EFL high school students' readiness for learner autonomy

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH OPEN UNIVERSITY

CHAU THI MY NGAN

READINESS FOR LEARNER AUTONOMY:

AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL HIGH SCHOOL

ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIORS IN A RURAL AREA OF VIETNAM

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts (TESOL)

Ho Chi Minh City, 2021

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH OPEN UNIVERSITY

CHAU THI MY NGAN

READINESS FOR LEARNER AUTONOMY:

AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL HIGH SCHOOL

ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIORS IN A RURAL AREA OF VIETNAM

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Major code: 8140111

MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL

Supervisor: Dr. DANG TAN TIN

Ho Chi Minh City, 2021

i.

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I, hereby state that, I, Chau Thi My Ngan, being the candidate for the degree

of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in

the Library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in accordance

with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan, or reproduction

of thesis.

Ho Chi Minh City, September, 2021

CHAU THI MY NGAN

ii

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I, Chau Thi My Ngan, certify that this thesis entitled Readiness for learner

autonomy: An investigation into EFL high school attitude and

behaviors in a rural area of Vietnam is my own work.

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no

material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which

I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. No other person s

work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis.

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in

any other tertiary institution.

Ho Chi Minh City, September, 2021

CHAU THI MY NGAN

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who have greatly helped

and encouraged me to complete my research. Without their support, it would have

been impossible for me to complete this thesis. Accordingly, I would like to gratefully

acknowledge their substantial contribution.

I would like to express my whole-hearted appreciation and deepest gratitude

to my supervisor, Dr. Dang Tan Tin for his dedicated support, comprehensive counsel

as well as energetic encouragement during the time of carrying out the study.

I own a great debt to Dr. Ho Thanh My Phuong and Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu

Huyen for their fruitful suggestions on the modification of the Vietnamese version of

the questionnaire. In addition, I highly appreciate the contribution of the managing

board, the English teaching staff, the form teachers and 620 students at Binh Phuc

Nhut high school in the school year 2020-2021 to the completion of data collection.

Without their willingness, my research could not have been accomplished.

My thanks are reserved for my MTesol017a classmates, who shared happiness

and difficulties with me during the courses. Particularly, I am indebted to Le Khai

Minh Tri and Nguyen Tan Loi for their enthusiastic encouragement and honest advice

in the most difficult moment on the way of doing the thesis.

Last but not least, I am deeply grateful to my parents, and my parents-in-law

for their love and encouragement while I was doing my thesis. Especially, my greatest

thanks should go to my beloved husband and two little sons for their mental support

and sharing of feelings.

iv

ABSTRACT

The issue of boosting learner autonomy in language learning has sparked the

attention of scholars, practitioners, and educators worldwide. In the general

educational curriculum of Vietnam, fostering learner autonomy has been highlighted

as a fundamental goal. In spite of the large number of research projects on the

advantages of learner autonomy and on the strategies intended to promote it, less

ss to accept responsibility in learning,

which is considered a prerequisite for the development of learner autonomy. Such

investigation is even scarcer in the context of high schools in rural areas. The present

study was aiming at determining the readiness for learner autonomy of English as a

Foreign Language (EFL) high school students by measuring their attitudes towards

learner autonomy and their actual autonomous learning behaviors, as well as the link

between those two concerns.

Adopting a quantitative correlational research design, the study was carried

out with 501 students from a high school in a rural area in Tien Giang province. Data

was collected from a questionnaire. The findings indicated that students' attitude

towards learner autonomy was typically positive, but that their autonomous learning

behaviors were merely moderately performed. Students' attitudes and behaviors were

positively correlated, although the connection was not strong. The overall result

suggests that EFL high school students in rural areas seem to be unready for learner

autonomy. Some suggestions were made to promote learner autonomy in rural areas

of Vietnam.

Keywords: Learner autonomy; Autonomous learning behaviors; Attitude; High

school students; Rural areas

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS............................................................i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .........................................................................ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................... iii

ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................iv

LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................. viii

LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................ix

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................x

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

1.1Background of the study....................................................................................2

1.1.1 LA in language teaching education .........................................................2

1.1.2 LA in Vietnamese education ...................................................................3

1.1.3 EFL in high school education in Vietnam...............................................4

1.2 Statements of the problem ................................................................................6

1.3 Objectives of the study......................................................................................8

1.4 Research questions............................................................................................8

1.5 Significance of the study...................................................................................8

1.6 Scope of the study.............................................................................................9

1.7 Definition of terms............................................................................................9

1.8 Organization of the thesis ...............................................................................10

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................12

2.1 Concept of LA.................................................................................................12

2.1.1 Definitions of LA....................................................................................12

2.1.2 Dimensions of LA...................................................................................14

2.2 Importance of LA............................................................................................16

2.3 ......................................................................................18

2.4 Readiness for LA ............................................................................................19

2.4.1 Definition of readiness for LA................................................................19

2.4.2 Record of attitudes towards LA in various contexts...............................21

vi

2.4.3 Profile of the relationship between attitudes towards LA and autonomous

learning behaviors...................................................................................26

2.5 Conceptual framework....................................................................................26

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................31

3.1 Research design..............................................................................................31

3.2 Objectives and hypothesis..............................................................................32

3.3 Research site and participants ........................................................................32

3.3.1 Research site..........................................................................................32

3.3.2 Participants............................................................................................33

3.4 Instrument.......................................................................................................36

3.4.1 Structure of the questionnaire ................................................................37

3.4.2 The development of the questionnaire...................................................37

3.5 Procedures ......................................................................................................40

3.5.1 Data collection.......................................................................................40

3.5.2 Data analysis..........................................................................................41

3.6 Reliability .......................................................................................................42

3.7 Validity...........................................................................................................42

3.8 Ethical considerations.....................................................................................44

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION......................................................45

4.1Reliability of the instrument............................................................................45

4.2Findings...........................................................................................................47

4.2.1. Attitude towards LA ..............................................................................47

4.2.1.1 Perceived values of LA ...................................................................47

4.2.1.2 ..........................................................48

4.2.1.3 Emotions regarding LA ..................................................................49

4.2.1.4 Intention to take responsibility .......................................................50

4.2.1.5 attitude towards LA.....................................51

4.2.2. Dimensions of LA practiced by students...............................................51

4.2.2.1 Initiating learning opportunities ....................................................53

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4.2.2.2 Monitoring the learning process....................................................53

4.2.2.3 Evaluating learning ........................................................................55

4.2.2.4 Summary of autonomous learning behaviors.................................55

4.2.3 C and their actual

autonomous learning behaviors.............................................................56

4.3 Discussion on the findings ..............................................................................58

4.3.1 Attitude towards LA ..............................................................................58

4.3.2 Dimensions of LA practiced by students...............................................60

4.3.3 and their actual

autonomous learning behaviors.............................................................63

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS..............................................................................65

5.1 Summary ........................................................................................................65

5.2 Empirical contributions..................................................................................66

5.3 Pedagogical suggestions.................................................................................67

5.4 Limitations and recommendations for further research .................................69

REFERENCES........................................................................................................70

APPENDICES .........................................................................................................85

APPENDIX 3A: English scores of students in the entrance exam (school years

2018- 2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021).......................................................85

APPENDIX 3B: Questionnaire (English version) .................................................86

APPENDIX 3C: questionnaire (Vietnamese version) ...........................................92

APPENDIX 3D: Some screenshots of the Vietnamese online version of the

questionnaire ..................................................................................................98

APPENDIX 3E: Ethics approval from the school under investigation................100

APPENDIX 4A: Descriptive statistics of the items.............................................101

APPENDIX 4B: Reliability analysis of the sub-scales........................................105

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Dimensions of LA ..................................................................................27

Figure 2.2: The ABC model of attitude (Eagly and Chaiken, 1993) ........................28

Figure 2.3: Attitude towards LA (adaptation from ABC model of Eagly and Chaiken,

1993)..........................................................................................................................29

Figure 2.4: Relationship between attitude towards LA and autonomous learning

behaviors ...................................................................................................................30

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Dimensions of LA....................................................................................15

Table 3.1: An extract from the table for determining sample size, confidence levels

and confidence intervals for random samples...........................................................35

Table 3.2: Information about the participants...........................................................34

Table 3.3: An extract from the table for determining minimum returned sample size

for a given population size for continuous and categorical data......................36

Table 3.4: Structure of the questionnaire ..................................................................38

Table 4.1 the Intention to take responsibility scale (8 items).46

Table 4.2 the Intention to take responsibility scale (7 items).46

Table 4.3: Number of items and internal consistency of the sub-scales...................47

Table 4.4: Descriptive statistics on Perceived values of LA .....................................48

Table 4.5: Descriptive statistics on ............................49

Table 4.6: Descriptive statistics on Emotions regarding LA ....................................50

Table 4.7: Descriptive statistics on the Intention to take responsibility ...................51

Table 4.8: Overall attitude towards LA ....................................................................51

Table 4.9: Descriptive statistics on Initiating learning opportunities ......................53

Table 4.10: Descriptive statistics on Monitoring the learning process....................54

Table 4.11: Descriptive statistics on Evaluating learning ........................................55

Table 4.12: Overall autonomous learning behaviors................................................56

Table 4.13: Pearson correlations between each component of attitude towards LA 57

x

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CLT Communicative language teaching

EFL English as a Foreign Language

ICTs Information and communication technologies

LA Learner Autonomy