A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES FOR THE ENGLISHMAIJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY TOWARD LEARNING ENGLISH
ABSTRACT Without student motivation, there is no pulse; there is no life in the class Motivation is one of the most important factors which influence language learners’ success or failure in learning the language Motivation is defined as "the choices people make as to what experiences or goals they will approach or avoid and the degree of effort they will exert in this respect" (Keller, 1983) Specifically, for language learning motivation can be understood as learners’ orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language As Wilkins (1972) points out that "motivation is a term which occurs in discussion of the second rather than the first language learning" In addition, there was a general consensus among these studies that influential way to get a clear picture to learning process is to study the learners’ attitudes and motivations toward learning English language The aim of this study is to identify university student motivation towards learning English To achieve this purpose, unstructured interviews were used by the researcher with 100 participants These students are undergraduates of English Department in ThuongMai University Qualitative case study was used , which fits the collected data I hope that this study will help students have a better overview of the difficulties From that, they will be aware of overcoming the difficulties and improving their motivations Moreover, this study is considered as a reference some suggested solutions that will help students solve the difficulties and develop their own motivations toward learning English ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Even though the study was limited by time – only months and the limitations of the long-days disease , I and my supervisor tried my best and t received lots of support to complete this graduation thesis First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Hoang Thi Thuy, MA-lecturer of the English faculty for her valuable and insightful comments, suggestions and kind guidance correction throughout my research study I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the teachers of English Faculty at Thuongmai University, who have imparted golden knowledge to me From these supports, I can improve my English skills and have good background to achieve my dreams I am grateful to all of the lovely English major students of Thuongmai University who contributed and had a warm co-operation to help me during the period I carried out my survey Last but not least, I am also grateful to my friends from Thuongmai University, who helped and encouraged me a lot when I was conducting my research Millions of thanks go to my beloved family whose financial support and spiritual encouragement contribute a significant part to the completion of the research In short, I would really like to thank to all people helping me to finish this graduation thesis Thaibinh, April 18 st, 2020 , Student Bui Ngoc Son TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations L1 Explanations First language L2 Second language S Subject V Verb O Object Etc Et cetera IR Information Retrieval CLIR Cross Language Information Retrieval Vol Volume No Number LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES No Name Content Page Chart 3.1 English-majored students’ views on the efficiency of main 22 motivations for learning English Chart 3.2 Assessment English-majored students on the importance of 24 efficient carrying task to get motivations in learning English Chart 3.3 Students’ opinion on their main motivation toward learning 26 English in English falcuty Chart 3.4 English-majored students’ opinions on the importance of 27 personal motivation toward learning English Chart 3.5 English-majored students’ view on the importance of 30 integrative motivation toward learning English Table 3.1 The reasons for which English-majored students at Thuongmai 25 University think that good English equals a good job Table 3.2 Results of the students who willing trade their time to attend 31 an advanced English course Table 3.3 Students' attitude is assessed by the way they react to 33 situations CHAPTER OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale English is a global language and many people are of the opinion that it is a language worth learning Along with the development of society, Thuongmai University is increasingly investing in the quality of teaching in the business English major However, not all graduate students use English for their work and many of them not really care about subjects related English in the curriculum These students are bitter that after four years of studying English at Thuongmai University, their proficiency and competence in English is virtually not even at the level of undergraduates This is against the background that the university has churned out graduates years after years My concern is that the problem will spill into every place because the same half-baked graduates are being employed to teach young learners The learners will end up being as incompetent as some of their tutors My belief is that lack of motivation and attitude among instructors and students is central to this problem This study, therefore , centers on investigating the role of motivation in this issue Another motivation for the study lies in the fact that no known study has been carried out to investigate the motivation of English language students, studying English at Thuongmai University This is a pioneer study and it hopefully it will ignite a series of subsequent studies on motivation at the university and both the other private and public universities in the area 1.2 Previous studies There have been many research studies on the influence of mother tongue on the learning English in the world and also in Vietnam Those are described as follows: According to Gardner (2006, page) “students with higher levels of motivation will better than students with lower levels”.The author wanan point out that these students are also more likely to be engaged in the relevant activities and expand efforts and to show desire to achieve the goal Secondly, the research ‘’Research methods in Education’’ done by Wilkins was published on the “European Journal of English Language, Linguistics and Literature” in 2010 This study aims prove that The instrumental motivation is based on students´ desire to learn the language for some utilitarian goal, such as "to pass an examination, to use it in one's job, to use it in holiday in the country, as a change from watching television, because the educational system requires it" (Wilkins, 2010 , page 184) Meanwhile, the study ‘’ Attitudes and motivation towards English: A survey of Japanese freshmen ‘’ done by David Adebayo Oluwole was published in 2008 show out that the integrative motivation is stimulated by students´ interest towards the language itself, its culture, and the desire to communicate with the target language group In one words, "to know more of the culture and values of the foreign language group… to make contact with the speakers of the languages… to live in the country concerned" In Papua New Guinea (PNG), a related study was undertaken by Buschenhofen (1998) He sought to assess the attitude towards English between the 12th year and the final year college student To collect data, he managed a questionnaire about about 50% of the sophomores and freshmen in PNG Both groups differ in their ability to tolerate the use of English in different contexts The results show the positive overall attitude of both groups towards English and some important attitudes differences related to the specific English language context Buschenhofen attributes such differences to changing social, educational and linguistic conditions, characterizing the transition from 12th grade to higher education However, this research will specifically study the influence of motivations and attitudes on the learning English of English-majored students to help them learn English better and get higher results, as well as prepare for their future jobs 1.3 Aims of the study Nobody can deny that people who use English well are very likely to succeed in many fields of research and career advancement Especially in the era of the 4.0 revolution, English in particular and other common languages such as Japanese, French, Chinese, etc play an even more important role in our lives English is the official language of more than 53 countries and territories, the official language of the EU and the third most used language in the world after China and Spain (due to differences in population nation) It can be seen that English has become a global language and is like a passport, a bridge to help you easily have a stable job with a higher salary Foreign language plays such an important role, the requirement of society for linguistic ability for young people is also very high, but the current situation of foreign language proficiency of students is too low,it have not yet meet that requirement Therefore, this study is aim at investigating the impacts of motivations and attitudes , specifically the English-majored students at Thuongmai Universitywhere motivation is almost the biggest cause Meanwhile, it is necessary to find out their difficulties and errors they often make in the learning of English because of the influence of the bad attitudes and motivation From these obstacles, some suggestions and recommendations will be given to help them improve and gain better results in their learning process 1.4 Research subjects This study is designed to clarify the influence of motivation on English learning process among these students More specifically, the study shows both positive effects and negative effects of motivations on learning English to see on what aspects they can be helpful to and on what aspects they can be a “barrier” After that, solutions will be offered to help the students learn more effectively 1.5 Scope of the study As mentioned, this study is done with English-majored students So this section is divided into two main sub-sections: the students' motivation to learn English and their attitudes toward the English language In presenting the results in each sub-section, data obtained from both the questionnaire and interviews were used was sent to 100 students studying at the English Faculty of Thuongmai University to collect data and information and then analyze and find out the results for their learning In addition, direct interviews with questions were applied to make the data in this study more reliable From the results collected through questionnaires and interviews, some mistakes have been found and thus it is necessary for the author to more researches, investigations and come up with better solutions to help them overcome 1.6 Research methodology In completing this research, lots of methods have been employed and depending on certain kind of research, certain methods are used to help the researchers have relevant, appropriate and reliable data and information for their study This study was conducted to identify petroleum engineering students’ motivational and attitudinal orientations in learning the English language To achieve this objective, two research tools were used namely, questionnaire and interviews This type of design, that uses different research methods to investigate the same issue, is called a triangulation mixed method design (Creswell, 2002) The need for triangulation arises from the ethical need to confirm the validity and reliability of the process (Tellis, 1997) In addition, using multiple methods in a research design would also help to “give a fuller picture and address many different aspects of phenomena” (Silverman, 2000, p.50) To accomplish this study, the following research questions need to be considered: What are the factors that affect students motivation towards learning English? What role teachers play on students motivation in learning English? In what ways does lack of motivation affect English-majored students? 1.6.1 Data collection instruments The primary method of inquiry used in this study was a questionnaire It consisted of three sections: A, B and C In Section A, items were used to collect information regarding the students’ background Section B consisted of two parts which included questions to identify students’ motivation to learn the English language These reasons represented the three motivational constructs namely, instrumental motivation (items 1, 2, 3, and 4), integrative motivation (item 7) and personal motivation (items and 6) It might be worth indicating that Gardner’s instrumental and integrative types of motivation were adopted because such a classification offers “an impetus to the study of language attitudes and motivation that had previously been lacking” (Benson, 1991, p.35) In the second part of Section B of the questionnaire, on the other hand, the students were asked to answer a question on whether or not they are interested in attending more English language training courses to improve their proficiency in the English language Answering such a question is of great importance to know about their desire for learning the language which is considered one of the main components of language learning motivation (Gardner, 2006) Section C of the questionnaire was developed to elicit information regarding the students’ attitudes towards the English language In this section, the students were given statements (items) , for which they were requested to specify their responses by choosing any of the three alternatives provided, namely, agree, disagree and don't know The items were divided into four main categories: attitudes towards the use of English in ThuongMai University educational context (items 3, 4, and 5), attitudes towards the use of English in the Thuongmai University social context (items and 2), attitudes towards the English language (item 6) Besides the questionnaire, interviews were used to obtain data to supplement and crossvalidate the students’ responses to the questionnaire The students were asked questions related to their motivation and attitudes towards the English language The interviewees were asked about 1) Their reasons for learning English 2) Their interest to attend more training courses in English 3) Their attitudes towards the English language and towards the culture of the English speaking world 1.6.2 Data collection procedures Given the description of the questionnaire and interviews, this sub-section presents the procedures used in the administration process Before distributing the questionnaire, the students were informed about the goals and implications of the study They are also required to state their honest and honest responses In addition, subjects were informed to ask for any clarification they might have After that, the achievement was distributed Once they have 10 CHAPTER RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS It is undeniable that motivations and attitudes plays a significant role in the language learning and undoubtedly in the learning of a foreign language However, if there is too much influence and we cant control it , it is not good Therefore, there should be some suggested solutions to help learners to overcome such obstacles and can always keep the state of motivation at its best level to get the best results 4.1 Recommendations for English-majored students 4.1.1 Keeping Yourself Accountable 4.1.1.1.Be gentle with yourself despite your procrastination habits If you’re a chronic procrastinator or you just can’t seem to get started, beating yourself up about it will only make things worse Don’t lay blame on yourself or try to give yourself punishments as a form of motivation These types of behaviors can be exhausting and distracting Instead, be gentle with yourself when you’re having a 39 hard time Acknowledge the problem but remind yourself that it’s okay and that you’re working on improving Avoid comparing yourself to other classmates who seem to be doing well Everyone learns and works differently, so focus on your own needs and capabilities and don’t worry about how everyone else is doing 4.1.1.2 Let out your worries and feelings of resistance to get them out of the way Try freewriting or journaling to explore your anxieties about your studies or the specific factors that are preventing you from getting started Or let off some steam with a friend or classmate Once you’ve gotten these stressors out of your system, set your negative feelings aside Take a deep breath and tell yourself it’s time to shift your frame of mind so you can get to work If it helps to vent to a friend, just make sure they’re willing to listen and you’re not going to distract them from their own studies 4.1.1.3 Communicate your plan of action to someone else Once you’ve established a study plan, talk it over with a friend, classmate, or family member Let them know that you just want to quickly walk through your plan and work through any challenges or roadblocks ahead of time Ask them to be your accountability buddy and check in on your progress once in a while, or just let them know that you’ll be in touch once you’ve completed a few goals o Even though studying is a personal, solitary task, being accountable to someone else can be a great motivator o Pair up with a classmate or roommate so you can both hold each other accountable for your studies o Or tell a friend that you’ll be able to meet up with them only if you finish your goals by PM You’d hate to disappoint your friend and miss out on the fun, so use your desire to avoid this consequence to fuel your studies 4.1.1.4 Work with a study group or tutor so you have accountability to someone else Unless working with others creates more of a distraction, find a study buddy or group you can collaborate with Make sure to discuss your learning style and studying preferences with each other before you begin to ensure that you’re compatible study buddies Then agree on a series of goals together and determine 40 how and when you’ll accomplish them If group studying doesn’t work for you, find a tutor who can help you work through your assignments Make appointments in advance and use these as progress deadlines to work towards o Look for a tutor at your school or consult a private tutoring agency o In a study group, each person could volunteer to tackle a different sub-topic, then you could all share your study materials with each other o Reserve a study room, bring snacks, or gamify your studying to make the work more enjoyable o Start working well ahead of time in case your peers fail to meet the group goals and to make sure you have time to brush up on certain subjects independently 4.1.2 Establishing a Study Schedule 4.1.2.1 Assess which study habits bring you the most success Think about which environmental factors and study skills help you retain information and your best on exams Decide whether you prefer to work in a quiet space by yourself or if a public place like a library or coffee shop helps keep you on task Reflect on whether you remember facts better when for you to review your own lecture notes or when you skim the textbook and old class assignments Figure out what combination of factors will bring out your most positive, productive, and focused self so you can implement this system into all future study sessions o Think back to past study sessions that went especially well, and others that didn’t go well at all, to assess which factors help and hinder your progress o If you’re able to develop a personalized study system, studying will be a lot less stressful for you 4.1.2.2 Focus on your long-term goals and what you’ll achieve by studying Studying day after day can be grueling, but rather than fixating on the negatives, get yourself in a positive frame of mind by visualizing all the good that your hard work will bring Imagine yourself getting a good score on a test, receiving praise from your teacher, or feeling proud of your end-of-term grades Let these good feelings wash over you as you reframe your perspective on studying 41 o If you’re hoping to attend college or earn a scholarship, think about how each small study session will get you step closer to your dreams o Use your long-term goals as motivation to keep pushing yourself 4.1.2.3 Break down your studying into smaller tasks or goals Set concrete goals for your study session Divide your larger studying goals into small, manageable steps Identify specific, achievable goals that you can work on one at a time.[9] This way, you can make good progress and achieving each goal will make you feel accomplished at the end of your study session o It’s easy to get overwhelmed by a huge amount of homework and seemingly endless assignments But rather than worrying, “How will I ever finish this assignment?” ask yourself, “How much of this assignment can I accomplish in hours?” o Instead of trying to read a whole book in sitting, set a goal to read chapter or 50 pages at a time o When prepping for a test, review your lecture notes from just the first week of the semester today, then focus your notes from the second week tomorrow 4.1.2.4 Order your tasks from easiest-to-hardest or shortest-to-longest Depending on how much resistance you’re experiencing, or how tough your subjects are, you can select an ordering system that lessens the stress and enables you to keep moving forward Try working from the shortest to the most timeintensive task, work from easiest project to the hardest, or start by tackling the most difficult assignment first so things get easier as you go along Or attack your subjects in order of your class schedule o If you’ve selected a logical system to follow, it will help reduce decision fatigue and you’ll find it easier to shift from one task to the next 4.2 Recommendations for the teachers of the English Faculty To get higher results, students need to learn English harder, and teachers are also involved in this process of helping their students to learn well with little influence of mother tongue Some suggested recommendations should be given as follows: 4.2.1 Develop meaningful and respectful relationships with your students 42 If we are going to truly inspire and motivate all of our students, we should know each of them on a personal level We need to know their interests and hobbies, who they hang out with, their family situations, and what gets them excited Each student is going to require different motivational strategies, and we have to know them to be able to predict what strategies might work In order to begin that “knowing,” try allowing for five minutes where students may share “Good News.” For example, student A shares, “I am a new uncle! My sister had a new baby boy this weekend!” This is an opportunity for teacher to learn about our students as people and to let them know that we care about them individually This also provides an avenue for teachers to share some details about their lives outside of school When teachers are willing to share personally and become vulnerable, students are more likely to the same When learners see one another as whole people, they are more willing to take risks, and ask the questions they need to ask in order to obtain success We all learn differently In each classroom several types of learners exist: visual, tactile, verbal and more reserved We can see it as our responsibility to discover this by knowing them and endeavor to teach them accordingly This work results in our ability to know our students which leads to a more cohesive, open learning community 4.2.2 Setting an English speaking environment As recognized that learning a foreign language as a second language, it is of great importance to have an environment where only English is used For instance, when you are working and living or being put in an environment where no other language that you know is spoken, in this circumstance you must try to understand what other people say by guessing according to gestures, facial expressions, body language and so on This is one of the best ways to help learners to apply in their learning the foreign language Also, teachers should give all the instructions and lectures in English and try to find out equivalent words and expressions in a simple way to make their students guess the meanings and understand what is taught and learnt In addition, visual aids are used where it is possible and remember that no first language is used under any circumstance 43 Another way to help the students is that teachers should encourage their students to in English whether in speaking or writing Try to set up situations where they have to respond in English and not give them time to translate every piece of the language spoken from mother tongue into second language, only when it is too difficult or may be those words are too technical Encouraging students to debate in English is also a good solution If the students find some issues that they not agree with the presenter, teachers should let them talk and exchange thoughts with the presenter 4.2.3 Creating games and other activities Sometimes, playing games like crossword can also be refreshing and useful to the main lessons With activities in the class, students will be more inspired when the teacher is close to them and the whole class will enjoy these activities Many students think that using games to stimulate their curiosity and passion in classes is a good idea The mix and match between entertainment and studying can be seen as one of the best ways to create learning motivations for students Among the students participating in this study, two-third of them confirmed that teachers’ friendliness and enthusiasm made them more comfortable and eager to learn English 4.3 Recommendations for the Board of management of Thuongmai University In the author’s point of view, the following suggestions should be given to the Board of management at Thuongmai University to help students learn English better and also to help both teachers and students work well with each other to get higher performances in their teaching and learning 4.3.1 Investing in laboratories In learning a foreign language, one of the necessary ways to get efficiency in the process of learning is to have a laboratory in which a complete system of voice recorders, microphones, videos, televisions, projectors and even Internet connection are installed to make the ease of teaching and learning In this kind of classroom, students can watch films, videos, listen to the recordings or any form of documents in English and respond immediately using microphone loudspeaker to interact with the teacher and many other students in class By this way, students can improve their listening and speaking more accurately and better It is also one of the ways to 44 give more opportunities to make acquainted with the learning environment where English is used most of the time 4.3.2 Equipped classrooms with media facilities Another way to enhance students’ improvement in learning English is that all the language learning rooms should be equipped with media facilities In each room, there should be a video or a television, a radio, a projector and a screen which is large enough for students to see the slides If every classroom is equipped like this, students not have to move between the rooms to study 4.3.3 Directing the Faculty of English to employ foreign native teachers It is also one of the best ways to motivate students to learn English as a second language by having native English teachers This can provide students with opportunities learn to speak with real native English speakers and in this kind of classroom, students almost have no chance to use their mother tongue to interact with the foreign teachers Moreover, students can also limit the influence of first language in their English learning process and increase the ability to approach native English Recognizing the necessity of having native English teachers in improving the quality of the students’ results, the Board of management should direct or allow the Faculty of English to employ good native English teachers to help students improve their English skills and get better results, as well as prepare for their future jobs 4.3.4 Organizing English-speaking events In order to help the students, especially first year English-majored students, to be more interested in learning English, the Board of management should also allow the English Faculty to organize English-speaking events on special occasions like Lunar New Year Holiday, Vietnamese’s Teacher Day, Christmas Eve and so on English-speaking events can help students feel more confident and creative when they have a chance to communicate in English and gain more knowledge for themselves In summary, it is vital and important to have more opportunities to learn English better Both teachers and students have to collaborate to get better results in 45 teaching and learning English The help from the Board of management at Thuongmai University can also be useful the English learning process CONCLUSION The findings of this study revealed that gifted students at English-major students schools are highly motivated towards learning English language The students reported higher scores of instrumental motivation than integrative one The findings also showed that there was no statistically significant differences in the motivational level according to gender Based on the aforementioned findings, it can be said that the students are aware of the importance of learning English language The high level of integrative and instrumental motivations reported by the students can be an indication to this awareness Therefore, several pedagogical implications can be obtained Teachers of English language should take into consideration their students’ perceptions about learning English and try to value those perceptions Teachers should present the proper teaching materials and contents that suit the students’ motivational orientations In addition, teachers can help students in setting specific goals in language learning and assist in achieving these goals through providing the necessary feedback Teaching English should not be for completing the syllabi only, rather, teaching English should be planned 46 carefully to provide more meaningful learning experiences and maximize the chances of language engagement These points and steps might lead to a more positive attitude and motivation which are extremely significant to succeed in language learning 47 REFERENCES Ajzan, I (1988) Attitudes, personality and behaviour Chicago: Dorsey Press Arani, J (2004) Issues of learning EMP at university: An analysis of students’ perspectives Karan’s Linguistics Issues (Online) Retrieved 11 August, 2009 from http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/emp Badaroos, Ali S (1988) The design of an integrated two-year ESP course for the college of economics in the university of Aden, Yemen Basturkmen, H (1998) Refining procedures: A needs analysis projects at Kuwait university English Teaching Forum, 36 (4), 2-9 Benson, M J (1991) Attitudes and motivation towards English: A survey of Japanese freshmen RELC Journal, 22(1), 34-48 Bose, M (1999) English language teaching in Yemen, need of the hour Yementimes, IX (16) Brown, H (2000) Principles of language learning and teaching New Jersey: Prentice Hall Buschenhofen, P (1998) English language attitudes of Final-Year High School and First- Year university students in Papua New Guinea Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 8, 93-116 Cohen, L, Manion, L., & Morrison, K (2006) Research methods in Education (5th ed.) London: Routledge & Falmer 10 Cooper, R L., & Fishman, J A (1977) A study of language attitudes In J A Fishman, R L Cooper, & A W Conrad (Eds.), The spread of English (pp 239-276) Rowley, MA: Newbury House 48 APPENDIX The Students’ Questionnaire Instructions: For the following items, please indicate your answer with a tick (√) in the spaces provided Where a line is provided, please write your answer, if applicable A, Background Information Please tick (√) in the appropriate space What is your age? 18 years 19 years 20 years 21 years 22 years Others (please specify) What is your sex? Male Female What is your level of study? First Year Third year Fourth year First year B, Motivation to learn English 1) What are your reasons for learning English? Please rate the following reasons according to their importance 49 Reason for Very Important important Learning Of some importance Of little Not importance important English Because it will enable me to carry my tasks more efficiently Because it will enable me to get a job easily Because it is a university requirement For a personal development Because it will enhance my status among my friends To integrate with the western culture Others (please specify) 2) Would you like to attend more English language training courses which will help you to improve your proficiency in the language? Yes No [ ] [ ] C, Attitudes toward learning English 50 What are your attitudes towards the following issues? Please tick (√) in the appropriate box: 1) The development of our country is possible mainly by educated people who know English well Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Don’t know [ ] 2) The use of English in government and business offices helps in getting things done easily Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Don’t know [ ] 3) English should not be a compulsory subject in secondary schools in Vietnam Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Don’t know [ ] 4) English should be the medium of instruction in the secondary schools in Vietnam Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Don’t know [ ] 5) At least some subjects like Physics and Chemistry should be taught in English at the secondary level in Vietnamese Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Don’t know [ ] 6) The teaching of English should start as early as the first grade in the Vietnamese schools Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Don’t know [ ] 51 7) English films are more enjoyable than films in any other language Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Don’t know [ ] 8) When I hear someone speaks English well, I wish I could speak like him Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Don’t know [ ] 52 APPENDIX DIRECT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS These interview questions are intentively designed for the English-majored students to find out the influence of motivations and attitudes on learning English further Along with this, some difficulties will be investigated to look for some solutions to help them overcome A lot of thanks to all the participants who have given the answers for the following questions In your point of view, what are your reasons for learning English? In your opinion, how are your interest to attend more training courses in English? 53 ... definition of motivations and attitudes, the importance of them and factors affecting English- majored students? ? ?motivations and attitudes 2.1 Some Basic Definitions The definition of motivations and attitudes. .. perspectives and their attitudes towards the target language (Choy & Troudi, 2006) 2.5 Strategies of Motivations and Attitudes 23 2.5.1 Strategites of motivations : Motivational strategies of English language... motivation and a positive attitude towards a second language and its community 18 help second language learning? ?? In other words, all who are concerned, agree that high motivation and positive attitudes