(LUẬN văn THẠC sĩ) 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 1 AT
TIENGANH123.COM
(NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA NGƢỜI
HỌC TIẾNG ANH TRỰC TUYẾN KHÓA TIẾNG ANH CƠ BẢN
1 TẠI TIENGANH123.COM)
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

HANOI, 2014

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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 1 AT
TIENGANH123.COM

(NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA NGƢỜI
HỌC TIẾNG ANH TRỰC TUYẾN KHÓA TIẾNG ANH CƠ BẢN
1 TẠI TIENGANH123.COM)
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: PROF.DR. HOÀNG VĂN VÂN

HANOI, 2014

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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

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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

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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 1 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 1 provides an overview of motivation and online language
learning. Chapter 2 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 3 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.

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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

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION………………………………………………………………………i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………...ii
ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………..…iii
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS…………………………………………………..iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………...v
PART A: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1
1. Rationale for the study .............................................................................................. 1
2. Aims of the study ...................................................................................................... 1
3. Research questions .................................................................................................... 2
4. Scopes of the study.................................................................................................... 2
5. Methods of the study ................................................................................................. 3
6. Design of the study.................................................................................................... 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT ......................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................... 5
1.1. Overview of motivation ......................................................................................... 5
1.1.1. Definitions of motivation............................................................................... 5
1.1.2. Types of motivation ....................................................................................... 6
1.1.2.1. Integrative vs. instrumental motivation ................................................ 6
1.1.2.2. Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation ........................................................... 7
1.1.2.3. Global, situational and task motivation ................................................ 8
1.1.2.4. Resultative motivation .......................................................................... 8
1.2. Overview of learning second language through the internet ................................. 9
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

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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 1 ............................ 30
3.2.2.2.1 Teachers‟ opinions on Basic English 1 ............................................... 29
3.2.2.2.2 Students‟ opinions on Basic English 1................................................ 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
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PART C: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 35
1. Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 35
2. 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

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. 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 do 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 1 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.
2. Aim of the study
The study aims at investigating the motivation in learning English online of learners
at the course Basic English 1 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 1
at website tienganh123.com in learning online.

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- Studying factors affecting motivation in learning English online.
- Finding out strategies to develop motivation of students in order to improve their
results of learning online.
3. Research questions

The study was done in order to find out the answers to the following research
questions:
1. What are the types of motivation of online language learners at Basic English 1 at
tienganh123.com?
2. What are the factors affecting students‟ motivation when they learn English
online?
3. What are learners‟ preferences when they learn English online at
tienganh123.com?
4. What are appropriate strategies to develop students‟ motivation in learning
English online at tienganh123.com?
4. Scope of the study
Mentioning online language learning and learner‟s motivation, the study “An
investigation

into

online

learners’

motivation

of

Basic

English

1

at

tienganh123.com” has many interesting aspects. However, due to the limitation of
time and knowledge, the author would like to cover just the types of motivations
processed by online learners at Basic English 1 at tienganh123.com, the factors
affecting online learners‟ motivation and appropriate strategies to develop students‟
motivation in learning English online at tienganh123.com.
5. Methods of the study
The theoretical background of the study is mainly based on the references and
analysis to relevant theories about motivation and online language learning of many
authors. The study is carried out on the basis of a survey questionnaire, interviews
and course observation.
In theoretical part, reference materials on motivation and online language learning

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have been gathered and reviewed to establish the framework for the study.
In practical part, a survey questionnaire and interviews are carried out to answer the
questions raised for the study.
6. Significance of the study
The study focuses on the importance of motivation and identifies the factors
affecting students‟ motivation in learning English online. Its findings are believed to
be helpful for teachers and learners of English and website developers to be aware
of the vital role of motivation to students‟ results and to help them find a better way
to attract more students to this way of learning. Since then, the study suggests some
motivational strategies for better result when learning through the internet.
7. Design of the study

The study is designed with three parts as follows:
PART A: INTRODUCTION
The part presents the rationale of the study, aims of the study, research questions,
scope of the study, methods of the study and the significance.
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: Literature review
The chapter provides theoretical backgrounds of motivation and online language
learning. In this chapter, the theories for motivation, brief introduction of online
language learning, motivation in online language learning and main factors
affecting motivation in online English learning are discussed.
Chapter 2: Methodology
The chapter presents the methodology used in this study including data collection,
the procedure of data collection and data analysis and instruments.
Chapter 3: Data analysis and findings
The chapter shows the results of the data analysis based on the course observation,
survey questionnaires and interview.
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PART C: CONCLUSION
This part summarizes the major findings and discussion, points out the limitations
of the thesis, provides some implications and makes some suggestions for further
study.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter is concerned with the theoretical background of motivation, including
the definition of motivation and several types of motivations. In addition, it also
gives overview of learning second language through the internet. The author will
mention the history of learning through the internet, and the facts of that learning in
Vietnam. One more important feature that will be presented is motivation in
learning English through the internet.
1.1 Theoretical background of motivation
1.1.1 Definitions of motivation
Many scholars have given definitions of motivation. Most of them agree that
motivation is the driving force that creates the flux from desire to will in life. The
following definitions of motivation are given by researchers:
“Motivation is some kinds of internal drive which pushes someone to do
things in order to achieve something.” (Brown, 2000:160)
“Motivation explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are
going to pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activities.” (Dornyei,
2001:7)
“Motivation is an internal state that arouses directs and maintains behavior.”
(Kleinginna, 1981:6)
“Motivation involves the attitudes and effective states that influence the
degree of effort that learners make to learn a second language.” (Ellis, 1997:5)
“Motivation can be constructed as a state of cognitive and emotional arousal,
which leads to a conscious decision to act, and which gives rise to period of
sustained intellectual and/or physical effort in order to attain a previously set goal
(or goals).” (William, 1997:120)

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Although different scholars have different ways to approach definitions of
motivation, they all share the point of view that motivation has roots in
physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and social areas.
1.1.2 Types of motivations
Motivation can be classified into integrative vs. instrumental motivation (Gardner
and Lambert, 1972); intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation (Moore, 1992); global,
situational and task motivation (Brown, 1990); instrumental, integrative, resultative
and intrinsic (Ellis, 1994)...
1.1.2.1 Integrative and instrumental motivation
The theory mostly influences the field of language learning motivation it the socialeducational model given by Gardner (1985). This model focuses on the impact of
attitudes towards second language (L2) communities on motivation and student
achievement. According to this model, motivation includes three components:
effort, want and effect. This model also classifies motivation into two types:
integrative and instrumental.
Integrative motivation: Integrative motivation is defined as “a sincere and personal
interest in the people and culture represented by the other language group” by
Lambert (1974: 98). Gardner‟s later socio-educational model (1985) adds three
aspects of student motivation: (effort time and drive), desire (extent of language
proficiency wished for) and effect (emotional reactions to language study).
Integrative motivation is the desire on the part of the student to feel a relationship
with the people, the society and the culture of the language that is learned, and is
usually referred to in the context of living in the target language community (Falk
1978, and Finnegan, 1999).
Instrumental motivation: On the other hand, Gardner and Lambert (1972: 132) refer
to “the practical value and advantages of learning a new language”. Instrumental
motivation concerns the practical and concrete rewards that student‟s desire
(Hudson, 2000). This relates to achievement purposes for instance passing an exam

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or getting a degree. A student‟s opinion of a given language is significantly shaped
by its perceived usefulness and relevance to future career goals (Chambers, 1999).
1.1.2.2 Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
According to Harmer (1994) motivation is separated into two main categories:
intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. From his point of view, intrinsic
motivation concerns with what is taken place in the classroom whereas the extrinsic
is concerned with factors outside the classroom. Therefore, he considered
integrative motivation and instrumental motivation as of extrinsic motivation.
Moore (1992: 173) proposes the distinction of the two concepts, that is: “Intrinsic
motivation is what learners bring to the learning environment, that is, their internal
attributes: attitudes, values, needs and personal factors. In contrast, extrinsic
motivation originates outside the individual and is concerned with external
environmental factors that help shape students’ behavior.”
Hence the main difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is the goals of
the students. When motivated intrinsically, students study subject materials for the
sake of learning. They find studying enjoyable and learning new ideas as a reward
itself. With extrinsic motivation, students are influenced by the outside factors such
as getting teacher and peer praise, acquiring a good grade or some other type of
reinforcement that a teacher or peer might offer, so they study for the sake of
outside influences.
Another difference that is worth mentioning is that research shows that intrinsically
motivated students learn more than extrinsically motivated ones. This could be due
to the fact that intrinsically motivated students are also extrinsically motivated. But
on the other note, extrinsically motivated students are seldom found to be

intrinsically

motivated.

Motivating students to become intrinsically motivated is not an easy task for
teachers. To some students, they enjoy learning. For the others, this is where the
challenge really comes in. From what perceived, Moore (1992: 178) suggests the
ways to motivate those learners that “in intrinsic motivation, the external incentives
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and rewards that are used to get students to learn or work modify their action are
artificially devised techniques. Ideally, once extrinsic motivation has been used to
help develop intrinsic motivation, it should be phased out.”
1.1.2.3 Global, situational and task motivation
Brown (1981) identifies three types of motivation:
(1) Global motivation that consists of a general orientation to the goal of learning a
L2;
(2) Situational motivation is the type of motivation which varies according to the
situation in which learning takes place (classroom learning, naturalistic learning)
(3) Task motivation, which is motivation for performing particular learning task.
Brown explains that some of all three types of motivation are required for learning a
foreign language. For instance, a learner may have high global motivation to learn
the foreign language, but low task motivation for doing a certain activity. While the
second motivation does not depend on the teacher, the first and especially the third
motivation is where teachers can have an influence and help learners develop,
maintain and enhance their motivation by discussing the benefits of learning the
foreign language by designing and using tasks and activities that are interesting,

engaging and enjoyable for learners.
1.1.2.4 Resultative motivation
Resultative motivation is concerned with the relationship between motivation and
achievement, which Ellis (1994) identified as interactive. Learner‟s motivation is
strongly affected by their achievement. Students who perform well in classrooms
are more likely to gain confidence and to be more willing to participate. However,
Gardner, Smythe and Clement (1979) suggested that „while greater motivation and
attitudes lead to better learning, the converse is not true‟ (Cited from Ellis, 1994).
But „the vicious circle of low motivation = low achievement = lower motivation‟
could always develop. (Ellis, 1994) Interest is a powerful psychology tool in
receiving attention from students and urging them to make efforts. There are

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various ways that teachers could help students to develop their intrinsic interest
motivation, such as welcoming students with a big smile, or introducing new
activities into the classroom.
1.2 Overview of second language learning through the internet
In 1992 the World Wide Web was launched, reaching the general public in 1993.
The Web offers enormous potential in language learning and teaching. The internet
is very useful for teaching English. Teachers can use it for gathering information for
their classes, including teaching plans and materials for classroom use. They can
subscribe to mailing lists related to TEFL/TESL, and exchange information with
other teachers. Then they can discuss normal issues they meet in their teaching, and
get suggestion from other teachers. Moreover they can subscribe to electronic
journals or newsletters either by e-mail or using the World Wide Web and keep up
with new trends of English teaching, finding new or interesting publications. They

can consult with publishers on teaching materials.
Students can use a mailing list, IECC-Survey, to conduct surveys for class projects.
They can subscribe to student lists to exchange ideas with other students around the
world. There are many learning materials on the World Wide Web, and students can
use them to study English. They can read news in English using either by e-mail or
on the World Wide Web. Students' newspapers or newsletters can be posted on the
World Wide Web. Nowadays, there are a lot of education websites coming out to
help students learn subjects. They can get knowledge themselves and arrange their
own schedule to learn on the internet.
Using the internet for English teaching is new, and there are few books and papers
on the subject, though there are many resources on the Internet. We need to explore
ways to find materials on the internet and experiment with using them to improve
our teaching. Using the internet to teach language in class is very helpful and
interesting. Moreover these days with the development of the internet and
technology, a new way of teaching and learning language was born: Learning
through the internet. Students and teachers do not need to meet directly to learn,
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they can stay at home and attend online courses, out-of- school learning. In this
research, the author would like to study this kind of learning and the motivations
that students often have when they join in them, the difficulties in motivating online
students, and gives some suggestions on how to motivate them.
1.2.1 Online language learning
The instructional use of the internet and computer-mediated communication (CMC)
has introduced the benefits of real-time, many-to-many discussions by an entire
class or small groups (Warschauer, Mark, Heidi Shetzer and Christine Meloni,
2002). Such features are believed to boost student motivation in language

learning; however, the impact of technology use on learner motivation in
language learning has not been well explored.

As suggested by Brown

(1994) and later discussed by Meunier (1998), the effect of technology use on
language learning motivation falls into two categories: situational motivation,
which assesses comfort, anxiety, and risk taking in particular language learning
contexts, and task motivation, which accounts for the relevance and excitement
originating from specific language learning activities.
Regarding situated motivation, both language anxiety and technology anxiety
(Warschauer, 1996) have been shown to decrease when students use CMC. In
addition, the use of CMC not only promotes classroom participation, but also leads
to more equal student participation in the CMC environment (Warschauer, 1996).
As for task motivation, a number of studies have shown that students were
instrumentally motivated when using particular online tools, such as email
(Warschauer,

1996),

computer-assisted

conversation

(Meunier,

1998;

Warschauer, 1996), or blogs (Alm, 2008; Sun, 2009).
The emergence of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and Web 2.0 offers

online communities where individuals can talk with and learn from native speakers.
Online language learning is more autonomous than school-based learning because
online learning is initiated by the students themselves, allowing them to control the
pace of learning. This kind of learning are attracted to a lot of learners, especially

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today when assessing to the internet is easier than ever. Investigating the motivation
of online language learners may shed light on an important new domain in second
language acquisition.
1.2.2 The fact of online learning in Vietnam
Beside the traditional ways of learning, leaning through the internet is considered as
the model of future education. Especially in Vietnam, it can help stop the passive
teaching and learning, teacher reads and students write. Students have to have their
own plans and schedule for learning, and they become active in their learning
process. Nowadays in Vietnam online learning is mostly applied for teaching and
learning foreign language. There are some famous websites such as:
tienganh123.com, onedu.vn, hellochao.vn, etc. Although having existed recently,
these sites are warmly welcome by the users, especially youth and workers, who
have no time for offline classes. From the number of these websites‟ subscribers,
we can see how rapidly this learning style has been developing. For example,
tienganh123.com founded in 2008, up to now it has had 1.479.197 users,
hellochao.vn founded in 2011 and it has 74.665 followers on facebook now. And
there are more and more new websites coming each year. Online learners started to
get used to this way of learning, most of them see that learning through the internet
has strongest points which are flexibility of time and place to learn, and financial
saving. Moreover learners can adjust their learning fast or slow. These are the

advantages that traditional learning cannot have because you can learn a lesson
many times or slowly if you want instead of attending one lesson by teacher in
offline classes.
Although online learners don‟t meet teachers or other learners directly, they can
contact in variety of different ways, for instant chatting online, joining forums,
writing mails or learning groups on the internet. Learning process is also convenient
for learners; they just need a computer assessed to the internet, and learn at any time
they want.

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Moreover learning through internet is not only convenient but also visual, which is
especially good for learning second language. Students have chance to listen to
native speakers, watch videos from variety of sources in target language such as
BBC News, VOA News, New York Times… Thus the disadvantages that students
don‟t have chance to exposure to native language can be dealt easily now. Seeing
the advantages of learning a second language online, many learners in Vietnam now
choose this way to improve their learning.
However, it also has some issues making learners confused and hesitated when
choosing. Because learners have to be very active on their own, they have to set up
their own plan to learn and follow it closely. Unless learners are committed to the
learning process, they will stop at any time, and then the result is not much. Many
people feel curious and try to learn online, but they cannot maintain the process of
learning after some lessons or they do not learn regularly so finally their language is
not improved. How to take advantage of this learning style, and how to boost this
learning are really big questions for educators and also web administrators.
1.2.3 Motivation and online language learning

1.2.3.1. The importance of motivation in learning language online
Like any courses, motivation plays a centered role in keeping students engaged to
the course. Specially, for online courses, its role is now extremely important.
Without motivation, students do not want to attend the course any more.
Consider for a moment a traditional classroom. Why do students attend their
classes? Perhaps their presence is being recorded by the instructor, or perhaps they
are particularly interested in the topic. Regardless, upon enrolling in a face-to-face
course, learners are aware that they are expected to devote significant blocks of time
each week to that course. But why do students participate in face-to-face course
activities? To start, they already are seated in the classroom, so they may as well
participate. Additionally, the effects of instructor modeling of desired activities and
peer participation can motivate the reluctant learner to become more active.

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In the online class, attendance is distinctly different. Hence one of the most crucial
issues facing developers of online course is to maintain and develop the motivation
of students since the factors that influence motivation are embedded in most aspects
of online learning. Motivation in general is defined as “the magnitude and direction
of behavior and the choices of people make as to what experiences or goals they
will approach or avoid and to the degree of effort they will exert in that respect”
(Keller, 1983).
1.2.3.2. The factors affecting students’ motivation in learning English through
the internet
Understanding what motivates online learners is important because motivated
students are more likely to engage in activities that help them learn and achieve,
says Brett Jones, associate professor of educational psychology at Virginia Tech.

Based on an extensive review of the literature on student motivation, Jones has
developed the MUSIC model of student motivation, which identifies five main
factors that contribute to student motivation: eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success,
Interest, and Caring.
eMpowerment – Students feel empowered when they feel that they have some
control over some aspects of their learning. This can involve giving students
choices. “Is there some way that we can give students at least a little bit of control
by giving them choices? Is there a way to give students some options to bring in
something from their own lives or make some decision about a topic within that
narrow assignment that lets them feel like they have some control over it?” Jones
says.
Usefulness – Students need to see that the course is useful and relevant to them
within the course and beyond. In some cases it will be obvious that the skills that
students will acquire in a course will directly contribute to their success in a chosen
career field. In other cases, that connection will not be as clear. Jones recommends
being explicit about how the skills and knowledge students acquire in the course
can be applied beyond school. One way to do this is to give students chance to
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interview professionals in their chosen careers about what skills and knowledge
contributed to their success.
Success – Students need to feel that they can succeed in the course if they make a
reasonable effort. The instructor can help students succeed by setting expectations,
providing feedback, and facilitating the course so that students have access to
additional resources if needed. “What resources do you have available for them to
succeed? If you thought ahead you can know what problems students typically run
into. A lot of times you can create additional documents or videos that explain the

more difficult concepts,” Jones says.
Interest – There are two types of interest that contribute to student motivation:
situational interest and individual interest. Situational interest refers to an aspect of
a course that is enjoyable or fun. Situational interest can be enhanced by novelty
and emotions. Situational interest is often short lived, but it can lead to longer-term
individual interest, which refers to how the content relates to the individual.
Caring – Students need to feel that the instructor (and other students) care that they
learn. Jones assumed that although caring is a big motivator for children; it would
not play a large role in online higher education courses. He was wrong. In fact, in a
study of 609 online learners, caring was the number one predictor of online
instructor ratings. “It turns out that caring is very important even for adult learners,”
Jones says. Jones recommends providing regular feedback and asking students
whether the feel that they‟re getting the support they need.

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
The research methodology plays an important role in any research which
determines considerably the reliability and validity of the study. Therefore, it
required the researcher prudence and caution to single out the method that best suits
the aims and objectives of the study. In the light of this philosophy, combined
quantitative and qualitative methods are employed within the framework of the
study.
2.1 Context of the study
The study is conducted in an online website teaching English, tienganh123.com.
This is one of the biggest website teaching English in Vietnam with over 1 million
subscribers. There are two main categories in this web; they are English for kids

(under grade 5) and English for students and adults (from grade 6). The course the
author chooses to observe and analyze is Basic English 1, which is the beginning
course for adult learners, or anyone who wants to start with basic English. There are
fourteen topics and three tests in the course, learners need to finish each lesson and
required tasks before moving to the next lesson.

They will learn grammar,

vocabulary, speaking, listening, writing and pronunciation in each lesson. There
have been a large number of learners up to now. However, at the same time, there
are about 25 students attending the course. Therefore the author just gives
questionnaires to 52 students in this course.
The content of the course are designed by teachers and web designers with variety
of activity and authentic materials. The topics and grammatical structures which are
selected based on the outline of the communicative course books such as New
Headway, New Cutting Edge, New English File, etc are the most common to a daily
life. Each lesson contains the following parts: vocabulary, grammar, reading,
listening, pronunciation, speaking, and a review test. These parts aim to develop
students‟ skills in reading, listening, speaking and writing. Students need to finish
tasks required and the test to pass a lesson. One of the great things in this course is

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that students have chance to expose to native language. All the audios and videos in
English are recorded by native speakers.
From my own observation, learners are really motivated at the beginning of the
course, the number of students attend the course at the first lessons are large. But

their enthusiasm seems to be lost during the course, because the numbers decrease
by the lesson. However, the students who can go through to the end of the course
can get quite good achievement. They can talk about general topics with ideas and
suitable vocabulary and grammar, and they can do grammatical tasks or read quite
well, but their pronunciation is still worse than the other skills. Thus the issue here
is how to attract student to commit with the course from the beginning to the end.
Most of teachers and designers interviewed agreed that more things need to be done
to increase students‟ motivation.
2.2 Participants
The study was conducted with the participation of 52 students chosen randomly
from Basic English 1, tienganh123.com; they are the most recent students attending
the course in 2014. They aged from 12 to middle-aged and the ratio of male to
female is 21/29. Before doing the research, the author anticipated that learners are
mainly adults who have jobs and do not have much time to attend normal classes.
However, when sending emails to learners randomly, the number of adolescents is
higher than expected. All of them have been learning English with tienganh123.com
for at least 2 months. They have joined the course at different time, but all in 2014
and they have finished at least two thirds of the course.
The teachers joined in the study include:
-

Three teachers designing the curriculum and the lessons in the course. They
all graduated from University of languages and international studies. They
aged from 24 to 28.

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Two supporting teachers who often chat and answer learners‟ questions
during the course. One of them is English major student at Hanoi national
university of international languages; one has graduated from that university.

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