect influencing change, and respected as a potential resource for learning Second, teaching activities did not demand finalized, correct answers and closure, but expressed a tolerance for uncertainty, inconsistency and diversity, and promote both question–asking and answering, problem- finding and problem- solving Third, individual learners assessed their own skills and strategies to discover inadequacies or limitation for themselves Fourth, teacher could give up some control over teaching processes and planning activities and could share these with learners Talking about adult learning principles, Smith (1982) said that adult would generally learn best in a nonthreatening atmosphere

2.1.4.2 Adults’ motivation to return to school

After getting out of school for a time, adult learners reenter the educational setting Why do they come back to school? Timarong et al (undated) said that adults returned

to school for several reasons First of all, they might wish to advance in their current jobs because the progress in economy and technology changed the nature of many jobs, and therefore the need for job training was improved In addition, they might return to school to pursuit new interests They might also wish to resume their education after they stopped learning for a period of time Moreover, to those who had families and full time jobs, returning to school often meant experiencing major changes in their lifestyles Cross (as cited in Conrad, 1993) indicated that living in a quickly changing society would bring difficulties unless people constantly learned new things In fact, with rapid changes in economy, information system, and technology, some jobs have been eliminated and others modified while many new jobs have arisen Thus, it is crucial to consider new standard for job requirements Heelan (2001) reviewed that the need for distance education through technology was on the rise As a result, more adult learners had to be technologically literate to keep their jobs, seek promotion, or change careers In order to attain this technological literacy, many adults therefore have to return to study I want to summary this part with the following extract:

The nation’s economy and future prosperity depends on the skills of its workforce, which requires access to lifelong learning (unidentified source)

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2.1.4.3 Barriers

As adults enter colleges or universities, they often face obstacles in trying to achieve access and success in their learning Because most adult learners engage full time jobs, they face difficulties with house work, child care and financial support Being busy with these responsibilities, they hardly do their duty at school as well as younger learners In fact, in the research on adult learners and learning at Palau Community College, Timarong et al (undated) reported that caring for children ranked the highest

of all the barriers (43%) The other barriers included a lack of money, lack of employer’s support, inconvenient location, lack of transportation, unhappiness with Saturday schedule, difficulty with the English language, lack of spousal support, caring for elderly parents, caring for grandparents and elderly relatives, lack of time, lack of peer support, and attendance policy In addition, Hillage and Aston (2001) (as quoted in Lewis, 2005) split the barriers to participation of nontraditional learners into three groups: attitudinal barriers, physical and material barriers, and structural barriers Moreover, in the journal “Addressing the needs of adult learners” (2006), learners faced barriers because institutions and policies focused much on traditional learners and learning

2.2 Foreign language learning strategies

2.2.1 Definition of a language learning strategy

In learning something, in order to achieve a learning goal, it is a crucial thing for any learners to take the conscious thoughts and actions which are considered as learning strategies Chamot (2004) showed that strategic learners were the ones who had metacognitive knowledge about their own thinking and learning methods, a good understanding of a task entailing, and the ability to orchestrate the strategies meeting best both the task demands and their own learning strengths In other words, language learning strategies were among the main factors that helped determine how and how well students learned a second language or a foreign language

The term language learning strategy has been defined by many researchers

According to Brown (2007), learning strategies were specific methods of approaching

a problem or task, modes of operation for achieving a particular end, planned designs for controlling and manipulating certain information Rubin (1975), one of the earliest researchers on language learning strategies, defined learning strategies in a wide scope

as the “techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquire knowledge” Later on,

in 1987, together with Wenden, they gave the definition of language strategies as any

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sets of operations, steps, plans and routines used by the learners to facilitate the obtaining, storage, retrieval, and use of information Weinstein and Mayer (1986) considered language learning strategies the behaviors and thoughts that learners

strategies as the special thoughts or behaviors used by individuals for the purpose of reaching comprehension or retaining new information Oxford (1990) had a more specific definition of language learning strategies as “specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situation” Later on, in 1994, a clearer definition of language learning strategies was given by Oxford as “specific actions behaviors, steps or techniques that students use often, consciously to improve their progress in apprehending, internalizing, and using the L2” In 1992, Richard and Platt indicated that learning strategies were “intentional behavior and thought used by learners during learning so as to better help them understand, learn or remember new information” Stern (1992) said that the concept of learning strategy depended on the assumption that learners consciously engaged in activities to achieve certain goals and that learning strategies could be considered as broadly conceive intentional directions and learning techniques

2.2.2 Classification of language learning strategies

There are many different but interrelated language learning strategies that have been categorized by many language researchers, for example, Wenden and Rubin (1987), O’Malley et al (1985), Oxford (1990), Stern (1992), and Ellis (1994)

O’Malley (1985) divided language learning strategies into three main subcategories They were metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies, and socioaffective strategies According to Rubin (1987), who pioneered much of the work

in the field of strategies, there were three types of strategies that contributed directly or directly to language learning They were learning strategies, cognitive strategies, and social strategies In Stern’s classification (1992), there were five main language learning strategies They were management and planning strategies, cognitive strategies, communicative - experiential strategies, interpersonal strategies, and affective strategies Oxford (1990) took this process a step further She saw the aim of language learning strategies as being oriented towards the development of communicative competence To Oxford’s concept, many different strategies could be used by language learners These strategies were divided into two main opposite classes - direct and indirect strategies Direct strategies referred to the ones that

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directly involved the target language such as reviewing and practising, and indirect strategies referred to the ones that provided indirect support for language learning such

as planning, co-operating and seeking opportunities These strategies were further subdivided into six groups: memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective, and social The three groups belonging to direct strategies were memory, cognitive, and compensation Metacognitive, affective, and social strategies belonged to indirect strategies which were used for general managing of learning According to Oxford (1990), memory strategies related to how students remember language; cognitive strategies related to how students thought about their learning; compensation strategies enabled students to make up for limited knowledge; metacognitive strategies referred

to how students managed their own learning; affective strategies related to students’ feelings and social strategies involved learning by interaction with others

In other words, according to these researchers, different typologies have been established, including a wide set of strategies such as direct, indirect, cognitive, metacognitive, communicative, management and planning, social, affective, interpersonal, and so on Although each researcher attempted to classify language learning strategies according to their concepts, most of their classifications shared three main domains: cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies, and socioaffective strategies

2.2.3 Direct strategies

According to Oxford (1990), direct strategies consisted of memory, cognitive, and compensation strategies

Memory strategies helped learners link one L2 item or concept with another

for entering new information into memory storage and for retrieving it when needed According to Oxford’s classification, memory strategies were based on simple principles employed when learners faced challenge of vocabulary learning Some examples of these principles were laying things out in order, making association, and reviewing Learners had their own ways to remember Some learners made use of visual images that could be stored and retrieved for communication while others found

it easy to connect words and phrases with sounds, motion, or touch

Oxford considered Cognitive strategies the most popular to language learners They were the mental strategies that learners use to make sense of their learning These strategies were fundamental operations that learners used to obtain knowledge

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and understanding of linguistic system With cognitive strategies, learners could understand the meaning of new words from contexts, link new information with existing schemata, analyze and classify it, for example, students could practice new sentences repeatedly by saying them or writing them, and then used them into different situations

Compensation strategies, such as guessing from the context in listening and

reading, using synonyms and “talking around” the missing word to aid speaking and writing and strictly for speaking, using gestures or pause words, were the strategies that helped learners make up for missing knowledge and overcome deficiencies and gaps to continue the conversation to support their learning In other words, learners used compensation strategies for comprehension of the target language when they had insufficient knowledge of that language For example, learners could guess the meaning of new vocabulary based on prefix, root, or contexts They could also use their body language such as gestures, body movements, or they use simplest vocabulary or grammar to get over difficulties when using language Oxford also indicated that learners with low language proficiency needed compensation strategies very much

2.2.4 Indirect strategies

Indirect strategies consisted of metacognitive, affective, and social strategies (Oxford, 1990)

learning by organizing, focusing, and evaluating their own learning (e.g., identifying one’s own learning style preferences and needs, planning for an L2 task, gathering and organizing materials, arranging a study space and a schedule, monitoring mistakes and evaluating task success, and evaluating the success of any type of learning strategy) In other words, these strategies involved being aware of and thinking about learning process together with planning, monitoring and self-evaluating (Oxford, 1989) Oxford also stated clearly that setting goals and objectives, planning and organizing language tasks, directed actions and self-management belonged to metacognitive strategies

Affective strategies enabled learners to handle their feelings, emotions, motivations or attitudes toward language learning Affective factors like emotion, attitude, motivation, and value influenced learning in an important way To Oxford (1990), the three sets of these strategies were lowering learners’ anxiety, encouraging themselves, and taking their emotional temperature For example, learners could relax

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by taking a deep breath or listening to music to lower their anxiety They could also give themselves rewards to encourage and keep motivation themselves

clarification of a confusing point, asking for help in doing a language task, talking with

a native-speaking conversation partner, and exploring cultural and social norms) helped learners work with others and understand the target culture as well as the language In other words, social strategies facilitated interaction among learners and increased interaction with the target language; they were also helpful in cooperating in the learning process The most important part of social strategies, according to Hismanoglu (2000), was that learners could empathize with others to develop cultural understanding and become aware of others’ thoughts and feelings Oxford considered social strategies very important in language learning, since language was used in communication, which occurred between people

2.2.5 The importance of language learning strategies in language learning

The key goal of communicative approaches in language teaching is to develop learners’ communicative competence in the target L2 or foreign language In order to achieve the goal, it is a crucial thing for learners to employ communicative strategies intentionally and consciously in order to cope with difficulties in communicating in a L2/FL (Bialystok, 1990) The term “language learning strategies” is used more generally for all strategies that L2/FL learners use in learning the target language, and communication strategies are therefore just one type of language learning strategies

In addition to developing students' communicative competence, language learning strategies are important because research suggests that training students to use the strategies can help them become better language learners In the early research on 'good language learners', Naiman, Frohlich, Stern, and Todesco (1978, 1996), Rubin (1975), and Stern (1975) suggested a number of positive strategies that such good students employed, including using an active task approaching and monitoring one's L2/FL performance to listening to the radio in the L2/FL and speaking with native speakers Moreover, a study by O'Malley and Chamot (1990) suggested that effective language learners were aware of the language learning strategies they used and the reason why they used them Furthermore, Graham's (1997) worked in French indicated that L2/FL teachers could help learners understand good language learning strategies and should train them to develop and use the strategies

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It is obvious that language learning strategies are “good indicators of how learners approach tasks or problems encountered during the process of language learning” (Hismanoglu, 2004) They were operations and procedures that learners employed to promote and facilitate the language acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use

of information in learners’ learning (Rigney, 1978) In fact, learners could improve their language skills in a better way and developed their communicative competence if they used a variety of language learning strategies appropriately (Fedderholdt, 1997 and Clouston, 1997) Oxford (1990) stated that language learning strategies were especially crucial for language learning because they were instruments for active and self-directed movement which was necessary for learners to develop their communicative competence

Globalization has become an irresistible trend, one of whose major impacts is the need for English proficiency To meet the requirement of this trend, the non-English speaking countries have increased their pace to promote the English proficiency for their people The Ministry of Education in those countries issues a policy which mandates that college and university graduates have to meet a certain level of English proficiency Those in service adults who attend college or universities have to meet the standard as well A College Students English Proficiency Test (CESPT) was carried on 1439 adult students at Shu-Te University Kaohsiung county, Kaohsiung, Taiwan by Professor Chian Yi Ju in November 2007 The result showed that only 96 adult students out of 1439 met the English proficiency requirement After interviewing some students, the researcher found that ineffective learning strategies

In the present study, I investigate four language learning strategy problems They are memory strategy problems, compensation strategy problems, affective strategy problems, and social strategy problems The reasons why I decided to choose these strategy problems derived from the participants’ background in the study In fact, the participants were part time adult learners, many of whom were over the college or university ages Therefore, I wanted to examine whether learning at old age really caused difficulties in the ability to remember the lessons In addition, the study participants came from different backgrounds in terms of English proficiency Many of them had not learned English before, or they had just learned it for some years As mentioned in the review, learners with low language proficiency needed compensation strategies very much (Oxford, 1990) Thus, I wanted to know whether compensation strategies made language learning in adulthood easy or difficult Finally, I believed

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that in order to improve adult language learning, the affective filters as well as barriers

in classroom interactions should be considered

2.3 Factors affecting language learning strategy

As specific actions or techniques taken by the learner, language learning strategies made learning “easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective and more transferable to new situations” (Oxford, 1990, p.8) There is no doubt that good language learners have good and appropriate strategies to their own learning Hismanoglu (2000) stated that bad language learners could be successful in their leaning with the help of a number of positive strategies However, according to Hismanoglu, there was always the possibility that bad learners still became unsuccessful, although they used good language learning strategies, because of many other reasons It is obvious that using the same good language learning strategies does not guarantee that bad learners will be successful in their language learning, for other factors may also affect the success

There are many factors that affect the success or failure of learning in terms of language learning strategies as follows:

1 Language being learned

2 Length of language study

3 Degree of awareness about strategies

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15 Language teaching methods

2.3.1 Age factor

As a part of biological factors which belong to individual differences, age factor has the influence on language learning The influence of age on second language acquisition has drawn great attention in second language acquisition research but it was complex and controversial ( Harley & Wang, 1997; Singleton, 1989, 2001)

In terms of age in language learning, the “critical period hypothesis” (CPH) put forth in the 1960’s supported the idea “the younger- the better” Several different definitions of the CPH in relation to second or subsequent languages were indicated, but the common assumption to most of them was that after the onset of puberty, it would be impossible for the learner to acquire native speaker levels of competence, particularly in pronunciation and intonation The CPH based on the theories of brain development It argued that because the brain lost “cerebral plasticity” after puberty, it made the second language acquisition in adulthood more difficult (Lenneberg, 1967)

However, the stereotype of older adults as poor language learners has been debated by recent research Schleppegrell (1987) stated that older learners could

conclusion that adult learners were better than younger learners at learning a second language, and they learned languages more quickly than children did in the early stages (Krashen, Scarcella, and Long, 1979, Cook 1986) The studies claimed that adults proceeded through the early stages of syntactic and morphological development faster than children did They also indicated that the ability to communicate to a new language might actually be easier, more rapid, and better for adults than for children

Similarly, studies on aging demonstrated that learning ability did not decrease with age According to Ostwald and William (1981), older people’s intellectual abilities and skills did not decline if they remained healthy and strong The ways adults and children learned a new language differently, but there were no age-related

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differences in learning ability for adults of different ages It was assumed that adults had superior language learning capabilities (Walsh and Diller, 1978) According to Schleppegrell (1987), the advantage for adults was that their neutral cells for higher- order linguistic processes, for example, understanding semantic relations and grammatical sensitivity, developed with age In addition, adults were better than children in the areas of vocabulary and language structures They also possessed highly developed cognitive systems, and were able to make higher order associations and generalizations, and they could integrate new language input with their own experiences

However, in adult learning, learners are often concerned about the decline of memory which is considered an inevitable consequence of aging One of the factors affecting memory relates to age In fact, memory ability does change with age Aging changes the brain and therefore memory ability Research studies consistently reported that younger adults made progress faster than older adults did (Bialystok & Hakuta,

1994, 1999, Singleton, 2001) For example, Wang (1998) compared two groups of L1 Mandarin adult learners of English (aged 25–35 vs 40–55) and her results indicated that the 25–35 age group obtained higher scores both in fluency and morphosyntactic accuracy Although the evidence regarding the effects of age on language learning was

“far from clear or conclusive” (Spolsky, 1989), it was a common belief that children were superior to adults as language learners (Bellingham, 2000) Studies by Burt and Krashen (1982), and Oyama (1976), for example, supported this belief Several well-known case studies (for instance, Burling, 1981; Schmidt, 1983; Schumann, 1978) also seemed to support the idea that adults found it difficult to develop new language

According to Duong (1999), a person should not be disappointed to learn a language after puberty She stated that learning a language as an adult included both advantages and disadvantages Adult learners could enjoy the benefits in language learning since they already knew a language, knew what language was used for, and language had a system of words and rules In addition, they could be aware the target language they were learning was different and they could be willing to take on the challenge Moreover, adult learners studied in an analytic way, willing to analyze cognitively what they were learning Nevertheless, Duong (1999) said that the disadvantages seemed to outweigh the advantages In fact, when learning a foreign language as an adult, learners had to face many troubles, as follows:

- The natural language ability is lost

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- Speech organs have formed a habit and the speech for organ position to pronounce the mother tongue sounds have become a natural response

- Rules of first language have become a habit that influences language competence: new rules have to be learnt consciously

- Learners suffer from interference from the first language, in terms of foreign accents and grammatical rules

(Duong T H O., 1999)

In conclusion, in the correlation between age and language learning in general and language learning strategies in particular, there are still controversial viewpoints Older learners may take the advantages of the maturity in doing things, and so they can learn

as well as younger ones, and even better However, there have been still opposite ideas that younger learners do thing better than adults do because they are faster, sharper, and more energetic

2.3.2 Gender factor

In addition to age, gender has been the most frequently considered in the research tradition on individual differences The study on gender as an individual variable in second-language acquisition has not received enough attention although some studies have identified differences when language strategies and styles used by male and

female speakers have been compared (Oxford, 1993; Oxford et al., 1988) Most

studies conducted with adult learners reported no differences related to gender in

Gender differences have the influence on learners’ memory In fact, the findings presented by Witelson (unidentified) in a recent study have shown that women have up to 15% more brain cell density in the frontal lobe, which controls so-called higher mental processes, such as judgment, personality, planning and working memory However, as women get older, they appear to shed cells more rapidly from this area than men By old age, the density is similar for both sexes Meanwhile, the findings from a series of experiments looking at memory performance in men and women appeared in the February edition of Current Directions in Psychological Science revealed that women did better at verbal episodic memory tasks, such as remembering words, objects, pictures or everyday events, and men outperformed women in remembering symbolic, non-linguistic information, known as visuospatial processing However, women were again better on tasks that required both verbal and visuospatial proccesing, such as remembering the location of car keys Women were

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also better at remembering faces, especially female faces They also remembered androgynous faces presented as female more accurately than the androgynous faces presented as male The suggesting reason was that women paid more attention to female face than to male faces In addition, women performed better than men did in tasks requiring little to no verbal processing, such as recognition of familiar odors

Gender differences have the influence on learners’ brain, as well In fact, key findings for the survey looking at sex-linked cognitive abilities, personality traits, interests, sexual attitudes and behavior, as well as physical traits, reported in several papers in the April issue of the Archives of Sexual Behavior, have found that cognitive abilities decline with age more steeply in men than in women Existing research by Kaylani (1996) showed that gender was among some of the factors which influenced choice of strategies used among students learning a foreign language Because gender was an issue with important theoretical and pedagogical implications in second language learning, it received some attention in language learning strategy research (e.g., Oxford, 1993; Oxford, Young, Ito & Sumrall, 1993; Oxford, 1995; Young & Oxford 1997) The results of these studies showed that gender could have a significant impact on how students learned a language An emerging theory for this gender difference proposed that although sometimes males surpassed females in the use of a particular strategy, females employed more learning strategies or employed strategies more effectively than males (Erhman and Oxford, 1989; Nyikos, 1990; Oxford, 1994; Sheorey, 1999) By examining 1200 university students in their language leaning strategy use, Oxford and Nyikos (1989) concluded that gender differences had a

"profound influence" on strategy use, and that females used strategies more frequently than males Similarly, Ehrman and Oxford (1990) stated that women at the Foreign Service Institute definitely reported more use of strategies Moreover, reporting on a study of 374 students at the University of Puerto Rico, Green and Oxford (1995) also concluded that females used strategies significantly more often than males

Although most studies in this area seemed to have reported a greater use of language learning strategies by women, Tran (1988) discovered that Vietnamese women used fewer language learning strategies than men The result from the Southeast Asian Refugee Self -Sufficient Study (1992) revealed that older Vietnamese women had more problems with their English language than older Vietnamese men did Apart from this, Vietnamese men were more likely to use various learning strategies to improve their English skills than women were

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In brief, the review showed that gender was one of the factors having influence on language learning strategies

2.3.3 Factor of belief about foreign language aptitude

2.3.3.1 Aptitude and foreign language aptitude

The term “aptitude” can be defined by many dictionaries According to Marriam- Webster’s Online Dictionary, aptitude was the capacity for learning Dictionary of the English Language (2006) defined aptitude in a wide aspect Aptitude was an inherent ability, as for learning, and a talent or ability It was quickness in learning and understanding It was the same as intelligence It was also the condition of quality of being suitable

According to Adams (unidentified), aptitude was capacity, talent or ability to

do something Therefore, it could be said that having a high aptitude for something meant being good at doing it

Foreign language aptitude was the subject concerned by many researchers during the 1950s and was the subject of intermittent research during the last 30 years

and for foreign language learning in particular could be defined for operational purposes as "the amount of time it takes an individual to learn the task in question" Therefore, individuals typically differed from each other not in whether they could learn a task or could not learn it, but rather in the length of time it took them to learn it

or to reach a given degree of competency

2.3.3.2 Belief about foreign language aptitude

Horwitz (1985, 1987, and 1988) developed a survey instrument called the Beliefs

About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) to investigate learners’ beliefs about

language learning Horwitz proposed the five logical categories, including (1) foreign language aptitude, (2) the difficulty of language learning, (3) the nature of language learning, (4) learning and communication strategies, (5) motivations and expectations

In other words, belief about language learning belonged to affective variables, such as, aptitude, motivation, anxiety, etc In the study, I hypothesize that learners’ belief about foreign language aptitude might be a factor that affects the difficulty in language learning strategies at Vinhlong Community College

The term “belief” can be defined by many researchers According to Richardson (1996), “beliefs” was considered as “psychologically held understandings,

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premises, or propositions about the world that are felt to be true” Horwitz (1987) considered belief about language learning a component of metacognitive knowledge which included all that individuals understood about themselves as learners and thinkers, including their goals and needs According to Horwitz, belief about language referred to language learners’ preconceived ideas or notions on a variety of issues that related to language learning Thus, assessing beliefs that language learners brought to the language classroom was crucial for both language instructors and curriculum designers Pintrich and DeGroot (1990) considered that students who believed their study was interesting and important were more actively engaged in the learning process and more persevering in their academic work

There were research studies on the impact of gender on learner beliefs As early as 1992, in their study, Bacon and Finnemann (1992) surveyed nearly 940 adult foreign language learners to explore gender-related differences in beliefs, strategies, attitudes, and experiences One result showed that female learners reported more motivation and use of strategy in language learning than male learners In addition, Siebert (2003, cited in Bernat, 2006) employed the Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) by Horwitz (1987) to conduct a study on 155 language learners (64 females and 91 males) of mixed ethnic English class at a higher education institution

in the U.S By using descriptive statistic in the form of percentage, Siebert reported a number of significant differences in beliefs among male and female language learners

in relation to language learning and strategy use Findings showed that male students were more likely than female students to rate their abilities highly

In short, belief about foreign language aptitude has influence on language learning in general and on adult s’ language learning in particular

2.4 Summary

This chapter has reviewed and discussed the theoretical framework relevant to the study The first issue is an overview of adult learners who come back to school for many reasons and their adult learning In addition, in their learning, they encounter many difficulties that affect the success of their learning Therefore, as educators, we have to understand the principles of adult learning in order to make our teaching effective The second issue is about language learning strategies, which can be determined as the methods of language learning success Of all the classifications of language learning strategies, Oxford’s criterion can be considered the most satisfactory because it was based on the previous classifications The success of language learning strategies in adult education is affected by many factors The study focuses the

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investigation into the three factors: age, gender, and belief about foreign language learning aptitude The above things are described in the third issue of chapter two

The next chapter will describe the research method employed in the study