Motivational changes in students of English at International school, Vietnam National University, Hanoi during preparatory programs = Những thay đổi trong động 20150227.PDF

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i
ABSTRACT ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
APPENDICES vi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii
PART I: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale of the study 1
2. Objectives of the study 2
3. Scope of the study 2
4. Methods of the study 2
5. Design of the study 3
PART II. DEVELOPMENT 4
Chapter 1. Theoretical background of motivation 4
1. Definition and the nature of motivation 4
2. Roles of motivation in language learning 6
3. Types of motivation 7
3.1. Integrative motivation 7
3.2. Instrumental motivation 8
3.3. Integrative vs. Instrumental motivation 8
4. Factors affecting student motivation in L2 learning 10
4.1 Learner’s factors 10
4.2. Course Material Factors 11
4.3. Teacher Factors 12
Chapter 2. Literature review 13
Chapter 3. Methodology 16
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1. Subjects of the study 16
2. Data collection instruments 17
2.1. Questionnaire for students 17
2.2. Interviews for teachers 18
3. Data analysis 18
4. Data analysis and Findings 18
4.1. Questionnaire data 18
4.1.1. Multiple choice questions 18
4.1.2. Open-ended questions 24
4.2. Interviews with teachers. 26
5. Discussion of the findings 32
6. Pedagogical implications 33
6.1. Maintain their instrumental motivation and enhance their integrative
motivation 35
6.2. Care for students’ needs and interests 34
6.3. Have students participate 34
6.4. Give compliments and rewards 35
6.5. Be enthusiastic, helpful, friendly and tolerant 35
PART III. CONCLUSION 36
1. Recapitulation of the main ideas 36
1.1. Summary of the theories 36
1.2. Summary of the research procedure 36
1.3. Summary of the findings 37
1.3.1. Students’ motivational changes 37
1.3.2. Techniques and activities used by teachers 37
2. Limitations and suggestions for further studies 38
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APPENDICES

APPENDIX A III
APPENDIX B VII













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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
IS: International School
VNU: Vietnam National University, Hanoi
EFL: English as a foreign language.
L2: Second Language. The L2 in this study refers to English which is taught at IS.
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PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Students‟ orientations and motivation to learn English sharply diverge. Harmer
(2001) contends that some have a clear goal inspired by a strong extrinsic motivation.
Others have an internal motivation that has fired them up. Others still may have a weak

goal or motivation. Students with no clear goals fail to know what they really want from
learning English. As a result, some become de-motivated. Thus, they lack a framework for
assigning significance to what they learn and it is a case for a lot of students at IS, VNU.
From a centre-sized school, International School, VNU has developed both in size
and quality with more and more students each intake every year. However, it does not
necessarily mean students have found their motivation in here. They come to IS for a
variety of reasons, but above all, IS does not take students through University Entrance
Exam so it is a second chance for the majority of those failing other Universities.
Therefore, it is a fact that when students first come to IS, many of them lose self-
confidence, either because of embarrassment of failing the university entrance exam or low
level of English or unfamiliarity with foreign teachers and so on, which makes class
environment and teacher-student relationship stressful.
Authority and lecturers at IS have gone different length to encourage students to
learn, with a hope that their students can find their confidence, and develop both
instrumental and integrative motivation. With a number of foreign lecturers, dedicated
teachers, modern facilities and student-centered methodology, students at IS have seen in
themselves certain changes in their purposes and study methods and consequently, levels
of English competence. A lot of students, from knowing nothing about English and hating
the language, have become interested in English lessons, talking to foreigners and even
reading books in English.
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Therefore, an analysis of their motivation and motivational changes during their
study at IS will be conducted to determine whether instrumental or integrative motivation
is the preference of IS students, thus eventually give some suggestions to make IS students
more confident and eager in their study.
2. Objectives of the study
This study is carried out to meet the following objectives:
1) Analyze the reasons why many students do not have motivation when they first
come to IS.

2) Analyze changes in the levels of motivation after students have studied there for
a certain time.
3) Offer options to raise students‟ levels of motivation.
3. Scope of the study
The study only focuses on an overview of current situation of English learning
among students of Preparatory programs at IS. Students‟ motivation will be analyzed with
a hope to identify reasons making those students reluctant to learn, different ways teachers
use to motivate them to eventually give some suggestions that can be useful for teachers
and authority at IS to increase students‟ interest in learning English.
4. Methods of the study
To achieve the aims of the study, the researcher uses survey research and both
quantitative and qualitative methods are used in completing the following tasks:
- Collecting data for the analysis through a questionnaire from 50 students of
Preparatory Programs.
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- Collecting data for the analysis through interviews from 3 teachers teaching at
Preparatory Programs.
All comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion are based on the data
analysis.
5. Design of the study
The result will be presented in three parts.
The first part, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale, the aims, scope, methods,
design of the study and definition of key terms.
The second part, DEVELOPMENT, includes three chapter: Theoretical
Background presents concepts relevant to the topic such as definition of motivation, roles
of motivation in language learning, types of motivation, factors affecting motivation;
Literature Review looks at previous studies into motivation; and Methodology provides the
methodology underlying the research site which includes the general information about the
study subjects and the situation of motivation at IS. This chapter also focuses on the

method of data collection.
The last part, CONCLUSION offers a recapitulation of the main ideas, limitations
of the study, and suggestions for further studies.

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PART II. DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1. Theoretical background of motivation
Motivation is a key factor to influence the success of language learning and
therefore, many researchers have done research on it. This chapter is concerned with some
of the most important issues in the theories of motivation.
1. Definition and the nature of motivation
Motivation is not easy to understand or explain; whenever we feel a desire of need
for doing something, we are motivated. Different people are motivated by different things
and motivation is some kind of internal drive that encourages somebody to pursue a course
of action (Harmer 1991: 3).
In the literature on motivation, very rarely is one single, integrated definition of
motivation included. Instead, the focus is what specific factors work together to create
motivation. Ellis (1994), in an overview of research on motivation, simply asserted that
motivation affects the extent to which language learners persevere in learning, what kinds
of behavior they exert, and their actual achievement. Wlodwoski explained motivation as
“the processes that can (a) arouse and instigate behavior, (b) give direction or purpose to
behavior, (c) continue to allow behavior to persist, and (d) lead to choosing or preferring a
particular behavior” (1985, p. 2).
Gardner was one of the pioneering researchers in second language acquisition to
focus on motivation. He chose to define motivation by specifying four aspects of
motivation: a goal, effortful behavior to reach the goal, a desire to attain the goal, positive
attitudes toward the goal (Gardner, 1985, p. 50)
Gardner and Lambert (1972) introduced the notions of instrumental and integrative
motivation. In the context of language learning, instrumental motivation refers to the

learner‟s desire to learn a language or travel for utilitarian purposes (such as employment),
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whereas integrative motivation refers to the desire to learn a language to integrate
successfully into the target language community. In later research studies, Crookes and
Schmidt (1991), and Gardner and Tremblay (1994) explored four other motivational
orientations: reasons for learning, desire to attain the learning goal, positive attitude toward
the learning situation, and effortful behavior.
Many theorists and researchers have found that it is important to recognize the
construct of motivation not as a single entity but as a multi-factorial one. Oxford and
Shearin (1994) analyzed a total of 12 motivational theories or models, including those from
socio-psychology, cognitive development, and socio-cultural psychology, and identified
six factors that impact motivation in language learning:
 attitudes (i.e., sentiments toward the language community and the target language.)
 beliefs about self (i.e., expectancies about one‟s attitudes to succeed, self-efficacy,
and anxiety.)
 goals (perceived clarity and relevance of learning goals as reasons for learning.)
 involvement (i.e., extent to which the learner actively and consciously participates
in the language learning process.)
 environmental support (i.e., extent of teacher and peer support, and the integration
of cultural and outside-of-class support into learning experience.)
 personal attributes (i.e., aptitude, age, sex, and previous language learning
experience).
Concerning the learner attitudes toward the target language, it was indicated by
Gardner that language learners with positive attitudes towards the speakers and culture of
the language were more successful in learning the language than those who have negative
attitudes. He also argued that the learning of a second language is dependent upon the
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learners‟ willingness to identify with the culture of the target language and to incorporate

aspects of the target language culture into his or her own behavior.
In short, although there are numerous different definitions of motivation, it is
commonly thought of as “the process of arousing, directing, and maintaining behavior”
(Burden 1994:261).
2. Roles of motivation in language learning
Motivation and learning is the study of how to harness learners‟ intrinsic interest –
their inherent curiosity and sense of wonder about the world – to help them learn (Lepper
1998: 2).
It is widely accepted that motivation has played an important part in language
acquisition. Several experts on motivation and language learning have emphasized the
significance of this topic. According to Gardner and Lambert (1972), motivation to learn a
language is grounded in positive attitudes towards the language community and in a desire
to communicate with valued members of that community and become similar to them.
Gardner (1985: P.45) ilustrated that motivation refers to the combination of effort plus
desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes toward learning
the language. He believed that motivation to learn a foreign language is determined by
basic predispositions and personity characteristics such as the learner‟s attitudes toward
foreign people in general, and the target group and language in particular, motives for
learning and generalized attitudes.
Moreover, Littlewood (1995: P53) noted that in language learning as in every other
filed of human learning, motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learner
embarks on task at all, how much energy he devotes to it and how long he perserves. It is a
complex phenomenon which includes many components: the individual‟s drive, need for
achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new experience, and so on.
Gardner (1985: P10) defined motivation for language learning as “the extent to which an
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individual works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the
satisfaction experienced in this activity”.
3. Types of motivation

Language learners learn a language, because they want to acquire, use, and
communicate with those who speak the language, or perhaps they want to get to know their
culture and learn about the country where the language is spoken. Basing on different
reasons that students are learning English, Gardner focused on classifying reasons for
second language study, which he then identified as orientations (1985, p. 54). He found
two main orientations through his research:
- Integrative motivation: a favorable attitude toward the target language
community; possibly a wish to integrate and adapt to a new target culture through use of
the language.
- Instrumental motivation: a more functional reason for learning the target
language, such as job promotion, or a language requirement
3.1. Integrative motivation
It is assumed that students who are most successful when learning a target language
are those who like the people that speak the language, admire the culture and have a desire
to become familiar with or even integrate into the society in which the language is used
(Falk 1978). This form of motivation is known as integrative motivation. In other words,
with integrative motivation, language learners learn a language because they want to
acquire, use, and communicate with those who speak the language, or perhaps they want to
get to know their culture and learn about the country where the language is spoken.
In an EFL setting such as Vietnam, especially in rural areas, opportunities to use
the target language in daily conversation are limited; therefore, it is important to consider
the actual meaning of the term “integrative”. Benson (1991) suggests that a more
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appropriate approach to the concept of integrative motivation in the EFL context would be
the idea that it represents the desire of an individual to become bilingual.
3.2. Instrumental motivation
Instrumental motivation, in contrast with integrative motivation, focuses on how
much the students learn English with an instrumental reason targeting convenient or
immediate success like degree, future jobs, further studies, achievements, etc. Or in other

words, with an instrumental motivation, learners are studying a language in order to further
a career or academic goal. The intensity of motivation of a learner to attain that goal could
be high or low. Moreover, Oxford and Shearin (1994) confirmed that instrumental
motivation refers to the desire to learn a language because of some pressure or reward from
the social environment (such as career advancement or a course credit).
However, it is not always easy to distinguish between integrative and instrumental.
For example, there are students who don‟t like to study, but they have to, because they
have pressure from their parents, peers, teachers, and so forth. This is also a type of
motivation which can‟t belong to either of the two motivational orientations.
3.3. Integrative vs. Instrumental motivation
While both integrative and instrumental motivations are of great importance in
students‟ success, integrative motivation has been suggested to play a more important role
in contributing to effective language learning. Lambert (1974) confirmed that integrative
motivation was a more powerful predictor of linguistics achievement as it was consistently
correlated with language linguistic achievement. Clement (1994) and Gardner, Lalonde &
Pierson (1983) revealed that learner ranking high on integrative motivation work harder
and learn faster than those who are low on integrative motivation. Also, students with
integrative motivation seem to have more reasons for learning than those who are primarily
motivated by instrumental desire. Integratively motivated students appear to have less
language anxiety, hold a more self-directed view of English language learning, and
attribute causes for language learning success more constructively than their peers.
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However, that does not mean that instrumental motivation is inferior. One area
where instrumental motivation can prove to be successful is the situation where learners
have no opportunity to use the target language and therefore, no chance to interact with
members of the target group. Likmani (1972) found that an instrumental motivation was
more important than an integrative motivation in non-westernized female learners of L2
English in Bombay. The social situation helps to determine both what kind of motivation
learners have and which one is more important for language learning.

Brown (2000) made the point that both integrative and instrumental motivations are
not necessarily mutually exclusive. Learners rarely select one form of motivation when
learning a second language, but rather a combination of both. He cited the example of
international students residing in the United States, learning English for academic purposes
while at the same time wishing to become integrated with the people and culture of the
country.
Moreover, in fact, a lot of students researched tend to learn English for instrumental
reasons, like passing the course or gaining a degree. Hyland (1997) found this tendency in
his researched Hong Kong tertiary students. Liu (2005) also shared the same findings in
her study of Chinese students at a Southern University in China. Also, in Vietnam, it is
obvious that a majority of students are learning English with a view to passing exams,
having degrees and getting good jobs after graduating.
In short, motivation is an important factor in language achievement. In identifying
learning motivation of any students‟ groups, we can aim toward determining these two
main types of motivation and either of these motivational aspects may possibly be found
dominant. It can be implied that students studying the language, may possibly be inclined
either toward integrative or instrumental motivation.
4. Factors affecting student motivation in language learning
According to Cottrell, 2001, whether students are motivated or demotivated are due
to the following factors:
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4.1 Learner’s factors
- The Self-belief: The more students believe they are capable of success in learning
English, the more their attitude is likely to be, including their general willingness to engage
with their own learning. Those lacking self-belief tend to be unwilling to take risks and to
expose what they believe is their
- Vagueness about the Objectives of Learning: If foreign language study is
associated with higher purpose, the student is likely to be well motivated to persever
through more difficult times. However, some students taking English as a foreign language

may not have a clear idea of role they are purported to play in the learning process. They,
moreover, may not be clear with what they want from the course except final outcomes
such as a qualification or a better job. Thus, they lack a framework for assigning
significance to what they learn and the motivation to learn.
- Past experience of learning: Many students who enter college may lack the
current English language capability or skills to perform at their best in learning the
language. They may not have had the opportunity to develop practiced, consistent,
automatic, habitual skills they can perform at will. Lack of recent or previous good
language educational success means that they are ill equipped to get motivated and know
how to progress in the language learning.
- Inefficient Learning Strategies: When coming to college, such students often try
to reproduce the language learning styles, that they were introduced at school even if these
were not very successful for them. When they fail again, this can reinforce demotivation,
negative self-image and produce withdrawal.
- Attitudes: Cook (2001) contends that the roots of motivation reside deep within
the students‟ minds.
Attitudes of students towards themselves, the foreign language, the learning
context, the course, and the potential outcomes have a deep impact up on their motivation
to learn the language. Negative attitude towards these produce very demotivated students
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(Dilts, et al 1990). Students who hardly feel learning English adds something new to their
skills and experience are unlikely to be motivated and succeed.
4.2. Course Material Factors
The course material and the opportunities for students to interact with the material
can motivate/demotivate students to learn (Gibbs, 1992). In the first place, if students‟
gender, ethnicity, age group or social class are not referred to, or are treated as problems in
the course, they may feel excluded from the course as a result of which their motivation to
learn suffers (Dilts et al 1990). If the course material contains too difficult workload, alien
vocabulary, difficult tasks, vague instructions, irrelevant examples, etc. it can have an

impact on students‟ learning the course.

4.3. Teacher Factors
Harmer (2001) makes it clear that the major factor in the continuance of students‟
motivation is the teacher. His/her attitude to the language and the task of learning will be
vital as an obvious enthusiasm for English and English learning would seem to be a
prerequisite for a positive classroom atmosphere. If lessons of the English courses are
presented in ways which do not seem relevant to students; lives, interests, or
circumstances, the learners may find it very difficult to focus their attention for long.
Vague feedback that points out failure without guidance on how to improve their work
may add to their demotivation and frustration.
Therefore, in order to motivate students to learn, it is necessary to take these factors
into account and find suitable solutions.



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Chapter 2. Literature review
As mentioned in the previous part, integrative motivation is ideal in language
learning, but instrumental motivation is more often found among language learners as it is
their biggest aim to have good career.
There have been quite many researches into integrative motivation, the definition
and its roles in language learning.

Persson and Ljungman (2009) carried out a study in Thailand, among students in
grade eight and nine to find out what motivated those students to learn English at school.
Through qualitative interviews, the researchers found that most of the successful learners
were integratively motivated. Their relatives or families lived in English speaking
countries so they had a lot of contact with the English speaking people and they learned
English for their interest in the culture and the language itself and they wanted to be a
member of the country where the target language was spoken.
The effect of integrative motivation appears to be weaker in other situations, where
learners hardly have chances to use the language outside classrooms. Gardner and Lambert
(1972) investigated high-school learners of French in three American communities in
Maine, Connecticut, and Louisiane, and only a weak relationship was found in
Connecticut.
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Other researchers have carried out studies on the effect of integrative motivation is
ESL and they have the same conclusion that integrative motivation plays an important role
in the success of language learning and it is mostly true for people who have opportunities
to go abroad and communicate with native speakers. Also, learners can learn better if they
like English culture and the language itself.
Lukmani (1972) found that female Marathi speakers in Bombay were more related
to instrumental motivation than integrative motivation. Lukmani concluded that her
subjects saw themselves “based in their own country but reaching out to modern ideas and
lifestyles”.
Berwick and Ross (1989) conducted a study among a group of 90 first-year
Japanese university students who enrolled in an international commerce and a compulsory
English course. It was found that those student have instrumental motivation as they hoped
to pass the university entrance exam, and during 150 hours of class time, the motivation
level rose, reasons maybe the use of a variety of instructional techniques and the recent
adoption of an exchange program with an American sister university. This may affect
students‟ perceptions and thus, their motivation. However, the researcher also found that

once fulfill their desire to pass the university entrance exam, motivation to continue to
study English tended to decline. Many first-year students appear to have no academic
purposes. The research has given us a closer look at instrumental motivation and it is also
suggested that this kind of motivation can only short-term. As soon as learners achieve
their goals, there is no reason for them to continue learning. In contrast, those with
integrative motivation can keep their interest for long.
However, in some studies, the learners‟ reasons for studying cannot be labeled
either integrative or instrumental motivation, like in the study of Benson (1991). He noted
that educators in Japan were often surprised by university students‟ lack of ability using
spoken English, compared to that of their grammatical understanding of the language. He
reported that university students‟ motivation to study English was often mixed. Some
students appeared to be enthusiastic but lack application. Benson also based on the reasons
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given by students and claimed that they could not be grouped as either integrative or
instrumental motivation, thus he formed a third group called “personal”. This category
included motivational reasons such as “pleasure at being able to read English, and
enjoyment of entertainment in English”. The results from his study showed a preference
for integrative and personal forms of motivation, even though this was restricted. He also
noted that students‟ rejection to instrumental motivation were resulted from the fact that
students did not consider English as having a vital role in their lives.
In short, motivation is considered significant in its roles in language learning
success. And in most studies, integrative motivation, which referred to “a sincere and
personal interest in the people and culture represented by the other language group”
(Lambert, 1974, p.98) was a more powerful predictor of linguistic achievement as it was
consistently correlated with L2 linguistic achievement. Meanwhile, instrumental
motivation proved to be successful in situations where students have limited chances of
using the target language and almost no chance to interact with people of the target
language.
Therefore, it is important to determine which kind of motivation is prominent in a

certain situation and decide what can be done to motivate students to learn. It is also a big
question at IS, where a lot of students have little motivation to learn English when they
first come to IS, and then after certain time studying there, being taught by many native
teachers, are there any changes in their motivational degree and preference for each type of
motivation?





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Chapter 3. Methodology
1. Subjects of the study
International School, VNU, was established in 2007 as a Vietnamese – Russian
centre, and English was only taught 2 years after that. Despite its age, International School
has gained good reputation for its various university programs, jointly held with partners
from different countries in the world. However, before taking such university education,
students have to undergo Preparatory Programs, where General English (from beginning to
upper-intermediate levels) is taught and the matter of students‟ motivation is considered at
this initial stage.
In this school year (October, 2010-October, 2011), there are 12 classes (134
students) and 10 teachers of Preparatory Programs. Those students come to IS for a variety
of reasons, some of them get a full scholarship for passing the University entrance exam
with very good results, some return from abroad with a preference of a foreign
environment, some are suggested by acquaintances, and others fail the University entrance
exam and choose IS as a second choice. For this fact, students do not come to IS with
equal levels of English. Many of them have never thought about learning English

seriously, some even have never known an English word as in secondary and high school
their L2 was French or Russian. Teachers also do not get equal cooperation from them,
some are really serious about English, some learn as it was a compulsory subject, others
are totally indifferent. Beside English levels, students‟ confidence is also a concerning
matter. Many students choose IS as a last resort for IS do not take students through
University entrance exam, consequently, Therefore, for the beginning of the year, we had a
lot of difficulties dealing with our new students.
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Realizing motivation is a key to solve this problem, authority and especially
teachers of Preparatory programs have gone through various meetings and experience
sharing with a desire to encourage demotivated students to learn. As a teacher at IS, I
would also like to have a closer look at the situation and then, give some suggestions to
motivate students to complete this program well before learning ESP at university
programs.
The subjects of the study consist of 53 participants in 2 groups:
The first group includes 50 students of Preparatory Programs, IS with different
levels of English (from Beginning to Upper-intermediate levels).
The second group involves 3 teachers aged from 26 to 34. They have been teaching
English in Preparatory Programs, IS for at least 4 years.
2. Data collection instruments
The study uses survey method to collect data.
To elicit the necessary data from the subjects, the following types of instruments
were employed.
2.1. Questionnaire for students
The questionnaire is used as it allows the researcher to collect information on a
variety of issues in a relatively short time. Also, the students are chosen randomly in all
levels to get objective opinions. The researcher comes to 12 classes of the Preparatory
Programs and delivers the questionnaire to 4 -5 students in each class.
The questionnaire consists of two parts. The first part is aimed to find out about

students‟ experience in learning English by exploring different reasons why students of
Preparatory Programs at IS are trying to learn English. The second part includes 5 open-
ended questions to discover about students‟ motivation and motivational changes during
their time at IS, especially which factors can motivate or demotivate them to learn.
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2.2. Interviews for teachers
The interviews are used as it could allow the researcher more flexibility to probe
the respondents‟ responses more deeply. The 20-minute interviews were structured with a
list of 8 open-ended questions.
The interviews with 3 teachers aim to get their evaluation of their students‟
motivation to learn in English classes. Also, it is hoped to collect their ideas of how to best
motivate students as well as what to avoid if teachers would like to encourage students‟
interest in learning English.
3. Data analysis
The quantitative data gathered has been classified and converted into percentage to
compare responses to the items.
The qualitative analysis has been carried out to analyze the data via the open-ended
questions of the questionnaire, and interview.
4. Data analysis and Findings
4.1. Questionnaire data
4.1.1. Multiple choice questions
The questionnaire for students is analyzed using descriptive statistics.




Question 1:
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Responses
No of students
Percentage
Very important
23
46%
Quite important
15
30%
Not very important
9
18%
Not important at all
3
6%
Table 1. The importance of English
When asked about the importance of learning English, most students were aware
that English is necessary for them, 76% students realized how important this language was.
However, 24% of language students had not determined why they were learning English.
Question 2:
Responses
No of students
Percentage
It‟s a compulsory subject at my school.
42
84%
Learning English is enjoyable experience.
9
18%
I will need it for my education at University

Programs and get a good job later.
43
86%
It will make me a more knowledgeable person.
12
24%
I like meeting and converse with a variety of people.
11
22%
Others
0
0%
Table 2. Reasons for students’ learning at IS
Among different reasons for students to study English at IS at present, it is noted
that most of them were instrumental reasons: 86% believed a good command of English
was inevitable for their higher study at University Programs and they could get good jobs
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after graduation. Almost the same percentage (84%) was studying English as a compulsory
subject at school and they had no choice.
Integrative reasons belong to a smaller number of students. Only 18% thought
learning English was enjoyable, 24% were learning to become knowledgeable people and
22% hoped to have chances and ability to talk to foreigners.
Question 3:
Responses
No of students
Percentage
Native teachers
28
56%

Useful knowledge
18
36%
Interesting lessons
22
44%
Devoted teachers
39
78%
Good facilities
19
38%
Others (good friends)
1
2%
Table 3. Students’ preference at IS
As revealed, students liked a number of things at IS. The biggest number was
attracted by devoted teachers. It was easy to understand as all teachers at IS were friendly
and enthusiastic and before teaching at IS, they had been offered 2 courses on
Methodology with British Council and Language Link. Another thing that students liked
was native teachers, who were hired from Language Link, Accet and other famous centers.
Interesting lessons, good facilities and useful knowledge also appealed to a large number
of students, 44%, 38% and 36% respectively. One student also mentioned friendship as a
loved factor.
Question 4:
Responses
No of students
Percentage
Boring textbooks
15

30%
20

Difficult tasks
12
24%
Too much homework
27
54%
Lack of facilities
4
8%
Teachers‟ attitudes
11
22%
Others
0
0%
Table 4. Students’ dislikes about learning English at IS
From the data collected, 54% students were demotivated by a large amount of
homework, 30% were not satisfied with boring textbooks and 24% thought they could not
complete hard tasks of the course. Also, 22% were not contented with their teachers‟
attitudes to them. Teachers‟ attitudes could be understood as their unenthusiasim or
negative reactions to students‟ mistakes, criticisms of students‟ errors, etc. And 8%
mentioned the lack of facilities as a factor of demotivation.
Question 5: In English classes, when do you learn best?
Responses
No of students
Percentage
Never

5
10%
When I work individually
8
16%
When I work in pairs or groups
28
56%
When we play games or listen to songs
42
84%
When I practice what my teachers has taught
12
24%
Others
0
0%
From students‟ responses for question 5, it was seen that 10% of students
questioned were totally demotivated and nothing could stimulate them to learn. In contrast,
86% thought they could learn best through games and songs as these activities were fun
and stress free. Also, pair work and group work seem to be a good influence on their
learning as 56% were in favor of working with friends. 24% find themselves best when
21

putting what their teacher had taught in practice and only 16% thought they could study
best individually.
Question 6: What do you think of homework and assignment?
Responses
No of students
Percentage

It is a waste of time.
7
14%
I do not think it helps me much.
21
42%
It‟s a good chance to revise what I have learned in
class.
6
12%
It‟s great to complete it and have it checked and
explained by teachers.
12
24%
I think there shouldn‟t be too much.
27
54%
Table 6: Students’ attitudes to homework and assignment
When asked about homework and assignment, most students did not think it was a
good idea to have such homework. Only 36% thought homework was useful. The others
did not want to have more exercises after class.



Question 7:
Responses
No of sts
Percentage
Practice speaking with foreigners as much as possible
5

10%
Learn English online
4
8%
Read English books, newspapers and materials
6
12%
Watch videos or films in English
10
20%