How To Motivate The First Year Students At Haiphong Polytechnics College In Speaking Activities.pdf

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
***  ***

ĐỖ HỮU TRƯỜNG

HOW TO MOTIVATE THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT
HAIPHONG POLYTECHNICS COLLEGE IN
SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
(Phương pháp khuyến khích sinh viên năm thứ nhất tại trường
Cao đẳng nghề Bách Nghệ Hải Phịng trong các hoạt động nói)

M.A. MINOR PROGAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.01.11

Hanoi – 2014


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
***  ***

ĐỖ HỮU TRƯỜNG

HOW TO MOTIVATE THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT
HAIPHONG POLYTECHNICS COLLEGE IN
SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

(Phương pháp khuyến khích sinh viên năm thứ nhất tại trường
cao đẳng nghề Bách Nghệ Hải Phịng trong các hoạt động nói)

M.A. MINOR PROGAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.01.11
Supervisor: Dr. Trần Thị Thu Hiền

Hanoi – 2014


DECLARATION

To the best of my knowledge and belief, this minor thesis contains no
material which has previously been submitted and accepted for any other degree in
any university. The thesis is my own work and based on my own research. It
involves no material previously published or written by any other person, except
where due reference is acknowledged in the paper.

Hanoi, 2014

Đỗ Hữu Trường

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I wish to send my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Tran Thi
Thu Hien for her valuable guidance, helpful suggestions and critical feedback

throughout the research.
I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to all the lecturers in the Faculty of
Postgraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, VNU for
their useful lessons from which I have benefited a lot for the accomplishment of this
study.
I am greatly indebted to my students at marine engine and navigation
departments and my colleagues at HPC for their participation and assistance
without which this study could not have been successful.
Last but not least, I would like to express my special thanks to my family and
my close friends who offered me their love, care, support and encouragement so
that I could accomplish my study.

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ABSTRACT
This minor thesis is carried out to investigate what kinds of speaking
activities are currently used in the speaking lessons for first-year students at HPC
and some suggestions are given to motivate students in these activities.
The study has collected data from two survey questionnaires to find out the
fact of the current situation of teaching and learning speaking skill for and of the
first-year students at HPC. The results from these two survey questionnaires have
revealed some aspects of teaching and learning speaking skill at the college. From
these results, some suggestions have been proposed to teachers, students and
college rector in order to motivate students in leaning speaking and to improve the
quality of teaching and learning speaking skill.

iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
HPC: Haiphong Polytechnics College
ESP: English for Specific Purposes
CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
L2:

Second Language

LIST OF THE TABLES
Table 1: Types of motivation…………………………………………………………..

21

Table 2: Students’ main demotivating factors in a speaking lesson

22

Table 3: Teachers’ activities and students’ preferences ………………………... 23
Table 4: Students’ expectation on teachers’ teaching …………………………..

24

Table 5: Teacher’s opinions on teaching English speaking and students’
motivation in speaking English……………………………………………… 25
Table 6: Teachers’ current teaching method …………………………………… 26
Table 7: Difficulties teachers often faced in teaching English speaking………

27

Table 8: Techniques applied by teachers in motivating students………………

28

iv


TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION……………………………………………………………….

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………….

ii

ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………….

iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ………………………………………………….

iv

LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………...

vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………….

1

1. Rationale……………………………………………………………………..

1

2. Aims of the study …………………………………………………………….

2

3. Research questions………………………………………………………......

2

4. Scope of the study……………………………………………………………

2

5. Methods of the study ………………………………………………………...

3

6. Significance of the study……………………………………………………..

3

7. Design of the study………………………………………………………..….

3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………………..

5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………….

5

1.1. Motivation in foreign language learning………………………………...

5

1.1.1. Definitions of motivation…………………………………………

5

1.1.2. Types of motivation in foreign language learning………………..

6

1.1.3. Some conditions for effective motivation in speaking……………

7

1.2. Demotivation in foreign language learning……………………………...

8

1.2.1. Definitions of demotivation…………………………....................

8

1.2.2. Demotivating factors in foreign language learning……………….

8

1.3. Teaching speaking skill in foreign language ……………………………

13

1.3.1. Definitions of speaking…………………………………………...

13

1.3.2. Approaches to the teaching of speaking………………………….

14

1.3.3. The roles of the teacher in different stages of teaching speaking..

15

v


CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY……………………………………………

17

2.1. Context of the study………………………………………………………

17

2.2. The research approach…………………………………………………...

18

1. Questionnaire for the students………………………………………..

18

2. Questionnaire for the teachers……………………………………….

18

3. Observation…………………………………………………………...

19

2.3. Participants………………………………………………………………..

19

2.4. Data collection procedures……………………………………………….

20

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS…………………

21

3.1. Results from students’ questionnaire……………………………………

21

3.1.1. Students‟ personal information…………………………………..

21

3.1.2. Types of motivation………………………………………………

21

3.1.3. Demotivating factors in a speaking lesson……………………….

22

3.1.4. Activities used by teachers and students‟ preferences……………

23

3.1.5. Students‟ expectation on teachers‟ teaching……………………...

24

3.2. Results from teachers’ questionnaire……………………………………

25

3.2.1. Teachers‟ personal information………………………………….

25

3.2.2. Teacher‟s opinions towards teaching English speaking and
students‟ motivation in speaking English……………………………….

25

3.2.3. Current teaching method …………………………………………

26

3.2.4. Difficulties in teaching English speaking………………………..

27

3.2.5. Techniques and activities applied by teachers……………………

28

3.3. Findings and discussions………………………………………………….

29

3.3.1. The current situation of learning speaking of first-year
students at Haiphong Polytechnics College……………………………..

29

3.3.2. The current situation of teaching speaking for first-year
students at Haiphong Polytechnics College……………………………..

vi

31


3.4. Suggested techniques for motivating students in speaking activities….

33

3.4.1. Suggestions for the teachers………………………………………

33

3.4.2. Suggestions for the students………………………………………

35

3.4.3. Suggestions for the college rector and academic department……

36

PART C: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………..

37

1. Conclusions…………………………………………………..........................

37

2. Limitations of the study……………………………………………………...

38

3. Suggestions for further study………………………………………………...

38

REFERENCES

40

APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………

I

APPENDIX 1…………………………………………………………………...

I

APPENDIX 2…………………………………………………………………...

IV

APPENDIX 3…………………………………………………………………... VII

vii


PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
It can not be denied that English is very important nowadays. It is considered
to be a very significant and necessary tool used in many fields such as science,
technology, diplomacy and so on. It is seen as a means to bridge the gap and
promote mutual understanding and cooperation among countries in the world.
In Vietnam, at present, the role of English has been more and more
increasingly crucial because of the fact that Vietnam has succeeded in becoming an
official member of WTO since 2006.
Being aware of the great significance of English, more and more people
desire to master it in hope of making English an useful means to serve their own
purposes. However, how to teach and learn English in general and English speaking
skill in particular effectively is a matter of controversy. Speaking skill should be
kept in mind to be the most popular and effective way of communication.
At Haiphong Polytechnics College (HPC), English is considered to be an
important factor for students‟ success in future career. Therefore, learning English,
especially learning speaking is necessary for students when they finish their study
and work on international ships. However, there is a fact that during speaking
lessons, students are often inactive and passive in participating speaking activities.
The interaction between teachers and students is ineffective and restricted. As a
result, after the English course, students‟ competence of English is not much
improved for working on board ships.
For this reason, I would like to make a study on “How to motivate the first-year
students at Haiphong Polytechnics College in speaking activities”. Hopefully, this
minor thesis will help motivate first-years students in English speaking lessons at

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HPC in particular and enhance other students‟ oral and communicative practice in
general.
2. Aims of the study
This study is an attempt to:
1. Investigate the current situation of teaching speaking skill to first-year
students at HPC.
2. Identify these students‟ demotivating factors in learning speaking skill.
3. Propose some suggestions to motivate first-year students in learning
speaking skill.
3. Research Questions
1. What is the current situation of teaching and learning speaking skill to
and of the first-year students at HPC?
2. What are possible methods to motivate students in speaking activities?
4. Scope of the study
This study only investigates methods of motivating first-year students at HPC in
learning speaking skill. Because of the limited time and within an M.A. minor
thesis, the researcher intends to make a brief view of the current situation of
teaching and learning English speaking skill for and of first-year students at HPC;
identifies factors affecting their speaking stimulation; examines techniques and
activities used by teachers and students‟ preferences and demands; suggests some
recommendations for teachers to encourage students to speak English and overcome
difficulties in teaching speaking.
5. Methods of the study
Quantitative and qualitative methods are used in the study. The data
collected for the study is from the students at beginning level and the teachers
teaching English at HPC.

2

Survey questionnaires are used as the main instrument to collect data and
evidence for the study.
Besides, to help the researcher gain a deeper and better view of the
participants, learning conditions related to the study, the researcher‟s observation
for three classes has been made used of as another instrument in collecting data.
6. Significance of the study
The results from the study are believed to be useful for both teachers and
students in teaching and learning speaking skill.
In theory, the study can be considered as one of helpful teaching material
recourses in teaching speaking skill to non-major students at vocational colleges in
general and at HPC in particular.
In practice, from the results of the study, teachers can take use of suggested
methods in motivating students when teaching speaking skill and students can find
the ways to motivate themselves in learning speaking skill.
7. Design of the study
This minor thesis consists of three parts:
Part A, Introduction, presents the rationale, aims, research questions and scope of
the study. The methods, significance and design of the study are also included in
this part.
Part B, Development, includes three following chapters:
Chapter 1 presents background of motivation and teaching speaking. In the
chapter, the main approaches to motivation and de-motivation in foreign language
teaching are discussed.
Chapter 2 provides an overview of the study context, the research approach
and information of participants and main instruments applied in the study.
3

Chapter 3 presents the documentation and data analysis. The analysis and
discussion on the data are based on the survey questionnaire and classroom
observation. The recommendations and suggestions for speaking teaching
improvements are also discussed in this chapter.
Part C, Conclusion, summarizes major findings; limitations and directions for
future research are also provided in this part.

4


PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter is concerned with the definitions of motivation, demotivation in
foreign language learning, and the theoretical backgrounds of teaching speaking
skill.
1.1. Motivation in foreign language learning
1.1.1. Definitions of motivation
There have been many researches in motivation and the research literature
regarding the definition of motivation is various. In general, all the motivation
theories want to explain the fundamental question of why humans behave as they
do, and therefore the answer is not simple and straightforward.
Firstly, motivation is described as the impetus to create and sustain intentions
and goal seeking acts (Ames & Ames, 1989).
Burden (1997:119) assumed that “from a cognitive perspective, motivation is
concerned with such issues as why people decide to act in certain ways and what
factors influence the choice they make. It also involves decisions as to the amount of
effect people are prepared to expand in attempting to achieve their goals. The role
of the teacher thus becomes one of helping and enabling learners to make suitable
decisions”.
Dornyei (2001:613) defined motivation as “a general way of referring to the

antecedents i.e. the causes and the origins”. He also stated that “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” (2001:7). The author pointed out two
dimensions of human behavior: direction and magnitude (intensity) which
motivation concerns.

5


According to Pintrich and Schunk (2002), motivation is “the process
whereby goal-directed activity is instigated and sustained”
From the above, it can be deduced that motivation is a psychological trait
which leads people to achieve a goal. Motivation is what drives people to “behave”
in a certain way or to take a particular action. Simply, it can be understood that
motivation is your “WHY”.
1.1.2. Types of motivation in foreign language learning
Motivation can be classified in different ways. Garder and Lambert (1985)
introduced four major types of motivation: Instrumental motivation and Integrative
motivation, Resultative motivation and Intrinsic motivation.
 Instrumental motivation: When learners need English as an instrument to
reach a particular goal such as passing oral test, getting a good job with high
salary and so on. In this case, motivation is the reflection of an external need.
 Integrative motivation: When learners internally want to integrate themselves
into the culture of the target language (English)
 Resultative motivation: is known as the cause of achievement. The fact
shows that learners who experience success in learning may become more
motivated to learn. In some cases, motivation is the result of learning.
Hermann (1980) stated that “it is success that contributes to motivation
rather than vice- versa”. Ellis (1997) also concluded that “the relationship
between motivation and achievement is an interactive one.”.

 Intrinsic motivation: plays an important role in most learners‟ success or
failure. For them, what happens in the classroom will be of great importance
in determining their attitudes to language and in supplying motivation.
Intrinsic motivation, generally, refers to the fact of doing an activity for
itself, pleasure and satisfaction derived from participation (Deci and Ryan,
1985).

6


Contrary to intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation pertains to a wide
variety of behaviors that are engaged in as a means to an end and not for their own
sake (Deci and Ryan, 1985). Schulz (1991:18) said that the concept of extrinsic
motivation referred to the extent to which the learning environment (i.e. the teacher,
materials, curriculum, learning tasks etc.) contributed to or detracted from intrinsic
motivation of the learner to acquire a language.
According to Bo (2009), no matter how motivation has been classified, all
kinds of motivation work in the second language learning context, and each kind
contributes to the learners‟ progress in different ways and to different degree. It is
hard to say which is the most effective since they are sometimes overlapping with
one another.
1.1.3. Some conditions for effective motivation in speaking
In his research, Nunan (1999: 235) pointed out some preconditions for
effective motivation:
 Supportive environment: including orderly classroom, skilful teacher is
skilled in classroom management; students are nonanxious and feel
comfortable taking risks, feedback is positive
 Appropriate level of difficulty: tasks are neither too easy nor too difficult;
students know what they have to do, criteria for success are clear.
 Meaningful learning: students know what and why they learn; activities are

meaningful; the relationship between activities and objective is clear; tasks
are sequenced so that new tasks build on and extend ones that come before;
students are given a reason to be in class.
 Strategies: motivational strategy is matched to instructional need; particular
strategies are not overused; teacher uses a range of strategies; there is a
learning- how- to- learn dimension to instruction.
 Content: students can relate content to their own experience; topics are
interesting

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1.2. Demotivation in foreign language learning
1.2.1 Definitions of de-motivation
Dornyei (1998: 143) defined de-motivation as “specific external forces that
reduce or diminish the motivational basis of a behavioral intention or an ongoing
action”.
Deci and Ryan (1985) used a term “a-motivation”, which means “the relative
absence of motivation that is not caused by a lack of initial interest but rather by the
individual’s experiencing feelings of incompetence and helplessness when faced
with the activity.”
Dornyei (1998) pointed out that “demotivation does not mean that all the
positive influences that originally made up the motivational basis of a behavior have
been got rid of. It only means that a strong negative factor restrains the present
motivation with some other positive motives still remain ready to be activated.”
1.2.2. De-motivating factors in foreign language learning
According to Dornyei (1998), factors demotivating students‟ learning are as
follows:
 The teacher (personality, commitment, competence, teaching method);
 Inadequate school facilities (group is too big or not the right level, frequent

change of teachers);
 Reduced self-confidence (experience of failure or lack of success);
 Negative attitude towards the L2;
 Compulsory nature of L2 study;
 Interference of another foreign language being studied;
 Negative attitude towards L2 community;
 Attitudes of group members;
 Course-book

8


Basing on Dornyei‟s study (1998), factors affecting students‟ motivation can
be classified into student‟s factors, teacher‟s factors, and teaching and learning
conditions.
 Students’ factors
The first factors are students‟ intelligence and aptitude. Intelligence, according
to Lightbown and Spada (1999: 52), referred to “performance on certain kinds of
test” and aptitude is something which “involves both underlying language learning
capacity and a capacity to handle decontextualized language” (Ellis, 1997: 522).
Lightbown and Spada (1999: 53) also pointed out that language aptitude was
usually described as a combination of four factors: (1) the ability to identify and
memorize new sounds, (2) the ability to understand the function of particular words
in sentences, (3) the ability to figure out grammatical rules from language samples
and (4) the ability to memorize new words.
The second is students‟ personality. In the eyes of many language teachers, the
students‟ personality constitutes a major factor contributing to success or failure in
language learning. Ellis (1997:523) has proved that extroverted learners are
advantageous in the development of the kind of language associated with basis
interpersonal communication skills and that extroverted learners may also be more

likely to participate actively in oral communication. Shared the same view with
Ellis, Lightbown and Spada (1999:54-55) listed a number of personality
characteristics that have a great influence on the success of second language
learners: extroversion, inhibition, self-esteem, empathy, dominance, talkativeness
and responsiveness.
The third factor is learners‟ age. Children are believed to be better than adults
in acquiring an L2 in general and in speaking a new language with native - like
fluency in particular. Some researchers argued that late starters may be able to learn
the syntax and the vocabulary of a second language, but that attaining a native-like
pronunciation is impossible for them. Also, they concluded that younger learners
9


have a greater chance of attaining native-like proficiency in the L2, older learners
may show faster progress at the beginning, but are probably surpassed by the young
ones in the end.
The fourth factor is learning style. The term “learning style” refers to the
characteristic ways in which individuals orientates to problem-solving. Keefe
(1979) defined learning style as “the characteristic cognitive, affective and
physiological behaviors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners
perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment… Learning style
is a consistent way of functioning that reflects underlying causes of behavior”.
The last factor is learners‟ belief. Most learners have strong beliefs about
how languages are learnt, how their instruction should be delivered. Little,
Singleton and Silvius (1984) found out “past experience, both of education in
general and of language learning in particular, played a major role in shaping
attitudes to language learning”.
 Teacher’s factors
Teacher plays an important role in students‟ learning motivation. As a matter of
fact, some teacher‟s factors and appropriate teacher behaviors will increase

students‟ motivation in learning.
Dornyei (2001) pointed out some teacher‟s factors affecting students‟
motivation: teacher‟s appropriate behavior, teacher‟s enthusiasm, a good
relationship with the students and teacher‟s commitment to the students‟ academic
progress.
Firstly, teacher‟s suitable behavior in classroom is very important. It is
regarded as an effective “motivational tool”. Alison (1993) confirmed that teacher‟s
behavior could “persuade” or “attract” students to engage in on-task behaviors.
“The teacher should be a patient, encouraging person who supports students’

10


learning efforts. Students should feel comfortable taking intellectual risks because
they know that they will not be embarrassed or criticized if they make a mistake.”
Good and Brophy (1994)
Secondly, teacher‟s good relationship with the student is also a key factor of
motivation in student learning. The teacher should create the relationship of mutual
trust and respect with students. This relationship also involves finding opportunities
to talk with them on a personal level and letting them know that teachers have
thought about them and that their individual effort is recognized. (Dornyei, 2001:
120).
The third factor is teacher‟s enthusiasm. Csikzentmihalyi (1997) said that
teachers needed to be “enthused and involved in the teaching process and in the
material they are teaching”. Csikzentmihalyi also pointed out that enthusiastic
teachers were the ones who loved what they were doing, who showed by their
dedication and their passion that make students willing to pursue knowledge.
The last factor is teacher‟s dedication to the students‟ academic progress.
Teachers should take care of what their students have learnt and succeeded
(Dornyei, 2001). They should also offer tangible assistant, responding immediately

when help is requested, correcting tests, arranging extra- assignments and so on.
Dornyei (2001) said that “teachers are the designated leaders of the class
group” and therefore, they cannot lack their responsibility for maintaining their own
commitment to the teaching process because the lack of this responsibility will
cause “psychological absence” from teaching process, which is the fastest way to
undermine the motivational base of the learners.
Lightbown and Spada (1999: 57-58) stated that if the teacher could make
classrooms places where students enjoy coming because the content was interesting
and relevant to their age and level of ability, where the learning goals was
challenging yet manageable and clear, and where the atmosphere was supportive
11