An investigation into factors affecting learner autonomy of vocational students in learning Englishn - A survey at Central Highlands Technology College

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

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TRAN THI MINH TRANG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS AFFECTING

LEARNER AUTONOMY OF VOCATIONAL STUDENTS

IN LEARNING ENGLISH: A SURVEY AT CENTRAL

HIGHLANDS TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE

MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL

HO CHI MINH CITY, 2022

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

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TRAN THI MINH TRANG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS AFFECTING

LEARNER AUTONOMY OF VOCATIONAL STUDENTS

IN LEARNING ENGLISH: A SURVEY AT CENTRAL

HIGHLANDS TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Major code: 8 14 01 11

MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL

Supervisor: DINH THI MINH HIEN, Ed.D

HO CHI MINH CITY, 2022

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC MỞ

THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH

KHOA ĐÀO TẠO SAU ĐẠI HỌC

CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM

Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc

GIẤY XÁC NHẬN

Tôi tên là: Trần Thị Minh Trang

Ngày sinh: 06/11/1990 Nơi sinh: Buôn Ma Thuột, Đắk Lắk

Chuyên ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh

Mã học viên: 1981401111024

Tôi đồng ý cung cấp toàn văn thông tin luận án/ luận văn tốt nghiệp hợp lệ về bản

quyền cho Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Thư viện trường

đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh sẽ kết nối toàn văn thông tin luận án/ luận văn

tốt nghiệp vào hệ thống thông tin khoa học của Sở Khoa học và Công nghệ Thành

phố Hồ Chí Minh.

Ký tên

(Ghi rõ họ và tên)

Trần Thị Minh Trang

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I affirm that the thesis entitles “An investigation into factors affecting learner

autonomy of vocational students in learning English: A survey at Central Highlands

Technology College” is my own work. The data and findings are accurate and were

done with the associates' consent. No other's research has been used without proper

attribution in the primary body of the thesis. This thesis has not been submitted to

Ho Chi Minh City Open University or any other institution for the award of a

degree or diploma.

Ho Chi Minh City, July 18

th 2022

TRAN THI MINH TRANG

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Firstly, I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Dinh Thi Minh Hien

(Ed.D), my supervisor, for all her enthusiastic support throughout the entire study.

Thanks to her instructions and valuable advice, I have kept and nourished my drive

to fulfill this thesis.

Secondly, my sincere thankful words would be sent to all of HCMC Open

University teachers who provided me with invaluable lessons and extensive

knowledge. My sincere gratitude goes out to the academic administrators and staff

at the Graduate School of the HCMC Open University, for their unwavering

assistance and timely reminders.

Thirly, I would like to convey my whole-hearted thankfulness to CHTC English

teachers and the vocational students for their contribution to the completion of data

collection, which was a crucial component of my work.

Last but not least, my appreciation goes to all my family members and friends

for their ongoing assistance while I was doing my thesis, especially in the moments

of difficulty.

ABSTRACT

Despite the fact that learner autonomy has lately been acknowledged as an

important approach for Vietnamese education, there have been few studies on the

topic, particularly in vocational education. The research investigated the learner

autonomy of students at Central Highlands Technology College. The aim of this

study was to identify the students' autonomous learner characteristics, factors

affecting their autonomy in the context of vocational education, and some

suggestions to improve the students' learner autonomy.

The paper was conducted with 123 first-year vocational students come from

five faculties at Central Highlands Technology College. In addition, the researcher

invited three English teachers to participate in one-on-one interviews about their

understanding of learner autonomy. The results from questionnaire were

quantitatively analyzed using SPSS, while data from interviews were evaluated

using the content analysis method.

Based on the findings, both students and English teachers consider that teachers

play an integral role in the English classroom. Students, on the other hand, are

overly reliant on their teachers, despite the fact that they have the ability to decide

on many activities related to their learning. Additionally, the data showed that the

students exercised less autonomy over learning activities. Finally, two groups of

participants are aware the use of technology in teaching and learning English can

remarkably affect the learner autonomy of vocational students in teaching and

learning English.

In conclusion, understanding learner autonomy from the view-point of both

students and teachers in the context of vocational schools can support teachers in

achieving the ultimate goal of foreign language learning, which is to improve

students' English proficiency. Hopefully, this research will be useful in enhancing

students' learner autonomy at Central Highlands Technology College.

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................ i

LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................... iv

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................... vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................1

1.1. Background of the study...................................................................................1

1.2. Statement of the problem..................................................................................2

1.3. Purpose of the study..........................................................................................4

1.4. Research questions............................................................................................4

1.5. Significance of the study ..................................................................................4

1.6. The rationale of the study .................................................................................5

1.7. Overview of the chapters..................................................................................6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................7

2.1. Theoretical background ....................................................................................7

2.1.1. The concept of Autonomy..........................................................................7

2.1.2. Definition of autonomy in language learning ............................................7

2.1.3. Learner autonomy in this study................................................................10

2.1.4. The role of autonomy in language learning .............................................11

2.1.5. Characteristics of autonomous learner .....................................................12

2.2. Factors affecting LA in language learning .....................................................13

2.2.1. Psychological factors................................................................................13

2.2.2. Contextual factors.....................................................................................16

2.2.3. Technological factors...............................................................................20

2.3. Previous studies ..............................................................................................22

2.4. Research gap...................................................................................................27

2.5. Research framework .......................................................................................28

ii

2.6. Summary.........................................................................................................29

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................30

3.1. Research design ..............................................................................................30

3.2. Research site and sampling.............................................................................30

3.3. Participants......................................................................................................31

3.3.1. Students ....................................................................................................31

3.3.2. Teachers....................................................................................................32

3.4. Research instruments......................................................................................32

3.4.1 Questionnaire.............................................................................................32

3.4.2. Interview...................................................................................................33

3.5. Data collection and data analysis procedure...................................................34

3.5.1. Data collection..........................................................................................34

3.5.2. Data analysis.............................................................................................36

3.6. Validity and reliability....................................................................................38

3.6.1. Validity.....................................................................................................38

3.6.2. Reliability .................................................................................................38

3.7. Summary.........................................................................................................39

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................40

4.1. Data analysis...................................................................................................40

4.1.1 Students’ questionnaires............................................................................40

4.1.2. Teachers’ interviews.................................................................................52

4.2. Discussion of the findings ..............................................................................67

4.2.1. Students’ autonomous learner characteristics..........................................67

4.2.2. The factors influencing students’ LA.......................................................67

4.3. Summary of the chapter..................................................................................69

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ........................................70

5.1. Conclusions.....................................................................................................70

5.2. Research implications.....................................................................................71

iii

5.2.1. Implications for students..........................................................................71

5.2.2. Implications for teachers..........................................................................73

5.2.2. Implications for administrative staff ........................................................74

5.3. Limitation and recommendations for further research ...................................75

5.4. Summary.........................................................................................................76

REFERENCES..........................................................................................................77

APPENDICES...........................................................................................................94

iv

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Research framework ..................................................................................28

Figure 2: The research design ...................................................................................30

v

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Cronbach’s Alpha Level of Reliability.......................................................38

Table 2: Cronbach's Alpha test results......................................................................39

Table 3: Students' gender ..........................................................................................40

Table 4: Students' learning experience......................................................................41

Table 5: Students' age................................................................................................42

Table 6: Students’ autonomous learner characteristics.............................................42

Table 7: Psychological factors affecting students’ LA .............................................45

Table 8: Contextual factors affecting students’ LA..................................................48

Table 9: Technological factors affecting students’ LA.............................................50

Table 10: Teachers' gender .......................................................................................52

Table 11: Teachers' degree........................................................................................53

Table 12: Teachers' English teaching experience .....................................................53

vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CHTC: Central Highlands Technology College

EFL : English as a Foreign Language

F : Frequency

GE : General English

HCMC: Ho Chi Minh City

ICT : Information and Communication Technology

KMT : The Krejcie and Morgan table

LA : Learner autonomy

P : Percentage

SD : Standard Deviation

SPSS : Statistical Package for Social Sciences

VoSts : Vocational students

1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The first chapter includes seven sections and is an introduction chapter. The

first part covers the background of the study, then the situation and characteristics at

Central Highlands Technology College will be described. The problem and research

questions are presented in the following section. This final section discusses the

study's meaning and structure.

1.1. Background of the study

In the age of globalization and the context of industrialization in Vietnam today,

a suitably qualified workforce is regarded as a significant contributor to the

country's economic development. It demands the education sector to train high￾quality human resources to meet the country's development needs in the new era.

And English proficiency is one of the most evaluation criteria that should not be

ignored. However, the English proficiency of Vietnamese students only put it in the

“low proficiency” category. According to the EF education organization's combined

results based on an English survey from 100 countries around the world in 2020,

Vietnam dropped to 65th place out of 100 countries participating, an extremely

lower position than countries in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia or the Philippines

(VietNamNet News, 2020).

Results from studies by Nguyen (2008) and Phan (2015) pointed out that

students who do not match the requirements set in the training program are the

cause of students' lack of English competence. The reason for the above situation is

that the curriculum focuses more on quantity but not on quality (Pham, 2011).

Through the Project 2020 initiative, the education sector is gradually making

innovations to promote the activeness and creativity of students towards the goal of

training the young generation into new qualified and capable people. Therefore, the

education system in Vietnam is constantly shifting to approach learners’

capabilities. It means moving from being concerned with what students know to

paying attention to what students can work out with what they receive. To ensure

this goal, it is essential to successfully transition from the traditional method of