14 demotivating factors that affect interest and motovation of english learners’ in pantado technology development joint stock company

MINISTRY OF FINANCE
ACADEMY OF FINANCE
--------------------------

Student: Vũ Phương Tú
Group: CQ56/51.01

GRADUATION THESIS
Topic:
DEMOTIVATING FACTORS THAT AFFECT INTEREST AND
MOTOVATION OF ENGLISH LEARNERS’ IN PANTADO
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT JOINT STOCK COMPANY

Major

: English for Finance and Accounting

Student code

: 1872202010029

Supervisor

: Bui Thi Tuyet Mai (Ms.)

Hanoi – 2022


MINISTRY OF FINANCE
ACADEMY OF FINANCE
--------------------------

Student: Vũ Phương Tú
Group: CQ56/51.01

GRADUATION THESIS
Topic:
DEMOTIVATING FACTORS THAT AFFECT INTEREST AND
MOTOVATION OF ENGLISH LEARNERS’ IN PANTADO
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT JOINT STOCK COMPANY

Major

: English for Finance and Accounting

Student code

: 1872202010029

Supervisor

: Bui Thi Tuyet Mai (Ms.)

Hanoi – 2022



Academy of Finance

Graduation Thesis

DECLARATION
I, Vu Phuong Tu, confirm that the work for the following term paper with the
title: "Demotivating factors that affect English learners’ interest and
motivation in PANTADO technology development joint stock company" was
solely undertaken by myself and that no help was provided from other sources as
those allowed. All sections of the paper that use quotes or describe an argument or
concept developed by another author have been referenced, including all secondary
literature used, to show that this material has been adopted to support my thesis.
Ha Noi, May 2022
Student

Vũ Phương Tú

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ABSTRACT
Interest is a paramount aspect of human beings regarding personality and
psychology. Parallel with motivation, interest in learning languages is a critical
factor to enhance efficiency in class. High motivation and interest generates positive
cognition, helping students stay at peak learning performance and recall sources of
creativity.
Interest and motivation are not naturally created. Even when that is the case,
without good maintenance, they will disappear. Lack of motivational spirit could

remarkably reduce students’ attentiveness and eagerness in class. The educational
environment, incorporating the organization and guidance of teachers, plays a
decisive role in discovering, nurturing or forming, and maintaining students’
interest. Thus, an imperative responsibility of the lecturer is to identify the
demotivating factors that negatively affect learners’ motivation to engage with the
subject. From there, the lecturer can figure out the precise strategies to work on the
situation and make learners more interested in the subject.
This paper looks into a range of old reports and studies in the last two decades and
attempts to link those pieces of research with modern-day context to figure out what
issues are among language learners, particularly in Vietnam. In a narrower scope, it
limits on assisting teachers in determining the causes of students’ demotivation and
solutions to this hearty concern. Assumptions and ideas of factors affecting the
pupils’ interest mentioned in the paper only apply to the English subject.
Keywords: Demotivating factors, demotivation, interest, motivation, English.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
If it had not been for the excellent support from my supervisor, Ms. Bui Thi Tuyet
Mai, this essay and the research behind it would have been impossible. Her precise
attention to detail, knowledge, and devotion have inspired me so intensely and
helped keep my work stay on track from the very first idea to the final draft.
Miss. Do Thi Minh Anh and Miss. Hoang Thi Thuy, my seniors and supporters at

PANTADO company, have also checked through my raw research and answered
numerous queries about relevant problems with unfading patience. Also, Miss. Kieu
Linh and Miss. Hang Kieu, training managers of PANTADO company, not only
taught me a lot about essential skills of a teacher but also helpfully shared the
valuable information about the company and teaching experience that they have
been accumulating for almost six years. Besides, I really appreciate the engaging
comments and opinions offered by my students and peers at PANTADO. The
enthusiasm and generosity of all have innumerably contributed to this study and
saved me from tons of errors.
Finally, I am most grateful for the help and support from teachers of the Faculty of
Foreign Language of the Academy of Finance. Without those amazing people, I
would not have adequate knowledge and fundamental skills to complete my
internship.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATION
ES: Elementary school
HS: High school
L1: Level 1
L2: Level 2

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
List

Page

Chart 1

15

Table 1

17

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION...........................................................................................................i
ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATION.......................................................................................iv
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES...........................................................................v
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................vi
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................1
1. Rationale of the Study..............................................................................................1
2. Aims of the Study......................................................................................................1
3. Scope of the Study.....................................................................................................2
4. Methodology..............................................................................................................2
5. Organization of the Study........................................................................................2
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................4
1.1. Factors Affecting Motivation among English Learners In General.................4
1.1.1. Teachers...............................................................................................................4
1.1.2. Class environment..............................................................................................5
1.1.3. Class materials....................................................................................................6
1.1.4. Characteristic of the Language.........................................................................7
1.1.5. Learners Themselves..........................................................................................8
1.2. Causes of Demotivation among English Learners in Particular Regions........9
1.2.1. Causes of Demotivation among European and North-American Students
........................................................................................................................................9
1.2.2. Causes of Demotivation among Asian Students.............................................10
1.2.3. Causes of Demotivation among Latin American Students...........................14
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY......................................................................................16
2.1. Overview of the factors affecting motivation and attentiveness of English
students in PANTADO classes...................................................................................16

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2.2. Analysis of Demotivating Factors In Detail......................................................20
2.2.1. Teacher’s fast teaching pace............................................................................20
2.2.2. Words & Grammar (particularly for groups aged 6 to 10)..........................22
2.2.3. Inappropriate levels of course books used.....................................................24
2.2.4. High expectations from family........................................................................25
2.2.5. Lack of habit of asking questions....................................................................27
2.2.6. Tedious homework...........................................................................................29
2.2.7. Lack of confidence............................................................................................30
CHAPTER 3: RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................33
3.1. Solutions for Teachers.........................................................................................33
3.1.1. Raise students’ awareness of the importance of the language......................33
3.1.2 Flexibly adjust the pace of the lesson...............................................................34
3.1.3. Hold relevant games during classes and encourage students to ask
questions......................................................................................................................35
3.1.4. Assign game-based homework........................................................................36
3.2. Solutions for Students.........................................................................................37
3.2.1. Look at the language as an interest rather than a subject............................37
3.2.2. Feel free to reach out to teachers....................................................................38
3.3. Solutions for Parents...........................................................................................38
3.3.1. Give the children inspiration instead of pressure..........................................38
3.3.2. Help the kids practice English through daily communication.....................39
3.3.3. Keep encouraging and complimenting the children......................................40

CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................41
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................42

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INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the Study
A group of Vietnamese children are losing their motivation to learn English and
becoming easier-to-distract and more demotivated in class. We can see that
demotivation has spread throughout schools, increasing the number of demotivated
learners. That raises a considerable concern: What influences motivation in negative
ways? In this study, we will call those influences demotivating factors or demotives.
Students’ and teachers’ experience denote that particular demotivating factors may
pose a considerable effect on interest and motivation.
Dornyei defined demotivation as “specific external forces that reduce or diminish
the motivational basis of a behavioral intention or an ongoing action.” However,
some researchers did not agree that demotives only came from the external
environment, for example Sakai & Kikuchi (2009), Falout & Maruyama (2004), or
Arai (2004). They strived to expand Dornyei’s initial definition and covered both
internal and external factors reducing or diminishing the motivation to study
English. These influences limit the existing interest while other motives may still be
activated but are underrated. That means an unmotivated student has not completely
lost their motivation, but their interest in learning English has temporarily decreased

or disappeared for some reasons. The lack of interest and enthusiasm could be
rooted in various sources of demotivation (demotives), such as an unprepared and
unskilled teacher or an unsuitable, tedious textbook.
2. Aims of the Study
Undoubtedly, demotivation is a red flag of impending reduced efficiency in learning
and has noticeable educational implications. In such an area of integration and the
increasing importance of foreign languages, particularly English, it is high time we
investigated the related demotivating factors and came up with context-based
solutions. 
Thus, this study attempts to answer two burning questions, which are the core points
of the hearty topic:
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1. What are demotivating factors among English learners in Vietnam?
2. What is the best solution to each of these demotivating influences?
3. Scope of the Study
The research focuses on investigating demotivating factors among English learners
at the PANTADO centre and recommendations to fix the situation as well as
improve efficiency of learning and teaching.
4. Methodology
The researcher have compiled the study and researched the above concerns based
on previously conducted reports and studies of many researchers in the early time
combined with the perspectives of two groups essentially involved in the learning

and teaching processes, namely English learners and teachers in the PANTADO
centre. In particular, the researcher picked up their views or opinions on the
demotives that can negatively affect the performance of students to see if there’s
any differences or similarities between English learners of the last two decades and
present time.
- Questionnaire: In this study, the researcher used open form questionnaire which
allows participants to give any answer they have.
- Observation
- Method of analysing, summarizing, synthesizing materials and books from the
theoretical background
- Information collection & comparison, judgment and conclusion
5. Organization of the Study
Besides the Introduction, Conclusion and References sections, the thesis consists of
3 primary chapters:
CHAPTER 1: This chapter refers to previous research conducted to find out
demotivating factors among English learners worldwide and lists out the most
common factors found in those studies.

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CHAPTER 2: This is the key section of the thesis, providing an overview of the
factors affecting motivation and attentiveness of English students in PANTADO
classes and detailed analysis of each of those factors.

CHAPTER 3: This chapter discusses the practical solutions to minimize and deter
those factors from showing up again in the future, including those for teachers,
students, and parents as well.

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CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Factors Affecting Motivation among English Learners In General
There is a large number of studies indicating that many English students lose
interest and motivation during the studying process. And factors reducing or
diminishing motivational behaviours may originate from either the external or
internal world. The five most common effective forces of demotivation mentioned
in research and studies worldwide are: teachers, class environment, class materials,
the compulsory nature of the language, and learners themselves.
1.1.1. Teachers
Participants in many studies pointed out that teachers are the primary root of their
demotivated attitudes when learning.
Kikuchi (2009) found out that Japanese secondary EFL students’ source of
demotivation was rooted from the conventional authoritarian teacher-focused
approach. Likewise, Baldauf and Trang (2007) discovered that the greatest source
of demotivation among Vietnamese EFL students originated from their teachers’
teaching methods. They also stressed that most language teachers utilized teaching
tactics that relied on memorization, leading students to be unable to use the

language creatively.
Participants in these two groups deemed the teachers’ teaching methods and lack of
flexible, modern teaching tools in English classes a remarkable force that made
them uninterested in the language and engaging with their teachers. This seems to
denote that English learners are not into teacher-centred lessons where their teachers
exercise dominance over the classes and do not rely on modern teaching tools that
allow them to engage in classroom activities. This also means English learners are
more interested in having interactive lessons where their teachers hold interactive
activities that use modern visual-audio aids.
Chambers (1993), Mallala (2003), Keblawi (2005), Manasreh (2010), Amemori
(2012) suggested that teachers’ incompetence, their personality, shouting/criticizing
at the pupils, ineffective or tedious teaching methods, lack of visual or audio

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teaching tools, lack of focus and attention in their pupils, and intolerance are
significant factors that ruin students’ motivation to learn a language efficiently and
effectively.
Falout and Falout (2004) performed research to investigate the factors that
demotivated Japanese students in English classes and schools. The final results
indicated that factors associated with teachers were mentioned by the participants,
including teachers’ behaviours, their incomprehensible tasks, inappropriate pace or
level, not paying full attention to their usage, concentrating on abstract rules, and

sticking too tightly to a single point.
1.1.2. Class environment
When it comes to class environment, there are numerous factors that can affect
students’ motivation when learning English, yet two of the most commonplace ones
are unsuitable levels of classes or curriculums and friends’ attitudes.
Arai (2004) discovered that 28% of the participants mentioned two reasons why
classmates are the cause of their reduced motivation levels. First, there was fierce
competition among peers in a class and school, which put them under a lot of
pressure and stress. Second, some classmates humiliated them, making them feel
ashamed and uncomfortable by making fun of them or distracting them when they
were speaking in front of the teacher and class. Those bad behaviours depressed
them and made them lose motivation. As some pupils expressed, their friends
laughed at them whenever they tried to speak or made some pronunciation mistakes.
That’s why they did not want to show their English speaking skills in front of other
friends, who would humiliate them with laughter and jokes.
Besides, inappropriate levels of classes or programs have the equal influence on
foreign language learners to friends’ attitudes. Kikuchi & Sakai (2009) and
Bekleyen (2011) implied that the wrong levels of classes, either lower or higher
than the actual ability of the students, had a considerable impact on their motivation.
Learning programs or courses that are too easy for them tend to reduce their interest
since there’s nothing new to learn, whereas those that are too hard would make

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them struggle to catch up with the whole class’s pace and fail to soak up new
knowledge, resulting in great demotivation and loss of confidence.
Previous research focused on demotivation during learning English has revealed
that class characteristics, such as grammar- and vocabulary-based instruction, examcentered instruction, and monotonous lessons are effective causes of demotivated
attitudes (Cristophel & Gorham, 1995; Soureshjani & Riahipour 2012).
Apart from the two factors above, others related to class environment, such as class
atmosphere (for example, inactive classes) and unequal levels of proficiency
between classmates also play a critical role in reducing English students’
attentiveness and interest in the language (Cristophel & Gorham, 1995; Meshkat &
Hassani 2012).
Tsuchiya (2006) research showed the remarkable influence of the class environment
by comparing it to other demotivating encounters, and the final was that this
encounter accounted for 21%. In particular, it generated five demotive groups,
including improper textbook [selection/use] (2%), unfavourable class time (3%),
unfavourable learning conditions (6%), lack of chances to communicate in English
(5%), and unfavourable classroom atmosphere (5%).
1.1.3. Class materials
In 2011, Bekleyen carried out a study on the factors that demotivate Turkish
university students when learning English as a foreign language. The researcher
determined that insufficient use of technological types of equipment, course books,
teaching methods and teachers themselves are major factors that demotivate
students who are learning English as a foreign language.
Likewise, focusing on the reason why students feel demotivated in language
classrooms, Meshkat and Hassani (2012) conducted a study with the participation of
421 Iranian high school students. As a result of the study, learning context and
materials, insufficient school facilities, and test scores were found as basic sources
of language learning demotivation. 8,2% of the participants indicated the education

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system as a source of demotivation. They mentioned that they do not take pleasure
while learning English as the courses are boring and mostly teacher-centred.
Kawai (2000) pointed out, from a constructivist perspective, content relevance of
learning materials to the learner's existing knowledge is a key ingredient for
intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation concerns behaviour performed for its own
sake in order to experience pleasure and satisfaction such as the joy of doing a
particular activity or satisfying one’s curiosity. It is a state where the relevance for
the learner of the content of the material is the main reason for learning. “Students,
particularly more sophisticated adults, need to feel that the materials from which
they are learning have to be connected with the real world and at the same time they
must be related positively to the aspects of their inner makeup such as age, level of
education, social attitudes, the intellectual ability and level of emotional maturity.
1.1.4. Characteristic of the Language
The world is in a strong globalization process. Globalization creates both
opportunities and challenges for each nation and each individual. To be able to
compete on a global scale, students need to constantly develop and update their
knowledge and skills, and the ability to use English plays a large role in helping
each individual keep pace with the world’s development and gain a good
employment position in the future. English is a compulsory subject in the general
education curriculum from grades 3 to 12. As a compulsory subject in the general
education curriculum, English is also directly inter-related with many other
subjects/educational areas such as Literature/Vietnamese, Natural and Social

Sciences, History and Geography, Arts, Physical Education, Computing,
Experimental Activities.
Tsuchiya (2006) accused the compulsory nature of the English language somehow
puts the students, particularly the younger who do not really have a knack for
foreign languages, under a lot of pressure.
Testing and assessment are important elements in the teaching process to provide
feedback on the communicative competences acquired by students during and by

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the end of a learning stage. However, too high expectations of parents, teachers, and
schools on their children’ test results and competition among peers in a class often
decrease student motivation and lead to higher student retention and dropout rates.
Wheelock, Bebell, and Haney (2000) investigated the degree to which external tests
motivated students to learn by examining the self-portraits of students in testing
situations. Students depicted themselves as anxious, angry, bored, pessimistic, and
withdrawn from high-stakes tests. Older students were more disillusioned and
hostile toward tests than were younger students.
1.1.5. Learners Themselves
Almost all of the first and second grade students lacked interest in learning English.
They thought that English was difficult so they did not enjoy English class. Students
showed negative attitudes in learning English. In addition, some students were not
satisfied with their English ability because they had difficulties in reading, listening

and speaking. They looked confused when the teacher was explaining the lesson.
Perhaps, the teaching was a little boring and monotonous. There were some students
who slept, talked with friends and played with their mobile phones. Besides from
the students’ attitude in the classroom, lack of interest in learning English can be
seen from the results of their study, which were mostly below the passing grade.
Another critical concern to look at is that students who lose their motivation at an
early phase of second language learning might suffer from long-term harmful
impacts, such as failure, losing self-confidence, self-blaming and struggling too
much to gain motivation during the learning process (Falout & Falout, 2005;
Ushioda, 2001).
Besides, some students expressed that when they make mistakes/errors, teachers
sometimes react negatively towards them. That’s why students suffer from both
fears of negative evaluation and speaking anxiety. As some of the participants
expressed: “When I make mistakes while speaking, some of my teachers make fun
of me in front of the class. That’s why, I don’t want to speak”, “When my teacher
offends me in front of the class because of some errors I have made, I feel

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demotivated”. Their low scores on tests also contributed greatly to their
demotivation in learning English. The test scores factor was part of what the
researchers hypothesized as relating to learner experiences of failures.
So, we can clearly see the connection between teacher & class-related factors and

learners’ intrinsic demotivated, negative attitudes toward the subject.
Interference of another foreign language that pupils are studying should be
mentioned, too. Learning a second language is a thought process, it is even more
difficult when the student uses his or her native language as crutches to help
stepping toward new information. Learners of foreign languages often make
mistakes resulting from language interference. When two (or more) foreign
languages are studied, then this kind of interference becomes “doubled” (or even
“more multiplied”).
Lott (1983) made a kind of a more precise classification of interference errors in
which he distinguishes three types of them: The first type results from
overextension of analogy (students misuse vocabulary items because they are
similar, either phonetically, orthographically, semantically or syntactically to
another form in the Level 1). The second type of errors results from transfer of
structure (students make errors because they apply the rules of their mother tongue).
Interlingual errors (the third type of errors) are errors in grammar and vocabulary
which are made by students because certain phenomena, either lexical or
grammatical, existing in Level 2 do not exist in their native language. Swan &
Smith (2001) focus on learners of English and claim that “the mother tongue can
affect learners´ English in several ways”.
1.2. Causes of Demotivation among English Learners in Particular Regions
1.2.1. Causes of Demotivation among European and North-American Students
Studies led by Chamber (1993) investigated four British schools with 191 Junior
High School (JHS) students aged thirteen and enrolled in eight classes and seven
teachers of L2. The results of the questionnaire made by teachers showed that the
demotivation of students could be associated with lack of effort, self-confidence and

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interest, poor concentration and refusal to cooperate in class cooperation. They also
perceived that these causes of demotivation could be related to psychological,
attitudinal, social, historical, geographic factors. On the other hand, half of the
students responded that their demotivation was due to the fact that their teachers
criticized them, they did not provide clear explanations and the teaching materials
used were outdated; another percentage considered the L2 as a waste of time and
another group smaller expressed that their classroom was too small for an extensive
group.
In another context, Oxford (1998) through analysis techniques contained in essays
written by high school 250 (HS) American students and University students (US)
about their past experiences in L2 learning, reported having demotivating
experiences mainly generated by the teacher's role. Similarly, Dörnyei (1998) in
Dörnyei & Ushioda (2011) indicated the possible factors that generate demotivation
in Learning English and German as L2 in 50 HS students from Hungary through
structured individual interviews and content analysis. The results of these analyses
identified that there were nine factors that negatively influenced the motivation of
the HS students, for example, 40% of individuals emphasized the teacher´s
competence and style. Gkonou (2012) analysed work diaries of 8 Greek students
belonging to EFL courses. Although the qualitative study focused on determining
what factors cause anxiety to increase in EFL students, he noted that the factors
associated with the pedagogy underlying the teaching of skills, and more
specifically the teaching of listening and writing are those that negatively affected
motivation in the L2 class.
1.2.2. Causes of Demotivation among Asian Students
Hasegawa (2004) established a quantitative study in which a questionnaire with six

dichotomous items (false-true) and open responses to 125 Japanese JHS students
and 98 HS students. The results indicated a demotivating factor with “strong
impact” associated with inappropriate teacher behaviour. Keblawi (2005) presents a
mixed study with 137 JHS students and students of 157 HS Israelites. From it,

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