A study on using self – assessment in the classroom to increase learning motivation in learning english at hanoi university of industry

Vietnam national university, haNoi College of foreign languages Post- graduate department Hoμng ThÞ H−¬ng Giang A study on using self – assessment in the classroom to increase learning motivation in Learning English at Hanoi University of Industry (Nghiªn cøu vÒ viÖc sö dông ph−¬ng ph¸p tù ®¸nh gi¸ trong líp häc nh»m t¨ng ®éng lùc häc tiÕng Anh ë tr−êng §¹i Häc C«ng nghiÖp Hµ Néi) Minor programme thesis Field: Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi – 2008 Vietnam national university, haNoi College of foreign languages Post- graduate department Hoμng ThÞ H−¬ng Giang A study on using self –assessment in the classroom to increase learning motivation in Learning English at Hanoi University of Industry (Nghiªn cøu vÒ viÖc sö dông ph−¬ng ph¸p tù ®¸nh gi¸ trong líp häc nh»m t¨ng ®éng lùc häc tiÕng Anh ë tr−êng §¹i Häc C«ng nghiÖp Hµ Néi) Minor programme thesis Field: Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Vuong, M.A Hanoi- 2008 i DECLARATION I, Hoang Thi Huong Giang , hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis, other than that specifically attributed to another source, is the result of my own research. It is recognised that, should this declaration be found to be false, disciplinary action could be taken and penalties imposed in accordance with University policy and rules Signature Hoang Thi Huong Giang ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor – Mrs Nguyen Thi Vuong for her insightful comments and suggestions on various parts of this thesis. My thanks also go to all my lecturers from Vietnam National University for their valuable lectures which help me to orient the topic. I also would like to express my thanks to Mrs Ngo Thanh Thuy, the staff member of Postgraduate Studies Department for her help and support during my studies. I am most thankful to my colleagues and undergraduate students at Hanoi University of Industry for their support in data collection. Finally my special thanks go to my father, my husband and my son, for their love and support throughout this project. Without their encouragement I could not have completed this thesis. iii ABSTRACT Motivation is considered to be one of the most important elements in language learning. Understand the role of motivation and the related theoryof self- assessment method has the potential to inform classroom teaching in important ways. If self- assessment method can indeed increase learners’motivation, then teaching and using self- assessment skills to learners may have direct implications for English classroom. The primary goal of this study is to investigate learners’ motivation in learning English before and after using continuous self – assessment questionnaire. Then it refers to ideas of other teachers of English at HAUI about self- assessment method. Lastly, this study seeks to discover some typical techniques related to self- assessment method in order to increase learners’motivation in learning English.The results of the study and some recommendation will bring in practical benefits to teaching and learning English. Teachers and learners will realize the useful role of self-assessment method and use some self- assessment techniques effectively. iv Table of content DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENT iv Chapter I: Introduction 1 1. Rationale 1 2. Aim of the study 2 3. Research questions 2 4. Significance of the study 2 5. Scope of the study 3 6. Method of the study 3 7. Design of the study 4 Chapter II: Literature review 5 1. Theoretical backgrounds of motivation 5 1.1. What is motivation? 5 1.2. Types of motivation in second language learning 7 1.2.1. Integrative Motivation 7 1.2.2. Instrumental Motivation 8 1.3. The importance of motivation in L2 learning 9 2. Theoretical backgrounds of self - assessment method. 9 2.1. Definitions of self – assessment 9 2.2. Why use self - assessment in second language learning? 10 2.3. Self-assessment techniques in L2 learning. 11 2.3.1. Self-marking 11 2.3.2. Portfolios 12 2.3.3. Pre- and post-course writing 12 2.3.4. Learner contracts 13 2.3.5. Student progress card 13 2.3.6. Learner diary 14 v 2.3.7. Self assessment questionnaire 14 2.3.8. Videotape 14 2.3.9. Teacher-student interviews 14 Chapter III: The study 15 1. Research questions 15 2. Null and alternative hypotheses 15 3. Research design 15 3.1.Research question 1 15 3.2.Research question 2 16 4. Participants and settings 16 5. Instruments : Motivation questionnaire 18 5.1.Motivation questionnaire 18 5.2. Self- assessment questionnaire 18 6. Results 19 7. Data analysis 23 Chapter IV: Discussion 27 1. Summary of the topic and need for the study 27 2. Implications in the classroom 28 3. Limitations and implications for future research 30 REFERENCES I APPENDIX A: Motivation questionnaire IV APPENDIX B: Self – assessment questionnaire VII 1CHAPTER I: Introduction 1. Rationale English has proved to play the important role as an international language and has a huge impact on the lives of people in many countries. Understanding the importance of mastering this language, in Viet Nam, our government has given a lot of suitable policies in education in order to encourage universities and schools to achieve the best quality of teaching and learning. Hanoi University of Industry (HAUI) has tried to become an open educational institution, to cater for learners and interested parties, train labor at various levels and meet the demand of socio-economic development. It is continuously improving the teaching methodology with the learner focus approach; applying strictly information technology in managing, teaching and learning; experimenting the credit model in education for a throughout application of this module; expanding the training cooperation with universities, schools, technical and economic institutions inside the country and overseas; encouraging creativity and learning. Hanoi University of Industry also focuses much on teaching English beside other majors. Students at HAUI have to learn English as a compulsory subject and have lots of chances to take part in many activities in English. Teachers at HAUI usually organize professional meetings, contests of good teaching, English speaking clubs and many activities in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning English here. However, they have a great deal of difficulties with the syllabus, curriculum, materials, and learners ‘motivation, etc…Especially the question: “How to increase learners’ motivation?” is a big question that comes form many teachers. This is of great concern to teachers of English here. Being a teacher of English at HAUI, I often try to find out suitable methods of teaching to different levels of students. Accidentally, I read some articles related to using self – assessment method in language teaching, and I find it interesting and useful. In my teaching, I sometimes use this method in simple ways in some classes and it often gives positive results(for example: Self-marking; Portfolios; Pre- and post-course writing; 2Learner contracts; Student progress card; Learner diary; Self assessment questionnaire; Videotape; teacher-student interviews, etc…) Because of the scope of the study, I choose Self assessment questionnaire as the main technique which follows through the study because I find it a useful one. And I often apply this technique in my teaching most of the time. For the above reasons, I carry out this study to investigate deeply the effects of self- assessment method, especially Self assessment questionnaire (weekly self-evaluations) to English learning and with the hope of sharing this method to all teachers of English. 2. Aim of the study: The primary goal of this study is to investigate learners’ motivation in learning English before and after using continuous self – assessment questionnaire. Then it refers to ideas of other teachers of English at HAUI about self- assessment method. Lastly, this study seeks to discover some typical techniques related to self- assessment method in order to increase learners’motivation in learning English. 3. Research questions: The study was intended to answer the following questions: + Is the self – assessment method used in English classroom at Hanoi University of Industry? + Does the self – assessment method increase HAUI students’ motivation in the classroom? 4. Significance of the study Motivation is considered to be one of the most important elements in language learning. Without appropriate motivation, it is unlikely that learners will succeed with the language. Understanding the role of motivation and the related theory of self- assessment method has the potential to perform classroom teaching in important ways. If self- assessment method can indeed increase learners’ motivation, then teaching and using self- assessment skills to learners may have direct implications for English classroom. The results of the study and some recommendations will bring about practical benefits to teaching and learning English. Teachers and learners will realize the useful role of self-assessment method and use some self- assessment techniques effectively. 35. Scope of the study Firstly, the study is conducted to find out whether or not self- assessment method increases learners’ motivation in learning English. Secondly, the study is carried out with the hope of testing how to use some self- assessment techniques effectively in English class. Other approaches of how to increase learners’ motivation are beyond this study. 6. Method of the study The purpose of this study was to find out if the incorporation of self- assessment exercises in English classroom directly helps increase learners’ motivation. In order to accomplish this goal, my thesis is the combination of different methods in education research. Knowledge and experience that I have gained from learning and teaching with a lot of materials, articles, books, websites, etc…helped me much in writing the thesis, especially the literature review. Given the desire to assess a cause- effect relationship between the variables in research questions, an experimental research design was used. In order to achieve the above mentioned aims and objectives to make the study more practical, data were collected by questionnaire and analysis. The primary data analysis is of quantitative method with scale question in the questionnaire designed for students’ motivation analysis. In a more detail, this study is to prove for the following two main hypothesises: Null hypothesis: There is no statistically significant difference between posttest ratings of motivation among students who receive a weekly classroom self- assessment component for one semester and those who do not, after controlling for the effect of pretest motivation ratings in both groups. Alternative hypothesis: Students who receive a weekly classroom self- assessment component for one semester will report higher posttest ratings of motivation compared with those who do not, after controlling for the effect of pretest motivation ratings in both groups. 47. Design of the study The thesis consists of fours chapters as follows: Chapter I: provides a general introduction, the background for the study, its aim, significance, scope, research questions, method and the design of the thesis. Chapter II: provides the literature review of the thesis and consists of two main parts: theoretical backgrounds of motivation, theoretical backgrounds of self - assessment method. Chapter III: is the study which focuses on: research questions; null and alternative hypotheses; research design; participants and settings; procedures; instruments (Motivation questionnaire; Self- assessment questionnaire); data analysis; summary of methodology; results. Chapter IV: presents the summary of the study and discussion is given to point out implication for teaching. 5CHAPTER II: Literature review 1. Theoretical backgrounds of motivation 1.1. What is motivation? According to Dörnyei, Z. (2001), perhaps the following item about motivation that many researchers admit is that motivation concerns the direction and magnitude of human behavior, that is: + the choice of a particular action + the persistence with it + the effort expended on it In other words, motivation is responsible for + why people decide to do something + how long they are willing to sustain the activity + how hard they are going to pursue it When learning a foreign language, motivation is defined as the learner's orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language. Motivation is considered to be one of the most important elements in language learning. Without motivation, it is unlikely that learners will succeed in their language learning. According to Cunningsworth (1992), a student who is not well taught but is motivated will have better results in learning a foreign language than a student who is well taught but is not motivated. Cunningsworth (1992, p. 59) also states that “motivation determines the student’s level of attention during class, and the assiduity which he does his homework and revises what he has been taught during the day”. It is commonly thought that if motivation is present, students become active as well as involved in the learning process; if absent, the learner will be passive, disinterested, and not involved in the learning process and therefore will not learn. Thus, foreign language teachers have to be aware of the necessity of looking for techniques and interactive activities in order to enhance their classes and also to motivate their students to learn a foreign language. Ames (1992) gave out three different types of goals in the area of achievement motivation. The first is the mastery or the learning goals which focus on obtaining 6competence or mastering a new set of knowledge or skills to achieve success; the second type of goals are called performance goals, which are related to doing better than others or doing well without a lot of effort in order to avoid failure, and the last ones are called social goals which focus on relationships among people. An important aspect of the achievement motivation theory is that learners can be motivated to either avoid failure or achieve success (Ames, 1992). In other words, when learners want to avoid failure they try to select either easy tasks in order to achieve success or difficult tasks in order to have a good excuse for why failure occurr. However, when learners want to achieve success they try to select moderately difficult tasks, which will provide an interesting challenge for them to keep the high expectations for success. What is motivation in EFL learning? Motivation may be defined as “a state of cognitive and emotional arousal, which leads to a conscious decision to act, and which gives rise to a period of sustained intellectual and/or physical effort in order to attain a previously set goal or goals” (Williams & Burden, 1997 p. 120). In other words, a person gets interested in some way and this interest may be started by different causes, maybe internal ones, coming from inside the learner such as an interest in the activity or a wish to be successful. Other causes may be external, for example the influence of another person or even an event. However, whatever the cause, the person’s interest is activated, leading this person to make a conscious decision to act in certain ways in order to achieve a goal or goals related to the activity undertaken. Once the activity has started the person has to persist in achieving the goals and all this is influenced by the context and situation, and will be personal to the individual. Specifically in EFL learning, motivation is “a complex phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two factors: learners’ communicative needs, and their attitudes towards the second language community” (Lightbown & Spada, 1993 p. 40). It means that if students need to speak the foreign language in a variety of social situations or maybe to get a better job they will notice the importance of the foreign language and consequently will be motivated to learn it. Likewise, if students have positive attitudes towards the speakers of the language, they will probably want to have more contact with them. Ur (1996), who is concerned with English language teaching, also sees motivation as a very important phenomenon. As she considers motivation difficult to give a definition, she prefers to think about motivation in terms of ‘motivated’ learners, that is, learners who 7are willing to involve themselves in learning activities to progress. Ur (1996) states that teaching and learning can become much easier and more pleasant when there is learners motivation. Who And What Motivates Foreign Language Students? It is important to say that students’ motivation in foreign language learning is the result not only of their internal environment but also of many other factors involved in the external milieu in which they are studying that language, and the teacher is one of the most important of such factors. The characteristics foreign language teachers should possess could be summed up as follows: they should be competent, observant, tactful and communicative; in addition, however, they should stimulate interest, have a capacity for self-evaluation and be willing to develop their skills. Above all they must feel a genuine interest for their students, be extremely sensitive to the students in order to motivate them. (Calvin,1991). 1.2. Types of motivation in second language learning 1.2.1. Integrative Motivation: Motivation has been known as the learner's orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language (Crookes and Schmidt 1991). They believed the learners that are very successful when they learn a language are those who like the people that speak that language, love their culture, and want to familiarize with the society in which that language is used. This kind of motivation is called integrative motivation. This is a key feature if someone is a citizen in a new community which has the target language in its social interactions, in helping learner to improve their levels of proficiency in the language they are learning. It becomes essential to operate socially in the community and become one of its members. Integrative motivation was identified by the fact that students are attracted by the culture of the community speaking that L2 and they want to integrate themselves into such a culture or become a part of that society. It is associated with components such as “interest in foreign languages”, “desire to learn the target language”, “attitudes toward learning the target language”, “attitudes toward the learning situation”, “desire to interact with the target language”, and “attitudes toward the target language community” (Gardner, 1982, Dörnyei, 1990 p. 46). 81.2.2. Instrumental Motivation Instrumental Motivation is known as the desire to obtain something practical or concrete from the study of a second language In this circumstance, the aim of language acquisition is more practical, for example: meeting the demand of school or university graduation, applying for a job, asking for higher pay, researching technical material, work related to translation or gaining higher social status. Instrumental motivation is normally distinctive of second language acquisition, in which little or no social integration of the learner into a community using the target language takes place.