An investigation into demotivating factors influencing on students’ english learning at ton duc thang university

As Chen 2013 and Dörnyei 2007, and Oxford 1998 point out, the serious effect of demotivation in language learning has led to concerns among second language advanced researchers on how to

I certify that this thesis entitled “ An investigation into demotivating factors influencing on students’ English learning at Ton Duc Thang University ” is my own

work

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does not contain material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of this thesis

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution

Ho Chi Minh City, December 2016

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all of the following people for helping me complete my thesis

Firstly, I would like to express my special thanks to my supervisor, Dr Đặng Tấn Tín for his helpful assistance and guidance This thesis could have never been completed without his enthusiastic counsel and support

Secondly, I am extremely grateful to all of the lecturers of the TESOL program at Ho Chi Minh City Open University for their helpful instructions during my M.A course

My appreciation also goes to my TESOL7 classmates for sharing me with a lot of useful materials to complete my thesis

In addition, my profound gratitude is also conveyed to the managing board, the English teaching staff in the academic year of 2015–2016 at Tôn Đức Thắng University of for giving me the best conditions to conduct the study

Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my beloved family and my friends at the same group under supervision of Dr Đặng Tấn Tín for their support and

encouragement during the time of completing my thesis

In the field of foreign language education, demotivation has been widely regarded

as a major cause which negatively influences learners’ attitudes and behaviors, leading to their undesired learning outcomes Recognizing demotivating factors to EFL students’ learning, teachers can eliminate the possible causes of demotivation Despite the importance of teachers’ know-how about demotivating factors to EFL students’ learning, only a limited number of studies have been carried out to understand and handle that problem at Vietnamese educational context Realizing the gap unfilled in the existing literature, this study attempts to investigate into the likely demotivating factors in English language learning at Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Minh City The study was conducted as quantitative research The sample of this study responded to 47-item questionnaires to find out the demotivating factors that affect students' English learning

at Ton Duc Thang University The data were collected through the questionnaire which was directly delivered to students The results revealed that students at Ton Duc Thang University felt demotivated because of teachers’ competence and teaching styles, learning contents, learners’ self-determination, and learners’ language utility Among the reported factors, learning contents most demotivate learners in learning whereas learning context

is the least influential factor to students’ attitudes toward and interests in learning English

It is suggested that the university administrators, and teachers need to make changes in English curricula so that students find more motivation and encouragement toward learning English In addition, students themselves should build up intrinsic motivation in learning English They should also try to overcome undesirable external factors that diminish their motivational basis of their language learning Prospective studies can analyze qualitative data in order to deeply probe other demotivating factors to EFL students’ learning and their attitudes about those factors

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS viii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xii

LIST OF TABLES ix

LIST OF FIGURES xi

LIST OF APPENDIX xii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Background of the study 1

1.3 Statement of problem 2

1.4 Purposes of the study 5

1.5 Research questions 6

1.6 Scope of the study 6

1.7 Significance of the study 6

1.8 Organization of the study 7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 9

2.1 Introduction 9

2.2 Motivation in language learning 9

2.2.1 Definitions of motivation 9

2.3 Demotivation in language learning 12

2.3.1 Definitions of demotivation 12

2.3.2 External and internal demotivation 13

2.3.3 Demotivating factors toward English language learning 16

2.3.4 Categories of demotivation in language learning 20

2.3.5 Development of L2 demotivation research 23

2.3.6 Demotivation and the related term Amotivation 25

2.4 Empirical studies on related research 27

2.5 Summary of previous studies on demotivation 34

2.6 Research gap 36

2.7 Summary 37

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 38

3.1 Research orientation 38

3.2 Research context 38

3.3 Learning material 39

3.4 Participants 40

3.5 Instrument for data collection 41

3.5.1 Rationale for the questionnaire 42

3.5.2 Description of the questionnaire to the students 43

3.6 Methods for data collection 44

3.6.1 Pilot study 44

3.6.2 Pilot of the questionnaire 44

3.6.3 Reliability of the questionnaire 46

3.8 Research procedure 48

3.9 Summary 50

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUCSSIONS 51

4.1 Introduction 51

4.2 Students’ background information 52

4.3 Research question 1: Level of demotivation 53

4.3.1 Findings 53

4.3.2 Discussion for research question 1 58

4.4 Research question 2: Demotivating factors 60

4.4.1 Findings 60

4.4.2 Discussion for research question 2 70

4.5 Chapter summary 73

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 74

5.1 Introduction 74

5.2 Conclusion 74

5.2.1 Students’ level of demotivation 74

5.2.2 Demotivating factors on students learning English as a foreign language 74 5.3 Recommendations 77

5.3.1 Teachers’ competence and teaching style 77

5.3.2 Learning context 77

5.3.3 Learning content 78

5.3.4 Students’ self-determination 79

5.3.5 Learners’ language utility 79

REFERENCES 81 APPENDIX 89

EFL: English as Foreign Language

ESL: English as Second Language

L2: Second language

TDT: Ton Duc Thang

TOEIC: Test of English for International Communication PET: Preliminary English Test

IELTS: International English Language Test System

Table 2.5: Components of demotivation by Oxford

Table 3.3: Detail descriptions of participants

Table 4.2: Number of Participants

Table 4.3a: Cronbach’ Alpha for Level of demotivation

Table 4.3b: Mean values of Levels of demotivation

Table 4.3c: Frequency and percentage of level of demotivation

Table 4.4.1.1a: Reliability for Teacher's competence and teaching styles

Table 4.4.1.1b: Mean values for Teacher's competence and teaching styles

Table 4.4.1.1c: Frequency and percentage for Teacher's competence and teaching styles

Table 4.4.1.2a: Reliability test for leaning context

Table 4.4.1.2b: Mean values of learning context

Table 4.4.1.2c: The frequency and percentage for learning context

Table 4.4.1.3a: Reliability test for learning content

Table 4.4.1.3b: Mean values for learning content

Table 4.4.1.3c: The frequency and percentage of learning content

Table 4.4.1.4a: Reliability test for Learners' self-determination

Table 4.4.1.4b: Mean values for Learners’ Self-determination

Table 4.4.1.4c: The frequency and percentage for learners’ Self-determination

Table 4.4.1.5a: Reliability test for Learners' language utility

Table 4.4.1.5c: The frequency and percentage for learners’ language utility Table 5.2.2: The most demotivating factors

Figure 4.2a: Participants’ genders

Figure 4.2b: Participant’s seniority

Figure 4.2c: Participant’s English learning time

Appendix 1: Questionnaire – English version

Appendix 2: Questionnaire – Vietnamese version

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the background to the study and the statement of the problems which inspire the researcher to conduct the research Then the purposes of the study and its research questions are proposed The subsequent sections including the significance and organization of the study are also presented

1.2 Background of the study

In the past, motivation was focused by many researchers in order to boost a positive attitude towards the learning of English mostly because of the increasing importance of English as the common language all over the world (Dörnyei, 2001a; Hussin, Maroof & D’Cruz, 2001) According to Dörnyei (2005b), it is the motivation that encourages students to learn a second language (L2) In addition, Dörnyei (2001b) stated that motivation itself assists the students to maintain their interest in L2 learning, developing language skills in target language and therefore they can achieve favorable results For the mentioned reasons, research in motivation have been outnumbered others over the past half century

Contrarily, research on demotivation has not thoroughly studied (Dörnyei, 2001b; Falout & Maruyama, 2004; Zhang, 2007) According to Crookes and Schmidt (1991), Dörnyei (2001b), Dörnyei and Ushioda (2010), Falout and Maruyama (2004),

Oxford (1998), demotivation is a relatively new term in the field of second language

learning and is defined as a barrier that impedes and retards second language learning

As motivation directs learners towards obtaining their desired objectives or targets,

demotivation, or ‘another side of motivation’ (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2010; Falout & Maruyama, 2004; Sakai & Kikuchi, 2009), at the same time, directly or indirectly hampers the motivational forces in language learning It impedes the learning process

of second language learners and gives ways to the negative influences on the overall learning of L2 learners As Falout, Elwood, and Hood (2009) state “demotivation can negatively affect the learner’s attitudes and behaviors, degrade classroom group dynamics and teacher’s motivation, and result in long-term and widespread negative learning outcomes’ (p.403) As Chen (2013) and Dörnyei (2007), and Oxford (1998) point out, the serious effect of demotivation in language learning has led to concerns among second language advanced researchers on how to motivate students to learn autonomously and trigger the teaching and learning process positively It is suggested

by Sakai and Kikuchi (2009, p.199) that “research on demotivation needs to involve

a variety of learners in terms of motivational states and proficiencies in English” in order to achieve better acknowledgment of problems of second language learners

Reviewing the literature on demotivation, the researcher found that examining demotivating factors in the context of Vietnam is of great importance To fill this gap, this thesis studies the commonplace negative factors influencing students’ motivational behaviors at Ton Duc Thang University which brings about the reduction or to a complete loss of their motivation to study English

1.3 Statement of problem

According to Chen (2013), Dörnyei (2005a), Sakai and Kikuchi (2009), the construct of demotivation still needs to be studied carefully Hence, it is crucial to

examine the factors leading to demotivation among learners in foreign and second language learning so that they can achieve the target language effectively (Sakai and Kikuchi (2009) Moreover, according to Molavi and Biria (2013), if this controversial concern is considered and studied in various contexts and at different levels of education, the answer for the problem of demotivation can be reduced remarkably

In Vietnam, the situation is totally similar Many factors of demotivation such

as inadequate learning facilities, inadequate well-trained teachers, and ineffective teaching methods challenge students in English language learning (Nguyen, 2015)

As Nguyen (2015) points out, English language is regarded as the official and compulsory language in education which paves many opportunities for students in many countries including Vietnam whereby the mastery of the language secures desired positions and social status in society In addition, the reasons for the ignorance

to English of non-English majored students are originated from poor learning condition and traditional teaching methods The anxiety of this subject also cause demotivated in learning English in a large number of students Additionally, Nguyen (2015) raises other problems at her teaching context, which are related to demotivation She finds that students who are majored in different subjects related to science and society for five years are not willing to learn English Although English has been taught for a long time, the results are still not good with students who do not pay attention, particularly those who study subjects such as mathematics, science or computing Besides that, Tran and Balaut (2007) also state that many students do not seem ever to have developed any interest in learning English, or if they have, they

seem to have lost that interest for some reason in spite of the current extrinsic pressures to learn English as a foreign language in Vietnam She argues that those students have become demotivated Students lose both integrative and instrumental motivation to keep on making attempt in learning the English language This is inconvenient to the future of Vietnamese learners since English language, being the foreign language, is also an international language which offers chances for pursuing higher education locally and abroad, and guarantees better job careers for those who master it

At Ton Duc Thang University, English is a mandatory subject not only for English-major students but also non-English-major ones There are six levels of courses at the school However, the number of students who fail level four has increased recently Especially, according to the school statistic of the previous academic year, more than 60 percent of students cannot pass English Four to move

to English Five Among the number, many of the students have failed more than twice On one hand, most students are unmotivated and have really negative attitudes towards learning They lack interest and encouragement in these classes because they study the same textbook many times Moreover, the topics as well as language and tasks in the book are outdated so they do not feel excited in joining classroom activities On the other hand, at Ton Duc Thang University, students are required to give feedbacks on their teachers online in order to get the results at the end of the course The opinion that teachers sometimes do not use appropriate and interesting teaching methods is stated by some students What is more, students also express the

hope to have more connection with teachers in order to feel happy coming to school and study better In short, for these above-noted reasons: students’ ability to pass the test; their commitment and interest to English studying; out of date learning materials; inappropriate teaching style; low student-teacher connection; there is an urgent need

of research on demotivation in second and foreign language learning at the school Additionally, doing research on demotivation on different levels of education is crucial; and the fact that many studies far have been implemented in Taiwan, Finland, Japan, and Iran (Amemori, 2012, Chen, 2013; Meshkat & Hassani, 2012) but not in Vietnam at university level; and the current problem at Ton Duc Thang University; the researcher conduct the study of “The impact of demotivating factors on students

at Ton Duc Thang Univeristy in leanring English” with the aims at investigating demotivating factors among Vietnamese undergraduates at Ton Duc Thang University to identify the reason that many student are demotivated, and then recommend solutions to enhance learners’ motivation in English language learning at the school

1.4 Purposes of the study

The researcher conducted the present study with three prime objectives Firstly, to once confirm the influence of demotivation on second language teaching and learning process, then to probe the level of demotivation of students in learning English as a foreign language at Ton Duc Thang University Thirdly, the researcher also would like to determine demotivating factors on students in learning English in order to motivate learners in English language learning effectively

2 What factors demotivate students learning English as a foreign language

at Ton Duc Thang University?

1.6 Scope of the study

The current study is conducted at Ton Duc Thang University due to the current situation that many students lost their interest in learning English, so they fail the final test The researcher aims to probe factors that demotivate learners in learning English and result in their failure However, because of the time constraint, the research covers the problems and finds the solutions among students at Level Four at the school

1.7 Significance of the study

The current study was conducted with the purposes of significantly benefiting the administrative management of the school, the teachers, and students in English language learning Exploring demotivating factors, the research aims at helping the management and teaching staff at Ton Duc Thang University develop the situation of language teaching and learning by having the best solutions in order to get over difficulties in education as well as create better teaching and learning conditions for students to learn English On the teachers’ side, with the hope of understanding

factors demotivating learners, they are able to avoid these factors in teaching efficiently Last but not least, the researcher expects the findings of the study help learners - the center of education – understand themselves in both intrinsic and extrinsic factors to jump over their demotivation and reboot their motivation in their language learning

1.8 Organization of the study

The current research includes five chapters with the main information as follows:

- Chapter 1 – Introduction: the chapter describes the background of the study, generates problems of English language learning at the Vietnamese contexts to present the research problems Then research aims together with research questions are stated in order to solve the research problems The scope of the study, its significance, and organization of the study are also included

- Chapter 2 – Literature Review: the chapter briefly provides an overall view of motivation and then mainly focuses on demotivation in which its definition, factors, the development as well as findings found in previous studies are identified

- Chapter 3 – Methodology: the chapter promptly describes the research methodology employed to conduct the research, concentrating on the research site, participants, instruments for data collection, and procedure of data collection and data analysis

- Chapter 4 - Results and Discussion: the chapter reports the findings of the study collected from instruments and the interpretation of the data collected

- Chapter 5- Conclusion and Recommendations: the chapter summarizes the conclusions about the study based on the findings discussed in the previous chapter Finally, recommendations for the administrators, teachers, and students, some limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research are also given

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction

This chapter introduces the theory foundation of the current research Firstly, the study reviews theories on motivation, which is considered as the foundation and direction for research on demotivation Secondly, it presents the sound review about demotivation which is the main subject of the research Its definitions, related factors and influence toward the teaching and learning English are respectively analyzed and synthesized Next, the relationship between demotivation and motivation in EFL teaching and learning is also described in order to emphasize the significance of the current study Finally, summaries of empirical studies regarding demotivation and L2 teaching and learning are presented

2.2 Motivation in language learning

Researchers have studied about motivation which is the critical factor in L2 learning in the previous decades Dörnyei (2001a) also argued that, according to his personal experience, nearly 100 percent of L2 learners are to archive at least a reasonable working knowledge provided that they are motivated to learn the language Due to the complexity of the motivation, tons of research has been conducted over the past years

2.2.1 Definitions of motivation

According to Dörnyei (2001a), motivation is the main cause for people’s actions It also explains the reason for which a person thinks or behaves in a certain circumstance every day In addition, motivation is the factor that differs the learners’

outcome in L2 learning Despite the fact that motivation is simply defined as the cause or the reason for people’s actions or behaviors, motivation has practically proved itself as a complicated issue that has provoked plenty of debates and has generated a wide range of theories among L2 researchers Dörnyei and Ushioda (2011) however pointed out that the researchers have agreed on the fact that motivation is the direction and magnitude of human behaviors The two researchers added that motivation is also in charge of a particular action as well as the effort and persistence with it In brief, motivation explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activity (Dörnyei 2001b)

2.2.2 Developments in L2 motivation research

Researchers have attempted to evidence the improvement in L2 motivation through arguing some of the most authoritative accesses that have come out during the past decades The theory initiated by Gardner (1985) was discussed and sat on top until the 1990s Simultaneously, evaluations towards the practical viewpoints of

it began appearing Therefore, some other intellectual accesses began to come out and the L2 motivation study changed the goal from macro to micro perspective It means that to give more educational connections, such as in schools, it was necessary to change from the large aspects to something specific The other accesses are distinctly important to advance the motivational plans that are used to produce and protect the motivation Additionally, the most recent L2 motivation study has concentrated on globalization tendency that has contributed a lot to expand the

global English community Now learners need to be flexible to accommodate themselves to a new global self after the past traverses Nevertheless, the modern globalized world is now described by linguistic and sociocultural fluidity where language use, ethnicity and identity have become complex affairs

The definition of integrative orientation to maintain long-term motivation of Gardner’s theory has been complicated because of the infection of global English Additionally, it has been argued whether it is possible to use these concepts without specific purposes from speakers So, L2 motivation is being reconceptualized and rehearsed completely to add into the contemporary notions of self and identity It should be noted that despite the criticism, Gardner’s motivation theory has influenced significantly the L2 motivation research and it continues to contribute as

a solid base for constructing models and approaches in order to define and clarify motivation in L2 learning Accordingly, some recent accesses have tried to respect Gardner and his assistants work but compensating in their nature Moreover, as the illustration, to experience the motivation is such a difficult step Many different motivational theories has been offered to deal with this problem but none of them could do it completely, and by today, there is appearance of simple but clear answers After all, all accesses in this chapter have supplemented significantly to L2 learning process In the next one, other side of motivation, called demotivation, will

be offered When L2 learning is described by failure, there are also more necessary

to notice this other side

2.3 Demotivation in language learning

2.3.1 Definitions of demotivation

As mentioned above, research on motivation generates a big interest from many researchers and it has been widely studied over the past decades Apart from the positive forces, negative forces that de-energise L2 learning are also taken into consideration (Dörnyei 2001b: 141) Undeniably, these negative forces play a remarkable role in the L2 learning process Many researchers, however, neglect researching thoroughly until recently In this section, demotivation, the negative counterpart of motivation, is first introduced and compared to the related term amotivation, a state of lacking any motivation to engage in learning Then, previous studies on demotivation are also discussed

To understand demotivation in learning second/foreign language, an important question is what demotivates learners, or specifically what factors influence demotivation This calls for the need to examine definition of demotivation The idea of demotivation is relatively under-researched in the L2 motivation research and therefore, not much literature can be found on it Reaching

a common-sense understanding of demotivation is, however, relatively easy: it concerns negative influences that reduce or cancel out motivation (Dörnyei 2001) The following hypothetical example provided by Dörnyei (2001) can further clarify this issue When Jack was split into the less able groups in his class, the other group

is the more able one, he became demotivated to learn Spanish Jill, on the other hand, lost her commitment to French when she did not comprehend the lesson, and the

way her teacher talked in a rude and impatient manner A demotivated learner, therefore, is a person who once was motivated but for some lost his or her interest

or commitment in learning In view of Dörnyei (2001b: 143), demotivation is rather the resultant force that de-energizes action and there may still be some other positive motives operating In particularly, when a student who has lost his or her interest in studying due to an insensitive teacher may still believe in the vital role of language

as a potential lingua franca Supporting the mentioned idea, Nicholls (1992) added that demotivation can make the most able student fail and it is not true if achievement is enhanced motivation would also be enhanced for all students

Dörnyei (2005a) also defined demotivation as “specific external forces that reduce or diminish the motivational basis of a behavioral intention or an ongoing action” He also indicated that demotivation itself does not destruct all the original positive influences made up by motivational basis It merely means that the present motivation with some positive motives could be restrained by the ready-to-be-activated negative factor Being with the just mentioned statement, Qashoa (2006),

as cited in Domyei (2001b, p 115) mentioned that “a demotivated person is someone who initially had a motivation to fulfill a goal or to engage in an activity and has lost the motivation to do so because of negative external factors which are related to the environment in which learning takes place such as the class room or school”

2.3.2 External and internal demotivation

There are several studies that have investigated the factors influencing demotivation at different learning levels One of the major causes of demotivating

that could be mentioned, drawn from the prior studies, is the external forces associated with the learning environment Dörnyei (1994), as cited in Bahramy & Araghi (2013, p.841), for example, listed nine demotivating factors as following: (1) teachers’ personalities, (2) competence, (3) teaching methods, (4) inadequate school facilities, (5) reduced self-confidence, (6) negative attitude toward the foreign language studied, (7) compulsory nature of the foreign language study, (8) interference of another foreign language, (9) attitudes of group members Factors that can be considered as negative external ones are associated with learning environment (e.g., inadequate school facilities, negative attitude toward the foreign language studied, compulsory nature of the foreign language study, interference of another foreign language), attitudes of group members, and teachers’ behaviour (e.g., teacher’s personalities, competence, teaching methods)

Among these external factors, demotivating ones in relation to teacher play important role In this manner, the findings of Dörnyei’s research is consistent with those which were previously found in the studies of Gorham & Christophel and Christophel & Gorham According to them (Gorham & Christophel, 1992), teacher

is related to two-thirds of the demotivating factors suitable to instructional communication Further research also proved that personality and pedagogy of teachers are the major causes of students’ demotivation though factors underlying demotivation are multifaceted Falout and Falout's (2005), for example, conducted

a survey of current literature to investigate Japanese students' demotivating factors

in English language classes They show in their survey that teachers’ behaviors is a

related factor that has the most damaging effect on learner motivation Briefly,

teachers play important role in the demotivational process, however, as stated by Falout, Elwood & Hood (2009), the fact is that teachers underestimate their own influence on student demotivation

Nevertheless, as strongly suggested by some authors demotivation is not

merely caused by external triggers (instrumental factors), but also by internal ones (integrative factors) In fact, external environment is interrelated with internal elements This interrelationship is described as the demotivational process in which learners’ demotivation is internally influenced by learners’ perceptions of their external environments with the contribution of further psychological factors to this process (Falout, Elwood & Hood, 2009) As indicated in a prior research of Dörnyei (1998, cited in Bahramy & Araghi, 2013, p.841) self-confidence and negative attitude towards English are among internal factors which are the possible causes of demotivation among English language learners Consistent with what Dörnyei found, Flout & Falout (2005) proved that a component of demotivation is reduced self-confidence They added further that self-confidence is reduced as learners are exposed to the factors such as teachers' behaviour, focusing on abstract rules, not paying attention to actual usage, inappropriate level or pace, and incomprehensible tasks Also, negative attitudes is the concept that is closely associated with demotivation When language learners don’t have much intrinsic and integrative motivation (e.g., they are not interested or have difficulties with the teacher or with

other students), there exists negative attitudes that can impede their language learning

2.3.3 Demotivating factors toward English language learning

It is noticeable that demotivating factors come from both external and internal factors For the purpose of identifying factors discouraging learners in second language learning and helping them overcome the demotivation, so both external and internal factors are chosen as the model of the study The researcher divides

these factors into five different factors as follows

2.3.3.1 Teacher competence and teaching style

Studies showed that some aspects such as teachers’ lack of competence, teachers’ teaching method and teaching style, teachers’ behaviors were among the most factors that caused demotivation for the students in learning English (Dörnyei, 1998; Kikuchi, 2009) Teachers’ incompetence in the classroom consisted of one-way teaching, unclear English pronunciation, no corrective feedback, low credibility, fast teaching pace, not responding to questions well, lack of creativeness, boring ways of conveying knowledge, too fast teaching speed, ineffective distribution of the use of L1 and L2, and repeated lessons from class to class Also, their behaviors in classroom strongly encouraged them towards studying such as too quiet voice, strict behavior, negative attitude towards weak students, lack of care and enthusiasm, insulting students, being strict and inflexible, showing favoritism and lack of concern for students' comprehension Beside the factor about teachers of their own, their teaching method also demotivated students in learning English The

findings of the research revealed that teachers’ grammar-based teaching was the most salient demotivating factor Among the most popular ideas were that teachers over-emphasized grammar, lessons were exam-oriented, and there were not enough opportunities to communicate in English in the classroom

2.3.3.2 Learning context

Apart from the factors related to the teachers, learning environment also contributed considerably to the students’ demotivation in second language learning, and had a remarkably negative effect on students‟ English learning (Tran and Baldauf, 2007) Related items to the factors involved insufficient school facilities, boring and stressful classroom atmosphere, inappropriate class time, lack of opportunities to use English (Meshkat and Hassani, 2012) These two researchers also noted that the classroom atmosphere which was claimed to be quiet, boring, and often stressful highly discouraged students in learning Other factor was unfavorable learning conditions such as crowded groups, insufficient teaching and learning facilities, unequal levels of proficiency between students, and lack of extra-curricular activities Besides, unfavorable and limited class time, and lack of opportunities to contact to foreigners inside and outside the classroom also contributed to students’ demotivation in learning English (Dörnyei, 1998; Kikuchi, 2009)

2.3.3.3 Learning content

A variety of factors related to textbooks contributed considerably to students’ demotivation in the English classroom, in which the two most

demotivating factors were the course contents and teaching materials Different factors such as difficult textbooks/reference books, boring topics, uninteresting content of the texts, out of date topics, too long and difficult reading texts were reported to be related to students’ demotivation in learning English (Kikuchi, 2009) Additionally, in Bahramy and Araghi’s (2013) study, the findings revealed that a number of factors related to the course book such as dull and boring texts and subjects which were not related to daily life subjects, too much grammar, and not following a steady, step by step schedule were identified as the second most demotivating factor for students in learning English (Krishnan and Pathan, 2013)

2.3.3.4 Learners’ seff-determination

Lots of factors concerning learners themselves had negative impact on their English learning Tran and Baldauf (2007), Kaivanpanah and Ghasemi (2011), Jomairi (2011), Luu (2011), and Nguyen (2013) revealed some factors such as learners’ negative attitude towards English language and English speaking community, learners’ loss of background knowledge, lack of skills, lack of selfconfidence, experience of failure or lack of success According to them, these factors remarkably made students lose their interests and motivation toward learning English Of the factors, lost background knowledge, negative attitude towards English language, and lack of self-confidence seemed to be the most influential factors Moreover, the results showed that students’ negative attitude toward English speaking community such as learners’ negative attitude towards the country, people, and culture of the target language were the second source of student’s demotivation

(Tran and Baldauf, 2007; Luu, 2011) What is more, bad attitude towards English language learning was also found to contribute to the students’ loss of interest The students felt uninterested in learning English as it was a compulsory subject and the purpose of English learning was to pass examinations or to enter universities rather than to communicate with second language community (Luu, 2011; Nguyen, 2015) They also stated that learners’ negative attitude towards the difficulty of English (difficult pronunciation, large vocabulary, and complicated grammar), anxiety (fear

of making mistakes, losing face with friends), experience of failure or lack of success (e.g unsatisfactory results, being left behind classmates) were among the

sources of their demotivation

2.3.3.5 Learners’ language utility

Apart from learners’ inner ability toward study English learning, inadequate chances to practice and use English considerably contributed to students’ demotivation Findings from Luu (2011) and Tran (2012) showed that students study English in order to pass the current test and exam at schools but not to communicate

in life The school offered few clubs as well as seminars or events that students can apply what they learn Besides, other factors related to learners language use included students’ lack of time to joint out-of-school clubs, no opportunities to speak English with classmates and friends Remarkably importantly, Kaivanpanah and Ghasemi (2011) and Jomairi (2011) agreed that most learners cannot identify and acknowledge the crucial importance of English use in their future job, so that they spent less time and efforts to learn it effectively

2.3.4 Categories of demotivation in language learning

The concept of demotivation means when students are unmotivated, they are likely to struggle the same problem (Dörnyei, 2001b) In fact, demotivation is a category of problems, containing many variations At its essence, according to Nicholls (1989), demotivation is about students who are not being fully committed

to act, and there are many reasons why they might be in that position Knowing categories of demotivation will help them to identify the real reasons for their unwillingness to commit to action, so that students can pick the right tools and strategies to get motivated again (Williams and Burden, 1997) Williams and Burden (1997) divide L2 motivation into internal and external factors Besides, Marika (2012), Coleman (2009), and Sakai and Kikuchi (2009) clarify demotivation into different factors that directly and indirectly affect students learning of English

The direct and indirect influence of different demotivating factors is supported by Charlie (2010) Firstly, students can be demotivated by fear (Charlie, 2010) If students enter a territory that they feel afraid to act, to involve in, they are determined to avoid going forward Fear slow them down and make them hesitant and careful in join different class activities Setting the wrong goals also demotivates learners in learning English (Marika, 2012; Coleman, 2009) Having the wrong goals in learning also demotivates students Motivation is clearly interpreted under

a great model of Martha Beck in which it is categorized into Essential Self and social Self While the Essential Self is automatic, creative, playful, and driven by personal

internal demands, the other has tendency to be abided by social disciplines of living, studying, and working As a person is part of the society and/or community where

he is living, the Social Self seems to be very keen on what the outside environment hope that person to do Therefore, as soon as the goals was set internally and merely based on Essential Self, the Social Self will use demotivation to slow that person down and put him back on track

Moreover, students can also be demotivated by lack of clarity about what they want (Marika, 2012; Coleman, 2009; Sakai & Kikuchi, 2009) People tend to stay with what they are familiar with They therefore do not struggle for the new things if they themselves do not clearly and consciously vision what they really want

to This causes demotivation as whenever a person gets started doing something and

it gradually turns out an old same thing Additionally, as stated by Charlie (2010), students with many goals which cause conflicts among these tend to be demotivated

in studying as well When they have more than one value to be important for them

to persuade at the same time, they will be demotivated In this situation, a person will feel conflicted and confused about which direction to follow This type of demotivation will end up in the result that all the motivation for directions will be dried up as the internal conflict gradually saps the person’s energy This type of demotivation will end up in the result that all the motivation for directions will be dried up as the internal conflict gradually saps the person’s energy What is more, Charlie (2010) also argues that students can be demotivated by lack of autonomy Autonomy decides a person’s development Autonomy however needed to be

practiced using the part of the brain called decision-making center which also needed

to be exercised regularly And those who have depression have under-developed decision-making center A research has shown that if those who working or studying

in creative field have autonomy to decide what to do, when to do, and how to do their stuff will have more motivation, creativity, and productivity

When it comes to dealing with challenges, motivation is boosted Therefore, lack of challenges; in other words, if the learning tasks are too easy for students, they lose their motivation (Charlie, 2010) However, when the challenge becomes too big, then, it saps the motivation Human is born to live, and grow up, and constant challenges and opportunity are needed Without challenges, a person would be demotivated and easy to get departed from the right path Another source of demotivation is grief (Marika, 2012; Coleman, 2009; Sakai & Kikuchi, 2009) Grieving is the first phase a person has to be through if he wants to change Students have to struggle to hook on the past old days which could be lost when changing or just moving forward This feeling becomes greater in accordance to the size of the change Sometimes, with the effect of this feeling, they may go through depression and social withdrawal With all the grieving and fearing and feeling lost that go on

in this phase, it’s normal for their motivation to dry up Then, they can be demotivated by loneliness This type of demotivation usually happens to those who work and study alone As mentioned in the previous part, the Essential Self is just longing for some interaction with other people as a person keep locking him from outside relationships because we are designed to be social creatures The Essential

Self will always motivate students to move forward to achieve their goals especially those in type A This, however, sometimes dried up their energy and they get overwhelming with goals or projects And motivation is gradually drawn out as they get exhausted Finally, demotivation occurs when students do not know what to do next to achieve their goal despite the fact that the goal has been set very clearly Then, this usually happens to those who have to deal with big plans and projects It

is therefore necessary to plan things carefully before taking course of actions In conclusion, students can be demotivated by many factors from themselves or from others

2.3.5 Development of L2 demotivation research

While Williams and Burden (1995) divide L2 motivation into internal and external factors, the research on L2 demotivation has mainly concentrated on external ones (Lamb, 2009; Dörnyei and Ushioda, 2011) Moreover, it has been controversial that defining the causes of demotivation internally, in other words, laying the blame on learners themselves is problematic This argument is justified

in the following ways According to Marika (2012, p.18), it has been claimed that a critical perspective needs to be adopted in which the educational system, rather than the students, should be viewed as the problem Secondly, it has been suggested that the attitudes and discourses of the wider sociocultural context have a negative impact

on students’ motivation to learn languages, rather than any internal forces (Marika, 2012) Coleman (2009) supported these views by drawing explicit links between

British pupils’ demotivation to learn languages and the discourse of British insularity, monolingualism and xenophobia

A recent investigation of demotivation among Japanese secondary school students by Sakai and Kikuchi (2009) has led researchers to assume whether demotivation concerns solely external factors or if it might involve also internal factors The research findings indicate that internal forces were considered as a salient source of demotivation in learning English by Japanese upper secondary school students It is unquestionable to expand demotivation to include not only external but also internal factors in lights of these findings Demotivation does not,

by all means, state that all the positive influences which originally made up the motivational basis have been lost (Marika, 2012) However, it is noticeable saying that not every type of negative impact that decreases action tendency refers to demotivation Dörnyei and Ushioda (2011) provide three examples to illustrate cases when demotivation is not at issue First and foremost, an attractive alternative action that serves as a distraction, such as watching a movie instead of doing homework does not involve demotivation This kind of distraction has nothing to do with demotivation because it does not carry a negative value, such as public humiliation Hence, the original activity of L2 learning is distracted by watching a movie rather than it reduces the actual motivation of it Secondly, demotivation is not concerned when there is a gradual loss of interest in a long-lasting and ongoing activity In this example, the loss has taken place gradually and is not caused by a specific incident

in a particular situation although demotivation concerns the loss of interest The last

case is the sudden realization that the goal to pursue is too high, such as when someone realize that attending an evening course after work is too demanding

On one hand, Tran and Baldauf (2007) declare that demotivation has a negative impact on students, preventing them from gaining expected learning outcomes On the other hand, Omid (2012) supported in his research that highly demotivated participants did more poorly on the proficiency test than less demotivated participants Küpers (2001) stated that “demotivation refers to more than just non-acting or unmotivated behavior I can also refer to an engagement into wrong or contra-productive direction” (p 115) He also emphasizes, “It is of crucial importance to know whether a problem stems from a lack of ability, a lack of appropriate mean, a lack of freedom, a lack of willingness, or a lack of well-specified obligatory goals” (Küpers, 2001, p 117) He also states that these inadequated forms can result in a demontivational attitude and (non-) acting, which is experienced as

an unpleasant, affective or stressing or frustrating state in relation to current activities (e.g., tasks) or social contacts

2.3.6 Demotivation and the related term Amotivation

Amotivation, a closely related concept to demotivation, should not be confused with demotivation The concept of amotivation was first introduced by Deci and Ryan (1985) It is indicated as “the relative absence of motivation that is not caused by a lack of initial interest but rather by the individual’s experiencing feeling of incompetence and helplessness when faced with the activity” (Deci & Ryan, 1985, as quoted by Dörnyei 2001b: 144) Amotivation is state of lacking any

motivation to engage in an activity, characterized by a lack of perceived competence and/or a failure to value the activity or its outcomes (Dörnyei, 2001b) Besides, according to Dörnyei and Ushioda (2011), amotivation refers to a lack of motivation caused by the realisation that there is no point in doing something or doing it is beyond the individual’s ability Vallerand (1997) explains the cause of amotivation

by four main reasons Firstly, learners think they lack the ability to perform the behavior Secondly, they do not consider the strategies to be followed effective enough Thirdly, students think the effort required is far too extensive Finally, they have the general perception that their efforts are inconsequential considering the task Therefore, whereas demotivation is related to specific external forces, amotivation refers to general expectations of outcome that are unrealistic for some reason (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011; Marika, 2012)

As previously presented, L2 demotivation has remained a relatively researched area until recently There has, however, been a growing interest in the topic since L2 learning is the area of education that is perhaps most commonly characterised by failure to learn (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011: p.142) In the following sections, previous studies conducted on demotivation are summarized and discussed The findings of the studies by Oxford (1998), Dörnyei (1998), Sakai and Kikuchi (2009), Tran and Richard (2012) are examined

under-2.4 Empirical studies on related research

The first study about demotivation in the language classroom in aspects of teachers and course characteristics conducted by Oxford (1998) concentrated on the learning experiences of approximately 250 American high school and university students In order to figure out which factors the students found demotivating, the data collected through essays and content analysis was applied Oxford used a variety of prompts to collect data over five years, such as “Describe a situation in which you experienced conflict with a teacher” and “Talk about a classroom in which you felt uncomfortable” The content analysis of the essays including four

main themes is shown in Table 2.5 on the next page The first theme was the teacher’s personal relationship with the students including a lack of caring, general belligerence, hypercriticism and patronage/favoritisms The second theme was the teacher’s attitude towards the course or the material including lack of enthusiasm,

sloppy management and close-mindedness The third theme that emerged from the

data was style conflicts between teachers and students This theme included multiple

style conflicts, conflicts about the amount of structure or detail and conflicts about

the degree of closure or ‘seriousness’ of the class The final broad theme was the nature of the classroom activities and issues such as irrelevance, overload and

repetitiveness were reported

Themes Components

The teacher’s personal

relationship with the students

A lack of caring General belligerence Hypercriticism and patronage/favoritisms

The teacher’s attitude towards

the course or the material

Lack of enthusiasm Sloppy management and close -mindedness

Style conflicts between

teachers and students

Multiple style conflicts Conflicts about the amount of structure or detail Conflicts about the degree of closure or ‘seriousness’ of the class

The nature of the classroom

activities and issues

Irrelevance Overload Repetitiveness

Table 2.5: Components of demotivation by Oxford (1998)

Oxford (2001) later extended her study to include narratives that were written

by 473 students from a variety of language and cultural backgrounds Oxford pays attention to the metaphors students used to describe their teachers and analyzed students’ descriptions of language teachers whom they liked or disliked in particular,

or with whom they experienced significant harmony or conflict He used three major teaching approaches to categorize the themes that emerged from the narratives The first approach is the autocratic approach, in which the teacher holds all power in hands and which demonstrates large social distance The second approach is the democratic/participatory approach In this approach, power, responsibility and decision-making between teacher and students are shared properly The third