A study on english learning goals and motivation of the second – year students at military academy of logistics

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *************************** ĐÀO NGUYỄN THÚY HÀ A STUDY ON ENGLISH

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

***************************

ĐÀO NGUYỄN THÚY HÀ

A STUDY ON ENGLISH LEARNING GOALS AND MOTIVATION OF THE SECOND – YEAR STUDENTS AT

MILITARY ACADEMY OF LOGISTICS

(Nghiên cứu về mụ ti u v g học tiếng Anh của

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

ĐÀO NGUYỄN THÚY HÀ

A STUDY ON ENGLISH LEARNING GOALS AND MOTIVATION OF THE SECOND – YEAR STUDENTS AT

MILITARY ACADEMY OF LOGISTICS

(Nghiên cứu về mụ ti u v g học tiếng Anh của

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111

Supervisor : Asso Prof Dr L Vă Ca h

HANOI, 2016

DECLARATION

I certify that this thesis is entirely my own work Documented references have been fully provided I have not been submitted this thesis for assessment in any other formal course of study

Hanoi, 2016

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge with great attitude to the support, guidance and invaluable critical feedbacks which I have received from my supervisor Dr Le Van Canh in completion of this research

I would also like to express my thankfulness to all the teachers at English Department, Military Academy of Logistics (MAL) for their help in completing the survey questionnaire as well as for their willingness to share the ideas on the accomplishment of the study

My sincere thanks are also extended to the second – year students at MAL who have actively participated in the study when I collected the data for this thesis Without their help, this project could not have been completed

Last but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the members of my family who have constantly supported, inspired and encouraged me

to carry out the thesis

Hanoi, 2016

Đ o Nguyễn Thúy Hà

ABSTRACT

This study is aimed at investigating learning goals and motivation of the second- year students in learning English at Military Academy of Logistics, Hanoi The main purposes of this study were to find out: (1) the student‟s learning goals regarding English learning; (2) the relationship between learning goals and motivation

The subjects of this study were 120 second – year students at Military Academy of Logistics These students were invited to answer the questionnaire and some of them joined in the interview

The study consists of three main parts The first one is an introduction including the rationale, aims, research questions, significance, scope, methods, and design of the study The second part contains four chapters Chapter I focuses on the theoretical background of the study, which is about learning goals and motivation Chapter II is about the methodology of the study Chapter III deals with data analysis Chapter IV presents major findings based on data analysis The last past offers the summary of the study, limitations and suggestions for further research

LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES

Table 1: Common Reference Levels: self-assessment grid (Level B1)

Table 2: Common Reference Levels: Qualitative aspects of spoken language use Table 3: Student‟s goals toward learning Speaking skill

Table 4: Student‟s goals toward learning Listening skill

Table 5: Student‟s goals toward learning Writing skill

Table 6: Student‟s goals toward learning Reading skill

Table 7: The frequency distribution of items measuring extrinsic motivation

(n = 120)

Table 8: The frequency distribution of items measuring intrinsic motivation (n=120)

Table 9: Student‟s desire to learn English

Chart 1: Students‟ level of English

Chart 2: Frequency distribution of items measuring extrinsic motivation

Chart 3: Frequency distribution of items measuring intrinsic motivation

Chart 4: Students‟ attitude toward English learning

Chart 5: Students‟ attitude toward the need of English learning

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF TABLES iv

ABBREVIATIONS v

INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Significance of the study 2

5 Scope of the study 2

6 Design of the study 3

DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Definition of learning goals and motivation 5

1.1.1 Learning goals 5

1.1.2 Motivation 6

1.1.3 Adopting the Common European Framework (CEFR) at Military Academy of Logistics……… 8

1.2 Motivational theory 11

1.2.1 Intrinsic motivation 11

1.2.2 Extrinsic motivation 12

1.3 The relationship between learning goals and motivation 14

1.3.1 Expectancy – value theory 14

1.3.2 Achievement goal theory 14

1.3.3 Self-determination theory 17

CHAPTER 2 : METHODOLOGY 20

2.1 Context of the study 20

2.2 Subjects of the study 21

2.3 Data collection instruments 22

2.4 Data collection procedures 23

2.5 Data analysis 24

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 26

3.1 Learning goals and motivation 26

3.2 The relationship between learning goals and motivation 36

3.3 Summary of the chapter 39

CONCLUSION 41

1 Summary of the findings and discussions 41

2 Limitations 42

3 Future direction 43

REFERENCES 45 APPENDIX I Appendix 1: SURVEY

QUESTIONNAIRE I Appendix 2: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS IX Appendix 3: Schmidt et al (1996) intrinsic-extrinsic motivational

questionnaire XI

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

In the globalization era, English has become more and more important as an international language; therefore, in many countries all over the world, students are requires to learn English through compulsory programmes at educational institutions In correspondence to this trend, the importance of English as a language of international communication has been acknowledged by the government, English teaching and learning have been given more and more priority

in Vietnam According to Canh (2004, p.167), learning English can “contribute to students‟ personal, linguistic, social, and culture development” The study of Dornyei (2001) has shown that there are many factors involved in setting learning goals and motivation That‟s why the influences of learning goal and motivation on learning English should be investigated carefully to solve the above-mentioned problem

In the process of teaching and learning English, motivation and setting goals, as indicated by research, are two essential elements in learning the second/ foreign language Furthermore, as a lecturer of English at Military Academy of Logistics, I have realized that although English is considered one of the main subjects at Military Academy of Logistics (MAL) with a lot of time and effort spent on learning, most of students in general and the second – year students in particular seem not to be successful in learning English After I talk with those students as well as observation, most of them lack of motivation and do not set their own learning goal during the process of learning However, up to now, there has not been any research conducted to investigate into this issue at MAL

This is the reason why I choose “A study on learning goals and motivation of the second-year students in learning English at Military Academy of Logistics.” is

the topic for my minor thesis It is hoped that this study will figure out a concrete picture of learning goals and motivation of the second- year students at MAL, which can help teachers who want to motivate their students in learning English

2 Aims of the study

The aims of the study are to investigate the factors affecting learning goals and motivation of the second-year students in learning English at Military Academy of

Logistics The main purpose covering the study is to identify how students’

learning goals are related to their motivation

3 Research questions

To achieve these aims, the study sets out to answer the following research questions:

1 What are the students’ learning goals regarding English learning?

2 To what extent are their learning goals related to their motivation in learning English?

4 Significance of the study

The study indicates types of learning goals and motivation which are possessed by most of the second-year students at Military Academy of Logistics, which is of benefit to English teachers at this university It also describes the factors affecting the learning goals and motivation Furthermore, it shows the relationship between learning goals on motivation of the students Hopefully, this study can help their English learning as well as the teachers to upgrade their teaching methods

5 Scope of the study

There are three levels of training at Military Academy of Logistics named as College level, Junior College level and Vocational Training level Within its scope, the study is limited only to the second – year students at College level

Learning goals and motivation as well as their effects on the second language have been paid attention by many researchers In fact, it is a broad topic with many different aspects Thus, because of the limited time and within an M.A minor thesis,

I limited myself to focus on making a brief view of the second-year students‟ learning goals and their motivation in English learning as well as the factors affecting them The reason I choose the second-year students for this study is that at that time they start the English course at school In term of the students‟ motivation,

I also intend to focus on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

6 Design of the study

The thesis consists of three parts: the introduction, the development, and the conclusion

Part One – Introduction: provides rationales, aims of the study, research

questions, significance, and the scope of the study and its design

Part Two – Development: is organized around three chapters as follows:

Chapter 1: Literature review: conceptualizes the framework of the study

through the discussion of the issues and ideas on theories of learning goals and motivation, and the relationship between them

Chapter 2: Methodology: presents the context, the methodology used in this

study including the subject, the data collection instruments, data collection procedure, and data analysis

Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions: consists of a comprehensive analysis

of the data and a discussion on the findings of this study

Part Three – Conclusion: offers a summary of the findings, recommendations,

limitation, and future directions for further study

PART A: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of learning goals and motivation

1.1.1 Definition of learning goal

Goal Theory is a social-cognitive theory of achievement motivation developed by Dweck (1986) Goal Theory became a particularly important theoretical framework

in the study of academic motivation in the late 1980s Whereas other motivational theories examine students' beliefs about their successes and failures, goal orientation theory examines the reasons why students engage in their academic work

Miyamoto and Nasu (1995) states that individual behaviors are thought to be rational and economic so as to achieve certain goals Therefore, based on what kind

of goals an individual student has, Goal Theory can be used to make predictions about that student‟s learning behavior and learning outcome (Dweck, 1986)

Latham and Locke (2006) highlight “a goal is a level of performance proficiency that we wish to attain, usually within a specified time period Thus goal setting is first and foremost a discrepancy-creating process, in that the goal creates constructive discontent with our present performance” Accordingly, goals that are specific and challenging lead to better performance than goals that are vague such

as doing your best They also indicate that when people are confronted with a goal, they tap into their knowledge and skills; they use deliberate planning, and develop task strategies using both cognitive and behavior mechanisms that serve to direct attention and effort towards goal relevant activities (Latham & Locke, 2002)

Harmer (1991, p.3), categorizes the goal in second language learning into two types: (1) short-term goal means when students wish to succeed in doing something

in the near future, for example, students who want to pass their examination or to get good grade or high score; and (2) long-term goal refers to a wish of students or learners who want to get a better job in the future or to be able to communicate with people who use the language that they study or the target language

In one of the earliest attempts to link personality to the goal setting process, Campbell (1982) suggested that personality factors could affect several aspects of goal-setting behavior: (1) the propensity to set goals; (2) the content of the goals set; (3) the stability of set goals over time; (4) the typical specificity of goals set; and (5) the typical difficulty of goals set

1.1.2 Motivation

The word “motivation”, coined from Latin word “movere”, is understood as the

forces that make one do something Motivation has been perhaps one of the most

of attention of researchers both in psychological and educational field All the motivation theories in general want to explain the fundamental question of why humans behave as they do, and therefore we cannot assume any simple and straightforward answer

Gardner (1985, p.10), in his socio-educational model, notes that “motivation refers

to the combination of effort plus desire the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes towards learning language” He chooses to define motivation by specifying three aspects of motivation: (1) effort refers to the time spent studying

learner wants to become proficient in the language, and (3) affect means the learner‟s emotional reactions related to language study (Gardner, 1985, p.13)

Crookes and Schmidt (1991) give their viewpoint of motivation including both internal and external aspects Internal aspects consist of interest level, perception of relevance, expectancy of success or failure, and perception of reward On the other hand, external aspects include the overt decision to learn and persistent learning behavior and high involvement As a result, learning is only effective if students enjoy activities and word hard

According to Lightbrown and Spada (1999), motivation in second language learning

is a complex phenomenon which can be defined in term of two factors: learners‟ communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language community The author explain that if learners need to speak the second language in a wide range of social situations or fulfill professional ambitions, they will perceive the communicative value of L2 and will therefore be motivated to acquire proficiency

in it Likewise, if learners have favorable attitudes towards the speakers of the language, they will desire more contact with them

Malone (1981) defines motivation in terms of the challenge of the activities or tasks conducted by the teacher According to him, challenge depends on activities that meet the needs of students‟ different levels The tasks or activities which are too easy or too difficult will de-motivate students On the contrary, if student find the activities challenging enough, they will be more interested, which leads to effective learning

Another concept of motivation stated by Dornyei (2001, p 61) is that motivation as

“a general ways of referring to the antecedents” He also argues that the learning of

a second language is dependent upon the learners‟ willingness to identify with the culture of the target language and to incorporate aspects of the target language culture into his or her own behavior (2001, p.7) The author mentions two dimensions of human behavior: direction and magnitude which motivation concerns

In brief, each approach to motivation reflects a different perspective from which L2/ foreign language learning motivation is conceptualized However, generally speaking, most of the researchers have identified three crucial components of motivation: (1) the conscious decision directed to the goal of learning a language, (2) the effort expanded to achieve that goal, and (3) the sustenance of the goal/effort

1.1.3 Adopting the Common European Framework (CEFR) at Military Academy

of Logistics

The CEFR for languages was developed by the Council of Europe over more than

20 years before being officially launched during the European Year of Languages in

2001 Since then the CEFR has grown in popularity both in Europe and across the world

The framework is used to benchmark communicative language ability in reading, writing, speaking and listening The CEFR is divided into 3 levels; basic users (Level A), independent users (Level B) and proficient users (Level C)

Military Academy of Logistics (MAL) has set Level B1 as English language proficiency target for the students from the second year to the pre-graduation time since 2013

Table 1 and Table 2 show the framework at Level B1 which students have to achieve

Table 1: Common Reference Levels: self-assessment grid (Level B1)

or topics of personal or professional interest when the delivery is relatively slow and clear

Reading

I can understand texts that consist mainly of high frequency everyday or job related language I can understand the description of events, feelings and wishes in personal letter

Spoken interaction

I can deal with most situations and likely to arise while traveling in an area where the language is spoken I can enter unprepared into conversation on topics that are familiar, of personal interest or pertinent to everyday life (e.g family, hobbies, work, travel and current events)

Spoken production

I can connect phrases in simple way in order to describe experiences and events, my dreams, hopes and ambitions I can briefly give reasons and background and my present explanations for opinions and plans I can narrate a story or relate the plot of a book or a film

and describe my reactions

WRITING Writing

I can write simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest I can write personal letters describing experiences and impressions

Table 2: Common Reference Levels: Qualitative aspects of spoken language use

Use reasonable accurately a repertoire of frequently used

“routines” and patterns associated with more predictable situations

FLUENCY

Can keep going comprehensibly, even though pausing for grammatical and lexical planning and repair is very evident, especially in longer stretches of free production

INTERACTION

Can initiate, maintain and close simple face to face conversation

on topics that are familiar or of personal interest Can repeat back part of what someone has said to confirm mutual understanding

COREHENCE

Can link a series of shorter, discrete simple elements into a connected, linear sequence of points

1.2 Motivation theory

The theories of motivation developed during the cognitive-situated period, although certainly distinct from those described above, nevertheless do not negate that social psychological work Rather, those foundations are still accepted, and the newer perspectives about how motivation functions in the real world (e.g in classrooms) can be studied in conjunction with the earlier models (Dörnyei, 2005)

1.2.1 Intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation, based in autonomy and competence, describes a situation in which material is engaged in for its inherent interest and the satisfaction and enjoyment it engenders An example would be a person who enjoys learning a language because of the satisfaction felt when new concepts are mastered (competence) or because of the inherent interest and joy associated with learning the language

In other words, intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards, such as money or grades The motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from the task itself or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on the task An intrinsically motivated student may want to get s good grade on an assignment, but

if the assignment does not interest that student, the possibility of a good grade is not enough to maintain his or her motivation to put any effort into the project

Furthermore, Dornyei (2001) subdivides intrinsic motivation into three subtypes: (1) intrinsic motivation to know refers to motivation for “engaging in an activity for the pleasure and satisfaction of understanding something new, satisfying one‟s curiosity and exploring the world” (p.28), (2) intrinsic motivation toward

achievement is the feeling of satisfaction associated with attempting to surpass oneself, to cope with challenges and to accomplish or to create something, in other words, it indicates the effort to realize the goal or master a task, and (3) intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation is the type of motivation to engaging in an activity to experience pleasant sensations stimulated by the activity itself (Dornyei,

2001, p 149)

1.2.2 Extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation can be regarded as the opposite of intrinsic motivation The goal connected with intrinsic motivation is a positive learning effect that lasts long time, but the goal of an extrinsically motivated student is completely different Dornyei (2001, p.27) stated that extrinsic motivation involves performing behaviour

as a means to an end, that is, it originated outside the individual and is concerned with external environmental factors that help shape students‟ behaviour

An extrinsically motivated person will work on a task even when they have a little interest in it because of the anticipated satisfaction they will get from some reward The rewards can be something as minor as a smiley face to something major like fame or fortune For example, in the case of a student, the reward would be a good grade on and assignment or in the class He or she may dislike an assignment, may find it boring, or may have interest in the subject, but the possibility of a good grade will be enough to keep the student motivated in order for him or her to put forth the effort to do well on a task

Self – determination theory also proposes that extrinsic motivation can vary greatly

in the degree to which it is antonymous For instance, a student who does his homework only because he fears parental sanctions for not doing it is extrinsically

motivated Similarly, a student does the work because he personally believes it is valuable for his chosen career Both examples involve instrumentalities, yet the latter case entails personal endorsement and a feeling of choice, whereas the former involves mere compliance with an external control

Like intrinsic motivation, according to Dornyei (2001), extrinsic motivation is divided into four subtypes: (1) external regulation refers to “the least self-determined form of extrinsic motivation, coming entirely from external sources such as rewards or threat” (p.28), for example, a student with external regulation may learn English because his parents ask him to learn or his teacher encourages him to learn; (2) interjected regulation involves “ externally imposed rules that student accepts as norms to be followed in order not to feel guilty” (p.28), for instance, an interjected student may do his homework because he feels guilty if he does not do so; (3) identified regulation occurs when the student engages in an activity as he highly values and identifies with the behaviour, and see it useful to do,

a student with the identified regulation may learn English because it is necessary for him to listen to English songs or watch films in English.; lastly (4) integrated regulation indicates “choiceful behaviour that is fully assimilated with the individual‟s other values, needs and identity” (p.28) An example is that a student learns English because he thinks English proficiency is a part of an educated cosmopolitan culture that everyone in his country must adopt

According to Brown (2000), intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can be easily identified in foreign language classrooms regardless of the differences between the cultural beliefs and the attitudes of learners and teacher In addition, Schmidt (1996)

concluded that intrinsic – extrinsic distinction is similar to integrative – instrumental distinction but not identical

In scope of this study, due to the limitation of M.A minor thesis, I only focus on investigating to find out the intrinsic/extrinsic motivation which is possessed by the second – year students at MAL

1.3 The relationship between learning goals and motivation

1.3.1 Expectancy – value theory

Eccles (1983) defined and measured expectancies for success as children‟s beliefs about how well they will do on upcoming tasks, either in the immediate or longer term future Ability beliefs are de-fined as the individual‟s perception of his or her current competence at a given activity Ability beliefs thus are distinguished conceptually from expectancies for success, with ability beliefs focused on present ability and expectancies focused on the future

Expectancies focus on future success and, as such, are distinct from, although related to, ability beliefs, which focus on present ability (Wigfield & Eccles, 2002) Subjective task values refer to the “quality of the task that contributes to the increasing or decreasing probability that an individual will select it” (Eccles, 2005,

p 109) Expectancies and values are influenced by the individual‟s goals and general self-schema (short- and long-term goals, self-concept and ability beliefs, and perceptions of task difficulty) Values are also influenced by the individual‟s affective reactions More distally, past performance and aptitude, as well as the socializers‟ expectations and behaviors, influence these goals, self-schema, and affective reactions

1.3.2 Achievement goal theory

Achievement goals are competence-based aims that individuals target in evaluative settings Originally, two distinctive achievement goals were identified based on the

definition of personal competence: mastery and performance goals (Dweck &

Leggett, 1988)

Specifically, mastery goals reflect perceived competence in terms of absolute

evaluative standards or task master When someone is task-involved, her primary goal is learning and mastery of the task for its own sake Task involvement appears when the student is intrinsically interested in the activity and judges herself in a self-referenced manner Therefore, task oriented goals rely on comparisons with requirements of the task and/or internal comparisons with one‟s past attainment or one‟s maximum potential attainment There is a focus on effort and improvement According to Dweck (1989), individuals displaying a master goal orientation are more likely to seek challenging situations, regardless of their perceived level of ability or expectations of success Even when faced with failure, mastery goal oriented individual view the situation as a learning opportunity for personal growth (Bandura & Dweck, 1985) In this context, failure is seen as useful feedback simply meaning that the current strategy is insufficient for the particular task and that more effort and ingenuity is needed for mastery (Elliot & Dweck, 1988)

Performance goal represent a focus on demonstrating competence or ability and

how ability will be judged relative to others Unlike students with master goal orientation, students with performance goal orientation, if they think they are more likely to fail, are more likely to withdraw from the challenge that a difficult task

poses Therefore, whether students feel more or less confident in a certain task depends on their judgment of their present abilities to succeed at that task

Individuals displaying a strong performance goal orientation also display a tendency

to avoid challenging situations As such, these individuals tend to select easier tasks that will permit them to achieve success and avoid judgments of incompetence (Elliot & Dweck, 1988), and tend to avoid learning situations, which might be accompanied by errors and perceptions of incompetence on the part of others (Dweck, 1989) In addition, performance goal oriented individuals often respond to task failure with negative effect, negative ability attributions (Bandura & Dweck,

1985, Leggett & Dweck, 1986), and low levels of task persistence (Farr et al., 1993)

In short, students with mastery goal orientation, even if their ability is low, choose challenging tasks that foster learning They are willing to risk displays of ignorance and incompetence in order to acquire skills and knowledge For them, learning is more important than success or positive recognition by others On the other hand, students with performance goal orientation need to perceive their ability

to be high and their chance of success to be great before they will attempt a challenging task If their goal is to obtain a favorable judgment of ability, rather than to learn, they will choose tasks in which they are likely to obtain a favorable judgment, even if they do not learn anything from doing the task (Bandura & Dweck, 1985)

These two goal orientations determine different consequences in achievement context In general, task orientation is regarded as more adaptive than ego orientation Task orientation is related to selection of challenging tasks, effective study strategies, positive attitudes toward learning, and positive emotions, whereas

quite often ego orientation is associated with selection of easier tasks, trivial learning strategies, concern for social status, and thoughts of escape and behavioral withdrawal when difficulties are encountered (Kaplan & Maehr, 2007) However, if high perceived competence is combined with high task orientation, then ego orientation supports positive achievement outcomes (Standage & Treasure 2002)

1.3.3 Self – determination theory

Central to self –determination theory (SDT) is the distinction between autonomous motivation and controlled motivation Autonomy involves acting with a sense of volition and having the experience of choice In the words of philosophers such as Dworkin (1988), autonomy means endorsing one‟s actions at the highest level of reflection Intrinsic motivation is an example of autonomous motivation When people engage an activity because they find it interesting, they are doing the activity wholly volitionally (e.g., I learn because it is fun) In contrast, being controlled involves acting with a sense of pressure, a sense of having to engage in the actions The use of extrinsic rewards in the early experiments was found to induce controlled motivation (Deci, 1971) SDT postulates that autonomous and controlled motivations differ in terms of both their underlying regulatory processes and their accompanying experiences, and it further suggests that behaviors can be characterized in terms of the degree to which they are autonomous versus controlled Autonomous motivation and controlled motivation are both intentional, and together they stand in contrast to a-motivation, which involves a lack of intention and motivation

SDT distinguishes between a-motivation (i.e., lack of motivation) and motivation A-motivation involves not having an intention to act, whereas motivation involves

intentionality Within motivation, SDT distinguishes between autonomous

motivation and controlled motivation Autonomous motivation includes intrinsic

motivation and well-internalized extrinsic motivation Thus, being autonomously motivated means being motivated by one‟s interest in an activity and/or because the value and regulation of the activity have been integrated within one‟s self

Controlled motivation consists of external regulation (the only type of extrinsic

motivation that was considered when research focused on the dichotomy between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation) and introjected extrinsic motivation Thus, the degree of one‟s controlled motivation reflects the degree to which one feels coerced

or seduced by external contingencies or by their introjected counterparts

The concepts of autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and a-motivation concern a person‟s relation to an activity or sets of activities Thus, they are relatively state-like motivational concepts These motivational variables are predicted from both (1) aspects of the social environment, including both aspects of the learning climate; and (2) individual differences in causality orientations, namely, the autonomous orientation, the controlled orientation, and the impersonal orientation As such, the degree to which people are autonomously motivated for their jobs would be predicted from the supports for autonomy in their work contexts and their own autonomous causality orientation Similarly, the degree of their controlled motivation would be predicted from the control in the work context and their own controlled causality orientation People‟s a-motivation would be predicted from the a-motivating aspect of their work context and from their impersonal orientation

In summary

Ford (1992) explains that most behavior is simultaneously informed and guided by multiple goals Goals can take on a variety of forms, with high-level goals (e.g “I want to be bilingual”) being supported by lower-level goals (e.g “I want to do well/have fun in this class”), which are often accompanied by action steps (e.g “I will study to get an „A‟ on this Spanish test”) Goals can relate to achievement, security, socialization, etc., and the most “motivating” activities are those that relate

to the pursuit of multiple goals

Since mastering a language is not a goal to be achieved within a short time, Dörnyei (1994) suggests that planners set sub-goals (proximal sub-goals) that can be achieved within a short time Such sub-goals might have a powerful motivating function for they also provide learners with feedback on their progress They can, once achieved, increase self-efficacy and motivation

The more students feel self-determined and task-oriented, the more likely they were

to report higher levels of intrinsic motivation (Ryan and Connell, 1998, p.38) In addition, Brunel (2001) indicates that goal orientation is not only linked to intrinsic motivation but also to the most self-determination form of extrinsic motivation, namely identified regulation

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the context and the subject of the study, the data collection instruments, the data collection procedure, and the data analysis procedures will be presented

2.1 Context of the study

This study is conducted at Military Academy of Logistics (MAL), a military academy in Long Bien District, Hanoi, Vietnam MAL has two campuses: at Son Tay and at Long Bien MAL is rather famous for providing good training in army ordnance There are two training levels at MAL: Civil training and Military training Military training involves several different majors such as Ordnance, Finance, Petrol, and Construction Every year, there are approximately 500 new students enrolling in Military training All of them are male at the age of 18 to 23 Entering the school, they have to pass the exam of Math, Physics, and Chemistry, thus, they are supposed to have the elementary level of English In fact, most of them are not good at English; even their four skills are limited

At MAL, English is one of the subjects of Faculty of Basic Society After a year, trained at Son Tay, the students come back to the main campus at Long Bien to study subjects of Faculty of Basic Society, involving in English Hence, the students have to study English during two and a half years at MAL and complete 32 credits

of English (equivalent with 540 periods) before being allowed to take the Graduation examination with the level of A1 (CEFR) by the end of the fourth-year

In addition, language learning equipment (e.g CD-players, tape players, and extra reference books) is also available and of high quality In 2015, about 10 multi-media classrooms are settled, in each of these classrooms, there are computers,

screens, and projectors In term of the number of students, on average, there are about 30 to 35 students in each class, which is a good size for a language class There are 20 teachers of English at English Department at MAL All of them graduated from different universities in Vietnam but they major in English Most of English teacher have got M.A degrees However, none of them have studied abroad Furthermore, they are young, enthusiastic, and dynamic; nevertheless, some of the teachers do not have experiences because they are not trained to be teachers That is the reason for their poor management in classroom, even in some cases, some pedagogical situations can happen

2.2 Subjects of the study

Initially, 120 students (equivalent with 4 classes) who are studying the second year

at MAL were invited to participate in this study All of them are male and are ranging from 18 to 20 years old They come from different parts of Vietnam from rural or mountainous area to big cities That is why they have owned different methods of instructions and achieved different level of English proficiency However, most of them are supposed to be at Elementary level of proficiency, especially some below this level Those students studied English for at least seven

to eight years at schools, but they do not study English during a year being trained

at Son Tay, therefore, most of them forget the knowledge of English In addition, they are not familiar to the teaching and learning method at MAL, which focus on four skills of English: listening, speaking, reading, and writing Hence, those students have a lot of difficulties in starting learning English at the first semester of the second year It leads to their poor result of English

Furthermore, all of them use Vietnamese in their daily conversation so they rarely have chance to use English as a means of communication Also, they have to stay at school, the limitation of free time and Internets well as lacking of the English clubs

or English centers prevent them from improving and practicing their English, except for some time in classroom with teachers and classmates

2.3 Data collection instruments

This study employs a mixed method design that includes both qualitative and quantitative research methods so as to get a more detailed and comprehensive picture about what is investigated

In my study, qualitative data is gained from interviews and quantitative data is achieved from questionnaire In order to ensure that the participants can understand correctly the content of the questionnaire and the interview both of them are conducted in Vietnamese

2.3.1 Survey questionnaire

The questionnaire consists of two parts with ended questions:

Part I: Types of learning goals and motivation

 The questionnaire about learning goals includes 5 questions; the aim is to explore the students‟ learning goals in learning English In this study, I base

on the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statement designed by Jacqueline Bott VanHouten (NCSSFL) and Elvira Swender (ACTFL)

 The questionnaire about motivation is also designed with two compositions: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation All 10 statements are in a Five-point Likert-scale In this study, I base on the Intrinsic-Extrinsic Motivational Questionnaire designed by Schmidt et al (1996) because it

seems to be similar to the participants of this study However, due to the limitation of M.A minor thesis, it is too long to apply 20 items of Schmidt et

al (1996); therefore, I only choose 12 items which indicate intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors

Part II: The relationship between learning goals and motivation: consists of four

questions to find out the way how learning goals relate to the student‟s motivation

2.3.2 Interviews

In this study, the interviews were carried out in a following week after the questionnaires with 120 students, who are chosen randomly for more in-depth data The aim for interviews is to get better insights into the research questions and to discuss for further information about items raised in the questionnaires Each of the interviewees was invited to answer the questions with the researcher‟s explanation

of the questions and clarifying under answers, each interview lasted for about 10 minutes The informal talks were sometimes done during breaks The questions for interviews were conducted mainly in Vietnamese because it is better for the participants to express their ideas naturally and truly Basic questions were prepared (see Appendix 3) With interviewees‟ permission, the interviews were recorded and taken note All interview data were analyzed interpretatively

2.4 Data collection procedure

The questionnaire was first piloted to a small sample of 50 students to check its validity and reality The piloted questionnaire then was re-edited and delivered to 70 students again and finally delivered to 120 students at the middle of the second term

of the school year 2015-2016 The students had 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire The purpose and importance of the study were explained While

students were completing the questionnaire, any questions were clarified by me Fortunately, 120 out of 120 questionnaires were returned

Concerning the interview, they are conducted to gain more in-depth information about students‟ types of learning goals and motivation, and factors affecting negatively these as well as the influences of learning goals on motivation at MAL After being analyzed the questionnaires, 15 students were chosen by chance to participate in the interview It took place in a face to face situation with the students, and the interviews were taken note or tape-recorded The interviews helped me to get the necessary information on the factors affecting the learning goals and motivation at MAL

2.5 Data analysis

After all the questionnaires were returned, I collected them to check, sort, and number carefully The results of the recording process were then input into my computer for analyzing

I analyzed the data with both the qualitative and quantitative method By the quantitative method, I found out the learning goals and types of motivation which belonged to the students as well as the relationship between them Besides, the qualitative method by interview helps understand the reason why the students owed these types of learning goals and motivation more deeply

To ensure the consistency of the data, except when recording the participants‟ responses to the questionnaires, during the process of analyzing the data achieved from the questionnaires and the interviews, I completely did them alone