Developing motivation in learning English reading skill of the students at Thieu Hoa high school, Thanh Hoa province = Phát triển động lực học kỹ năng đọc hiểu

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LỤC THỊ MỸ BÌNH



DEVELOPING MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH
READING SKILL OF STUDENTS AT THIEU HOA HIGH

SCHOOL, THANH HOA PROVINCE
(PHÁT TRIỂN ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU
TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG
THPT THIỆU HÓA, TỈNH THANH HÓA)

M.A MINOR THESIS


Field: English

Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410
Cohort: K18

Supervisor: Đỗ Bá Quý, MEd.





HANOI, 2011





VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LỤC THỊ MỸ BÌNH


DEVELOPING MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH
READING SKILL OF STUDENTS AT THIEU HOA HIGH
SCHOOL, THANH HOA PROVINCE
(PHÁT TRIỂN ĐỘNG LỰC HỌC KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG
ANH CỦA HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG
THPT THIỆU HÓA, TỈNH THANH HÓA)

M.A MINOR THESIS


Field: English

Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410
Cohort: K18






HANOI, 2011




ii

ABSTRACT

This study is an attempt to investigate factors affecting motivation in learning English
reading skill of the students at Thieu Hoa high school. The main purposes of the study are to
find out: types of motivation possessed by the students at Thieu Hoa high school, factors
affecting students’ motivation in learning English reading skill, activities and techniques
applied by teachers and students’ preference and then give some suggested solutions for
teachers to stimulate students to read and overcome the difficulties they face with in teaching
reading.
The study consists of three parts. Part A, the introduction, states the rationale, aims,
scopes, design and methods of the research. Part B, the development, is divided into three
chapters. Chapter 1 reviews theoretical background relating to motivation and reading.
Chapter 2 presents the methods used in the study including the setting of the study,
individuals participating in the study, instruments, data collection and data analysis. Chapter 3
shows the detailed results together with a comprehensive analysis on the data collected from
the survey questionnaires and the interview. Part C, the conclusion, presents the conclusions,
the study’s limitations and suggestions for further study.
The results of the study show that in learning English reading skill, most of the
students at Thieu Hoa high school appeared to possess a combination of both instrumental and
integrative motivation; however, the instrumental orientation is stronger than the integrative
one. Besides, the sudy reveals that the reading materials and the teachers are the most
important factors affecting the students’ motivation. Therefore, the researcher suggests two
strategies to develop the students’motivation namely developing the reading materials and
improving the teachers’ role.

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Acknowledgements

First of all, I wish to acknowledge my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Mr. Do Ba
Quy, MEd for his valuable guidance, helpful suggestions and critical feedback throughout the
research, without which my research could not been completed.
I wish to send my sincere thanks to all the lecturers in the Faculty of Post-graduate
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 would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my students in three classes 11G, 11M,
11N and my colleagues at Thieu Hoa high school for their participation and assistance
without which this study could not have been successful.
My sincere thanks to my cousin, Ngo Khac Vi and my close friends who offered me
their help, care, support and encouragement during the time I study at Hanoi.
Finally, my love and thanks to my beloved family, especially my husband and my son
for not only their encouragement and support but also their whole-hearted help during my
research.


Thanh Hoa, August, 2011


Luc Thi My Binh

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LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

I. LIST OF TABLES:
Table 1: Participants by age and gender……………………………………………………………17
Table 2: The students’ experience of learning English………… ……………….………………18
Table 3: The students’ reasons for learning reading skill……………………….……………… 18
Table 4: Activities used by the teachers…………………………………………………………… 25
Table 5: Technique used by the teachers…………………………………… … ……………….25
Table 6: The students’ preference for the techniques used by the teachers…………………….28
Table 7: The teachers’ opinions on the textbook……………………………………………… …30
Table 8: The students’ opinions on reading materials…………………………………………….31

II. LIST OF CHARTS
Chart 1: Types of students’ motivation in learning reading skill…………………….……….…20
Chart 2: The students’ interest in learning reading skill……………………………………… 21
Chart 3: Factors affecting students’ motivation in learning reading skill…………………….22
Chart 4: The students’ preference for activities used by the teachers……………………… 27

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale for the study 1
2. Aims of the study 1
3. Research questions 2
4. Scopes of the study 2
5. Methods of the study 2
6. Design ofthe study 3
7. Design of the study 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4
1.1. Overview of motivation 4
1.1.1. Definitions of motivation 4
1.1.2. Types of motivation 4
1.1.2.1. Integrative vs. instrumental motivation 5
1.1.2.2. Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation 5
1.1.2.3. Global, situational and task motivation 6

1.1.2.4. Resultative motivation 6
1.1.3. Roles of motivation in second language learning 7
1.2. Overview of reading 7
1.2.1. Definitions of reading 7
12.3. Roles of reading in foreign language learning 8
1.3. Motivation in learning reading 9
1.3.1. The importance of motivation in learning reading 9
1.3.2. Common factors affecting students’ motivation in learning reading skill 10
1.3.2.1. The students 10
1.3.2.2. The teachers 11
1.3.2.3. The reading materials 12
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 13
2.1. The setting of the study 13


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2.2. Individuals participating in the study 14
2.3. Instruments 14
2.4. Data collection 15
2.5. Data analysis 16
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, MAJOR FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 17
3.1. Demographic information 17
3.2. Data analysis and major findings 18
3.2.1. The identification of students’ motivation 18
3.2.1.1. Types of students’ motivation 18
3.2.1.2. The students’ interest in learning reading skill 21
3.2.1.3. Factors affecting students’ motivation in learning reading skill 22
3.2.2. Activities, teaching aids and techniques used by the teachers and the students’
preference 24

3.2.2.1. Activities, teaching aids and techniques used by the teachers 24
3.2.2.2. The students’ preference for activities and techniques used by the teachers 27
3.2.3 The teachers and students’ opinions on the textbook 30
3.2.3.1. The teachers’ opinions on the textbook 30
3.2.3.2. The students’ opinion on the textbook 31
3.3. Suggestions for motivating students in learning reading skill 33
3.3.1. Developing the reading materials 33
3.3.2. Improving the teachers’ roles 34
PART C: CONCLUSION 36
1. Conclusions 36
2. Limitations and suggestions for further studies 37
REFERENCES 39
APENDICES I
APENDIX A: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE TEACHERS I
APENDIX B: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE STUDENTS V

1
PART A: INTRODUCTION

This part presents the rationale for choosing the topic, the aims of the study, the
research questions, the scope, the methods, the significance and the design of the study in
order to help readers have a general view on the research.

1. Rationale for the study
In our modern society, English has become an international language for
communication and it is also an important demand for schooling and job opportunities. The
number of people who are learning English is increasing so quickly and English has been
learnt through many sources in many different ways.
It can be clearly seen that in Vietnam, we are mainly teaching and learning English
in non-language environment so reading is the main source to get knowledge of language

and life as well as to develop other skills. However, many learners of English are not
interested in learning reading. They often think that reading is the least important skill as it
does not help learners directly in communicating. On the other hand, learners also
complain that reading always makes them feel bored and stressful. So, it can be concluded
that our students lack of motivation to read. In fact, motivation is one of the most important
factors affecting the result of learning English. Students with high motivation can learn a
foreign language better than those who do not. Therefore, one of the first duties of English
teachers is motivating their students to read.
Because of the above reason, I do my research on “Developing motivation in
learning English reading skill of students at Thieu Hoa high school, Thanh Hoa province”,
hoping to find out some solutions to better the current situation of teaching and learning
English reading skill and hoping to help English teachers and students in general and those
at Thieu Hoa high school in particular in their teaching and studying.
2. Aims of the study
The study is aimed at:
- Identifying types of motivation possessed by students at Thieu Hoa high school in
learning reading skill.

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- Studying factors affecting motivation in learning English reading skill of students at
Thieu Hoa high school.
- Finding out strategies to develop motivation of students in order to improve their results
of learning reading skill.
3. Research questions
The study was carried out in order to find out the answers to the following research
questions:
1. What are the types of motivation possessed by students at Thieu Hoa high school
in learning reading skill?
2. What are the factors affecting students’ motivation in learning English reading
skill?

3. What are appropriate strategies to develop students’ motivation in learning
reading skill?
4. Scope of the study
The topic “Developing motivation for learning English reading skill of students at
Thieu Hoa high school, Thanh Hoa province” has many interesting aspects that I want to
mention. However I do not hope to cover all these aspects with my limited time and
knowledge. So in my assignment, I will focus on the types of motivation possessed by
students, the factors affecting motivation in learning English reading skill and the
strategies to develop motivation for learning English reading skill of students at Thieu Hoa
high school.
5. Significance of the study
The study highlights the important roles of motivation to English second language
learning in general and to reading skill in particular.
The findings of the study are believed to be useful for English teachers to be aware
of the essential roles of factors affecting studentds’motivation in a reading lesson. Besides,
the suggested strategies for developing students’ motivation in learning reading skill,
which are based on the theoretical background and the current situation of teaching and
learning English reading skill at Thieu Hoa high school, hopefully can help English
teachers and students in general and those at Thieu Hoa high school in particular in their
teaching and studying.

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6. Methods of the study
The theoretical background of the study mainly bases on references and analysis to
relevant theories about motivation and reading of many authors. The study is carried out on
the basis of survey questionnaires and interview.
Firstly, for the theoretical basis, a lot of reference materials on motivation and
reading have been gathered, analyzed and synthesized thoroughly with the clue
consideration for the teachers’ and students’ teaching and learning situations.
Secondly, for the practical basis, interviews and questionnaires are carried out with

teachers and students of English to gather the most reliable data for the thesis.
7. Design of the study
The study is organized in three parts:
Part A: Introduction presents the rationale, the aims of the study, the research
questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the methods of the study
and the design of the study.
Part B: Development includes three chapters
Chapter 1: Literature review provides theoretical backgrounds for the study. Its
focus is on introducing important relevant concepts, discussions of issues and ideas on
theories for motivation, nature of reading and motivation in learning reading as well as
factors affecting motivation in learning reading.
Chapter 2: The methodology presents the methods used in the study including the
setting of the study, participants of the study, data collection instruments, data collection
and data analysis procedure.
Chapter 3: Data analysis, major findings and suggestions shows the detailed
results together with a comprehensive analysis on the data collected from the survey
questionnaires and the interview.
Part C: Conclusion presents the conclusions, the study’s limitations and the
suggestions for further study.


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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the theoretical backgrounds for the study are provided. The chapter
focuses on introducing important relevant concepts, discussions of issues and ideas on
theories for motivation, nature of reading and motivation in learning reading as well as
factors affecting motivation in learning reading.

1.1 Overview of motivation
1.1.1 Definitions of motivation
Motivation is the energy that catalyzes behavior. So far, many researchers have
given definitions of motivation and most of them agree that motivation is the extent to
which people make choices about goals to pursue and the effort they will devote to that
pursuit. The following are motivation definitions offered by some well-known scholars.
“Motivation is some kinds of internal drove which pushes someone to do things in
order to achieve something” (Brown, 2000:160)
“Motivation explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are going
to pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activities” (Dornyei, 2001:7)
“Motivation is an internal state that arouses directs and maintains behavior”
(Kleinginna, 1981:6)
“Motivation involves the attitudes and effective states that influence the degree of
effort that learners make to learn a second language” (Ellis, 1997:5)
“Motivation can be constructed as a state of cognitive and emotional arousal, which
leads to a conscious decision to act, and which gives rise to period of sustained intellectual
and/or physical effort in order to attain a previously set goal (or goals)” (William,
1997:120)
It is clear from the above definitions that different scholars approach motivation
definition differently. However, they all share the same point of view that motivation
combines effort and desire plus favorable attitude and occur as a result of combination of
external and internal influences.


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1.1.2 Types of motivation
There are many different distinctions between types of motivation such as:
integrative vs. instrumental motivation (Gardner and Lambert, 1972); intrinsic vs. extrinsic
motivation (Moore, K.D., 1992); global, situational and task motivation (Brown, H.D,
1990); instrumental, intergrative, resultative and intrinsic (Ellis, R., 1994) Regarding all

classifications of motivation, after all, the study based mainly on the distinction proposed
by Gardner and Lambert (1972).
1.1.2.1 Integrative vs. instrumental motivation
 Integrative motivation: In a pioneering study, Gardner and Lambert (1972: 132)
highlights “integrative motivation” which stresses “a sincere and personal interest in the
people and culture represented by the other group”. Gardner’s later socio-educational
model (1982) adds three aspects of student motivation: effort (time and drive), desire
(extent of language proficiency wished for) and effect (emotional reactions to language
study). Integrative motivation is the desire on the part of the student to feel an affinity with
the people, the society and the culture of the language that is learned, and is usually
referred to in the context of living in the target language community (Falk 1978, and
Finnegan, 1999).
 Instrumental motivation: Gardner and Lambert (1972: 132) also points out that
“instrumental motivation” which stresses “the practical value and advantages of learning a
new language”. Instrumental motivation concerns the practical and concrete rewards that
student’s desire (Hudson, 2000). This relates to achievement purposes for instance passing
an exam or getting a degree. A student’s opinion of a given language is significantly
shaped by its perceived usefulness and relevance to future career goals (Chambers, 1999).
1.1.2.2 Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation
Moore, K.D., (1992) separates motivation into two main categories: extrinsic
motivation and intrinsic motivation.
 Intrinsic motivation comes from within the student or from factors inherent in the
task being performed. For example, students who love to read are intrinsically motivated to
read - there is something about reading that they enjoy and that makes them want to do it
even if there is no "reward" for it.

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According to Moore (1992), “intrinsic motivation is what learners bring to learning
environment, that is, their internal attributes: attitudes, values, needs and personality
factors”. Ellis (1994) also states that intrinsic motivation “involves the arousal and

maintenance of curiousity and can ebb and flow as a result of such factors as learners’
particular interests and the extent to which they feel personally involved in learning
activities”. The factors of support of intrinsic motivation are: competence (feeling that you
know how to do things), autonomy (being able to perform an activity by yourself without
external help) and relatedness (connection with your social environment like helping the
others)
 Extrinsic motivation comes from sources external to the student and the task. It can
come through praise, recognition, or a system of rewards. For example, for students who
do not enjoy reading, a token economy involving stickers or a class store may prompt them
to read more often.
Paul (2002) states that extrinsic motivation is “motivation to engage in an activity
as means to an end”. Moore (1992) gives easily understandable definition that “extrinsic
motivation originates outside the individual and is concerned with external environments
factors that help shape students’ behavior”
Most writers agree that intrinsic and extrinsic interact with each other and play an
important role in second language learning. As a result, learners can be either motivated by
internal or external factors depending on the circumstances and conditions the activity is
performed.
1.1.2.3 Global, situational and task motivation
Brown (1990) identified three types of motivation:
Global motivation consists of general orientation to the global of L2 learning.
Situational motivation is different according to the situation in which learning takes
place. Thus the motivation in classroom setting differs from that in naturalistic learning.
Task motivation is the motivation learners get when they are performing some
particular tasks in learning performance.
1.1.2.4 Resultative motivation
In some cases, motivation is the result of learning. Hermann (1980) stated that ‘it is
success that contributes to motivation rather than vice- versa’ (cited in Ellis, 1997).

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Ellis (1997) also concluded that ‘the relationship between motivation and
achievement is an interactive one. A high level of motivation does stimulate learning, but
perceived success in achieving L2 goals can help to maintain existing motivation and even
create new types. Conversely, a vicious circle of low motivation = low achievement = low
motivation can develop’.
1.1.3 Roles of motivation in second language learning
Motivation in second language learning is a complex phenomenon which can be
defined in terms of two factors: Learners’ communicative needs and their attitudes towards
the second language community. If the learners need to speak the second languages in a
wide range of social situations or to fulfill professional ambitions, they will perceive the
communicative value of the second language and will therefore be motivated to acquire
proficiency in it. Likewise, if learners have favorable attitudes towards the speakers of the
languages, they will desire more contact with them.
According to many studies, motivation plays an important role in second language
learning. Motivation is strongly related to success in language learning. It is not only the
cause of success but it can also be the effect of success. Brown, H.D (1994) affirmed that a
learner will be successful with the proper motivation in learning. Rebeccal and Jill Sheorin
(1996:121) also point out “Motivation is important because it directly influences how often
students use second language learning strategies, how much students interact with native
speakers, how much input they receive in the language being learned, how well they do on
curriculum-related achievement tests, how high their general proficiency level becomes,
and how long they preserve and maintain second language skills after language study is
over”
Because of the important role of motivation in second language learning as
mentioned above, it is necessary for teachers to pay attention in developing both intrinsic
and extrinsic motivation for their students in learning.
1.2 Overview of reading
1.2.1 Definitions of reading
Most of us think of reading as a simple, passive process that involves reading
words in a linear fashion and internalizing their meaning one at a time. But reading is

actually a very complex process that requires a great deal of active participation on the part
of the reader. There are many definitions of reading from experts in the field.

8
According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, “reading is a process of retrieving
and comprehending some form of stored information or ideas”.
Harmer (1994:190) says “reading is an exercise dominated by the eyes and the
brain. The eyes receive the message and the brain then has to work out the significance of
these messages”.
Sharing the same point of view, Aebersold and Field (1997:15) propose “reading is
what happens when people look at a text and assign meaning to the written symbol in that
text”.
Goodman (1971:153) sees reading as “a psycholinguistic process by which the
reader, a language user, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has been encoded
by a writer as a graphic display”.
As we can see, all the authors share the same idea that reading means
comprehending written language and it involves a variety of skills.
1.2.2 Roles of reading in foreign language learning
As we know, reading is one of the major skills of learning a second or foreign
language and it has a prominent position in the design of a foreign language teaching
programme. Krashen & Terrel (1983:131) state that “Reading may contribute significantly
to competence in a second language. There is good reason, in fact, to hypothesize that
reading makes a contribution to overall competence, to all four all four skills”.
Firstly, reading benefits grammatical knowledge and vocabulary development and
therefore overall competence increases. According to Geoff (2000:16), reading “may help
to increase knowledge of the target language through exposure to new vovabulary and
grammatical structures”. A practical observation is that where the vagaries of prepositions
or phrasal verbs are concerned, the learners who make the fewest mistakes are those who
read the most. Reading is indeed is the best way to enrich learners’ vocabulary because
while reading, the learners know most of the words in the text already, and they can also

determine the meaning of many new words from the context. Moreover, through reading
the learners will have really good chances to learn about the forms of grammatical
structures and how they are used in different situations.
Secondly, for learners of English as a second or foreign language, reading is a
really important because it brings learners with a wide range of interesting informations
about the country as well as the culture of the target language. Learning a language means

9
learning a new culture.The information in the reading texts helps learners to understand the
ways of life, thoughts, beliefs, behaviors and other social aspects of the English people,
thus they can tackle the vocabulary, the grammar, and the background knowledge or cross-
cultural problems they often encouter now.
Thirdly, reading is a means to knowledge, not only about the target language but
perhaps more importantly about the world; it provides the learners with knowledge of
culture, grammar structures, and vocabulary so reading is seen as a basic skill to develop
speaking, listening and writing. When reading, learners get information, vocabulary and
grammar structure and use to speak, listen and write. In other words, reading provides
input knowledge for speaking, listening and writing.
In short, for many learners in an EFL context, where actual contact with the target
culture is limited, reading can be the major source of input. It helps learners get knowledge
of language and life as well as develop other skills.
1.3 Motivation in learning reading
1.3.1 The importance of motivation in learning reading
It can be clearly seen that reader’s motivation has an effect not only on the product
of comprehension but also upon the process of understanding. According to David (1999),
“motivation is one of the most important ingredients in skilled reading”. If we show no
interest in the text, it means that we do not want to read then the reading activity will
become a pressure to ourselves and even the reading process may not happen at all. In
reality, most of what we read such as books, magazines, advertisements, etc is what we
really want to read.

Reading motivation refers to the desire to read even when not required to do so.
Reading motivation involves seeking out opportunities to read for curiousity, knowledge
and involvement. Reading researchers recognized that in order to create lifelong readers,
endowing the learners with proficient reading skills are not enough. They also need to have
internalized motivation. Reader’s motivation has been shown to relate to the quality of the
outcome of reading. Many studies have shown that bad readers lack motivation to read or
to spend time improving their ability to read. Therefore, it is neccessary to improve reader
motivation.


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1.3.2 Common factors affecting students’ motivation in learning reading skill
1.3.2.1 The students
Students’ themselves are the first and most important factor affecting their
motivation in learning reading.
Firstly, the students’ attitude toward reading has a great impact on reading
motivation. Aebersold and Field (1997:39) say that: “The more interested people are, the
more they will preserve in reading”. If students show no interest in the text, it means that
they do not want to read then the reading activity will become a pressure to them and even
the reading process may not happen at all. In reality, most of what we read such as books,
magazines, advertisements, etc is what we really want to read. So it can be concluded that
the degree of interest has its influence on reading motivation.
Besides, the students’ background knowledge also dominates their motivation to
read. Without background knowledge, the students would meet a lot of difficulties in
comprehending the text and even the language comprehension could not take place at all.
Consequently, the students would lose their interest in reading and never read any more.
Last but not least, the students’ success is a strong factor influencing their
motivation in learning reading. As human being, we generally like what we do well, and
therefore we are more likely to do it again and put in more effort. If students put in more
effort they will get better results and so this sustains their motivation.

1.3.2.2 The teachers
No matter what level of motivation the students bring the classroom, it will be
transformed, for better or worse, by what happen in the classroom in which the teacher has
a significantly impact.
Firstly, the teachers should employ suitable techniques or methods of teaching to
help the students to develop their competence as readers during the reading lessons. The
teachers can help the students to get involved in dealing with the reading texts. A good and
suitable method of teaching can help the students find more easily to understand the
reading texts therefore they become more motivated to read. Moreover, the
teachers’activities and tasks are the key component to the students’ motivation in learning
reading skill.

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Secondly, the teachers play the key role in creating a good classroom environment.
This is a really inportant factor because classroom environments have a powerful effect on
the encouragement or discouragement of motivation to learn.
Thirdly, the teacher’s personality and attitude towards the students play a prime
role in affecting both student motivation and progress. Many educational researchers admit
that the teacher with warm, empathetic, sensitive, enthusiastic and humorous
characteristics would be more likely successful in teaching than the ones without those
characteristics. Those teachers, who are enthusiastic in teaching have a positive attitude to
the subject and the students, would be capable of keeping students interested in reading.
The teachers can raise the students’ love for reading by their rapport with the students,
their personality themselves because they are the ones of students’ respect and can affect
them a great deal.
Finally, the way the teacher assesses and evaluates the students’ progress also
influences their motivation in learning the subject. The teacher should not compare the
performance of a student to that of the others but encourage and create a supportive
environment for them to put more effort. It is advisable to evaluate their progress with
themselves in order to make them more self – confident and motivated.

1.3.2.3 The reading materials
The reading materials play an important role to students’ motivation in reading in
terms of its level of challenge, its topic and content. Reading materials that are interesting
and relevant to the students will motivate them to read.
Firstly, reading materials should have suitable topics and contents, this means, the
texts should interest the students. Nuttal (1982:70) points out that “the texts that are
considered suitable will tell the students things they do not know and introduce them to
new and relevant ideas”. In the case the topic of the text is not interesting and irrelevant to
their experience and knowledge they may stop reading because they can not understand the
meaning of the text enough to satisfy their expectations, need or interests. In general, if
students enjoy what they read, the reading comprehension is the best achieved.
Secondly, reading materials’ language items such as vocabulary and grammatical
structures also have an impact on the students’ motivation. The students would also be
frustrated and tired when encountering with a great deal of unknown words, complex
sentence structures and so on. In terms of linguistic items, the vocabulary in the reading

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text must be of appropriate level with suitable density of idioms. The complexity of
grammar must not be too great. Besides, the background of the text must be within the
students’ imaginative grasp.
In short, it is a challenge for the teacher to select or exploit the texts in the ways
that improves students’ interests and motivation in reading.

To sum up, Chapter 1 has presented some theoretical background knowledge
related to the topic of the study. It has discussed some concepts and ideas concerning to the
issue of motivation in general and motivation in second language study in particular.
Besides, some different aspects related to reading were also discussed, especially some
aspects related to factors affecting students’ motivation in learning reading comprehension
skill. The following chapter will display the detailed description of the methodology, the
procedures of the study under the light of the above-discussed theories.

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the methods used in the study including the setting of the
study, participants of the study, data collection instruments, data collection and data
analysis procedure.

2.1 The setting of the study
The study was conducted at Thieu Hoa high school, Thanh Hoa province. For about
20 recent years, English has been a compulsory subject and also the only foreign language
at the school. All of the students of Thieu Hoa high school had at least four years learning
English at secondary schools. They have to learn English for three more years at high
school before taking part in the general education exam at the end of grade 12. Although
the school is located at the town of Thieu Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province, the students
have not many chances to approach English language except reading their textbooks and

studying at schools.
The teaching and learning English at Thieu Hoa high school follows the new
curriculumn (since 2006) of The Ministry of Education and Training. All the students learn
the set of basic program textbooks Tieng Anh 10, Tieng Anh 11, Tieng Anh 12 which
includes the total of 315 periods of 45 minutes in the class. It means that students have 3
classes of English per week, equivalents with 105 classes per school year.
Reading skill is taught 16 periods per school year, in which students read 16
different texts of the six themes: You and me, Education, Community, Nature and
environment, Recreation, People and places. Students are trained to improve such reading
strategies as: skimming for gist, scanning for specific information, drawing conclusion,
making inferences and restatements, writing summaries.
In Thieu Hoa high school, the English group has 8 teachers. The oldest teachers
have more than 25 years of teaching experience and the youngest ones have more than five
years of experience. All of them are very enthusiastic and willing to apply better methods
to upgrade their teaching quality.

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2.2 Participants of the study
The study was carried out with the participation of 115 students of grade 11 at
Thieu Hoa high school. They are at the age of 17-18 and have learnt English for (at least) 4
years at secondary school and one more year at Thieu Hoa high school. Of the 115
participants, 62 students (53.9%) are female and 53 students (46.1%) are male. All of them
are living in the countryside and have not many chances to approach English language
except reading their textbooks.
Besides, seven teachers of English at Thieu Hoa high school were also invited to
take part in this study by answering the survey questionnaire. Among them, two teachers
are male and the others are female. All of them have been teaching English at the school
for years.
2.3 Data collection instruments
To obtain the information for the study, the researcher used three instruments.

2.3.1 Instrument one: Questionnaire for the teachers
The survey questionnaire completed by the teachers included three parts. The first
part was about the teachers’ demographic information which included the teachers’ gender,
age, and the number of years they had been teaching English and teaching reading skill.
The second part consisted of six questions. It was designed to elicit the teachers’ opinions
about teaching reading subject and what they had done to motivate their students to read.
The last part (question 7, 8) was about the teachers' comments on the textbook, and their
suggestions to improve it.
2.3.2 Instrument two: Questionnaire for the students
Two main parts were focused in the questionnaire. The first part was about the
students’ demographic information which included the students’ gender, age, the number
of years they had been learning English. The second part was designed to elicit the
students’ opinions about the reading subject. It consisted of eight questions, four of which
were closed and four of which were open - ended. The first three questions 1, 2 and 3 dealt
with the students’ attitudes towards reading English, questions 4, 5 mentioned the ways the
teachers often do to motivate students in learning reading and students’ opinions about that

15
ways. The students’ opinion about current reading materials in class and preferences for
types of exercise of the reading material were the focused of questions 6, 7, and 8. Due to
these ideas, the research can recommend some ways to help the teachers motivate their
students in learning reading.
2.3.3. Instrument three: Interviews
Survey questionnaires were used as the main instruments in this study. However,
the using of questionnaires also has some limitations: The answers may be simple and
superficial, the respondents are unreliable and motivated, and may face with literacy
problems, the researchers may have little or no opportunity to correct the respondents’
mistakes and hallo effect (which concerns the human tendency to over generalize)….
(Dornyei, Z. 2005: 10- 13). This is true for the study of motivation, which is an abstract,
attitudinal concept. Therefore, the interviews were carried out with six participants in a

following week after processing the questionnaire for students. The aim of the researcher
for interviews is to get better insights into the research questions and to discuss for further
information about the items raised in the questionnaires. The participants were invited to
answer the questions with the researcher’s explanation of the questions and clarifying
unclear answers, each interview lasted about 20 minutes. The informal talks were
sometimes done between the researcher and students at English lesson break to have in-
depth understanding about the teaching method teachers had just applied and students’
preferences.
The questions for interviews were compiled in a paper sheet. All the interviews
were carried out in Vietnamese in the form of an informal conversation between the
researcher and the students. The data collected from interview were recorded, transcribed,
and then translated into English for the purposes of the study.
2.4 Data collection procedures
The data of the study was collected mainly through reference books and relevant
theories about motivation and reading, interviews and survey questionnaires.
First, all collected relevant theories about motivation and reading were studied,
consolidated and categorized then organized suitably in parts.

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Second, the survey to the teachers was delivered to seven teachers of English at
Thieu Hoa high school, and they had one week to complete it.
Next, with the permission of the Head master and teachers of English at Thieu Hoa
high school, the researcher had a personal contact to 115 students of three 11-form classes
in order to clarify the purpose of the survey and administered the questionnaire delivered to
these students. The students were asked to complete the questionnaire within 30 minutes.
At last, the interviews were carried out with six participants in a following week
after processing the questionnaire for students. The aim of the researcher for interviews is
to get better insights into the research questions and to discuss for further information
about the items raised in the questionnaires. Each interview lasted about 20 minutes.
2.5 Data analysis procedures

The data collected from different sources were inspected, cleaned, transformed, and
modeled with the goal of highlighting useful information, suggesting conclusions, and
supporting decision making. The observational field-notes and the interview transcription
will be jotted down. They will be generated and analyzed by the researcher alone to avoid
inconsistency or possible biases and then displayed in forms of charts, tables and figures.
A series of analytical categories from the statements was also conducted in order to
quantify the open-ended questions from the questionnaires.
In short, in this chapter, the methodology of the study has been displayed as the
guidelines for the researcher to follow during the implementation of the study. In the next
chapter, the analysis of the data and the findings will be identified in detail.






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CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, MAJOR FINDINGS AND
SUGGESTIONS

In this chapter the detailed results together with a comprehensive analysis of the
data collected from the survey questionnaires and the interview are presented. After that,
based on the results of the data analysis, the researcher suggests some strategies to develop
the students’ motivation in learning reading skill.

3.1 Demographic information
The total number of students participated in the study was 115 of which 62 students
(53.9%) are female and 53 students (46.1%) are male. The majority is aged 17 (113
students, about 98.3%), only two students are aged 18 because they started their study at
primary school one year later than the others.

Table 1: Participants by age and gender

Age

Number of participants
Total
Percentage
(%)
Male
Female
17
53
60
113
98.3
18
0
2
2
1.7
Total
53
62
115
100

The students taking part in the study were living in the countryside so most of them
had no chances of learning English except at schools. About 75.7% (87students) had been
learning English for 5 years (four years at secondary schools and one year at Thieu Hoa
high school). Only 4 students (3.5%), who had started learning English at primary school,

had 8 or 9 years of learning English. The others had experience of 6 or 7 years in learning
English. The students’ experience of learning English is briefly summarized in table 2.

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Table 2: The students’ experience of learning English


Years of learning English
5
6-7
8-9
Number of students
87
24
4
Percentage
75.7%
20.8%
3.5%

Among seven teachers participated in the study, there were only two male teachers.
The teachers’ ages ranged from 28 to 55. Their experience in teaching English varied from
7 to 30 years. All of them had been teaching both the old and the new sets of English
textbooks so they had many experience in teaching reading
3.2 Data analysis and major findings
3.2.1 The identification of students’ motivation
3.2.1.1 Types of students’ motivation
The data obtained from the questionnaire for students will be analyzed to find out
the answer to the research question one: “What are the types of motivation possessed by
students at Thieu Hoa high school in learning reading skill?”

As mentioned in the literature review, there were several ways of classifying
motivation, however, in this study; the researcher followed the classification of Gardner
and Lambert (1972). Therefore, the study focused mainly on two main types of motivation:
integrative and instrumental.
The first question in part two of the questionnaire for students was to present the
reasons for learning reading skill. The results are displayed in table 3.
Table 3: The students’ reasons for learning reading skill

Reasons for learning
Number of students
Percentage (%)
a. Results in reading are better than those in
other skills
25
21.7