AN INVESTIGATION INTO NON ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON LEARNER AUTONOMY AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD TEACHER’S ROLES IN AUTONOMOUS LEARNING

CAN THO UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AN INVESTIGATION INTO NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON LEARNER AUTONOMY AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD TEACHER’S ROLES IN AUTONOMOUS LEARNING B.A Thesis Fields of study: English Language Teaching Supervisors: Duong Thi Phi Oanh , M.A Researcher:Nguyen Phuong Bao Tran Student Code: 7062930 B.Ed class NN0652A1 Course 32 CanTho, May 2010 CONTENTS Contents i Acknowledgements .iii Abstract iv List of Tables of Figures v Chapter Introduction 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Research aims 1.3 Hypothesis 1.4 Organization of the thesis Chapter Literature Review 2.1 Definitions of learner autonomy 2.1.1 Holec’s notion of learner autonomy 2.1.2 Little, Dickinson, Carver’s opinions on learner autonomy 2.1.3 Wenden’s concepts of learner autonomy 2.1.4 Benson, Voller and Crab’ definitions of learner autonomy 2.1.5 Overview of learner autonomy 2.2 Characteristics of learner autonomy 2.2.1 Determining objectives 2.2.2 Formulating and following up the learning purposes 2.2.3 Selecting and implementing learning strategies 2.2.4 Monitoring and evaluating the learning strategies 2.2.5 Self-monitoring 2.3 Benefits of autonomous learning 10 2.3.1 Supplying more opportunities of interdependent learning 10 2.3.2 Reflecting the theory of student-centered education 11 2.3.3 Developing a harmonious relationship 11 2.3.4 Enhancing non-intellectual students’ learning motivation 12 2.4 Teacher’s roles 12 2.4.1 A trainer 12 2.4.2 An instructor and facilitator 12 2.4.3 A manager of language classroom’s activities 13 2.4.4 A resource person 13 2.4.5 A counselor 13 Chapter Research Methodology 14 3.1 Research question 14 3.2 Research design 15 3.3 Participants 15 3.4 Instruments 15 3.4.1 The first part of the Questionnaire on students’ perceptions on learner autonomy 15 3.4.2 The second part of the Questionnaire on students’ attitudes toward their teacher’s roles in autonomous learning 16 3.5 Procedure of collecting data 17 3.5.1 Piloting the questionnaire 17 3.5.2 Administering the questionnaire 17 i Chapter Results 19 4.1 Result of students’ perceptions on learner autonomy 19 4.1.1 The overall mean score 19 4.1.2 Differences in the perceptions on five aspects of learner autonomy 20 4.2 Result of students’ attitudes toward teacher’s roles in autonomous learning autonomy 22 4.2.1 The overall mean score 22 4.1.1 Differences in the attitudes toward five roles of teacher 23 Chapter Discussions, Limitations, and Suggestions for Further Research 26 5.1 Discussions 26 5.1.1 Reviewing the theoretical framework of learner autonomy 26 5.1.2 Discussion the results of the research on students’ perceptions on learner autonomy and their attitudes toward their teacher’s roles in autonomous learning 27 5.1.3 Conclusion 28 5.1.3 The implications for English teachers 28 5.1 Limitations 29 5.1 Suggestions for further research 29 Reference: .31 Appendices .33 Appendix The questionnaire (An English version) 33 Appendix The questionnaire (A Vietnamese version) 36 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Accomplishment of the research is not only my own attempt but also a great contribution from other individuals Thanks to them, I am able to go over obstacles which I have faced during the process of thesis Hereby, I would like to thank all of them for their help to my research First, I would like to express the deepest gratitude to my supervisor Mrs Duong Thi Phi Oanh, for her valuable insights, comments, and suggestions Without her guidance, my thesis would hardly have been completed I am solely responsible for any remaining errors in the thesis Second, many special thanks are sincerely sent to the four teachers: Ms Tran Mai Hien, Ms Hong Thi Thanh Truc and Mr Phan Viet Thang, as well as students of the classes that I handed out the questionnaire Their generous willingness in participating in the study was the invaluable help for me Third, I am very grateful to Ms Nguyen Thi Van Su who spent her precious time giving helpful and useful advice and suggested me many interesting materials related to the research Finally, I want to thank many others for being always by my side and giving me timely support Many thanks are also owed to my family for giving me the best conditions to study and complete the thesis iii ABSTRACT This study stems in part from a desire to find out perceptions of non-English students at Cantho University (CTU) on learner autonomy and their attitudes toward teacher’s roles in autonomous learning This research begins by defining learner autonomy, presenting its benefits, stating characteristics of autonomous learners and teacher’s roles in autonomous learning This study included 111 non-English major students at CTU and used the Questionnaire on students’ perceptions on learner autonomy and their attitudes toward teacher’s roles in autonomous learning as the research instrument The results indicate that the students’ perceptions on learner autonomy are average (M= 2.96) and their attitudes toward teacher’s roles in autonomous learning is quite positive (M= 3.3) The research ends by discussing results of the investigations and admitting limitations of the research as well as suggesting activities for further research iv LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table/Figure Page Table 3.1: The questionnaire’s items in the five aspects of learner autonomy 16 Table 3.2: The questionnaire’s items in the five roles of teacher in autonomous learning 16 Table 4.1: Descriptive Statistics of Students’ perceptions on learner autonomy 19 Table 4.2: Descriptive statistics of students’ perceptions on five aspects of learner autonomy 20 Table 4.3: Descriptive Statistics of Students’ attitudes toward their teacher’s roles in autonomous learning 22 Table 4.4: Descriptive Statistics of Students’ attitudes toward five roles of teacher in autonomous 23 Figure 4.1: Mean of students’ perceptions on learner autonomy 20 Figure 4.2: Means of students’ perceptions on five aspects of learner autonomy 21 Figure 4.3: Mean of students’ attitudes toward teacher’s roles in autonomous learning 23 Figure 4.4: Means of students’ attitudes toward five roles of teacher in autonomous learning……………………………………………………………………………….24 v CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION CHAPTER INTRODUCTION The chapter presents (1) the rationale of this research; (2) the overall research aims (3) the hypothesis and (4) the organization of the thesis 1.1 Rationale For over forty years, the term “learner autonomy” has been taking lots of interests of researchers and educators in an educational theme for its vital role in successful learning In this part, (1) learner autonomy in context of second and foreign language education in general and (2) in the context of teaching and learning foreign language at Cantho University (CTU) in particular are presented 1.1.1 Learner autonomy in the context of second and foreign language education In attempts to replace teacher-centered classrooms typified by learnercentered ones, a major concern benefit of learner autonomy has been well-established in the literature of researches for the past forty years (Holec, 1981, 1988; Dickinson, 1987, 1992; Wenden and Rubin, 1987, Little, 1991; Wenden, 1991; Esch, 1994; Dam, 1995) These researchers supposed developing learner autonomy means encouraging learners’ communicative competence in the target of language Therefore, helping students become more autonomous has been a new focused trend and target in the field of foreign language learning and teaching Autonomy provides learners with opportunities to take responsibility for their own learning process and develop independent learning In other words, that learners become autonomous make them learn language effective (as Little, 2000, cited in Trinh, 2005) Realizing the importance of learner autonomy in the foreign language education in general, and in teaching and learning English language in particular, educators and researchers have studied on it in Asian contexts It has been obvious that learners have not been supplied sufficient opportunities to be autonomous in the educational systems (Trinh, 2005) From the studies, students in the educational systems in Asian contexts should be provided with more opportunities to promote CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION their autonomous learning, motivation and interests in English language learning Additionally, Chan’s research indicated that to enhance students’ motivation and interests, investigations into learners’ perceptions and attitudes toward learner autonomy as well as their teacher’s roles in autonomous learning are essential From the investigations, the results could show a clear understanding of their awareness of autonomous learning and readiness for learner autonomy 1.1.2 Learner autonomy in the context of teaching and learning English in Vietnam in general and at CTU in particular Through the Decree signed in 1995 by the Prime Minister, from 1993, foreign languages, especially English, have been increasingly selected, and order of a foreign language is required of all students Moreover, to graduate from a university program, college and university students have to finish the foreign language courses as one of the requirements Since the Decree was implemented, the assessment of the Vietnam’s educational system has been strongly examination-focused Also, paper tests or examinations in English, are largely grammar-based, test the students’ knowledge of grammatical structures and vocabulary (Trinh, 2005) Following incorrect learning ways, it is recognized that students at CTU have inclined to learn for preparing their exams and getting certificates instead of studying for the knowledge, communicating and life-long learning Besides, they are used to studying English by memorizing and learning by heart teacher’s models from their high schools, thus ability to learn English independently and actively is seemly lacked (Trinh, 2005) From implications of Trinh’s study, it is believed that if students at CTU are promoted learner autonomy, they will have responsibility for their own language learning and become truly effective language learners and language users (as Little, 2000, cited in Trinh, 2005) 1.2 Research aims Students’ perceptions on learner autonomy were presented as the essential and crucial element in the English language’s target Additionally, helping students become more autonomous in language learning is a necessary and imperative problem in the context of English education at CTU Therefore, investigating into students’ CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION perceptions on learner autonomy and their attitudes toward teacher’s roles in autonomous learning is crucial Accordingly, this research aims at finding out what students’ perceptions on learner autonomy are and whether their attitudes toward teacher’s roles in autonomous learning are positive 1.3 Hypothesis I hypothesized that non-English major students at CTU have perceptions on learner autonomy in their language learning, however, their perspectives are rather low Besides, I supposed that the students have positive attitudes toward the teacher’s roles in autonomous learning 1.4 Organization of the thesis The study reported in this thesis includes five chapters: Introduction, Literature review, Research methodology, Results, Discussions, Limitations, and Suggestions for further research The next chapter- Chapter 2, the literature on learner autonomy, its benefits and characteristics as well as teacher’s roles in autonomous learning will be introduced In chapter 3, the research methodology of the study included the research question, the research design, the participants, the materials, the research instruments and the procedure of the study will be presented The chapter will report the results of the investigations into non-English major students’ perceptions on learner autonomy and their attitudes toward teacher’s roles in autonomous learning In the chapter 5, the implications of the research findings will be discussed, and the limitations of the research will be reflected as well as further research activities will be suggested finally CHAPTER 2- LITERATURE REVIEW CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW For over thirty years, learner autonomy has been a central theme in the context of foreign language education (Breeze, 2002), hence, its issues are noted by many researchers and educators These issues are concerned to notions of learner and teacher autonomy, conditions and characteristics of autonomy or learning strategies In this chapter, a review of learner autonomy’s definitions will be presented first Second, characteristics of autonomous learner will be clarified Third, benefits of learner autonomy will be shown Finally, roles of teacher in autonomous learning will be stated 2.1 Definitions of learner autonomy Many different researchers, theorists and educators - Holec, Little, Benson, Voller, Dam, Wenden, Dickinson and Carver and etc, have various views and opinions on learner autonomy In this part of the chapter, (1) Holec’s notion and (2) Little, Dickinson and Carver’s opinions; (3) Weden’s concepts, (4) Benson, Voller and Crab’ definitions and (5) an overview of learner autonomy will be concisely summarized 2.1.1 Holec’s notion of learner autonomy Holec, a pioneer in the autonomy field, regards learner autonomy as “the ability to take charge of one’s own learning” (1981, as cited in Little, 1996, p 2) According to him, learner autonomy in foreign language learning is considered as an attitude not a methodology As one of the earliest advocators of learner autonomy, this author supposes the learners have to hold and take responsibility for their own decisions on aspects of language learning These aspects are concerned to: • Determining the objectives; • Defining the contents and progressions; • Selecting methods and techniques to be used; • Monitoring the procedure of acquisition ... understanding of their awareness of autonomous learning and readiness for learner autonomy 1.1.2 Learner autonomy in the context of teaching and learning English in Vietnam in general and at CTU in. .. learners and teacher’s roles in autonomous learning This study included 111 non- English major students at CTU and used the Questionnaire on students’ perceptions on learner autonomy and their attitudes. .. INTRODUCTION their autonomous learning, motivation and interests in English language learning Additionally, Chan’s research indicated that to enhance students’ motivation and interests, investigations