A study on factors affecting first year english major students’ motivation in english speaking classes at hanoi pedagogical university 2

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2 FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES = = == = = CAO THI VAN ANH A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN ENGLISH SPEAKIN

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2 FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

= = == = =

CAO THI VAN ANH

A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING FIRST-YEAR

ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASSES AT HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF

THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF PEDAGOGY IN ENGLISH)

Field: English Language Teaching

Hanoi, May 2019

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2 FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

= = == = =

CAO THI VAN ANH

A CASE STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASSES AT HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF

THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF PEDAGOGY IN ENGLISH)

Field: English Language Teaching

SUPERVISORS:

Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong, M.A Dr William H Salazar, Ed.D

Hanoi, May 2019

STATEMENT OF THE AUTHORSHIP

Title: A study on factors affecting first-year English major students’ motivation in English speaking classes at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2

I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work under strict guidance from my supervisors and no part of this report has been copied or reproduced by me from other person‟ work without the proper acknowledgements I have also provided fully documented references to the work of other researchers

Date submitted: May 10 th 2019

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

In the completion of this thesis, first of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors, Ms Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong, M.A who taught me how to organize my thesis and Dr William H Salazar, Ed.D who helped me organize my ideas and how to edit my paper for their experience, guidance, stimulating suggestions and encouragement throughout my research

Additionally, I would like to convey my deepest thanks to the lecturers in the Faculty of Foreign Languages for their advice and assistance in introducing me many reference materials related to this research project

I am especially indebted to 50 first-year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 for their participation into my study

Last but not least, I owe my special thanks to my loving parents, my younger brother and my dear friends who offered me their love, care, support and encouragement so that I could accomplish my study

Hanoi, May 2019

ABSTRACT

Motivation is one of the most vital factors determining the success or failure

of students‟ foreign language learning Without motivation, nothing can be accomplished But in spite of that, in reality many students in general and some students at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 in particular, do not have enough motivation to practise speaking English smoothly While speaking is considered one

of the most important skills when compared with other skills; it is the most essential skills in our daily lives and is the most effective mean of communication Therefore, this study was implemented to investigate the factors affecting first-year English major students‟ motivation in English speaking classes at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 The participants were 50 first-year English major students and three lecturers of English Survey questionnaire, interviews and classroom observations were used as the major data collection instruments The data were computed and analyzed The major findings demonstrated that there were four main groups of factors that affect students‟ motivation in English speaking classes in order of importance: (1) Student – related factors (mean = 3.59); (2) Lecturer – related factors (mean = 3.4); (3) Classroom – related factors (mean = 3.3) and; (4) Course book – related factors (mean= 2.72) Mean scores of 3.5-5.0 on the 5-point Likert scale were defined as highly motivated; mean scores of 2.5-3.4 were defined as moderately motivated; and mean scores defined as lowly motivated were 1.0-2.4 Based on the findings of this study, implications and suggestions to increase students‟ positive motivation at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 were made: 1) Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation are very important to increase students‟ speaking skill level 2) Lecturers should design interesting activities that are relevant to students 3) Lecturers should create a positive classroom environment and show their enthusiasm in their teaching

Key words: student motivation, factors affecting motivation, English speaking

classes, first-year English major students, L2 motivation

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

HPU2 Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 FFL Faculty of Foreign Languages

L2 Second language

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Demographics of the participants 22

Table 2: Student – related factors 23

Table 3: Lecturer – related factors 26

Table 4 : Classroom – related factors 29

Table 5 : Course book – related factors 31

Table 6: The comparison among four factors 33

LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1: Student – related factors 23

Chart 2: Lecturer – related factors 26

Chart 3: Classroom – related factors 29

Chart 4 : Course book – related factors 31

Chart 5 : The comparison among four factors 33

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART A INTRODUCTION 1

1 RATIONALE 1

2 AIMS OF THE STUDY 2

3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 3

4 METHOD OF THE STUDY 3

5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 3

6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 3

7 DESIGN OF THE STUDY 4

PART B DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Motivation in Second/ Foreign Language Learning 5

1.1.1 Definition of Motivation 5

1.1.2 Definition of Motivation in L2 Acquisition 6

1.1.3 Motivation in Practising English Speaking Skills 6

1.1.4 Types of Motivation 7

1.1.4.1 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation 7

1.1.4.2 Integrative and Instrumental Motivation 8

1.2 Motivation in L2 Speaking Classroom 9

1.2.1 Related Issues of Speaking Skills 9

1.2.1.1 Some Definitions of Speaking Skills 9

1.2.1.2 Types of Classroom Speaking Performance 10

3.2 Motivation in Speaking Classroom 10

3.2.1 Factors Demotivate Students to Speak in Classes 10

3.2.2 Some Conditions for Effective Motivation in Speaking Classroom 11

1.3 Factors Affecting Motivation in L2 Learning 12

1.3.1 Dornyei‟s Extended Motivational Framework 12

1.3.2 Williams and Burden‟s Framework of the L2 Motivation 12

1.3.3 Factors Affecting Students‟ Motivation in Learning L2 13

1.3.3.1 Student – related Factors 13

1.3.3.2 Lecturer – related Factors 14

1.3.3.3 Classroom – related Factors 15

1.3.3.4 Course book – related Factors 15

1.3.4 Previous Studies on Factors Affecting Students‟ Motivation in L2 Speaking Class 15

CHAPTER TWO: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 17

2.1 Description and Context of the Study 17

Participants 17

2.2 Data Collection Instruments: 18

2.2.1 Survey Questionnaire for Students (Appendix A) 18

2.2.2 Interview for Lecturers and Students (Appendix B) 19

2.2.3 Classroom Observation (Appendix C) 19

2.4 Data Analysis 20

CHAPTER THREE: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 22

3.1 Results 22

3.1.1 Results of Survey Questionnaire, Interviews and Classroom Observations about Factors Affecting the First-year English Major Students‟ Motivation in English Speaking Classes 22

3.1.1.1 Demographics of the Students taking part in the Survey 22

3.1.1.2 Student – related Factors 22

3.1.3 Lecturer – related factors 25

3.1.4 Classroom – related Factors 28

3.1.5 Course book – related Factors 30

3.1.6 The Comparison among Four Factors Affecting Sudents‟ Motivation in English Speaking Classes 32

3.2 Discussion of Findings on Factors Affecting Students‟ Motivation in English Speaking Classes 34

3.2.1 Student – related Factors 34

3.2.2 Lecturer – related Factors 35

3.2.3 Classroom – related Factors 36

3.2.4 Course book – related Factors 36

CONCLUSION 38

1 Summary of the Study 38

2 Pedagogical Implications 38

3 Limitations of the Study 40

4 Suggestions for Future Research 40

REFERENCES 42

APPENDICES 46

PART A INTRODUCTION

This section discusses the reasons for carrying out this study, defines the aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study and methods of the study The significance of the study and the outline of the study are also presented

1 RATIONALE

With the globalization trend, English has emerged as a crucial communication language in Vietnam Many English-speaking foreigners from many countries have begun coming and investing in Vietnam This has prompted Vietnamese citizens to learn English to communicate efficiently with their foreign counterparts Moreover, the importance of English was immediately recognized by the Vietnamese government and English is taught as a compulsory subject in primary, secondary, high schools and universities in Vietnam

English in the modern world plays a very important role in exchanging and seeking information, for each individual, it has different levels of need However, Vietnamese students are facing many opportunities and challenges in the transitional period of a “developing” globalized Vietnamese society and the cultivation of English sources is the key to gain educational and career success Fluent communication in English will give English learners an advantage in the competitive job market

In Vietnam, English language teaching at secondary and high schools focuses mainly on grammar, vocabulary and sentence structure In a teaching format, conversational English is not usually taught because learning and teaching English is mainly based on testing, with the exams focusing mainly on grammar Primary through high school curriculums in many schools focus on preparing students to pass their entrance exam to the next level, therefore, teachers only teach the necessary things which help their students to pass the exams; and unfortunately

do not focus on developing students‟ speaking skills This is one of the reason why students lose motivation because English is just a subject at school; and is not part

of their lives Many students fail to understand the significance of the ability to speak English fluently At the university level, students who are motivated to enhance their English speaking skills can pursue a Bachelor of Arts in English or a Bachelor of English After graduating, they can be lecturers of English or

interpreters in English according to their proficiency Students in these programs usually study for four years and the subjects they learn include linguistic and teaching methods In fact, teaching methods or classroom environment do not create opportunities for students to satisfy their communication needs Therefore, Vietnamese students have difficulties in communicating in English fluently and effectively because they do not get the practice they need in English except for a number of special venues and events such as multinational corporations and presentation activities In fact, rarely do we see Vietnamese speaking English unless

it is absolutely necessary That is the reason why many Vietnamese students are still deficient in English speaking although they have been studying English since primary school

Motivation is an element that plays an important role in inspiring learners to become proficient in English, esspecially English language learners It is widely accepted that the more motivated students are, the more successful they would be at learning a second/foreign language It is also undeniable that speaking (any language) is one of the most essential everyday skills a person needs to function in society Therefore, when students have strong motivation to speak English with accuracy and fluency, they will easily achieve their goals in life

For the reasons mentioned above, I find that it is really necessary to conduct

a study on factors affecting first-year English major students' motivation in English speaking classes at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2

2 AIMS OF THE STUDY

This study aims at investigating the factors affecting first-year English major students' motivation in English speaking classes at HPU2 This project is carried out with the following purposes:

- Identifying and analyzing the influence of four factors (student – related factors, lecturer – related factors, classroom – related factors and course book – related factors) affecting first-year English major students' motivation in English speaking classes

- Comparing the levels of effect on these motivational factors

2 What is the comparison among these four factors?

4 METHOD OF THE STUDY

To achieve the objectives of the study, the following research instruments were used to collect data:

1 Student survey questionnaire

2 Interview (lecturers and students)

3 Classroom observation

Survey questionnaires were used to collect demographic information from students In addition, to make the data collected more reliable and authentic, two following instruments were also applied: interviews with lecturers and students and classroom observations to find out students and lecturers‟ ideas about the four factors affecting first-year English major students‟ motivation in English speaking classes

5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

It is clear that motivation has a great impacts on students‟ English language proficiency However, this study just makes a limited insight in only a narrow area – students‟ speaking skills; and focuses on this study of the 50 first-year English major students at HPU2 instead of all K44 English major students

6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research aims to provide pedagogical implications for educational administrators, lecturers and students For more details, the research results can help those who do quality management teaching at HPU2 have an overall view and wish

to improve the quality of teaching students through the factors in this research project Therefore, it is the basis for conducting this research in order for administrators and lecturers to develop a step-by-step improvement plan to improve

the quality of teaching and learning for their school This research will also help students to know how the factors influence their speaking‟s motivation and they will have the capacity to train themselves to enhance their motivation in learning especially their English speaking skills

7 DESIGN OF THE STUDY

Apart from the acknowledgment, the references, the appendices, the basic design of this study consists of the following three parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion

PART A: INTRODUCTION

The introduction discusses the rationale for carrying out this study, defines the aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study and methods of the study as well as the significance of the study The outline of the study is also presented

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter one: Literature Review

The literature review provides an overview of theoretical background of speaking, motivation, motivation in practising English speaking skills, especially factors affecting students‟ motivation in practising English speaking skills Moreover, some studies about factors affecting students‟ motivation are also presented in the overview of the literature review

Chapter two: Methodology

This section discusses the methodology for this study and the procedure for carrying out the study such as the selection of participants, the data collection instruments, the data procedures and the data analysis

Chapter three: Results and Discussion

This chapter reports the results of the data analysis and provides discussion

of the data analysis

PART C: CONCLUSION

This part deals with the conclusion of the whole study and proposes some implication based on the findings of the study This is followed by a discussion of the limitations of the study as well as some suggestions for future stud

PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides an overview of motivation in L2 learning, motivation

in L2 speaking class especially factors affecting students‟ motivation in L2 speaking class Moreover, some studies about factors affecting students‟ motivation in speaking classes are also presented

1.1 Motivation in Second/ Foreign Language Learning

1.1.1 Definition of Motivation

Motivation is defined in many different ways by many researchers Motivation is a concept used popularly in not only education but also in other research fields Motivation, in an educational setting, is what promotes us to perform to learn English, to figure out how to express ourselves in English, or to teach it (McDonough & Steven 2007) This fundamental explanation reveals four components: the reasons why we need or want to learn, the desire we want to learn, the type of individual we are, the English assignment and our estimation of what it expects from us (McDonough & Steven, 2007)

Motivation, according to lecturers and researchers, influences the rate and achievement of L2 learning Additionally, motivation gives the essential impulse to begin learning L2 and later the main force to keep up the long, tedious and challenging learning process In fact, the various components related to L2 acquisition assume motivation to some degree Without motivation, even adults with the most specialised skills cannot accomplish their long-term goals, nor are able to develop educational programs and design excellent instructional lesson plans

to ensure students‟ English proficiency (McDonough & Steven 2007)

However, high motivation can compensate for critical deficiency both in one's language competence and learning conditions As indicated by Masgoret and Gardner (2003), a motivated student extends attempt, assumes responsibility, has specific goals and desire, appreciate the procedure of learning Oxford and Shearin (1996) claimed that motivation is a basic, indispensable part for students who are completely associated with the learning process

1.1.2 Definition of Motivation in L2 Acquisition

Motivation is considered as one of the most important emotional variable in learning a second language In reality, many researchers have written motivational theories that have a great connection with the language learning process Similarly, various efforts have been made to determine the motivation for L2 acquisition However, each theorist defines motivation in a different way

Gardner (1985) was a standout amongst the pioneering researchers laying the groundwork for investigating motivation For an exploration known as “The role of attitudes and motivation” he alluded motivation as the mixture of attempt plus desire to attain the objective of learning the language plus ideal attitudes towards learning the language Specially, motivation, according to his view comprises of the following elements: a goal, a desire to accomplish that goal and the techniques to achieve the goal

In Dornyei and Otto study (1998) perspective motivation is characterized as the process by which a specific amount of force stimulates action and patience, as long as there is no other powers debilitating it until the arranged objectives are obtained In other words, motivation can be considered as a force that a person starts to act on and continues until they reach the goal

Ellis (1994), in a general review from his research on motivation, argued that motivation influences the degree to which language students continue to learn, the type of behavior they perform and their real accomplishment

1.1.3 Motivation in Practising English Speaking Skills

Motivation is considered as a key factor influencing the achievement or failure of language learning It is as a mental feature which enables individuals to accomplish a goal The meaning of motivation has been defined differently by various reseachers For instance, Gardner (1985) characterized motivation as the degree one endeavors to secure the language on account of the desire to do so and the fulfillment the learners get from it Dornyei (1994) clarified motivation as an element of a person's ideas that encodes the information into conviction, and after that drives to the action

Another definition was given by Harmer (2001), "Motivation is some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something" Obviously, when we have our own goals which are extremely vital to us, we will

attempt to pursue them This activity is driven by motivation In other words, motivation is the entire vitality of a person to set a goal for an occupation or task and work to achieve it Discussing the function of motivation, (Mayer, 2003, p 459, cited in Liu, 2010) stated "When students are motivated to learn, they try harder to understand the materials and thereby learn more deeply, resulting in better ability to transfer what they have learned to new situations" In some situation, when students are exceptionally motivated and energetic to develop their speaking ability, they can achieve their goals

1.1.4 Types of Motivation

Motivation has been classified in many different ways by different researchers Hence, the problem of distinguishing the types of motivation is still controversial However, in many studies about motivation, the following two types

of classification have received the most attention

1.1.4.1 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation, in general, refers to the reality of completing a task for itself, the joy, the satisfaction and the fulfillment one obtained from doing the task (Deci and Ryan, 1985) Intrinsic motivation is controlled by individuals having individual enthusiasm for accomplishing something and reaching their goals Individuals are intrinsically motivated not because the rewards they achieve, but for the joy of doing an action and activity or task Some researchers noticed that students with intrinsic motivation and take part in his/her learning for the well-being, and for the self-satisfaction they get Moreover, the feeling of self-determintion and competence are two significant factors enhancing them to pursue their goals

Different from intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation is performing an action as obligation and not for the well-being of the individual (Deci & Ryan, 1985) Schulz (1991) said that the notion of extrinsic motivation referred to the degree to which the learning condition (the instructor, materials, educational programs, learning tasks, etc.) contributes or enhances intrinsic motivation of the students to improving English language skills Extrinsic motivation, otherwise, derives from an expectation of rewards such as prizes, praise, assessment or fear for punishment An extrinsically motivated students does the action with the goal to accquire some reward or keep away from some external punishment of the activity

itself, and this sort of motivation reveals learning circumstances where the explanation behind completing an undertaking tasks is an option that is other than

an enthusiasm for the assignment itself Furthermore, undertaking the task might be something the individual feels compelled to do as opposed to really want to do

In summary, it turns out to be evident that intrinsic motivation delivers more potential advantages than the extrinsic motivation Intrinsically motivated students have tendency to have more energy and think more deeply than extrinsically motivated ones

1.1.4.2 Integrative and Instrumental Motivation

Integrative and Instrumental Motivation are two types of motivation which were firstly mentioned in Gardner‟s studies (Gardner, 1985; Gardner & Lambert, 1972) and then promoted by other researchers

Integrative motivation was defined as the learner's orientation on the subject

of the goal of learning a second/foreign language (Crookes & Schmidt, 1991) It is understood that learner's positive attitudes and the desire to identify with and integrate into the target language community Finegan (1999) further showed the role of integrative motivation as the successful acquisition of a series of native registration and pronunciation It is clear that integrative motivation is an important element to support and enhance the students‟ language proficiency

In constrast to integrative motivation, instrumental motivation is the basis for achieving economic or social prizes through L2 accomplishment Gardner and Lambert (1972) in their research about motivation mentioned the instrumental motivation for achieving the vital use of level L2 proficiency Instrumental motivation alludes all the students' wish to take on the language to finish a non-personal purposes such as to get high marks in exams or to get a good job with high salary Besides, instrumental motivation, as stated by Lambert (cited on Ellis, 1997), is something which related to the useful value and favorable circumstances from taking up a new language

It is undeniable that both integrative and instrumental motivations are crucial components to success However, integrative motivation has been discovered to support long-term achievement in learning a second language (Taylor, Meynard and Rheault 1977; Ellis 1997; Crookes et al, 1991) Gardner (1985) accentuated the vitality of integrative motivation in second language acquisition more than

instrumental motivation in his studies He clarified that if students were instrumentally motivated, they might lose motivation to continue learning when their goals have been achieved

According to Brown‟s research (2000), both integrative and instrumental motivations are not essentially commonly unique Students feel difficult to choose a kind of motivation in learning a second language and decide to combine both of them

1.2 Motivation in L2 Speaking Classroom

1.2.1 Related Issues of Speaking Skills

1.2.1.1 Some Definitions of Speaking Skills

There are many different definitions about the word “speaking” that have been defined by reseachers working in the language teaching field

Speaking skills are productive skills which are highly important to achieve

an effective oral interaction According to Brown & Yule (1983) speaking is a procedure of interacting constructively with meaning engaged with producing, receiving and processing language Luoma (2004) admitted that speaking is not an easy skill for students to master because "speaking in a foreign language is very difficult and competence in speaking takes a long time to develop” For first-year English major students at HPU2, speaking is a difficult skill because they do not spend much time practising for several reasons: in high schools they did not practice speaking and they do not feel competent in English speaking classes Additionally, Bygate (1997) characterized speaking as the generation of sound – related signs to create diverse verbal reactions in audience members It is viewed as consolidating sounds efficiently to shape significant sentences

In reality, many L2 students have difficulties as they realize that speaking a foreign language is a complicated issue The main reason is that speaking includes various functions The ability to speak smoothly assumes not only learning of language intricacies, but also the ability to express information correctly (Harmer, 2001)

1.2.1.2 Types of Classroom Speaking Performance

Brown (2000) indicated that there are six types of classroom speaking performance These six speaking performances are illustrated below:

Imitative: This sort of speaking performance is the ability to imitate simply

as a parrot a word or phrase or perhaps a sentence Its noticeable benefit is concentrating on some specific components of language structure such as phonetic level, lexical, various prosodic and syntactic properties of language Notwithstanding, obstacle of this sort is done not with the end goal of significant association

Intensive: This type of speaking performance identifies with the production

of short stretches of oral language intended to exhibit ability in a small part of lexical, phrasal, syntactic, phonological or grammatical relationships The speaker must know exactly about semantic properties so as to have the ability to respond, but interaction with a questioner must be in best case scenario

Responsive: Responsive evaluation tasks contain interaction and test

perception just in the level of a small talk, short conversatiosn, simple demands and remarks

Transactional: It is an extended type of responsive which has the purpose of

exchanging explicit language and information Conversations, for instance, may have a greater extent of negotiation to them than does responsive discourse

Interpersonal (dialogue): Conversation is completed more to maintain

social interactions than for the transmission of information and facts

Extensive: Oral production tasks consist of discourses, oral introductions,

and narrating Language style is often progressively deliberative (planning is included) and formal for extensive task, however we cannot rule out certain casual monologs, for example, calmly conveyed speech

3.2 Motivation in Speaking Classroom

3.2.1 Factors Demotivate Students to Speak in Classes

In his research, Oxford (1998) outlined some following factors that decrease students‟ motivation in classes:

- The lecturer's relationship with the students, including an absence of caring, general contentiousness, hypercriticism and support

- The lecturer's attitude towards the course or the material, involving lack of enthusiasm, messy administration and close-mindedness in developing teaching methods

- Conflicts between lecturers and students, including different style conflicts, conflicts about the measure of structure and conflicts about the conclusion or the problems of the class

- The effect of the classroom activities, including inappropriateness and overload

3.2.2 Some Conditions for Effective Motivation in Speaking Classroom

According to Nunan (1999), here are some typical conditions to get effective motivation in the speaking classroom:

Supportive environment: including the order and facilities of classroom,

lecturer is high-skilled in teaching and classroom management; students are confident and do not feel nervous in making mistakes, feedback from both lecturer and students is necessary to get positive results

Suitable level of tasks: tasks are neither too simple nor excessively

troublesome; students recognize what they need to do and criteria for progress are clear

The importance of learning: students realize what and why they learn;

exercises and activities at class are meaningful; the connection between activities and lesson target is clear and close; tasks are sequenced so that new tasks expand on and broaden ones that precede; students are given motivation to be in class

Strategies: motivational strategy is coordinated to instructional need;

specific strategies are not abused; lecturer should use a various scope of strategies

to instruct the students to participate in every activity of each lesson

Content: students can understand the content of the lesson and apply in their

own experience in their daily life; students find topics fascinating

1.3 Factors Affecting Motivation in L2 Learning

1.3.1 Dornyei’s Extended Motivational Framework

Dornyei (2001) studied motivation in L2 learning within a three-level framework which provides an extensive list of motivational components They are

as listed below

(1) Language level component includes elements identified with L2 such as

the culture, the community, benefits and practical values associated with learning L2

(2) The student level component includes individual characteristics that the

student acquires in the learning process These characteristics comprise students', self-efficacy, students‟ confidence, the latter encompassing various aspects of language anxiety, L2 competences and attributions about past experiences

(3) Learning circumstance level component is associated with

situation-specific motives L2 learning inside a classroom and it is partitioned into three perspectives The first is course-specific motivational component which are identified with the syllabus, the materials for teaching, the teaching technique and the learning tasks The second one is lecturer-specific motivational components which concern the motivational effect of the lecturer's behavior, teaching style and personality Also, the third is group-specific motivational components which contains group cohesiveness, goal orientedness, classroom goal structure, norm and reward system

1.3.2 Williams and Burden’s Framework of the L2 Motivation

Williams and Burden (1997) investigated motivation in L2 in a framework of two factors: internal and external factors Internal factors cover different segments such as age, gender, attitudes, intrinsic interest of activity, natural enthusiasm of action, self-idea, frames of mind, and other full feeling states (fear, confidence, anxiety) External factors incorporate with other segments (teachers, peers and parents); the nature of communication with noteworthy others (interceded learning encounters, the nature and measure of rewards, the nature and measure of fitting praise and disciplines); the learning condition (time of day, week, year, size of class and school, class and school regulations and sense of comfort) and the more extensive setting (which consists of family arrangements, interests, attitudes, education system, social standards and societal desires)

1.3.3 Factors Affecting Students’ Motivation in Learning L2

1.3.3.1 Student – related Factors

The first factor is students' intelligence and aptitude Lightbown and Spada

(1999) assumed that intelligence alludes to “performance on particular sorts of test” and aptitude is something which “includes both hidden language learning limit and

an ability to deal with decontextualized language” (Ellis, 1997) Lightbown and Spada (1999) additionally claimed that language aptitude is normally depicted as a

mix of four variables: (1) the capacity to distinguish and retain new sounds, (2) the capacity to comprehend the function of specific words in sentences, (3) the capacity

to make sense of linguistic standards from language tests and (4) the capacity to

remember new words

The second is students’ personality According to numerous language

educators, the personality of the students establishes a main consideration adding to success or failure in language learning Ellis (1997) demonstrated that extroverted students have benefits in the improvement of the sort of language related with basis interpersonal communication skills and that extroverted students may likewise be bound to take an interest effectively in oral discourse Similarly with Ellis, Lightbown and Spada (1999) listed various personality characteristics that impact the accomplishment of L2 students: extroversion, inhibition, chatter, confidence, compassion, and responsiveness

The third factor is students’ confidence According to Coopersmith (1968),

confidence alludes to the assessment in which the individual makes and generally concerns himself or herself It demonstrates the degree to which an individual trusts himself or herself to be able to do something effectively and successfully In other study, Oxford (1998) stated that ineffective students frequently have lower confidence than effective language students, which hinders advance and obstructs accomplishment in any field and in L2

The fourth factor is students’ learning strategies Learning strategies are

characterized by Oxford (1990) as "specific actions taken by the students to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferrable to new situations" (Oxford, 1990) Clearly, using suitable learning strategies will influence students' motivation positively

The last factor is students' belief Most students have strong convictions

about how languages are learnt Little, Singleton and Silvius (1984) discovered that

“past experience, both of education in general and of language learning in particular, played a major role in shaping attitudes to language learning”

1.3.3.2 Lecturer – related Factors

The lecturer assumes a critical role in students‟ learning motivation Actually, some lecturer's factors and appropriate lecturer behaviors will raise students‟ motivation in learning According to Dornyei (2001), there are some lecturer's factors influencing students‟ motivation: lecturer's positive relationship and commitment to students, lecturer's enthusiasm and lecturer‟s teaching methods

It is vital that lecturers have high expectations for the students

First and foremost, lecturer’s teaching method in class is critical to motivate

L2 students It is considered as an incredible „motivation instrument‟ To encourage students‟ learning performance, lecturer should consider carefully in choosing a suitable teaching method If lecturer chooses an appropriate method and apply it effectively in class, students are definitely motivated to improve their speaking abilities

Furthermore, lecturer's positive relationship with students is likewise a key

component of motivation in student learning The lecturer should set up and build

up the relationship of trust and respect with students This relationship also includes discovering chances to interact with them on an individual basis and telling them that lecturers have considered them and that their individual effort is appreciated (Dornyei, 2001)

The third factor is lecturer’s enthusiasm Lecturer‟s enthusiasm is one of

good personality which is concentrated to have the relationship between enthusiastic instructing and student learning (Murray, 1985; Perry and Magnusson, 1987)

Lecturer’ expectation is considered as the fourth factor which affects

students‟ motivation in learning In an experiment research, Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) indicated that lecturer expectation may impact students' accomplishment If lecturers set higher goals to the students, their students will work hard to achieve higher accomplishment

The last factor is lecturer’s commitment to the students‟ motivation to learn

Lecturers should think about what their students have achieved and mastered (Dornyei, 2001) They should offer appropriate help, react promptly when help is required, correct exercises and tests and design additional assignments

1.3.3.3 Classroom – related Factors

Classroom – related factors include the classroom atmosphere and the physical conditions A welcoming and supportive classroom atmosphere will create motivation and urge students to express their feelings and opinions Macintyre and Young (1999) claimed that students' nervousness made by a strained classroom atmosphere was a standout elements that undermined learning ability and L2 motivation (cited in Dornyei, 2001)

Physical conditions are important, as well Physical conditions are known as the conditions of the classroom For example, classroom‟s size and equipment (seats, tables, electric devices,…) are important Hammer (1992) said that physical conditions had a big effect on students' learning and their frame of mind towards the subject lessons Physical conditions influence both lecturers and students‟ motivation Big classes and poor facilities will diminish the connection between lecturers and students, and therefore, will lessen students‟ motivation

1.3.3.4 Course book – related Factors

Nowadays, using a course book is an essential tool to teach and learn English The function of the course book has been assumed and demonstrated As indicated by Ur (1996), it appears that the ownership of a course book may convey

a prestige However, depending too much on it also achieves some specific burdens that particularly do not fit students' needs nor serve for mixed ability of students

1.3.4 Previous Studies on Factors Affecting Students’ Motivation in L2 Speaking Class

It is clear that many investigations on the study of factors affecting students‟ motivation in learning a foreign language have been made

Park and Lee (2005) explored the connection between anxiety, confidence and verbal ability of second language students One hundred and thirty-two English language learning students from Korea participated in this study The results from this study showed that students' anxiety level have a negative relationship with their motivation in speaking skills

Tanveer (2007) conducted a research to study the factors which made the students feel anxious when they were in their speaking classroom and the impact of anxiety on communicating in English The obtained results revealed that anxiety and stress prevent their speaking performance because they could not communicate what they were thinking The researcher also noted that the less anxious students were, the better results they obtained in their English speaking performance

Boonkit (2010) performed a study on the elements enhancing the motivation

of students in speaking classes He showed in his results that the application of appropriate activities in speaking classes may be a great approach to motivate students to raise their voices in class The results additionally discovered that the freedom of topic preference can help the participants to feel more interested in speaking English and multiplied the speaking confidence and interaction among themselves

Urrutia and Vega (2010) illustrated that student‟ lack of vocabulary and confidence created a negative effect on their oral performance It was also pointed out that learner cooperation, confidence, vocabulary and classroom features encouraged them to enhance their motivation in speaking competencies Another research on collaborative learning tasks was investigated by Prieto (2007) The findings of this research suggest that to improve motivation in speaking classes, the interaction among students or the choice of the topics is extremely necessary

Kikuchi and Sakai‟s study (2009) indicated that the prominent factors affecting university students‟ motivation consisted of the lecturer‟s behavior in classroom, the lecturer‟s grammar-translation approach, test and university entrance exams, vocabulary memorization, course books and reference books Additionally, Kaivanpanah & Ghasemi (2011) described such general factors that affect students‟ motivation in speaking class such as learning contents, materials and facilities

CHAPTER TWO RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The purpose of this chapter is to provide readers a brief description of this study and discuss the methodology for this study; and the procedure for carrying out the study such as the selection of participants, the data collection instruments, the data procedures and the data analysis

2.1 Description and Context of the Study

Participants

The survey was conducted at HPU2 with 50 first-year English major students from two classes In addition, three lecturers of English from FFL at with different educational background were invited to do individual interviews

- First-year English major students and their background:

There were 50 students (five males and 45 females) Their ages were between 18-20 years They graduated from different high schools and from different provinces in the North and central of Vietnam Therefore, they have different background knowledge Surprisingly, many of them have had low motivation in learning English in general and in speaking classes in particular Most of them have studied English for seven to 12 years

At the time when this study was conducted, the participants were in the second term of their first-year at HPU2 They took the end-of-first term examinations of English and got their English last grades for their first semester and the mid-term test of the second term

- Lecturers of English and their background:

Three lecturers invited to participated the personal interview are in charge of teaching the first-year English major students in speaking skills Two of them hold a Masters of Art Degree in English Language Teaching and the third holds a Doctorate Degree Two of lecturers are Vietnamese and the third is from the USA All of them have more than five years teaching experience

The course book

The course book used for the first-year English major students at HPU2 is Speakout Pre-intermediate Students‟ Book by Antonia Clare JJ Wilson The course

book comprises of 12 units with 12 different topics related to our life (Life, Work, Time Out, Great Minds, Travel, Fitness, Changes, Money, Nature, Society, Technology and Fame) Each unit is designed with five main areas: grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, listening, speaking and writing Specially, the speaking skills focuses on the following targets: to enhance students' proficiency to speak English accurately and fluently, to promote them to communicate with native speakers or foreigners and broaden the knowledge related to the topics in this book

2.2 Data Collection Instruments:

The research instruments employed to gather data for this study were survey questionnaire for students, interview for both lecturers and students and classroom observation

2.2.1 Survey Questionnaire for Students (Appendix A)

In this research, the survey questionnaire were divided into two parts The initial segment of it incorporates three questions with the purpose of getting the respondents' background information, for example, age, gender, the number of years studying English

For more detail, in part I, questions 1 asks information about the students' age Question 2 is intended to gather data about the students‟ gender Questions 3 is designed to get information about the participants' time of learning English The information gathered from the background questions were utilized to check if other factors, for example, age, gender, the length of learning English may influence the students‟ motivation in English speaking classes

In part II, 23 closed questions divided into four groups (student – related factors, lecturer – related factors, classroom – related factors and course book – related fators) were designed using a choice ranging from “strongly disagree” to

“strongly agree” to explore the factors affecting first-year English major students‟ motivation in English speaking classes at HPU2 Besides, two open-ended questions were shown to get a deeper insight to students‟ motivation For example “Is there anything else which affects students‟ motivation in English speaking classes? What

are some solutions to promote students‟ motivation in English speaking classes?”

2.2.2 Interview for Lecturers and Students (Appendix B)

The interview was directly conducted with three lecturers of English from FFL and with five first-year English major students who completed the questionnaires prior

to the interview at HPU2 They were asked about some information about factors influencing students' motivation and some suggestions to develop students‟ motivation in English speaking classes It is less demanding to interpret the participants' answers by approaching them for a further explanation if their answers were unclear Each interview lasted about 5-10 minutes and deliberately recorded and taken notes by the researcher The data collected from interview were recorded, transcribed for the purposes of the study The aim of interview is to add to the data accumulated from the questionnaires and also to investigate profoundly the research issues

2.2.3 Classroom Observation (Appendix C)

Classroom observation is the third data collection instrument the researcher employed To substantiate the data gathered through questionnaires and interview, classroom observation was also carried out Five items of observation check-list were employed The observation was made in several speaking lessons and were observed to assess the validity of information about factors that affect students‟ motivation and their reaction to their lecturer‟s techniques/ activities, students‟ interaction with each other in completing the required task, how lecturer deals with the noise and silence in the class, strategies/ solutions lecturer uses to build up students‟ motivation in their English speaking class

2.3 Data Collection Procedures

First, the researchers distributed the copies of the survey questionnaire to the participants in their own classes The researcher then explained the purpose of the study and gave students a detailed instruction on how to answer the survey questionnaire This guarantees that all students had no trouble in understanding the inquiries in the survey questionnaire In addition, the researcher emphasized that there are no right or wrong answers and all the information obtained would be kept confidential and be of great use and solely for the research purposes The students answered the questionnaire in their own classrooms The researcher was present

while the students were completing the questionnaire in case they needed any help

It took the students about 15 minutes to finish completing the questionnaires

Afterward, the class observations were carried out in several lessons Finally, the interview with three lecturers and five first-year English major students was carried out to get further information for the study

2.4 Data Analysis

After collecting the questionnaire responsed from the 50 first-year English major students at HPU2, the data was computed and analysed based on the list of answers in relation with the research questions The results were presented in text, tables and charts

The means collected from the analysis of the first part of the questionnaire were used to analyze the students' background information Descriptive statistics, including means obtained from the second part of the questionnaire with 23 close-ended questions were reported to explore factors affecting the students' motivation

in English speaking classes For the rating scales, the answers to the questionnaires

were quantified accordingly to a Likert scale described as follow: 5 points=strongly

agree, 4 points=agree, 3 points=neutral, 2 points=disagree, 1 point=strongly disagree Average scores (Mean) of 3.5-5.0 on the 5-point Likert scale were defined

as highly motivated; average scores of 2.5-3.4 were defined as moderately motivated; and average scores defined as lowly motivated were 1.0-2.4 (Risueño Martínez, Jesús J.; Vázquez Pérez, María Luisa; Hidalgo Navarrete, José; De la Blanca de la Paz, Soledad (2016) Language learning strategy use by spanish efl

students: the effect of proficiency level, gender, and motivation Revista de

N1: The number of students choosing strongly disagree

N2: The number of students choosing disagree

N3: The number of students choosing neutral

N4: The number of students choosing agree

N5: The number of students choosing strongly agree

The mean scores for each group of factors were also calculated by dividing the

total mean score of items in each factor by number of the items For instance, student – related factors including six items (question 1, question 2, question 3, question 4, questions 5 and question 6), its mean score was found as follows:

Mean score = (mean score of question 1 + mean score of question 2 + mean score

of question 3 + mean score of question question 4 + mean score of question 5 + mean score of question 6) / 6

Along with the information via survey questionnaires, information gained through interviews and class observations were added to these main parts to assist the results

The analysis of the data obtained from the interview follows three steps Firstly, reading through all statements and classifying the answers of each interviewee, secondly, reviewing all answers given for each question Finally, the data was analysed and summarized together from the three instruments was used to reach appropriate conclusions