(Luận văn thạc sĩ) factors affecting non english major students’ motivation in learning english listening skills at college of industrial techniques

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

LÊ MINH HƯỜNG

FACTORS AFFECTING NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’
MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS
AT COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUES
CÁC YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN HỨNG THÚ HỌC KĨ NĂNG
NGHE TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN ANH
TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code : 60140111

Hanoi, 2014


VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

LÊ MINH HƯỜNG

FACTORS AFFECTING NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’
MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS

AT COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUES
CÁC YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN HỨNG THÚ HỌC KĨ NĂNG
NGHE TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN ANH
TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code : 60140111
Supervisor : Dr. Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa

Hanoi, 2014


DECLARATION

I certify that the thesis entitled “Factors affecting non-English major students' motivation
in learning English listening skills at College of Industrial Techniques" is entirely my own
work. The substance of this thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree to
any other universities or institutions.

Hanoi, August 2014

Lê Minh Hường


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The completion of this study would not have been possible without the assistance of
special and wonderful people.

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Hoang Thi
Xuan Hoa for her unfailing encouragement, constant support and invaluable suggestions
during all stages of the study. She not only gave me reliable guidelines but also shared
much of her experience in language studying and teaching. I would also like to thank my
supervisor for her patience in reading and editing my drafts.
I would also like to send my sincere thanks to all staff, teachers and members at Faculty of
Post-Graduate Studies of University of Languages and International Studies-Vietnam
National University for their work and services. Especially, I am grateful to the librarians
who supplied me with a lot of materials.
My gratitude is also to my colleagues and students at the College of Industrial Techniques
who were willing to answer my questions and complete my questionnaires. They gave me
invaluable advice and suggestions on the thesis. Without them, my thesis could not be
completed and successful.
Last but not least, I would like to send my thanks to my beloved people, my parents, my
husband and my daughter for their encouragement and support which help me overcome
difficulties to complete this study.


ABSTRACT

Motivation is one of the most important factors that influences the rate and success of
second language learning. This study aims to investigate the factors affecting non-English
major students' motivation in learning English listening skills at the College of Industrial
Techniques. In this study, 55 first-year non- English major students from different faculties
of College of Industrial Techniques were chosen as the subjects. A survey questionnaire
and a semi-structured interview were used as the data collection instrument. The findings
of the study showed that the factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in
learning English listening skills derive from 3 sources: students, teachers, learning
conditions. In details, the first factor is that students‟ lack of basic knowledge, lack of
confidence, personality and belief in learning English listening skills. The other factor is

that students have to face are teachers‟ behaviors and methods in teaching English
listening. In addition, inadequate school facilities, lack of target language environment,
textbook and exam- orientation are also factors affecting that prevent students at College
of Industrial Techniques from concentrating and motivating in their learning English
listening skills. Based on the findings of the study, some discussions and implications of
learning English listening skills are made along with recommended suggestions for further
research. At last, it is hoped that the results of this study could be of much benefit for
students in learning English listening skills at College of Industrial Techniques.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION .................................................................................................................. i
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ vi
LIST OF CHARTS ............................................................................................................ vii
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vii
PART A: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1
1. Rationale of the study .................................................................................................... 1
2. Aims of the study ........................................................................................................... 2
3. The research questions ................................................................................................... 2
4. Scope of the study .......................................................................................................... 3
5. Method of the study ....................................................................................................... 3
6. Design of the study ........................................................................................................ 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................... 5
1.1. Theoretical background of motivation ........................................................................ 5
1.1.1. Definition of motivation ...................................................................................... 5

1.1.2. Types of motivation in foreign language learning. .............................................. 6
1.1.3. The role of motivation in second language learning. ........................................... 7
1.2. Theoretical background of listening skills .................................................................. 8
1.2.1. Definition of listening skills ................................................................................ 8
1.2.2. Teaching listening skills ...................................................................................... 9
1.2.3. The factors affecting motivation in learning listening skills ............................. 10
1.2.3.1. The student-related factors.......................................................................... 10
1.2.3.2. The teacher-related factors ......................................................................... 12
1.2.3.3. Teaching and learning conditions ............................................................... 14
1.3. Previous studies in the world and in Vietnam .......................................................... 15
1.4. Summary ................................................................................................................... 16
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................... 17
2.1. The setting of the study ............................................................................................. 17


2.2. Participants................................................................................................................ 18
2.3. Instrument for collecting data ................................................................................... 20
2.4. Data collection procedures ........................................................................................ 21
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ............................................................ 22
3.1. Findings .................................................................................................................... 22
3.1.1. Level of students‟ motivation ............................................................................ 22
3.1.1.1. Students‟ attitudes towards the learning of listening English ..................... 22
3.1.1.2. Students‟ motivation in learning listening English ..................................... 25
3.1.2. Factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English
listening skills at CIT. .................................................................................................. 27
3.1.2.1. The student-related factors affecting non-English major students‟
motivation in learning English listening skills ........................................................ 27
3.1.2.2. The teacher-related factors affecting non-English major students‟
motivation in learning English listening skills ........................................................ 29
3.1.2.3. Learning conditions affecting students‟ motivation in learning English

listening skills .......................................................................................................... 31
3.2. Discussions ............................................................................................................... 32
PART C: CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 34
1. Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 34
2. Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 34
3. Limitations of the study ............................................................................................... 36
4. Suggestions for further research .................................................................................. 37
REFERENCES................................................................................................................... 38
APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................I
APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE .................................................................. I
APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW .................................................. III
APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS ............................................................. IV


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

L2

: Second Language

CIT : College of Industrial Techniques
%

: Percentage


LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1: Students‟ attitudes towards the learning of listening English
Chart 2: Students‟ participation in speaking lessons

Chart 3: Students‟ motivations on learning listening skills
Chart 4: Teachers‟ factors

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The student-related factors
Table 2: Learning conditions


PART A: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale of the study
Among four macro skills of languages, listening skills make a significant
contribution to the process of acquiring language. Listening skills play a crucial role in
communication. It has been estimated that the time people spend on communication
activities 45 percent is devoted to listening, only 30 percent to speaking, 16 percent to
reading and a mere 9 percent to writing by Rivers, W.M & Temperley, M.S. (1978). In
addition, it also requires a wide range of knowledge and ability: knowledge of phonology,
vocabulary, semantics of the language in use, culture of its people, and their life
experiences in the topic, their ability to predict and respond. However, how to listening
English well is a problem for many learners of English, especially for the students of
colleges and universities. Despite the fact that the students have been learning English
since they were at secondary or high school, most of students are weak at listening skills
and have a lot of difficulties in listening acquisitions. They even become stressful and
ignorant in listening lessons.
In literature, there have been numerous studies conducted by the international teachers and
researchers to investigate a multitude of factors that may affect language learning. Among
all, motivation has been proved to play a significant role in determining whether students
succeed or fail in school. In other words, there has been a highly positive relationship
between motivation and learners‟ achievement in language learning. According to Oxford

and Shearin (1996, cited in Ha 2009: 163-164), motivation directly influences how much
effort students make, how often students use L2 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 L2 skills after
language study is over Ely (1986); Oxford & Shearin (1996). Particularly, toward learning
listening skills, motivation is one important element in foreign language teaching in
general and learning English listening skills in particular.

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With six years of teaching English at College of Industrial Techniques (CIT), the
researcher has realized that students normally lack of motivation in learning English in
general and in listening skills in particular. In fact, most students have passive attitudes
toward learning listening English due to the previous experiences that listening skill is hard
to learn and they fail to take listening input. Many of them get bored and become demotivated when listening classes start. They are generally less aware of its importance. In
addition to the lack of well-equipped facilities, classes at colleges and universities are
usually very large-between fifty and sixty students. Another problem is students‟ low level
of proficiency in terms of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, skills. Listening skill is
treated equally as other skills in terms of time allocation. The foreign language they learn
is often presented in the first language, the emphasis is on grammar only with the aim to
help students pass the exams given by either the school examination board or the Ministry
of Education and Training. All of these have inspired the author to make an attempt to
carry out the research “Factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in
learning English listening skills at CIT”. This will be the basis for the researcher in general
and the teachers of English at CIT in particular in arousing motivation for students in
listening skills, helping them to get involved in different listening activities, keep their
efforts during learning process and then achieve successes.
2. Aims of the study

This survey is conducted in order to investigate the factors affecting non-English
major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT.
Objectives of the study are summarized as follows:
- To investigate the non-English major students‟ level of motivation in learning English
listening skills at CIT
- To identify the factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning
English listening skills at CIT.
3. The research questions
To achieve the aims mentioned above, the following research questions were proposed:

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1. How motivated are the non-English major students in learning English listening skills at
CIT?
2. What are the factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning
English listening skills at CIT?
4. Scope of the study
This study mainly focuses on the factors affecting non-English major students‟
motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT. However, due to the limit of time
and the scope of a minor thesis, the researcher only carried out to investigate the nonEnglish major students‟ level of motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT and
identify the factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English
listening skills at CIT. The other study of this minor thesis would be beyond of the scope.
5. Method of the study
This survey research uses two instruments to collect the data. Firstly, the survey
questionnaire was conducted with 55 students randomly chosen from about 300 first year
students at CIT. Secondly, semi-structured interviews with 5 students, who have done the
survey questionnaire, were carried out.
6. Design of the study
This study consists of three main parts: the introduction, the development and the

conclusion.
Part A is the Introduction. It lays out the reasons for choosing the topic for this thesis and
points out the aims, the scope, the methods and the design of the study.
Part B is the Development. It consists of three chapters:
Chapter 1: Literature Review presents the theoretical background of motivation, the
theoretical background of listening skills and discussion of issues and aspects concerning
the topic of the study.
Chapter 2: Methodology gives the situation analysis, participants; instruments for
collection data and data analysis method are discussed in this chapter.
Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions present the results from the detailed analysis of
collected data and provides several discussions related to them.
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Part C is the Conclusion. It summarizes the major findings and points out the limitations of
the study. Furthermore, some suggestions for further studies are also given in this part.

4


PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter presents the theoretical background of motivation, the theoretical
background of listening skills and discussion of issues and aspects concerning the topic of
the study.
1.1. Theoretical background of motivation
1.1.1. Definition of motivation
Motivation plays an important role in the process of English learning – teaching.
Research shows that motivation is one of the main determining factors in an individual‟s
success in developing a L2, it is crucial for L2 learning by Dornyei (1994); Oxford &

Shearin (1996) because it directly influences how much effort students make, how often
students use L2 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 L2 skills after language study is over.
For many years, a lot of different proposed definitions of motivation have been provided.
According to Dornyei (2001), motivation is one of the most important factors that
influences the rate and success of second language learning. He states, “Motivation
provides the primary impetus to initiate learning the L2 and later the driving force to
sustain the long and often tedious learning process”. He claims that without sufficient
motivation, even individuals with remarkable abilities couldn‟t accomplish long-term
goals. However, high motivation can make learners get considerable achievement in spite
of their language aptitude and learning condition.
As Dornyei (2001: 7) claims that “ motivation explains why people decide to do
something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are going to sustain
their activities.” While Woldkowski, R. J. (1998) explains that in the broadest sense,
motivation is "a value and a desire for learning". Motivation involves a student‟s desire to

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participate in the learning process. It is also concerned with the reasons or goals which
underlie a student‟s participation in learning activities.
According to Crooks and Schmidt (1991), motivation is defined in terms of interest in and
enthusiasm for the teaching methods used in the class; persistence with the listening task as
indicated by levels of attention or action for an extended duration; and levels of
concentration and enjoyment. From the researcher‟s point of view, this definition is exactly
right for the motivation in this study. The motivation being investigated in this study is the
levels of students‟ motivation generated in the listening lessons whether students are
interested and enthusiastic in listening task with high concentration and enjoyment.

1.1.2. Types of motivation in foreign language learning.
Motivation can be classified in different ways. In some studies, motivation is
categorized: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Besides, motivation in foreign language
learning is more broadly categorized into two types: integrative and instrumental
motivation. In addition, there are some different categorized of motivation as follows:
global, situational, task, resultative motivation. Yet due to the scope of the study, the focus
was on two types: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation: Intrinsic motivation is generally possessed by people having personal
interests in doing something and helping to set their goals. People are intrinsically motivate
not because accomplishing the activity they do brings a rewards, but because doing the
activity itself is a reward by Dornyei (2001:51).
Dornyei (2001) notes that a student with intrinsic motivation participates in his/ her
learning for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the learning it permits, or the
feelings of accomplishment it evokes.
Extrinsic motivation: Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, derives from an anticipation
of rewards such as praise, awards, prizes, and evaluation and fear for punishment as
extrinsically motivated students does the activity itself, and this kind of motivation refers
to learning situations where the reason for doing a task is something other than an interest
in the task itself by Williams & Burden (1997:40)

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The goal connected with intrinsic motivation is a positive learning effect that lasts a long
time, but the goal of an extrinsic motivated student is completely different. Ur (1996)
points out that extrinsic derives from the influence of some kind of external incentives, as
distinct from the wish to learn for its own sake or internet in learning tasks. Many sources
of extrinsic motivation are beyond the influence of important people, such as parents.
However, other sources are certainly affected by teacher action, including success and its
rewards, failure and its rewards, failure and its penalties, authoritative demands, tests,

competition. Teachers use extrinsic motivation to stimulate learning or encourage students
to perform in a particular way. It is one of the most powerful motivations. It is operative
when an individual is motivated by an outcome that is external or somehow related to the
activity in which she or he is engaged.
In short, the category of motivation is useful for carrying out this study. Based on the
analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation mentioned above, the teacher can stimulate
students to participate in tasks actively by the innovation of teaching methods.
1.1.3. The role of motivation in second language learning.
Learner motivation has become more and more commonly recognized as one of the
major defining factors for success in learning English.
Reece & Walker (1997) express that “motivation is a key factor in the second language
learning process”. They stressed that a less able student who is highly motivated can
achieve greater success than the more intelligent student who is not well motivation.
Among the things that do clearly affected mastery of a second language is the kind of
motivation that a learner has Finegan (1994:466).
As Littlewood (1984:53) puts it “in second language learning as well as in other fields of
human learning, motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learner
embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he preserves”.
Besides, Hedge (2000: 23) affirms, “motivation is of crucial importance in the classroom,
whether learners arrive with it or they acquire it through classroom experiences”.
Furthermore, Dornyei (2001) states that a learner with enough motivation is likely to gain
an acceptable knowledge of an L2 despite his language aptitude or other cognitive

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characteristics. Even the brightest student without enough motivation is unlikely to persist
long enough to achieve any really useful language. Therefore, motivation is crucial for L2
learning, and it is essential to understand what our students‟ motivations are.
1.2. Theoretical background of listening skills

1.2.1. Definition of listening skills
In second language learning and teaching, listening is defined as the process of
understanding speech in a second or foreign language.
Listening plays a vital role in our social life that no one can deny. Indeed, listening takes
up as much as fifty percent of our everyday communication time and it is the most used
language skill at work and at home by God (2002).
According to Rost (1994) listening now becomes an essential element of communication.
Listening is essential for interaction. A learner can express himself orally but never be able
to communicate with speakers of English if unable to understand what is said to him.
As Grant (1987), he states that the listening skill includes everything from learning
particular sounds to comprehending complicated messages. Without this skill,
communication can break down. Therefore, successful communication really depends on
listener or receivers of messages.
Yagang (1993) provide a simpler definition as listening is considered “the ability to
identify and understand what others are saying.” In order to understand what is listening,
the concept of listening by Underwood (1989) is extracted „listening is the activity of
paying attention to and trying to get meaning from something you hear.”
Also according to Underwood (1989) to listen successfully to spoke language, we need to
be able to work out what speakers mean when they use particular words in particular ways
on particular occasion, and not simply to understand the words themselves.
All in all, listening involves a multiplicity of skills. It is a complex, active processes of
interpretation in which listener match what they hear with what they have already know.

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1.2.2. Teaching listening skills
Teaching listening as well as learning listening is not simple, complex and difficult
processes. Teachers and students meet many challenges in this skill.
Mendelsohn (1998) emphasizes that in teaching listening; teachers need to help students

become self-regulated learners. He claims that listening should be changed from product to
process, and the role of teacher is to teach his/her learner “how” to listen, not to test their
listening proficiency during listening lessons.
Vandergrift (1999) composed a pedagogical sequence in which teachers and students‟
responsibility were indentified clearly in listening lessons. This consequence can develop
teachers‟ awareness of the process of listening and help students acquire the met cognitive
knowledge to success in listening comprehension. The consequence consists of three main
periods:

planning for

the

successful

completion

of

a

listening

task,

monitoring comprehension during a listening task and valuating the approach and
outcomes of a listening task.
For the period of planning for the successful completion of a listening task, pre-listening
activities takes a very important role. These activities help students make decisions about
what to listen for and, subsequently, to focus attention on meaning while listening. During

this critical phase of the listening process, teachers prepare students for what they will hear
and what they are expected to do. First, students need to bring to consciousness their
knowledge of the topic, their knowledge of how information is organized in different texts
and any relevant cultural information. Second, a purpose for listening must be established
so that students know the specific information they need to listen for and/or the degree of
detail required. Using all the available information, students can make predictions to
anticipate what they might hear.
During the listening process, students monitor their comprehension and make decisions
about strategy use. Students need to evaluate continually what they are comprehending and
check the consistency with their predictions, and the internal consistency, for example, the
ongoing interpretation of the oral text or interaction. Teacher intervention during this phase
is virtually impossible because of the ephemeral nature of listening. Periodic practice in

9


decision-making skills and strategy use can sharpen inference skills and help students to
monitor more effectively.
In addition, students need to evaluate the results of decisions made during a listening task.
The teacher can encourage self-evaluation and reflection by asking students to assess the
effectiveness of strategies used. Group or class discussions on the approach taken by
different students can also stimulate reflection and worthwhile evaluation. Students are
encouraged to share individual routes leading to success, for instance, how someone
guessed the meaning of a certain word or how someone modified a particular strategy.
In order to help students consciously focus on planning, monitoring and evaluation before
and after the completion of listening tasks, teachers can develop performance checklists.
These instruments help students prepare for a listening task and evaluate their own
performance.
1.2.3. The factors affecting motivation in learning listening skills
There are a variety of factors influencing learners‟ motivation such as learners,

parents, community, the learning context, the teacher, the subject matters, teaching and
learning conditions, ect. However, the author of this research pays much of the attention to
some influential factors, namely: students‟ factors, teachers‟ factors and learning
conditions.
1.2.3.1. The student-related factors
Personality: Personality of the students constitutes a major factor contributing to success
or failure in language learning. For example, Ellis (1997) proves that extrovert students
are advantaged in the development of language associated with interpersonal
communication. From the same point of view, Lightbown & Spada (1999) give a number
of personality characteristics: extroversion, inhibition, self – esteem, empathy, dominance,
talkativeness, responsiveness. To sum up, personality characteristics are likely to affect
second language learning including extroversion, relaxation, self-esteem (self-confidence),
anxiety and empathy.
Attitudes: According to Gardner (1985), “the relationship between attitudes, motivation
and second language achievement is complex; they always interact and influence each
10


other”. In learning listening, they are expressed through the awareness of the importance of
listening, learners‟ needs (personal growth, cultural enrichment, practical goals, and
integrative reason) and learners‟ effort and interest in learning and practicing listening.
Students’ lack of basic knowledge of English: Among these factors, the first and most
influential factor is their background knowledge. Background knowledge refers to the
existing information on a specific topic in each language lesson. Therefore, if students lack
this type of knowledge, it is really challenging for them to get involved in learning
activities. They are likely to be unable to comprehend new knowledge, and more seriously,
they may lose their interests in learning lessons. Realizing the importance of this factor, the
teacher needs to provide students with suitable background information for the lesson and
helps them use it effectively.
Besides language items such as vocabulary and grammatical structures may have impact

on students‟ feelings. This causes them difficulties in getting meaning as well as practicing
language skills. Just as Underwood (1989:17) said, “ For people listening to a foreign
language , an unknown word can be like suddenly dropped barrier causing them to stop
and think about the meaning of the word and thus making them miss the next part of the
speech”. When hearing unknown words, they easily become worried and stop continue
hearing the next part of speech to try to work out the meaning of the new word. Students
need to develop the skill of keeping up with the speaker even if this means letting part
which they have failed to sort out pass.
Students’ preference: It refers to learning styles involving an individual‟s natural habitual,
preferred ways of absorbing, processing and retaining new information and skills. There
are two types of learning styles related to second language learning:
- Perceptual learning styles include learning through the eyes (visual), through the ears
(aural) and through touch and body movement (hap tic).
- Cognitive learning styles: field-independence and field-dependence, reflectivity and
impulsivity and ambiguity tolerance
Students’ beliefs: Learners have strong beliefs about how their language instruction should
be delivered or expectations of how classes should be organized and taught. “These beliefs
are usually based on previous learning experiences and the assumption (right or wrong)

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that a particular type of instruction is the best way for them to learn.” Lightbown (1999:
59). Hence; teachers should help learners expand their repertoire of learning strategies and
thus develop greater flexibility in their ways of approaching language learning.
Students’ lack of confidence: Learner‟s motivation can strongly decrease depending on
how much confidence learner‟s lack. As a result, when a learner lacks confidence toward
the language they are learning and the environment they are in, they can easily get anxiety
which not only de-motivate them but also is related to proficiency as suggested by Clemen,
Dorneyi and Noel (1994)

Aptitude: According to Lightbown & Spada (1999:53), aptitude is the factor that “predicts
whether individuals become efficient learners of foreign language in a classroom setting”.
An aptitude is an innate. Aptitude comprises different types of abilities: auditory ability
(the ability to identify and memorize new sounds), grammatical sensitivity (the ability to
figure out grammatical rules from language samples, the ability to understand the function
of particular words in sentences) and memory (the ability to memorize new words).
1.2.3.2. The teacher-related factors
The teacher also needs to be clearly aware of learners‟ needs, their motivation and
their purposes of their learning. A good teacher should be the one who is capable of pulling
the student and the lesson closely together.
Teacher’s behaviors: The first factor affecting the motivation of learners is the teacher‟s
attitudes and behaviors. The way the teacher feels, thinks, and behaves while teaching
surely has a profound influence on learners‟ motivation and the learning atmosphere.
When the teacher has personal and interpersonal variables such as good mood, warmth,
respect, empathy, understanding, sensitivity, enthusiasm, good sense of humor, the
learning environment is likely to be relaxing and enjoying to students. It is suggested that
when learners have chances to work with an instructor who shows students excitement
about the subject matter being taught, or simply expresses their love for teaching job,
inevitably they are affected by this energy and will engage themselves more actively in the
learning process.

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Moreover, when the teacher shows that their expectations are put on students‟ abilities,
they are more likely to reach higher levels of achievement and feel more confident.
Learners tend to perform at the level that is consistent with the teacher‟s belief and
expectations.
Teaching methods: Besides, the teacher‟s teaching techniques and activities are of great
impact on learners‟ motivation. Without proper techniques and activities in the learning

process, learners could be left in confusion and boredom while dealing with the subject
matter. That is why the teacher should invest more time and efforts in designing and
processing teaching materials as well as in finding out appropriate techniques and activities
that can best facilitate learners in their learning. For example, in listening, teaching
methods of one lesson can be different, they depend on three stages: pre – listening, while
– listening and post – listening.
However, when deciding what teaching method to use, a teacher needs to consider
students' background knowledge, environment, and learning goals. The teachers aware that
students learn in different ways so they must use techniques which cater to multiple
learning styles to help students retain information and strengthen understanding.
Enthusiasm: Teachers' love, dedication and passion together with their commitment toward
the subject matter will give students willingness to pursue knowledge. Moreover, based on
Good & Brophy (1994), teachers should clearly identify reasons for their love and interest
in the L2 and then share these reasons with their students.
Ability to listen and pay attention to students: The teacher can convey his/ her personal
attention to the students by remembering their names, smiling at them, asking them about
their lives outside school.
Teacher’s competence: It refers to teacher‟s proficiency, social and cultural background
knowledge. The proficiency shows by the level of mastering and using the second
language, the ability to perform teachers‟ mastery suitably to the content of each lesson.
Social and cultural background knowledge is known with the understanding of society and
culture in both the second language community and the mother tongue community and
shown in teaching.

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1.2.3.3. Learning conditions
Physical conditions: Physical conditions in the classroom include the classroom size,
chairs, desks, table, lights, boards and even bulletin boards affect students' motivation

either positively or negatively. The decoration (poster, flowers, funny objects) also has a
strong influence on the classroom atmosphere. Moreover, according to Dornyei (2001: 42),
personalizing the classroom can be seen as students exercising increasing control over their
environment.
Besides, noise and quality of listening facilities might cause students‟ listening become
challenging. Noise including both background noises on the recording and environmental
noises, can take the listener‟s mind off the content of the listening passage. Furthermore,
listening material on tape or radio lacks visual and aural environmental clues. Not seeing
the speaker‟s body language and facial expressions makes it more difficult for the listener
to understand the speaker‟s meaning. Moreover, unclear sounds resulting from poorquality equipment can interfere with the listener‟s comprehension.
Classroom atmosphere: Teacher must be aware of how important to create a pleasant and
supportive classroom atmosphere. The teacher's rapport with the students, the students'
relationship with each other and the norm of tolerance will help students feel safe and
comfortable taking risk. Moreover, teacher should make students know that making
mistakes is a natural part of learning. Therefore, students are encouraged to express their
own opinion and thinking. As Lightbown & Spada (1999), they state that the supportive
and non- threatening atmosphere made a contribution to learners' motivation.
Learning materials: One of the most important factors that influence the learner‟s
motivation is learning materials. Interesting, relevant, and carefully-designed materials will
surely more motivate students in learning the subject matter. For example, students will
easily lose their interest in dealing with reading text containing too many new words,
complex structures and ambiguous ideas. And if the content of the reading is nothing
relevant to the topic at hand of the lesson, students are definitely uninterested in working
with it. In addition, the lack of diversification in tasks used also makes students reluctant to
fully engage with the learning activity.

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1.3. Previous studies in the world and in Vietnam

The impact of motivation in foreign language learning has been recognized
significantly by many educational researchers.
Gardner (1985), Dornyei (2001), Brown (1994) etc., have generated the concept of
motivation, its effects in foreign language learning and applicable strategies for improving
learners‟ motivation in class. In the light of their researches, teachers are able to answer the
question how to motivate learners for success and their findings encourage or support
educational researchers to do more research in different aspects of language teaching.
Sakai and Kikuchi (2009) investigated 6 factors from reviewing previous studies of demotivation in learning, concluding teachers, characteristics of classes, experiences of
failure, class environment, class materials, and lack of interest. They administrated a 35item questionnaire to 656 Japanese high school students and identified the following
sources of de-motivation: 1) Learning contents and materials, 2) Teachers‟ competence and
teaching style, 3) Inadequate school facilities, 4) Lack of intrinsic motivation, and 5) Test
scores. In contrast to both previous studies, teacher-related factors were not the most demotivating factors, that learning contents and materials and test scores are the prominent
de-motivating factors for various students.
Kikuchi (2011) conducted a research among 1334 Japanese senior high school students at
7 high schools. The questionnaire was used as the data instrument. The de-motivation was
found from these sources: students‟ difficult experience or loss of interest in learning. In
addition, influence from teachers also causes de-motivation and material focusing on
difficult reading passage and/or vocabulary causes the strongest sense of de-motivation.
Kikuchi‟s study also reviews on de-motivation and de-motivators of previous study in
detail. The questionnaires he used depend on analysis of other study and chose the most
effective points such as from Dornyei, Oxford and Gardner. His study is one part of the
background for this study. However, only questionnaire was used. If there were interviews
with students, the deeper information could be collected from students.
Relating to factors affecting students‟ motivation to study English, Tuyen, N.T. (2012) did
research on “factors affecting students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at An
Lao high school” The researcher uses a questionnaire of two parts and interview as the data

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collection. The study revealed that students lacked listening strategies, but teachers didn't
teach those listening strategies regularly. Teachers had to face in teaching listening was
that students lacked language knowledge and vocabulary. Moreover, learning environment
and learning facilities also badly affected teaching and learning listening.
Another study conducted by Huong, N.T.T. (2010) to investigate non-majors‟ motivational
factors in learning English listening at Hai Phong private university. Participants were 186
English non - major students at TOEIC level 2 in total of 1078 students from seven
different classes. The data was collected using a survey questionnaire in Likert Scale
pattern. After analyzing five learners‟ related factors, the findings showed that the effect of
each factor on students‟ motivation was different while, for each factor, the ideas were
shown rather similarly in both groups of participants coming from the country and from the
urban areas.
Overall, there have been number of studies in motivation in foreign language learning and
learning English skills. However, there has been little research into factors affecting nonEnglish major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at College of
Industrial Techniques. This is the gap that the current thesis study tries to bridge. By doing
research through questionnaires a semi-structured interview, this study hopes to add further
evidence to the small but growing body of research on this topic.
1.4. Summary
In this chapter, motivation has not been paid more attention from Vietnamese students
and researchers. From the factual contexts that the researcher works in and finds the matter
interesting and necessary, this study aims to measure the factors affecting non-English
major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT.
Among the factors identified by previous researchers and depending on the context of
teaching and learning English at CIT, the researcher wants to put emphasis on the
following factors: the teacher-related factors, the student-related factors, and learning
conditions.

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