Teacher motivation and its influences on their classroom teaching a case study

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

NGÔ THỊ KIM ANH

TEACHER MOTIVATION AND ITS INFLUENCE
ON THEIR CLASSROOM TEACHING A CASE STUDY
(Động lực của giáo viên và ảnh hưởng của nó
tới việc dạy học trên lớp Một nghiên cứu trường hợp cụ thể)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code : 60140111

HANOI – 2017


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

**************

NGÔ THỊ KIM ANH

TEACHER MOTIVATION AND ITS INFLUENCE
ON THEIR CLASSROOM TEACHING A CASE STUDY
(Động lực của giáo viên và ảnh hưởng của nó

tới việc dạy học trên lớp Một nghiên cứu trường hợp cụ thể)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field

: English Teaching Methodology

Code

: 60140111

Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lê Văn Canh

HANOI – 2017


DECLARATION
I, Ngô Thị Kim Anh, an MA. learner of the Faculty of Post - Graduate Studies
of ULIS., hereby declare that this thesis is my own work. Documented references have
been provided full. In addition, this thesis has not been submitted for assessment in
other formal courses in any other university. I also accept all the requirements of ULIS
relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library.
Hanoi, July 2017

Ngô Thị Kim Anh

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to acknowledge the support of people who assisted me to complete
the thesis.
Firstly, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my thesis supervisor,
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lê Văn Canh, who was always ready to give me wholehearted
guidance and valuable encouragement during the time of conducting the research.
I would also like to thank the Management Board and all the enthusiastic
lectures of Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Language and
International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their useful lectures
and their support for learners.
I am thankful to four teachers at Einstein high school and one teacher at Tran
Nhan Tong High School for their big devotions of time and efforts to participating in
my study. Without their enthusiastic help, this thesis could not have been successfully
conducted.
Finally, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my beloved family
for providing me continuous engagement throughout my years of study and through
the process of researching and writing the thesis.
Without all their help, this accomplishment would not have been possible.
Hanoi, July 2017

Ngô Thị Kim Anh

ii


ABSTRACT
Teacher motivation plays an important role in the promotion of teaching and
learning in foreign language education despite the lack of concern about it. This study
investigated some aspects of teacher motivation: the motivation for choosing teacher
as a career; the changes of teacher motivation in their career life; and teacher

motivation‟s influence on their classroom teaching. The study was conducted by
using qualitative analysis. The data were collected from email interviews and
observations of five sample teachers at two high schools in Hanoi. The results of the
study reveal that intrinsic motivation is the most chosen reason for deciding to be a
teacher; teacher motivation changes insignificantly despite the difficulties and some
participants‟ altruistic motivation turns to intrinsic one; intrinsic motivation seems
stronger than extrinsic motivation; and good teaching by those who are highly
motivated may bring positive outcomes to students.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration .................................................................................................................. I
Acknowledgement ...................................................................................................... II
Abstract ..................................................................................................................... III
Table of contents .......................................................................................................IV
Abbreviations .......................................................................................................... VII
List of tables ........................................................................................................... VIII
PART A: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1
1. Background of the study ......................................................................................... 1
1.1. The Role of Teachers ............................................................................................... 1
1.2. The Recent Situation of Teaching English in Vietnam........................................... 1
2. A Brief Description of the Study ............................................................................. 2
2.1. Significance of the Study ......................................................................................... 2
2.2. Aims of the Study..................................................................................................... 3
2.3. Research Questions .................................................................................................. 3
2.4. Scope of the Study.................................................................................................... 3
2.5. Design of the Study .................................................................................................. 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT ....................................................................................... 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 5
1.1. Motivation ............................................................................................................ 5
1.2. Teacher Motivation .................................................................................................. 5
1.2.1. Definition of Teacher Motivation ......................................................................... 5
1.2.2. Models of Theoretical Framework of Teacher Motivation Research ................. 6
1.2.2.1. Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT) ................................................................... 7
1.2.2.2. Achievement-Goal Theory (AGT) ................................................................... 8
1.2.2.3. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) .................................................................. 9
1.3. Studies on Motivation and Demotivation of Teachers.......................................... 10
1.4. Identification of the Gaps in Related Research ..................................................... 13
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................ 14

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2.1. Subjects ............................................................................................................... 14
2.2. Context of the Study............................................................................................... 14
2.3. Case study ............................................................................................................... 15
2.4. Data Collection Instruments .................................................................................. 15
2.4.1. Qualitative Method.............................................................................................. 15
2.4.2. Email Interview ................................................................................................... 16
2.4.3. Observation.......................................................................................................... 17
2.5. Data collection procedure................................................................................... 17
2.6. Data Analysis.......................................................................................................... 18
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ....................................................... 19
3.1. Teacher motivation to choose teaching as a career ............................................. 19
3.1.1. Intrinsic and altruistic motivations of the teaching job choice ......................... 19
3.1.2. Extrinsic motivations of the career choice ....................................................... 20
3.2. Teaching motivation and demotivation of in-service teachers ............................ 21
3.2.1. Intrinsic and altruistic motivation of in-service teachers .................................. 21

3.2.2. Extrinsic motivation of in-service teachers ...................................................... 22
3.2.3. Teachers‟ highest goal and expectancy ............................................................ 22
3.2.4. Teaching demotivation of in-service teachers .................................................. 23
3.3. Changes of teaching motivation .......................................................................... 25
3.3.1. Changes of opinions about teaching values...................................................... 25
3.3.2. Changes of teaching enthusiasm ...................................................................... 26
3.3.3. Teaching job determination.............................................................................. 27
3.4. Teacher motivation‟s influence on their classroom teaching .............................. 28
3.4.1. Teacher motivation and class preparation ........................................................ 28
3.4.2. Teacher motivation‟ influence on their regulation of lesson plans in classroom .......... 29
3.4.3. Teacher motivation‟s influences on their efforts to make a good classroom
environment ............................................................................................................... 30
3.4.4. Teacher motivation‟s influences on their teaching innovation ......................... 32
3.4.5. Teacher motivation and self-reflection on teaching ........................................... 34

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3.4.6. Teacher motivation‟s influences on the two representatives‟ classroom
performance ............................................................................................................... 36
3.4.6.1. Observation of a Private School Teacher‟s Classroom Teaching .................. 36
3.4.6.2. Observation of a State School Teacher‟s Classroom Teaching ..................... 39
PART C. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 42
1. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 42
2. Limitations ............................................................................................................. 44
3. Recommendations for Future Research ................................................................. 45
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 46
APPENDICES............................................................................................................. I

vi

ABBREVIATIONS
T

Teacher

S

Student

Ss

Students

P1

participant 1

P2

participant 2

P3

participant 3

P4

participant 4

P5

participant 5

Q

question

EVT

expectancy-value theory

AGT

achievement-goal theory

SDT

self-determination theory

O1

observation 1

O2

observation 2

O3

observation 3

ULIS

University of Languages and International Studies

EFL

English as a foreign language

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1:

Intrinsic motivation to choose the job as an English language teacher

Table 2:

Extrinsic motivation to choose the job as an English language teacher

viii


PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Background of the Study
1.1. The Role of Teachers

Teachers play an important role in the learning process of students since
students often consider teachers as the good mirror to learn. There have been a lot of
researches which have proved that teachers play a significant role in quality of
teaching students (Carr-Hill 1984, Riddell 1988, Eric Hanushek 2011, Sujeewa
Hettiarachchi 2013).
In Vietnam, education, especially teachers, also devotes significantly to the
development of the country. During the process of revolution, the Communist Party
and the State of Vietnam have always affirmed that education and training are the
central and the most important national policy, which play the key role of the State.
Meanwhile, teachers and educational officers are considered the pivotal role in the
decision of the quality of education. It is announced in the Resolution 29 NQ/TU that
there must be a fundamental and all-sided innovation in education in which teachers
are the important target. Besides, one of the first solutions mentioned in the Project
“Teaching and learning foreign languages in the national educational system – period
2008-2020” (shortly called “Project 2020”), approved by the president of Vietnam on
August 30th 2008, is related to teacher issue.
1.2. The Recent Situation of Teaching English in Vietnam
Efficient English teaching in Vietnam is a big educational concern because of
the worrying situation of English level of Vietnamese. According to the EF English
Proficiency Index (EF EPI), a global language training company, Vietnam ranked the
33th over 63 non-speaking English countries in EF EPI 2014 Rankings. Although it is
recognized that the English level of Vietnamese has developed rapidly, Vietnam is
ranked in the group of Low Proficiency with the percentage of 51.57% (EI EPI,
2014). In fact, the result may be much lower because the research was carried out
with the tests on the Internet by the subjects who mainly lived in the urban areas.
Through the process of carrying out Project 2020, a variety of challenges in
teaching and learning English have been obviously displayed. In Project 2020, one of
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the missions of the project is that English and some other languages are the
compulsory foreign languages which will be taught in the national educational system
so that most of Vietnamese youth who graduate from universities and colleges can
work and communicate confidently in global working environment. In Vietnamese
educational curriculum, English is one of the three core subjects. However, teaching
and learning English at schools have faced to big challenges. Despite its enormous
fund of 9,400 billion dongs, Project 2020 has not achieved the parallel results. For
example, in the National Secondary Examination, English is the subject which has the
lowest mark average (in 2015, 88% of students got the marks lower than 5, in 2016,
the percentage is 91,2%). Among other reasons for the situation such as the
inconvenient communication environment, limited chances for language practice,
poor teaching facilities, the reasons related to the teacher factor also have great
influences on the project‟s results. The qualified teachers at secondary schools
account for only 33%, meanwhile the number at high school is 26%. The serious
teacher shortage is also one of the causes of the issue. There are about 17,000 18,000 primary schools; however, the number of official teachers is just about 7,000.
As a result, there is not enough English education as the project‟s requirements. There
has existed a big unbalance demand of English learning between urban and rural area.
The cities or towns often have much more people who want to study English for jobs
or for other purposes than countryside, so the urban English teachers tend to have
higher opportunities to earn good income or professional development than rural
teachers. Such results of the project reflect quite obviously the real picture of teaching
and learning English in Vietnam. Undeniably, teachers are always one of the most
factors which determine the quality of education.
2. A Brief Description of the Study
2.1. Significance of the Study
There has just been a few of the studies on the topic of teacher motivation in
Vietnam. Dealing with the topic of motivation, most of the researchers have been
interested in the issues related to students‟ but not to teachers‟. Among more than
2.000 theses and dissertations of the students of Post-graduate Department, ULIS,
Vietnam National University since 2002, there have been nearly 60 theses and

2


dissertations which deal with the topic „motivation‟. However, most of them are
about student motivation. There has been only one research which works on teacher
motivation (Dao Thi Huyen, 2012) but it has not explored the influence on teachers‟
performances in the class. It is also difficult to find research on this topic in other
organizations or universities in Vietnam. The study will add more information of
teacher motivation research and find out its influence on teacher‟s performance.
2.2. Aims of the Study
-

The researcher desires to find out the extrinsic (objective) and intrinsic

(subjective) factors of teacher motivation.
-

The study explores the change of teacher motivation in their job process.

-

The study aims at discovering the teacher motivation‟ influences on teachers‟

performance in the class. It is really necessary to find out how these factors affect
their classroom teaching because it helps to find out what factors bring the greatest
impact on teachers‟ job. Then, the study may give some suggestions of how to be
more effective in classroom teaching.
2.3. Research Questions
1. What motivates teachers to choose teaching career?
2. How do their motivations change over time?

3. What affects their motivational change?
4. How do their motivations influence their classroom teaching?
2.4. Scope of the Study
The study is an investigation of teaching motivation of the teachers at two high
schools in Hanoi. Among them, four teachers come from Einstein high school
(private school) and one comes from Tran Nhan Tong high school (state school). The
two schools belong to the two basic educational systems in Vietnam which have
different characteristics.
2.5. Design of the Study
This study is composed of three following parts:
Part A: Introduction presents the background, the significance, aims, research
questions, the scope, and the design of the study
Part B: Development is organized around three chapters as follows.
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Chapter 1- Literature review, conceptualizes the framework of the study
through the discussion of issues and ideas on theories of teacher motivation, types of
motivation and demotivation, the former studies on the teacher motivation in
developing countries.
Chapter 2 - Methodology, presents the context, the methodology used in this
study including the subjects, the data collection instruments, data collection
procedure, and data analysis.
Chapter 3 – Findings and Discussion consists of a comprehensive analysis of
the data and a discussion on the findings of the study.
Part C: Conclusion, presents the summary of the findings, limitations, and
recommendations for further study.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
To figure out a clear picture for the discussion about teacher motivation in
English language teaching, this part will present a literature on motivation in general,
then the teacher motivation. After that, the framework of the theoretical models
which are used in the teacher motivation researches is discussed. Next, the studies on
motivation and demotivation in work context are reviewed, followed by motivation
research in education, specifically teacher motivation. Then, there is a brief look at
the teacher motivation in developing countries. Finally, as a rationale for the study,
this part then continues to identify a gap in the literature on research on motivation of
English language teachers, especially in Vietnam context.
1.1. Motivation
According to the research of Emily R. Lai (2011) published by Pearson, the
global leader in education and education technology, motivation refers to the reason
“underlying behavior” (Guay, et al. 2010). Paraphrasing Gredler, Broussard and
Garrison (2004) broadly define motivation as “the attributes that move us to do or not
to do something”. There are two kinds of motivation which are intrinsic (internal) and
extrinsic (external) motivation. Deci et al. (1999) stated that “intrinsic motivation
energizes and sustains activities through the spontaneous satisfactions inherent in
effective volitional action. It is manifest in behaviors such as play, exploration, and
challenge seeking that people often do for external rewards”. Meanwhile, extrinsic
motivation is governed by reinforcement contingencies. Traditionally, intrinsic
motivation is considered to be more desirable and to result in better learning
outcomes than extrinsic motivation.
1.2. Teacher Motivation
1.2.1. Definition of Teacher Motivation
At first, it is likely to useful to have a look at job satisfaction, as motivation
and satisfaction have an interchangeable relationship: motivation could lead to
satisfaction and vice versa. Herzberg (1959) identifies satisfaction–dissatisfaction as

consequence factors in his two-factor theory of motivation. Evans (1998) defines
satisfaction as a state of mind determined encompassing all those feelings by the
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extent to which the individual perceives his job-related needs to be being met. On the
contrary, in her quantitative analysis of six countries, Michaelowa (2002) defines job
satisfaction as “an indication of teachers well-being induced by the job” and
motivation as their willingness, drives or desire to engage in good teaching whether
job satisfaction does or does not translate into motivation.
Similarly, the concept of teacher motivation is not unified. Evans (1998), who
researched teachers in a primary school over five years in the UK, defines motivation
as a condition that encompasses inclination towards engagement in activity. Hoy and
Miskel (1991) define motivation as a combination of factors that “start and maintain
work-related behaviours towards the achievement of personal goals.” Alternatively,
Bennell and Akeampong (2007) emphasize motivation as a teacher‟s state rather than
the set of factors themselves that influence such a state. In Chisato Tanaka‟s study
(2010), he defines teacher motivation as “the conditions and factors that promote
commitment in basic education teachers, allowing them to enjoy teaching and thus
fulfill their goals.” Unlike student motivation, teacher motivation has been a topic
that has not gained a lot of attention in research until rather recently. Nevertheless,
due to the greater and greater influences of teacher motivation on student motivation,
there has been more research done to explore this issue.
1.2.2. Models of Theoretical Framework of Teacher Motivation Research
According to the four research questions, the study aims at discovering the
reasons for choosing teaching career; the influences of motivation on their classroom
performance; and the changes of their teaching motivation through time. To explore
more about teacher motivation, and to find out the answers for research questions, the
study follows the following theoretical lens: expectancy-value theory (EVT) to
discuss why individuals choose to pursue the teaching job and consequences for their

professional engagement, teaching style, and personal well-being (Watt and
Richardson, 2007a, 2008); achievement-goal theory (AGT) to explore how teachers
strive to feel successful and how success is conceived in their daily work and how
they express in their classroom teaching (Butler, 2007); and self-determination theory
(SDT), which is generally concerned with personal growth and functioning, to
discover teachers‟ autonomy versus controlled motivation and how their motivation
6


changes through time (Fernet et al., 2012; Pelletier et al., 2002; Roth, 2014).
Especially, the mixture of three models is supposed to be necessary sometimes to
explore the motivational change or the influence of motivation on teachers‟
performance because of the interaction among the factors constructing teacher
motivation.
1.2.2.1. Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT)
Expectancy-value theory (EVT) presents the individual‟s choice, persistence,
and performance that can be explained by their beliefs about how well they will do on
the activity (beliefs on activity), the probability of success (expectancy) and the
extent to which they value the activity (task value) (Atkinson, 1957; Eccles et al.,
1983; Wigfield, 1994; Wigfield & Eccles, 1992). The construct of expectancy and
value and theoretical models based on these constructs have long history in the field
of psychology and especially in the achievement motivation field (Eccles el at., 1983;
Higgins, 2007; Rose & Sherman, 2007; Weiner, 1992; Wigfield & Eccles, 1992).
Eccles (2009) supposes that one‟s educational, vocational, and other achievementrelated choices are shaped by one‟s ability beliefs and expectancies for success and
by the value attached to the task. The values component is included intrinsic value
(how much a person enjoys the task), utility value (whether it is seen to be useful),
attainment value (whether it is seen as being important for achieving a person‟s
goals), and opportunity cost (how costly it will be to succeed in carrying the task).
The model has been applied to various kinds of careers (e.g. Watt et al. 2012). The
EVT model is advanced as a framework to propel systematic enquiry into key

motivations for choosing teaching as a career by the Factors Influencing Teaching
Choice (Richardson and Watt, 2006, 2010; Watt and Richardson, 2007a, 2008).
Helen MG Watt and Paul W Richardson (2015) concluded in their study on
teacher motivation using EVT that the most adaptive motivation for choosing
teaching as a career were positive ability self-beliefs, intrinsic enjoyment of teaching,
wanting to work with youth to help them shape their futures, and wanting to make a
social contribution by enhancing social utility values. Additionally, the motivating
factors in choosing teacher as a career vary from individual to individual. In general,
in the teacher education literature, there are three kinds of motivation stressed in
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regard to choosing teaching as a career (Bastick 2000; Boz and Boz2008; König and
Rothland 2012; Kyriacou and Coulthard 2000; Kyriacou et al. 2003; Moran et al.
2001; Papanastasiou and Papanastasiou 1998; Saban 2003; Sinclair 2008; Young
1995). They are (1) extrinsic motives: job guarantee, money, holidays, social security,
appointment, and ease; (2) intrinsic motives: interest, personal satisfaction, and desire
and love of profession; and (3) altruistic motives (also considered as intrinsic
motives): being in the service of people, society, and country (OECD, 2005).
Basing on the EVT‟s categories of motivation to choose a career, the study
explores the specific intrinsic, extrinsic, and altruistic reasons for pursuing teaching
job. The theoretical model is also useful to discover the teachers‟ change of opinion
about teaching values in comparison with the one of the first teaching days.
Obviously, the expectation-value is an effective foundation to find out the answer for
the research questions.
1.2.2.2. Achievement-Goal Theory (AGT)
Achievement goals are competence-based aims that individuals target in
evaluative settings. There are two distinctive achievement goals based on the
definition of personal competence: task and ego goals (Nicholls 1984; Nicholls 1989)
or, in other words, mastery and performance goals (Dweck 1986; Dweck 1988). Task

(mastery) goals are related to the competence in terms of absolute evaluative
standards. When someone is involved in a task, their primary goal is learning and
mastering the task. There is a focus on effort and improvement as task oriented goals
rely on comparison with one‟s past attainment or one‟s maximum potential
attainment. Meanwhile, ego (performance) goals reflect competence perception
relative to others‟ performance. Therefore, those who are ego oriented show their
competence in terms of interpersonal and normative comparisons. The theory is
proposed to distinguish the two kinds of individuals: performance-approach and
performance-avoidance goals. Those who hold performance-approach goals are
motivated to demonstrate their abilities with the comparison with others. Their goal is
to master, to learn or to understand a task, then to reach the self-set goals. Those who
hold performance-avoidance goals are motivated to avoid demonstrating their lack of
ability. The goal is to avoid not mastering a task or not understanding something, then
8


to avoid reaching to the self-set goals. The approach goals orientations predict
positive outcomes, with mastery approach being the most positive. On the other hand,
performance-avoidance goals predict maladaptive outcomes, particularly when selfbeliefs of competence are low (Law et al., 2012).
The achievement goal theory is applied to investigate the ways and the reasons
for teachers‟ performance through discovering teachers‟ highest goals and
expectations in their teaching job; teachers‟ preparations for lessons; teachers‟
regulations of lesson plans in the real teaching; teachers‟ efforts to create good
classroom environment; and teachers‟ innovation in teaching. From the analysis of
the collected data, the types of teachers basing on AGT are recognized and
understood; the influence of the motives on teachers‟ classroom performance is
revealed.
1.2.2.3. Self-Determination Theory (SDT)
Deci and Ryan (1985) define self-determination model into three sets of
motivational processes: the intrinsic, extrinsic and amotivational (lack of motivation).

However, this definition is criticized by Pintrich and Schunk (1996), as they believe it
was not comprehensive. The reason is that they suppose there are some more
requirements for individuals to be self-determined, which are related to individuals‟
ability to: acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses; be aware of forces affecting
them; make choices; and determine ways in order to fulfill their needs.
Nevertheless, this theory of Deci and Ryan is still considered one of the most
prominent models, with the three individual categories: Autonomy oriented
individuals - those who have the ability to use events in order to initiate and regulate
their own chosen behavior, as well as to maintain a high level of self-determination
and thereby sustain intrinsic motivations. Control oriented individuals - those who
function under the influence of controls in the environment according to which they
regulate their behavior, thus display little self-determination and perceive extrinsic
rewards as important in contrast to the autonomy-oriented person. Amotivational or
impersonally-oriented– entails those who perceive their behaviors as being beyond
their control and are characterized by a feeling of incompetence, have an attitude that
tasks are too difficult to carry out, and that outcomes are unrelated to their behaviors.
9


According to Kassabgy et al. (2001) and Dörnyei (2001, 2005), intrinsic and
extrinsic factors are classified as the followings:
 Intrinsic factors: personal achievement or challenge or growth; service to
society (also altruistic motivation); imparting knowledge
 Extrinsic factors (and social): salary; workload; external recognition (social
status), career prospects/training; job security/casual job; school management and
policies; support/isolation; physical working condition; a positive or negative
comparison with others (other jobs or professionals); autonomy (control of
curriculum); relations with colleagues; relations with students.
The self-determination theory is exploited to question the teachers‟ current
motivation and demotivation in their job, teachers‟ job determination. Combining

with the data analysis from the two above models, the study will be able to discover
how teacher motivation changes through time and whether teachers have high or low
levels of self-determination in their job.
To sum up, expectancy-value theory is the main model which is used to help
the author investigate the pre-service teacher motivation or to find out the reasons
why individuals choose teaching as their career. Achievement-goal theory and selfdetermination are effective theories in exploring the changes of teacher motivation
through time and the influences of teaching motivations on their performance in class.
In some cases, the flexible combination among the models is helpful to create the
interview questions or do the observations in order to reveal the answers of the
research questions.
1.3. Studies on Motivation and Demotivation of Teachers
In a survey study involving 2000 teachers in Australia, New Zealand, and
England, Dinham and Scott (2000) report that teachers are often motivated by
“matters intrinsic to the role of teaching” while their demotivation is mainly caused
by “matters extrinsic to the task of teaching” (p. 390). This has been also a common
finding in many other studies (Spear et al., 2000; Addison et al., 2008). According to
Dinham & Scott (2000), common intrinsic motivators for teachers include student
achievements, helping students modify their attitudes and behaviors, positive
relationship with students and others, self-growth, mastery of professional skills, and
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feeling part of a collegial supportive environment. In their review of teacher
motivation studies conducted in the contexts of England and Wales after 1989, Spear
et al. (2000) explored that the common intrinsic rewards of teaching are working with
children, developing warm personal relationships with students, the intellectual
challenge of teaching, autonomy, and independence. The major demotivators for
teachers are poor pay, work overload, and perceptions of how teachers are viewed by
society (p. 4). Although teachers in many contexts in the world are intrinsically
motivated, there are a large “number of detrimental factors that systematically

undermine and erode the intrinsic character of teacher motivation” (Dörnyei, 2000, p.
165). According to Dörnyei, teacher demotivation is often associated with five main
factors: stressful nature of work, inhibition of teacher autonomy, insufficient selfefficacy, content repetitiveness, and inadequate career structure (p. 165).
Among the factors influencing teacher motivation, there has been contrast
exploration in related research. Spear et al. (2000), Smithers and Robinson (2003),
and Addison and Brundrett (2008) identified poor pay as a demotivator for teachers.
However, Michaelowa (2002) claims that with regard to teacher motivation, “the role
of salaries does not seem to be as important as many people believe” (p. 18). Even in
the study on job satisfaction among American teachers by the National Center for
Educational Statistics (1997), “teacher satisfaction showed a weak relationship with
salary and benefits” (p. 9). Instead, “teachers were more satisfied in a supportive, safe
and autonomous environment” (p. 32).
Regarding to intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting teacher motivation, most
of the related studies have explored that intrinsic factors might be more important
than extrinsic ones. For instance, in the Hay-yiu Yau‟s research (2010) in New
Zealand, the findings show that intrinsic factors have greater influences on teacher
motivation and among them, items such as helping students to learn English, along
with teachers‟ professional development or personal enjoyment were found to play
very significant roles. Nikolina Pavić (2014) states in his research of EFL teacher
motivation that the most important finding is that intrinsic factors seem to have
greatest influence on motivation for most teachers, which is in accordance with the
results of most previous studies on teacher motivation.
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Recently, there have been studies on teacher motivation carried out in
developing countries. For instance, the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO),
Department for International Development (DFID), Global Campaign for Education
(GCE), and United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) have conducted a series of comprehensive studies on teacher motivation

in many developing countries, especially in South Asia and some parts of Africa. An
exploration from these studies is that there has been an existence of a crisis in teacher
motivation in many developing countries (DFID 2007, GCE 2005), which leads to
poor quality in education. For example, Teacher Motivation of Sub-Saharan Africa
and South Asia by DFID (2007), the most recent of the studies, also confirms the
findings of the previous studies, claims that in developing countries, “schooling
systems are faced with what amounts to a teacher motivation crisis” (DFID, 2007, p.
25). As these studies report, teacher demotivation in these countries is mostly caused
by limited opportunities for teacher training and professional development, lack of
support from school administration, decline in teacher status in society, poor salaries
and incentives, constant changes of school curricular, low teacher efficacy, and poor
working and living conditions. These demotivators also result in high levels of
teacher absenteeism, teacher transfers between schools, migration of qualified
teachers to developed countries, and teachers leaving the profession to take up other
jobs (p. 7). Chisato Tanaka (2010) had found in his research on “Teacher Motivation
of Basic School Teachers in Two Rural District in Ghana” that teacher motivation in
developing countries may not be the same as that in developed countries. Living and
working conditions, such as salary and educational infrastructure, which are largely
extrinsic motivations, could play a bigger role in developing countries. In these
countries most teachers struggle with one or more additional jobs to meet the needs of
their families and there education may “take place under a tree”. The study concluded
that teachers are subjects to environments which are shaped by the community, local
authorities and the central government. There is a tendency to blame teachers for the
low students‟ results.
In conclusion, teacher motivation may vary in different continents, areas or
countries although it follows certain common nature. Located in the Southeast of
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Asia, Vietnam is also considered one of the developing countries where teacher

motivation has been recognized as a “crisis”. The study will investigate teacher
motivation of some sample teachers in the city with the references of the above
theoretical framework and former studies‟ results.
1.4. Identification of the Gaps in Related Research
Some of the limitations of the related research are identified. Firstly, there is a
lack of research on motivation of foreign language teachers. Most of the studies
above are about teacher motivation in general teaching, (for example Carr-Hill
(1984), Riddell (1988), Eric Hanushek (2011), Sujeewa Hettiarachchi (2013), Spear
et al. (2000), Smithers and Robinson (2003), and Addison and Brundrett (2008)).
There are only a few studies about language teacher motivation such as Dinham &
Scott, (2000), Eleni Gheralis- Roussos (2003), Nikolina Pavić (2014). This may lead
to unequal results in the findings because the foreign language teachers have specific
and particular motivation which may be different from teachers in general. Another
gap in the research of teacher motivation is that there has been limited research on the
level of high school education in Vietnam. Teacher motivation is not paid significant
attention by both the government and the researchers despite its key role in education.
Next, there has existed another limitation of explorations about the change of
teaching motivation and its influences on teachers‟ classroom teaching. Last but not
least, there is a deep relation between intrinsic and extrinsic factors of motivation in
which several external or social factors can be changed into inner ones which plays
the important role in outcomes of students. However, most of the previous studies
have not dealt with this interesting field of which the findings may bring incredibly
positive effects in teachers‟ mind.
The current study is expected to be carried out with the duty to solve all the
above gaps or limitations. The aims of the study are to find out: (1) the intrinsic and
extrinsic factors of teacher motivation; (2) the changes of motivation of in-service
teachers; and (3) the influences of teacher motivation on their classroom teaching.

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the context and the subjects of the study, the data collection
instruments, the data collection procedure, and the data analysis procedure will be
discussed.
2.1. Subjects
The participants of the study include four teachers of Einstein high school, a
private school, and one teacher of Tran Nhan Tong high school, a state school. Five
participants (also named as P1, P2, P3, P4, P5) voluntarily took part in the study with
the wish to help the researcher to explore “teacher motivation” theme, which is also
quite new to them. They all were trained officially as teachers by the top universities
in Vietnam such as: University of Languages and International Studies of Vietnam
National University, Hanoi (ULIS), Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi
University. Two of them (P2 and P5) got the Master of Arts certification, the rest
three got Bachelor of English Teaching degree. Two subjects got international
standard language competence certificates: P2 owns a high IELTS band 7.5 and P5
achieves C1 certificate, provided by ULIS (Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages). In terms of participants‟ background, only two of them
(P2 & P5) are Hanoians, others come from provinces and are living in rented houses
or departments. Two of them (P3, P5) got married and have babies. All the subjects
of the research are female. This reflects the common picture of English teachers in
terms of gender in Vietnam, where most of foreign language teachers are female. All
the participants are quite young, from the age of 26 to 31. They are not very new or
not very old teachers with the years of experience from 3 to 9. At the time when the
research was carried out, they were working officially in their schools, Einstein High
School (P1, 2, 3, 4) and Tran Nhan Tong High School (P5). And all of them did extra
teaching in some English centers in Hanoi or worked as student tutors. Most of them
worked both weekdays and weekends. It can be seen clearly that all participants were
busy with their teaching.
2.2. Context of the Study

The context of the study follows the common nature of teaching status in such
an area of developing countries as being analyzed in the previous part. Moreover, the
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study was conducted in the more specific context of two high schools in the urban
area in Vietnam; they are Einstein high school and Tran Nhan Tong high school in
Hanoi. Einstein is one of the best private schools in Dong Da district, Hanoi. It has
been run for 8 years and there are 15-17 classes every year. Most of the Ss there have
low and medium English levels. There are some classes for English as a major.
English has not been the strong subject in this high school. The teachers are
encouraged to have free teaching styles. Ss are taught the English of the Textbook of
the national curriculum. Tran Nhan Tong high school is a state school in the central
district, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi. There are about 40 classes every year. It has a long
development history of 52 years. There are some classes which study English as a
major subject. The school teaches both the official English Textbooks and the pilot
New English Textbooks. The Ss‟ English levels are supposed to be generally higher
than those of Einstein school because they have higher entrance qualifications.
2.3. Case study
A case study is defined as a research approach in which an individual or group is
“studied extensively and varied data are collected and used to formulate
interpretations applicable to the specific case or to provide useful generalizations”
(Fraenkel and Wallen, 2009, p.13). The primary purpose of a case study is to allow
the researcher to develop a theory and make insights based on the data analysis in the
specific study. Such studies must take into account several different factors including
the situational context, culture, and other social phenomenon occurring with the
selected group of participants. Case studies can be based on either qualitative or
quantitative research or both, and the data are collected through numerous methods.
The research is conducted by qualitative method, which is useful to find out the
participants‟ deep opinions or beliefs about teacher motivation. The observations are

carried out in several weeks to learn the process of teachers‟ real teaching.
2.4. Data Collection Instruments
2.4.1. Qualitative Method
The past two decades have seen a considerable increase in the number of
studies in library and information science that employ qualitative research methods.
This increase has, in turn, resulted in a noticeable shift towards studies that rely on
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