Gender differences in english learning motivation of non english majors the case of thu duc college of technology

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ENGLISH LEARNING
MOTIVATION OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORS: THE CASE
OF THU DUC COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Tai Lieu Chat Luong

Master of Arts in TESOL Studies

Submitted by: TÔ THỊ KIM HỒNG
Supervisor: Dr. LÊ THỊ THÙY NHUNG

Ho Chi Minh City, April, 2019


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ENGLISH LEARNING
MOTIVATION OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORS: THE CASE
OF THU DUC COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts in TESOL Studies

Submitted by: TÔ THỊ KIM HỒNG
Supervisor: Dr. LÊ THỊ THÙY NHUNG

Ho Chi Minh City, April, 2019


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I certify that this thesis entitled “Gender differences in English learning motivation
of non-English majors: The case of Thu Duc College of Technology” is my own
work.
Except for the reference which is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does not
contain material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis
by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma.
No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main
text of this thesis.
This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any
other tertiary institution.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Le
Thi Thuy Nhung, for her generous assistance and great devotion to guiding me
through the preparation and completion of this thesis. Without her great help, I
would have never been able to finish this thesis.
Secondly, I am sincerely grateful to all lecturers of the TESOL program at Ho Chi
Minh City Open University for their helpful instruction and dedication from 2016 to
2018.
Thirdly, I want to express my thanks to all the students and English teachers at Thu
Duc College of Technology for their participation in this study.
Finally, I am deeply indebted to my beloved family and my friends for their support

and encouragement so that I could have motivation to complete this thesis.
Name: To Thi Kim Hong

Signature: .....................................................................................................................
Date:

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ABSTRACT
Motivation and gender are important factors in the success of learning a
foreign language. This study investigated non English majors’ motivation based on
the Socio-Psychological Model of Gardner and Lambert (1972) and examined if
there were any gender differences towards learning English among technical
students at Thu Duc College of Technology (TDC). The participants included a total
of 355 students of different year groups undertaking different majors at TDC. The
students were invited to complete survey questionnaires and participate in focus
group interviews. The findings show that the technical majors at TDC had both
instrumental and integrative motivation for learning English and their instrumental
motivation was more dominant than integrative motivation. There were no
statistically significant differences in students’ motivations with regard to gender.
Based on the findings, a set of recommendations are made to improve the quality of
EFL training at TDC.
Key words: motivation, gender, gender differences, statistically significant
differences, instrumental motivation, integrative motivation, EFL

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .............................................................................. i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. iv
LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS....................................................................................viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1
1.1. Background of the study....................................................................................... 1
1.2. Statement of the problem ..................................................................................... 2
1.3. Purposes of the study ............................................................................................ 4
1.4. Research questions ............................................................................................... 4
1.5. Significance of the study ...................................................................................... 4
1.6. The structure of the thesis .................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................... 6
2.1. Motivation in learning L2 .................................................................................... 6
2.1.1. Definition of motivation ................................................................................... 6
2.1.2. Types of motivation .......................................................................................... 7
2.1.2.1. Instrumental motivation and Integrative motivation ..................................... 7
2.1.2.2. Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation ............................................................... 10
2.2. Previous research on learners’ motivation for learning a second and foreign
language .................................................................................................................... 12
2.3. Gender ................................................................................................................ 15

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2.4. Previous research on gender differences in motivation for language learning .. 16
2.5. Research gap ....................................................................................................... 21
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ........................... 22

3.1 Research design ................................................................................................... 22
3.2. Research setting: ................................................................................................. 26
3.3. Participants: ........................................................................................................ 27
3.4. Research instruments: ......................................................................................... 30
3.4.1. Questionnaires.................................................................................................. 30
3.4.2. Group interviews ............................................................................................. 32
3.5. Data collection procedures ................................................................................. 33
3.6. Data analysis procedures.................................................................................... 34
3.7. Validity and Reliability ..................................................................................... 36
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ..................................................... 40
4.1. Findings ............................................................................................................ 40
4.1.1. Findings from the questionnaire survey ......................................................... 40
4.1.1.1. Types of motivation for learning English .................................................... 40
4.1.1.2. Gender differences in motivation for learning English ............................. 46
4.1.2. Findings from the interviews .......................................................................... 56
4.2. Discussions ......................................................................................................... 59
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ....................................... 62
5.1. Summary of the major findings .......................................................................... 62
5.2. Implications ........................................................................................................ 62
5.3. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research ........................... 64
5.3.1. Limitations of the study .................................................................................. 64

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5.3.2. Suggestions for further research ..................................................................... 65
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 66
Appendices ................................................................................................................... 75
Appendix 1 ................................................................................................................... 75
Appendix 2 ................................................................................................................... 83

Appendix 3 ................................................................................................................... 84

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Outline of the current mixed methods research design .............................. 24
Table 2. Students’ background information ............................................................. 29
Table 3. Distribution of questionnaire items ............................................................ 32
Table 4. Interpretation of Mean Score of Motivation Level ..................................... 35
Table 5. Students’ instrumental and integrative motivations. ................................... 40
Table 6. Students’ instrumental motivation for learning English ............................. 42
Table 7. Students’ integrative motivation for learning English ............................... 45
Table 8. Comparisons of Motivation Based on Gender ............................................ 47
Table 9. Comparisons between Instrumental motivation and Integrative
motivation among male and female students ........................................................... 48
Table 10. Instrumental Motivation for learning English by gender .......................... 50
Table 11. Integrative Motivation for learning English by gender ............................. 53
Table 12. Students’ reports on reasons for learning English..................................... 59

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
TDC: Thu Duc College of Technology
L2: Second Language
EFL: English as Foreign Language
IELTS: International English Language Testing System
TOEIC: Tests of English for International Communication

viii


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the study
Nowadays, English has become the most important international language in
all domains due to globalization and internationalization. In non dominant English
speaking countries, English is also one of the major second or foreign languages for
students at all educational levels. English education has been placed at the heart of
national agendas and received great concerns from different stakeholders. For
decades, government in several non English speaking countries have dedicated its
best resources and allocated significant funding to enhance the effectiveness of
English education. Also, English education has received a lot of attention from both
local and international scholars. Studies on English education have varied in scopes
and scales, covering various aspects and involving different stakeholders.
Second language acquisition, an important research area, has received a lot of
attention from scholars worldwide. A great deal of research has looked into factors
that influence the success of learning a second language (L2) including age, gender,
aptitude, motivation, learning styles, learning strategies and personal traits (e.g.
Akram & Ghani, 2009; Ariane & Pascale, 2012; Dörnyei & Csizér, 2005;
Nejadansari & Nasrollahzadeh, 2011; Oxford & Ehrman, 1995; Ozturk & Gurbuz,
2013; Xiong, 2010).
Among these factors, motivation is considered as an important factor to affect
the success of second and foreign language learning (Carroll, 1960; Gardner &
Lambert, 1959; Travers, 1954). “Motivation provides the primary impetus to initiate
learning L2 and later the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning
process” (Dornyei, 1998, p. 117). Studies show that motivation plays an important
role in learning a foreign language and students are not able to attain the highest
desirable outcomes in learning English without motivation. Moreover, successful
students tend to have a high level of motivation and positive attitudes compared to

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less successful students (Gardner, 1985). Also, understanding students’ motivation
for learning a second or foreign language enables course instructors and curriculum
designers to design effective lessons to enhance students’ learning outcomes
(Prapphal, 2003).
The relationship between L2 motivation and gender in learning a second and
foreign language has been also investigated in several studies. Previous research
showed mixed findings about motivation and the influence of gender on L2
motivation.
1.2. Statement of the problem
Gardner and Lambert’s (1972) social psychological model divides motivation
into two main types including integrative and instrumental motivation. This model
has been adopted in several studies to investigate learners’ motivation in learning a
foreign language (Al-Quyadi, 2000; Gardner, 1985; Gardner, Day & Maclntyre,
1992; Hernandez, 2008; Kyriacou & Zhu, 2008; Moiinvaziri, 2008; Qashoa, 2006;
Redfield, Figoni & Levin, 2009; Vaezi, 2008; Vijchulata & Lee, 1985; Wang, 2008;
Wimolmas, 2013). Research shows that integrative motivation plays a significant
role in determining student achievement in the process of second language
acquisition (Gardner, 1985; Gardner, Day & Maclntyre, 1992; Hernandez & Wang,
2008). However, in some studies, instrumental motivation was found to be stronger
than integrative motivation as a driving force towards learning a language
(Kyriacou & Zhu, 2008; Qashoa, 2006; Redfield, Figoni & Levin, 2009; Vaezi,
2008; Wimolmas, 2013). In contrast, some studies showed that EFL learners
possessed both instrumental and integrative motivation towards learning English as
a foreign language (Al-Quyadi, 2002; Moiinvaziri, 2008; Vijchulata & Lee, 1985).
In general, there is no consistent finding of the dominance of one type of
motivation over the other because the superiority of one type of motivation to

another could change among different subjects or different learning contexts.

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Nevertheless, there is a common consensus that both types of instrumental and
integrative motivation play a very important role in affecting students’ success of
second language acquisition. Therefore, more studies need to be conducted in
different sociocultural contexts to corroborate the research findings.
With regard to the relationship between L2 motivation and gender, Mori and
Gobel (2006) reviewed studies of L2 motivation and gender from different
sociocultural contexts. They found that female students had significantly higher
level of motivation for learning a foreign language than male students did. The
results of previous studies attributed to the stereotypical belief that female students
are more superior in learning languages than their male students; and the latter tend
to be better at mathematics than the former (Kaiser, 2006). Several studies noticed
that female learners were more motivated in learning a foreign language than male
peers (Adachi, 2015; Ariane & Pascale, 2012; Crizér & Dornyei, 2005; Hashwani,
2008; Iwaniec, 2015; Ozturk & Gurbuz, 2013; Saidi & Al-Mahrooqi, 2012; Sung &
Padilla, 1998; Xiong, 2010). Nonetheless, some studies revealed contradictory
findings (Abdilad & Chowdhury, 2013; Javid, Al-Asmari & Farooq, 2012; Ludwig,
1983). There were no remarkable gender differences in L2 motivation (Abu-Rabia,
1997; Akram & Ghani, 2009; Azarnoosh & Birjandi, 2012). The findings from
above studies were inconsistent since gender differences may be determined by not
only biological characteristics but also by social and cultural factors (Zoghi, Kazemi
& Kalani, 2013). Similarly, FAO (2005, as cited in Zoghi, Kazemi & Kalani, 2013)
defines that “gender is not determined biologically, as a result of sexual
characteristics of either women or men, but is constructed socially”. Therefore,
there should be more research from different sociocultural contexts to confirm
gender differences in relation to learning motivation.

To sum up, the results of previous studies of L2 motivation and gender
differences in learning a foreign language showed mixed findings. There should be
more studies conducted in different social and educational contexts to corroborate

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these research findings. In Vietnam, English education has received significant
investment to enhance the English proficiency among Vietnamese students, given
Vietnam’s full integration into the global economy. Studying L2 motivation for
learning English and gender differences among Vietnamese students is deemed
necessary with a view to enhance the quality of EFL training at higher education
institutions.
1.3. Purposes of the study
The current study investigated (i) types of motivation non-English majors at
Thu Duc College of Technology have in English language learning, and (ii) the
gender differences in English learning motivation of these students.
1.4. Research questions
The study aimed to answer the following research questions:
1/ What types of motivation do the non-English majors at TDC have in
learning English as a foreign language?
2/ Are there any significant gender differences in motivation of non-English
majors at TDC for learning English?
1.5. Significance of the study
The findings of this study supported the claim that motivation is a situated
phenomenon by which different language learning contexts exert different
influences on students’ motivation. Besides, the findings of this study showed that
gender differences did not play an important role in learning English. It is not
important to see if male or female students have stronger or weaker motivation for
learning English but to maintain and increase both gender’ motivation towards

English learning. In addition, the findings of this study provided a better
understanding of technical students’ motivation at TDC for learning English as a
foreign language. It is expected that understanding technical students’ motivation at

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TDC may contribute useful insights to the English faculty and teachers of English at
TDC in improving the English curriculum and instruction so as to accommodate
students with different learning needs.
1.6. The structure of the thesis
The thesis includes five chapters which are organized as follows:
- Chapter 1 presents the background of the study, the statement of the problem, the
purposes and research questions, the significance of the study and the organization
of the thesis.
- Chapter 2 presents the literature review on L2 motivation and gender difference.
- Chapter 3 describes the research design and the research methodology including
research setting, participants, instruments for data collection, and procedures of data
collection and data analysis.
- Chapter 4 presents the results and discussion. It reports the findings as well as the
interpretation of the data.
- Chapter 5 summarizes the major findings of the thesis. Additionally, some
implications, limitations and suggestions for further research are presented in this
chapter.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Motivation in learning L2

2.1.1. Definition of motivation
Motivation plays an important role in learning a foreign language. Without
motivation, students are not able to attain the highest desirable outcomes in learning
English. The term motivation is defined in several ways. Motivation is “a
combination of effort and desire to achieve the goal of learning and favorable
attitudes toward learning the language” (Gardner, 1985, p. 10). Richards and
Schmidt (2010) argued that learners’ motivation includes their viewpoints,
determination and endeavor in learning a language. The two definitions indicated
that learners’ effort, desires and attitudes are essential and indispensable to the
success in learning a foreign language. In other words, effort, desire and attitudes
are considered as the internal drive that pushes learners’ to spend time and efforts
towards learning a foreign language (Harmer, 1991, p. 3). However, the above
definitions mention only internal factors and thus remain insufficient. In Gardner
and Richards and Schmidt’s perspectives, the definitions of motivation do not
examine external factors which determine or impact L2 learners’ motivation in a
specific cultural and historical context (Ngo, 2015). For instance, a student may
make effort to study English so that he or she can please parents and teachers, or to
get high marks in class or get good job after graduation, but he or she does not truly
have a desire or passion for the English language (Phan, 2011). Ellis (1994)
identifies four characteristics that shape the motivation of L2 learners. Firstly,
motivation comes from an interest learning task the student is requested to perform.
Secondly, successful students will keep in track but unsuccessful students will lose
confidence or enthusiasm. Thirdly, students bring to the learning situation a certain
quantity of motivation as a given. Finally, external factors will influence students’
motivation to obtain their goals. Ellis’ (1994) perspective of motivation is made of
four components including effort, desire, attitudes and effect. Therefore, L2
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learners’ motivation is shaped by both internal and external factors that contribute

to L2 learners’ success in language learning.
2.1.2. Types of motivation
There there are four distinct types of motivation concerned with second
language learning: instrumental motivation, integrative motivation, extrinsic
motivation, intrinsic motivation. The terms “instrumental” and “integrative”
motivation were originally developed by Gardner and Lambert (1972) while the
terms “intrinsic” and “extrinsic” motivation were firstly introduced by Deci and
Ryan (1985). The comparison among these two pairs of motivation is still under
arguments with different points of view. The following section is going to provide
various definitions of these types of motivation and explain the reasons why the
researcher employed the pair of instrumental and integrative motivation in this
study.
2.1.2.1. Instrumental motivation and Integrative motivation
Gardner and Lambert (1972) developed the Socio-Psychological Model that
identifies two types of motivation: integrative motivation and instrumental
motivation.
According to Gardner and Lambert (1972), a learner is said to be
instrumentally motivated when the learner wants to learn a foreign language for
utilitarian values such as: furthering a carrier or improving social status. Wilkins
(1972) stated that a learner is instrumentally motivated when he or she wants to
learn a language for meeting the educational requirements as an obligation (passing
an examination or reading technical materials), for utilitarian purposes (using it in
one’s job or gaining achievements in life) and for traveling (using it in holiday in
the country). Norris-Hott (2001) stated that instrumental motivation describes
learners who want to learn a foreign language for external purposes. Especially, he
pointed out utilitarian values for learning a foreign language such as: applying for a

7

job, gaining achievements and achieving higher social status). In addition, he
noticed academic pressure that forces students to learn a foreign language such as:
meeting the requirement for class exams, reading technical materials, for those
learners, learning a second/ foreign language is considered as a part of their
obligation. Besides, factors for personal development in learning a second or
foreign language were mentioned such as: being multilingual or knowledgeable,
furthering higher studies. Furthermore, he supposed that instrumentally motivated
learners may learn a foreign language for traveling purposes. Chalak and Kassaian
(2010) supposed that if a learner is affected by instrumental motivation, he or she
learns a foreign language mainly for utilitarian purposes like promoting a carrier or
job, for fulfilling an academic requirement and for personal development such as:
improving one’s knowledge or enhancing one’s education. Saille - Troike (2006)
defines instrumental motivation involving utilitarian purposes (such as: to increase
learners’ carrier or business opportunities or to give learners more prestige and
power), personal development (such as: to access scientific and technical
information to widen their knowledge or to further their education) and obligation
(just to pass a course of their study in school).
Based on definitions on instrumental motivation, it can be generalized that
instrumentally motivated learners want to learn a second or foreign language for
several purposes including: utilitarian values (applying for a job, furthering/
promoting a carrier or job, increasing learners’ carrier or business opportunities ,
improving social status or giving learners more prestige and power, gaining
achievements in life and achieving higher social status), obligation (passing an
examination or reading technical materials, meeting the requirement for class
exams, passing a course of learners’ study in school), personal development (being
multilingual or knowledgeable, furthering higher studies, improving one’s
knowledge or enhancing one’s education, accessing scientific and technical
information to widen one’s knowledge or to further one’s education ) and traveling
overseas (using it in holiday in the country).
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In contrast to instrumental motivation, according to Gardner (1960), if a
student is integratively motivated, the student enjoys the linguistic aspects of the
foreign language (the sound, structure and expressions of the language) and wishes
to enter the target speaking community in order to interact with speakers of that
language. Wilkins (1972) stated that a learner is integratively motivated when he/
she learns a language because he/she wants to know more of the culture and values
of the foreign language group such as the native speaker’ life, make contact with the
speakers of the language or just love the language itself. Cook (2001) noticed that
integrative motivation reflects the student’ admiration for the target language (
being attracted by the sound of the language, native speakers’ accent or loving to
hear native speakers talk), the student’ desire to learn more about the target culture
(learning more about its history and society, watching movies or listening to music,
reading its literature), and the student’ desire to communicate with members of the
target language (looking for opportunities to practice the language or keeping in
touch with speakers of that language). Savile-Troike (2006) also argued that
integrative motivated learners express their willingness and desires to socialize or
integrate into the target language community, to join the target language culture and
even to become part of that society. In other words, integrative motivation occurs
when the learner is studying a language because of his or her passion for the target
language or desires to interact with those group members (giving directions to
foreign tourists or joining in speaking activities in the target language) and wishes
to understand the culture of that language (Qoshoa, 2006). Al-Mahrooqi and
Denman (2014) define the integrative motivation as students’ interests in the
language itself, their willingness to communicate with the users of that language
and their interests in the culture of that language.

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Based on concepts of integrative motivation, it can be generalized that
integratively motivated learners want to learn a second or foreign language for
different purposes including: interests in the language itself (the linguistic aspects of
the foreign language, the sound, structure and expressions of the language, native
speakers’ accent, loving to hear native speakers talk or just loving the language
itself), willingness to join interpersonal situations (interacting with speakers of the
language, making contact with the speakers of the language, looking for
opportunities to practice the language or keeping in touch with speakers of that
language , giving directions to foreign tourists or joining in speaking activities in
the target language) and wishes to understand the culture of the target language (its
history, people and society through movies, books and literature).
2.1.2.2. Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation
Beside the above classification, the Self-Determination theory introduced by
Ryan and Deci (2000) categorized two other types of motivation including: intrinsic
and extrinsic motivation. According to Woolfolk (1998), intrinsic motivation is the
motivation that “stems from factors such as interest or curiosity” (p. 374). In
contrast, extrinsic motivation “involves doing something to obtain something else (a
means to an end)” (Santrock, 2004, p. 418). Intrinsic motivation refers to internal
factors like a passion to learn the target language or predetermined goals while
extrinsic refers to external factors like getting rewards and grades (Tanveer, et al.
2012). It can be said that intrinsic motivation is an interest in “an activity in the
absence of a reward contingency or control” (Deci & Ryan, 1985, p. 38). For
instance, students engage in a task because he/she feel enjoyable and satisfied not
because he/she is getting a reward from outside. Meanwhile, a student that is
extrinsically motivated will work hard on the assignment because he/she would like
to get external sources like tangible rewards (i.e. money and medals), praise, grades
and punishment (Deci, 1980b, as cited in Ngo, 2015). Spolsky (1989) distinguished
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as follows:

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Intrinsic

Extrinsic

Preference for challenge

vs

Preference for easy work

Curiosity/interest

vs

Independent mastery

vs Dependence on teacher in figuring out problems

Independent judgment

vs Reliance on teacher’s judgment about what to do

Internal criteria for success

vs

Pleasing a teacher/getting grades

External criteria for success
(Spolsky, 1989, p. 124)

However, the integrative orientation was discovered to “be the most similar
to intrinsic motivation in the way it correlated with autonomy, competence, and
language outcomes” (Noels, 2001; Noels et al., 2001, as cited in Phan, 2011). In
contrast, instrumental motivation was found to be the most correlated with external
regulation (Clément & Kruidenier, 1983; Noels et al., 2000, as cited in Phan, 2011).
It could be concluded that “extrinsic motivation is somehow related to instrumental
motivation and intrinsic motivation is related to integrative motivation (Soureshjani
& Naseri, 2011, p. 663).
There are various ways of categorizing motivation for learning a language
and the two pairs of motivation play important roles. However, the SocioPsychological Model of Gardner and Lambert (1972) was adopted in this study to
investigate students’ motivation because the pair of instrumental and integrative
motivations tends to be more relevant to the detailed investigation of technical
students’ motivation at TDC where students learn English not only for purposes in
class but also practical values and a large number of studies in various parts of the
world have employed the Socio Psychological of Gardner and Lambert (1972) to
investigate learners’ motivation (Li, 2014). Therefore, the researcher attempts to

11


employ the pair of instrumental and integrative motivations of Gardner and Lambert
(1972) to investigate students’ motivation in the current study.
2.2. Previous research on learners’ motivation for learning a second and
foreign language
Previous research suggests that students have high levels of both of
instrumental and integrative motivations in learning English. Vijchulata and Lee

(1985) carried out a study to examine students’ motivation towards learning English
at the University Putra Malaysia (UPM). The study used the questionnaire to collect
data from a thousand students. The results showed that students had high levels of
instrumental and integrative motivation in learning English. In line with the results
of the above research, Al-Quyadi (2000) found students in Arabic EFL context were
highly motivated instrumentally and integrally. Gardner and Lambert’s (1972), AlQuyadi’s (2000), and Moiinvaziri (2008) found that L2 students had a high level of
both instrumental and integrative motivation for learning English. Overall, these
studies successfully contributed to the literature on learners’ motivation. However,
these studies have not examined whether there is a significant difference between
students’ instrumental motivation and their integrative motivation for learning
English.
Some studies reported that integrative motivation was more important in
determining the success of second language learning. For instance, Gardner (1985)
suggested that integrative motivation was more important than instrumental
motivation in learning a foreign language. He explained that integrative motivation
involves attitudes and predetermined goals which are very vital in the process of
learning a foreign language and thus determined the learner’s success in learning a
second language. Gardner, Day and Maclntyre (1992) found that learners who had
higher level of integrative motivation showed better abilities in learning vocabulary.
In line with Gardner, Day and Maclntyre’s views, Hernandez and Wang (2008)
found that learners who had higher level of integrative motivation in learning
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English were putting more effort in the process of learning and obtaining greater
achievements in second language learning. It can be said that these studies were
conducted in Western countries and students’ integrative motivation for learning
English was higher than their instrumental motivation.
On the other hand, some research in Asian countries revealed that instrumental
motivation exerts a more effective impact on learners’ second language acquisition

in comparison with integrative motivation. Qashoa (2006) investigated Arab
learners’ instrumental and integrative motivation for learning English at a secondary
school in Dubai. There were 100 students completing a questionnaire survey. In
addition, 20 students, 10 Arab English teachers and three supervisors were
interviewed. The findings showed that the students were more instrumental
motivated to learn English. Vaezi (2008) investigated students’ motivation in Iran
towards learning English. The study involved 79 students completing a motivation
questionnaire. The results showed that students’ instrumental motivation was higher
than their integrative motivation. Redfield, Figoni and Levin (2009) investigated the
motivation for learning English among 446 technical students at three universities in
Japan. The results showed that students’ instrumental motivation far outweighed
their integrative motivation for learning English. These students wanted to learn
English mainly for academic and professional purposes. Kyriacou and Zhu (2008)
investigated pupils’ motivation towards learning English in China. The data was
collected by means of questionnaire survey of 610 students and 64 interviewees.
The findings show that Chinese pupils’ motivation was determined by instrumental
orientation such as career and personal development rather than integrative
purposes. Wimolmas’ (2013) identified types of motivation for learning English of
30 first-year undergraduate students at an international institute of engineering and
technology in Thailand. The findings reported that the students had both
instrumental and integrative motivation in learning English. However, their
instrumental motivation was higher than their integrative motivation. In general, the

13


findings in these Asian countries were inconsistent with the ones in Western
countries in different sociocultural contexts.
In Vietnamese EFL contexts, limited research on Vietnamese learners’
motivation towards learning English was reported. Phan (2011) investigated

Vietnamese technical majors’ motivation towards learning English as a foreign
language. She found that Vietnamese technical students had instrumental
motivation in learning English; however, integrative motivation was not common
among these students because the students mainly had indirect contact with English
cultural products. Vu and Lucas (2015) conducted a study to investigate the role of
attitude, motivation and language learning strategies in learning English as a
Foreign Language (EFL) among Vietnamese college students. The participants were
193 male and female freshman and sophomore students in a university in Ho Chi
Minh City. A mixed-method including surveys and semi-structured-interviews was
employed in their study. The results revealed that Vietnamese EFL college students
had both instrumental and integrative motivation. However, the students were more
instrumental motivated to learn English for practical reasons such as getting highpaying jobs. Generally, these studies were successful in providing persuasive results
for students’ motivation towards learning English.
Dutta and Nguyen (2016) explored attitudes towards learning English among
Vietnamese students learning overseas in India and Taiwan where English is the
medium instruction. The findings show that the students wanted to learn English for
instrumental values such as seeking good jobs, receiving a higher social status in the
society or getting better lives. The researchers also pointed to the fact that because
Vietnamese overseas students were influenced by Western culture (such as food,
dress, and music), the majority of participants expressed their desire to integrate
into the English speaking community where they were living. Overall, the study
provided a better understanding of Vietnamese students’ motivation in learning
English. However, the study did not mention if there was a significant difference

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between Vietnamese students’ instrumental and their integrative motivation for
learning English.
2.3. Gender

Many scholars believe that “gender” is a completely different notion from
“sex”. Stoller (as cited in Kemi, 2016) made a clear comparison between “sex” and
“gender”. He argued that when it comes to “sex”, we usually refer to “the biological
differences between males and females”, in contrast the term “gender” could be
used in connection with “the role of a male or female in society, or an individual's
concept of themselves”. Similar to this view, Browne distinguished the two terms as
follows:
“The term ‘sex' is easy to understand. It simply refers to the natural
biological differences between men and women, for example, the
differences in the organs related to reproduction”.
"Gender refers to the cultural, socially-constructed differences between
the two sexes. It refers to the way a society encourages and teaches the
two sexes to behave in different ways through socialization." (Browne,
1992, p. 78)
To sum up, gender and sex are the two different terms. Sex is the result of
nature or simply given by biology but gender is the result of respective constraints,
roles and responsibilities in society. In other word, gender is something we do
(West & Zimmerman, 1987), something we perform (Butler, 1990), not something
we were born with and not something we have. In the current study, the term
“gender” refers to gender role and gender identity, not biological differences.

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