An investigation into online learners’ motivation of basic english 1, at tienganh123 com

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ THU HƢƠNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO ONLINE LEARNERS’ MOTIVATION OF BASIC ENGLISH AT TIENGANH123.COM (NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA NGƢỜI HỌC TIẾNG ANH TRỰC TUYẾN KHÓA TIẾNG ANH CƠ BẢN TẠI TIENGANH123.COM) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ THU HƢƠNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO ONLINE LEARNERS’ MOTIVATION OF BASIC ENGLISH AT TIENGANH123.COM (NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA NGƢỜI HỌC TIẾNG ANH TRỰC TUYẾN KHÓA TIẾNG ANH CƠ BẢN TẠI TIENGANH123.COM) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: PROF.DR HOÀNG VĂN VÂN HANOI, 2014 DECLARATION I certify that this thesis is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at website tienganh123.com and that this thesis has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution wholly or partly Ha Noi, September 2014 Trầ n Thi ̣Thu Hương i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study would have been impossibly completed without the assistance of special people First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness and gratitude to Prof Dr Hoang Van Van for his valuable guidance, helpful suggestions and critical feedback throughout the research His enthusiastic assistance, guidance, support, and his wisdom greatly contributed to the fulfillment of my thesis My heartfelt gratitude is also to my colleagues and students at tienganh123.com for their tremendous supports in the collection of data and information for my study My appreciation also goes to my loving parents and my husband whose unconditional loving, understanding, encouragement, and support are invaluable during my whole study Last but not least, I wish to express my acknowledgment to other individuals who have indirectly contributed to the completion of this thesis To all these people I only hope that the achievement of my thesis will be favorable enough to satisfy their expectation Ha Noi - 2014 ii ABSTRACT Online language learning is a trend nowadays It attracts more and more learners and brings a variety of advantages to improve learning environment Motivation is a key factor to success of second language learning acquisition, not only in offline classes or traditional classes, but also in online courses This study is an attempt to investigate motivation of online learners at course Basic English at tienganh123.com and factors affecting their motivation then find out activities, techniques applied in the web and students‟ preference, some suggested solutions to stimulate students to learn online and get good results when choosing this learning method The study consists of three parts Part A, the introduction, states the rationale, aims, scopes, design and methods of the research Part B, the development, is divided into three chapters Chapter provides an overview of motivation and online language learning Chapter presents the methods used in the study including the setting of the study, individuals participating in the study, instruments, data collection and data analysis Chapter shows the detailed results together with a comprehensive analysis on the data collected from the survey questionnaires and the interview Part C, the conclusion, presents the conclusions, the study‟s limitations and suggestions for further study iii LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS I LIST OF TABLES: Table 1: Participants by age and gender……………………………………………………20 Table 2: The students’ experience of learning English ………… ……………….…… 12 Table 3: The students’ reasons for learning online……………………………….………22 Table 4: The teachers’ opinions on “Basic English 1”….………………………… 29 Table 5: The students’ opinions on “Basic English 1”…………………….………….30 II LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1: Types of students’ motivation in learning English online ………………… 25 Chart 2: The students’ interest in learning through the internet……………………… 26 Chart 3: Factors affecting students’ motivation in learning online………………….27 Chart 4: Learners’ preference when learning English online … 29 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION………………………………………………………………………i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………… ii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………… …iii LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS………………………………………………… iv TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………… v PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study Aims of the study Research questions Scopes of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Overview of motivation 1.1.1 Definitions of motivation 1.1.2 Types of motivation 1.1.2.1 Integrative vs instrumental motivation 1.1.2.2 Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation 1.1.2.3 Global, situational and task motivation 1.1.2.4 Resultative motivation 1.2 Overview of learning second language through the internet 1.2.1 Online language learning 10 1.2.2 The fact of online language learning in Vietnam 11 1.2.3 Motivation and online language learning 12 v 1.2.3 1.The importance of motivation in learning language online 12 1.2.3.2 The factors affecting students‟ motivation in learning English through the internet 13 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15 2.1 The context of the study 15 2.2 Participants 16 2.3 Instruments 17 2.4 Data collection procedures 18 2.5 Data analysis 18 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, MAJOR FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 20 3.1 Demographic information 20 3.2 Data analysis and major findings 21 3.2.1 The identification of students‟ motivation 21 3.2.1.1 Types of students‟ motivation 21 3.2.1.2 The students‟ interest in learning through the internet 24 3.2.1.3 Factors affecting students‟ motivation in learning through the internet 25 3.2.2 Students preference when learning online and their opinions on Basic English 1, tienganh123.com 27 3.2.2.1 Students preference when learning online 27 3.2.2.2 Teachers‟ and students‟ opinion on Basic English 30 3.2.2.2.1 Teachers‟ opinions on Basic English 29 3.2.2.2.2 Students‟ opinions on Basic English 30 3.3 Suggestions for motivating students in learning at Basic English 1, tienganh123.com 32 3.3.1 Improving the materials 32 3.3.2 Developing testing and assessment system 33 vi PART C: CONCLUSION 35 Conclusions 35 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 37 REFERENCES 39 APENDIXES I APENDIX A: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE STUDENTS I APENDIX B: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE TEACHERS IV vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Today, new technologies provide learners with a wider array of opportunities to study and learn languages, but, since these opportunities are largely available on a voluntary out-of-school basis, they further highlight the importance of learners‟ motivation Though a number of studies have been carried out on the relationship of online learning to motivation in classroom settings, there has yet been little research on language learning motivation in out-of-school settings It can be clearly seen that in Vietnam, we are mainly teaching and learning English in non-native language environment, so students not have much chance to expose to real, native English However, with the development of the internet and technology nowadays, it gives us more chances to bring English nearer to the learners Learning through the internet is rapidly growing and attracting more and more learners in Vietnam On the other hand, how to get a good result when learners learn English in that environment, and how to maintain the learning process by students themselves are key points deciding the outcome of the learning Thus, motivation will play the center role to push students learn by themselves without any demand from teachers From the above reasons, the author would like to investigate the motivation of online learners, particularly the learners at the course - Basic English at website tienganh123.com to find a way to attract them to learn, and help them to be good at English even in non-native environment like Vietnam Aim of the study The study aims at investigating the motivation in learning English online of learners at the course Basic English at website tienganh123.com To achieve this aim, the study sets out to obtain three specific objectives as follows: - Identifying types of motivation possessed by learners at the course Basic English at website tienganh123.com in learning online the challenges they have in the course is not much In some lesson, the tasks are repeated; learners have to them in writing then in speaking again Even that way helps learners have chance to go back to realize their mistake and makes sure they can a topic well; it also makes students feel boring Then many of them just the tasks to complete the requirement of the course without a lot of efforts A lot of them claimed some tasks are too easy for them, especially writing tasks The level of difficulty is not higher after lessons For these reasons, learners will be more attracted when they have to work with some more difficult exercises; more types of activities, tasks and exercises should be added 3.3.2 Developing testing and assessment system Unlike traditional context classes, online courses give teachers a difficult task when testing and assess students‟ learning process Involving in this study, many students revealed that testing and assessment is one thing that motivates and sometimes also de-motivates them most It can motivate when they submit their exercises and receive feedback from teachers quickly and accurately Tienganh123.com also requires learners to complete most of the exercises and tasks in a lesson before moving to the next So learners have to the tasks carefully to get good result Although the way of testing and assessment is good, however it need improving because the time students have to wait the result and comment from teachers are quite long Now it‟s about days So that many students complain that they feel demotivates after waiting a long time for the result, and cannot continue the course if not pass the task after such time Therefore firstly the web administration has to find ways to eliminate the waiting time for learners Secondly maybe the requirement that students must pass most of the task in a lesson before moving to the next lesson is not really necessary If this requirement is set for review lesson only, it can be better and reduce a lot of time for learner to wait the result when they want to learn new lesson Moreover, after the review lesson, if students don‟t pass, they will have to spend time to cover again the main points of the content they have gone over 33 This is the time for them to reorganize the grammar, structures and vocabulary they have learned One more thing that needs considering in testing and assessment of this course is that now if learners are not qualified to go on the next lesson, they have to go back and finish exercises, tasks they haven‟t passed This process can be very boring for students to tasks again and again Some students don‟t want to the same tasks twice, and doing the same task again not only de-motivate students, but it is also not a good way to teach language This process may help students remember their mistakes mechanically but they not really understand the language To deal with this, web administration may think about a bank of tasks, exercises and tests for such cases Learners will have to the different tasks or exercises if they don‟t pass the previous one But the new ones must be the same level with the previous In brief, the chapter has presented some major findings based on the data analysis to find out the answers to the research questions All the data was obtained from the study instruments which were the two survey questionnaires and the interview In the chapter the main types of motivation, de-motivated factors and motivational strategies have been discussed in details 34 PART C: CONCLUSION In this part, conclusions on the research questions set forth in part I of the research will be provided Then, limitations and suggestions for further study will be presented Conclusions With the aim of recommending the strategies to develop the motivation in learning English online of the learners of Basic English at tienganh123.com, the researcher has reviewed relevant literature on motivation and online language learning theories of many different authors in the first chapter The literature review provides theoretical backgrounds for the study Its focus is on introducing important relevant concepts, discussions of issues and ideas on theories for motivation, students‟ interest in learning language online as well as factors affecting motivation in learning English online In chapter 2, the researcher has presented the methods used in the study including the setting of the study, participants of the study, data collection instruments, and data collection and data analysis procedures In chapter 3, the detailed results together with a comprehensive analysis on the data collected from the survey questionnaires and the interview have shown In the chapter, the main types of motivation, denominative factors and suggestions to develop students‟ motivation have been discussed in details The major findings of the study together with the suggestions will be summarized as follows: First of all, the reasons for learners to learn English in this course is to gain qualifications and because their interest in culture and people at English speaking countries While in comparison with traditional classes, students said they joined in the course to save time and money The findings showed that integrative motivation plays more important role than instrumental motivation when students learn English online at Basic English 1, at tienganh123.com However, there is a combination of 35 both orientations for learners This could be good for teachers to know if they want to design a better course to motivate learners Secondly, the factors affecting students‟ motivation found in the study are the materials, testing and assessment, the students‟ background knowledge of English language and the success of learners Among all of these factors, materials are the most important to learners, they seem to be more attracted to the course with interesting and useful materials, and then testing and assessment play a very important role Learners feel that their learning is cared and more effective when they the test and get feedback from teachers However, the survey and interview showed that testing and assessment should be improved to meet the demand of learners, sometimes the time they have to wait for the comment or marks from teachers is too long Moreover, some exercises seem to be repeated among skills Finally the study gave some suggestions to motivate students when learning English online at Basic English 1, tienganh123.com As mentioned above, materials and testing and assessment are the main factors affecting learners‟ motivation Hence, to deal with motivation, first the web administrators should care about materials, testing and assessment About the materials, the topics were commented not to be very interesting And the level of difficulty was a little bit under students‟ ability Therefore, something should be changed in the topics and teachers should add more challenging tasks to the course About testing and assessment, the time students have to wait for teacher‟s comment is too long now, the administrators should find ways to minimize it, and the rule that learners need to pass all tasks before moving to the next should also be changed Maybe after the review lesson, or some major tests, because now when students don‟t pass a lesson, they have to turn back and the exactly the same tasks, which makes students feel bored and don‟t want to continue 36 Implications The thesis mentions one issue that is paid much attention today, that is learning through the internet This study can help teachers and learners find out ways to apply this way of learning in learning and teaching English effectively One more thing is that it can be helpful for web administrators to edit the course and make it more efficient for learners and the course can be more effective Limitations and suggestions for further studies Due to the limitations of time and practical experiences, the study just aims at shedding some light on the issue of students‟ motivation in learning English online, an issue which had never been investigated before at tienganh123.com It is expected that further studies will be the continuance for this one which may answer to another question why students did not sufficiently invest in learning online Is it due to lacking interest in learning on the internet or are their first language and background knowledge too poor making them unconfident in learning the second language? These questions need to be addressed so that appropriate measures can be taken to improve the quality of English language learning in general, on the internet As we have shown, the internet has a great potential to change our language instruction and students' learning of foreign languages The internet itself is absolutely free to use if your school has terminals connected to it There are many resources on the internet already, and teachers and students have tried to use them in various ways However, there has been little research done on how to use the resources most effectively We need to continue to investigate ways to use the internet for better language teaching/learning The followings are suggested to be taken into consideration in the future research: The future research should study on how to maintain learners‟ motivation during the course they learn online The differences between motivation of online learners and class-context learners 37 A future study should focus on what teachers need to know how to motivate their students The important role of online materials in motivating students is another suggestion for further research 38 REFERENCES Alm, A (2008) Blogging for self-determination with L2 learner journals In M Thomas (Ed.), Handbook of research on Web 2.0 and second language learning Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference Brown, H D (1981) Affective Factors in Second Language Learning cited in Alatis, J., Altman, H and P Alatis, Eds The Second Language Classroom: Direction for the 1980s, New York: Oxford University Press Brown, H D (1990) Principles of Teaching and Learning New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents Brown, H D (1994) Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents Brown, H D (2000) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall Chambers GN (1999) Motivating Language Learners Modern Languages in Practice 12 Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd Dornyei, Z (2001) Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Ellis, R (1994) The Study of Second Language Acquisition Oxford: Oxford University Press Ellis, R (1997) Second Language Acquisition Oxford: Oxford University Press 10 Falk, J (1978) Linguistics and Language: A Survey of Basic Concepts and Implications (2nd ed.) New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons 11 Finegan, E (1999) Language: Its Structure and Use (3rd ed.) California: Harcourt Brace 12 Gardner, R.C (1985) Social Psychology and Language Learning: The Role of Attitude and Motivation London: Edward Arnold 39 13 Gardner, R C & Lambert, W E (1972) Attitudes and motivation in second-language learning Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House Publishers 14 Gardner, R C., Smythe, P C & Clement, R (1979) Intensive second language study in a bicultural milieu: An investigation of attitudes, motivation and language proficiency Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House 15 Harmer, J (1994) The Practice of English Language Teaching London: Longman 16 Hudson, G (2000) Essential Introductory Linguistics Blackwell Publishers 17 Keller, J.M.(1983) Motivational design of instruction In C.M Reigeluth (Ed.), Instructional design theories and models Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum 18 Kleinginna, P.J & Kleinginna, A (1981) Motivation and Emotion Georgia: Plenum Publishing Corporation 19 Lambert, W E (1974) Culture and language as factors in learning andeducation In F F Aboud & R D Meade (Eds.), Cultural factors in learning and education Bellingham: Western Washington State University 20 Meunier, S (1998) Divided but United: European Trade Policy Integration and EC–US Agricultural Negotiations in the Uruguay Round Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner 21 Moore, A (1992) Fast, robust adaptive control by learning only forward models In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems Available at: http://publish.uwo.ca/~gardner/docs/CAALOttawa2009talkc.pdf 40 22 Nagel, D (2010) The Future of E-Learning is More Growth Available at: http://campustechnology.com/articles/2010/03/03/the-future-of-e- learning-is-more-growth.aspx 23 Neuhauser, C (2002) Learning Style and Effectiveness of Online and Face-to-Face Instruction, the American Journal of Distance Education Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/S15389286AJDE1602_4 24 Nhung, N.T.M (2003) Motivation and Factors Affecting Motivation in Learning English Writing of the Freshmen at the Department of English and Anglo-American culture, VNU-CFL Unpublished MA Dissertation CFL-VNU 25 Nunan, D (1992) Research Methods in Language Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 26 Pintrich, P R., & Schunk, D (1996) Motivation in Education: Theory, Research & Applications, Ch Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: PrenticeHall 27 Schachar, M., & Neumann, Y (2003) Differences Between Traditional and Distance Education Academic Performances: A meta-analytic approach, The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol 4, No.2 28 Singhal, M (2007) The Internet and Foreign Language Education: Benefit and Challenge The Internet TESL journal vol Available at: http://itselj.org/articles/Singhal-internet.html 29 Sun, Y.-C (2009) Voice blog: An exploratory study of language learning Language Learning & Technology Available at: http://www.education.uci.edu/person/warschauer_m/docs/orientation.pdf 30 Warschauer, M (1996) Computer Assisted Language Learning: an Introduction In Fotos S (ed.) Multimedia language teaching, Tokyo: Logos International 41 31 Warschauer, Mark, Heidi Shetzer and Christine Meloni (2002) Internet for English Teaching Alexandria, Virginia, USA: Teachers of English to Speakers of other languages, Inc 32 Williams, M & Burden, R (1997) Psychology of Language Teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 42 APENDIX A: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE STUDENTS Những câu hỏi để tìm biện pháp nhằm phát triển động lực học người học trực tuyến khóa Tiếng Anh tienganh123.com Câu trả lời bạn nghiên cứu nguồn đóng góp có giá trị để hoàn thiện phương pháp dạy học cịn Việt Nam Vì vậy, mong bạn vui lòng trả lời câu hỏi cách trung thực xác Chân thành cảm ơn đánh giá cao giúp đỡ công ty Hãy Trực Tuyến (trang web:tienganh123.com) Hướng dẫn: * Phiếu điều tra chia làm hai phần Vui lòng đánh dấu (v) vào câu trả lời phù hợp với bạn ghi câu trả lời ngắn gọn vào chỗ trống I Thông tin cá nhân * Giới tính: Nam  Nữ  * Tuổi: ………………………… * Bạn học tiếng Anh năm? ………………… năm II Ý kiến em khóa Tiếng Anh 1, tienganh123.com: Tại bạn học Tiếng Anh tienganh123.com? (Bạn đánh dấu nhiều câu trả lời)  a Vì tiết kiệm thời gian chi phí  b Bạn thích học tiếng Anh  c Bạn muốn đạt trình độ định tiếng Anh  d Bạn nghĩ khóa học giúp bạn nhiều công việc/ học tập  e Bạn muốn học để qua kiểm tra thi/ thăng chức/ nâng lương  f Vì Tiếng Anh cần thiết cho công việc, môn học bắt buộc trường  g Các lý khác (vui lòng ghi cụ thể) I ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Bạn nghĩ việc học online?  a Rất nhàm chán  b Nhàm chán  c Bình thường  d Thú vị  e Rất thú vị Yế tố sau ảnh hưởng đến động lực học bạn? (Bạn đánh dấu nhiều câu trả lời)  a Tài liệu học (chủ đề, độ khó, nội dung…)  b Các tập kiểm tra đánh giá  c Kiến thức thân (vốn từ vựng ngữ pháp, hiểu biết chung )  d Thành công việc học  e Các yếu tố khác (vui lòng ghi cụ thể) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Điều bạn thích học online (khóa Tiếng Anh 1)? Hãy đánh số thứ tự từ 1-3 theo mức độ yêu thích bạn (số cho điều bạn thích số cho điều bạn khơng thích nhất)  a Có mơi trường để thực hành, trao đổi Tiếng Anh (diễn đàn, câu lạc bộ, kết bạn…  b Tiếp xúc với nguồn tài liệu phong phú  c Ngôn ngữ học ghi âm từ người địa Bạn nhân thấy khóa học nào? (Bạn đánh dấu nhiều câu trả lời)  Về ngơn ngữ  a Khó  b Phù hợp II  c Dễ  Về chủ đề  a Thú vị  b Bình thưởng  c Tẻ nhạt  Về độ dài  a Dài  b Phù hợp  c Ngắn Bạn nghĩ dạng tập khóa học?  a Khó  b Phù hợp  c Dễ Theo bạn khóa học nên bổ sung hoạt động, tập để thu hút hứng thú học viên khóa học ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Chân thành cảm ơn! III APPENDIX B SURVEY QUESTIONAIRES (FOR THE TEACHERS) This survey questionnaire is designed to study motivation and how to motivate students at Basic English Course, tienganh123.com Your support in fulfilling the survey would be highly appreciated All the information provided by you is of the great use and solely for the study purpose You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Thank you very much for your kind assistance and support! I Personal information Your gender: Male  Female   Your age: …………………………………………………………………………… How long have you been teaching English? II Your opinions on the course and how to motivate students What you think of the effect of the course to your students?  a It helps students to improve other skills and linguistic knowledge  b It helps students to broaden their knowledge of the world  c It can bring the pleasure/ enjoyment to the students  d All the above mentioned opinions  e Others (please specify) What problems did you look at when designing the course?  a The lack of students‟ motivation  b The lack of materials to design appropriate and practical activities  c Difficulty to maintain students‟ attendance  d Others (please specify) IV What types of activities you find it necessary to motivate your students? III Your opinions on the course What you think about Basic English 1? Teachers’ opinions Numbers of Percentage % teachers Language Difficult Suitable 83 Easy 17 Interesting 0 So so 67 Boring 33 Long 17 Suitable 50 Short 33 Difficult 0 Suitable 67 Easy 33 Topics Length Types of exercise What should be done to improve the course? Change the topics Add some more types of exercises Illustrate texts with more beautiful pictures Improve yearly Other ideas (please specify) V ... learning and learner‟s motivation, the study ? ?An investigation into online learners’ motivation of Basic English at tienganh123. com? ?? has many interesting aspects However, due to the limitation of time... learn English online at tienganh123. com? What are appropriate strategies to develop students‟ motivation in learning English online at tienganh123. com? Scope of the study Mentioning online language... questions: What are the types of motivation of online language learners at Basic English at tienganh123. com? What are the factors affecting students‟ motivation when they learn English online? What are