Students' attitudes towards the project works in enhancing autonomous learning in English speaking II at Vien Dong College

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that this thesis which entitled “Students’ Attitude towards the Project

Works in Enhancing Autonomous Learning in English Speaking II at Vien Dong

College” is my work.

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this paper does not

contain material published elsewhere or extracted on 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 acknowledgement in the main

text of the thesis.

The thesis has not been submitted for any degree in any other tertiary

institution.

Ho Chi Minh, May 2017

TRUONG THI THANH CANH

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my appreciation and deep thank to all who have

supported and stood by me during the time I tried to finish my thesis.

Firstly, I would like to sing out my supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Thuy Nga, with my

greatest gratitude for her valuable guidance, advice, and encouragement. She has

kindly guided me to get over the most problematic period when I was stuck in finding

solutions for my thesis. Undoubtedly, without her support, this thesis is far from being

completed. Therefore, I need to emphasize that words fail me in expressing my

indebtedness to her.

Next, I would like to send my deep thank to all the lecturers, who have laid my

background knowledge at the Master program in Ho Chi Minh city Open University,

Vietnam. This background helps me to have intensive knowledge in the scientific

arena as well as improve my personal skills to conduct research papers.

Then, my particular gratefulness is sent to all of my students who have

participated in the PBL implementation. They were eager to join and fill in

questionnaire together with answering the interview questions.

Furthermore, my thanks go to my classmates in TESOL 08, who have been

with me as family members to share happiness and difficulties.

Last but not least, my words of appreciation are sent to my family members as

well as my beloved husband for their endless love and care.

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ABSTRACT

This study which entitles “Students’ Attitudes towards the Project Works in

Enhancing Autonomous Learning in English Speaking II at Vien Dong College” was

conducted with the following objectives: (1) to investigate students’ attitudes towards

the use of project works to enhance their autonomous learning in an English speaking

class; (2) to find out to what extent students believe that using project works can

promote their autonomous learning; and (3) to figure out difficulties that learners have

during the time they conduct their two projects, namely, Poster designing and Video

making project. The study population was 81 first-year students who took the course

English speaking II. An open-ended questionnaire, semi-structured interview and class

observation were employed as research instruments for the quantitative and qualitative

data collection. Descriptive statistics such as mean score (M) and percentages were

used to analyze and explain the data.

The result firstly shows that the students have positive attitudes towards the use

of project works in English class that may have enhanced their autonomous learning.

Then, it reveals students’ preference in having more project works to do in their

English classes. Nonetheless, using project works’ evaluation as one of criteria for

course assessment is a controversial issue among these students. In addition, students’

interest in utilizing information technology devices is remarked as one of the

significant findings in this study. Furthermore, some difficulties when conducting

projects are found, namely, time constraints, teamwork conflicts, cultural differences

and technology problems. In short, because of students’ positive attitudes toward

Poster designing and Video making project in enhancing their autonomous learning, it

is suggested that institutions should consider to integrate these two projects in their

second language training curriculum. In addition, further researches on other types of

project works should be taken to complete the picture on using project works as

instances of Project-based Learning to enhance students’ autonomous learning.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP...............................................................................i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................... ii

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. iii

LIST OF FIGURES.................................................................................................... vii

LIST OF DIAGRAMS .............................................................................................. viii

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

ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................................................x

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION......................................................................................1

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

1.2 Statement of problem.............................................................................................3

1.3 Research purposes..................................................................................................4

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

1.5 Significance of the study........................................................................................5

1.6 Thesis organization ................................................................................................6

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................................7

2.1 Project-based Learning ..........................................................................................7

2.1.1 Project-based Learning theory.........................................................................7

2.1.2 Definition of Project work .............................................................................14

2.2 Autonomous learning..........................................................................................24

2.2.1 Definition of autonomous learning...............................................................24

2.3 Incorporating autonomous learning in the language classroom through Project

works..........................................................................................................................26

2.4 Learner attitude and their role in language learning ............................................29

2.4.1Definition of learner attitude ..........................................................................29

2.4.2 The importance of attitude in language learning ...........................................30

2.5 Studies related to the students’ attitudes towards Project-based Learning

implementation to promote students’ autonomous learning......................................30

2.5.1 Studies related to the PBL implementation to enhance autonomous learning

................................................................................................................................31

2.5.2 Studies related to the students’ attitudes towards PBL implementation to

enhance autonomous learning.................................................................................34

2.5.3 The summary information for studies included in the literature review .......36

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2.5.4 Research gap..................................................................................................38

2.6 Conceptual framework.........................................................................................39

2.7 Summary of Chapter 2 .........................................................................................40

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY ..............................................................................42

3.1 Research setting ...................................................................................................42

3.2 Participants...........................................................................................................43

3.3 Research design....................................................................................................43

3.4 Research procedure ..............................................................................................44

3.4.1 English speaking II course.............................................................................44

3.4.2 Project work implementation.........................................................................44

3.5 Data collection instruments..................................................................................49

3.5.1 Attitude questionnaire....................................................................................49

3.5.2 Interview ........................................................................................................54

3.5.3 Observation....................................................................................................55

3.6 Data collection procedure ....................................................................................58

3.6.1 Administering the questionnaire, interview and class observation ...............58

3.7 Data analysis ........................................................................................................59

3.7.1 Mean (M).......................................................................................................60

3.7.2 Percentages ....................................................................................................60

3.7.3 Data analysis of questionnaire .......................................................................60

3.7.4 Data analysis of interview .............................................................................61

3.7.5 Data analysis of classroom observation.........................................................61

3.8 Summary of Chapter 3 .........................................................................................61

Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDING DISCUSSION .............................62

4.1 The demographic information of participants......................................................62

4.2 Response rate .......................................................................................................63

4.3 Analytical results..................................................................................................63

4.3.1 Research question 1 .......................................................................................63

4.3.2 Research question 2 .....................................................................................72

4. 3.3 Research question 3.....................................................................................83

4.4 Discussion of the findings....................................................................................85

4.4.1 Students’ attitudes towards the Project work implementation in English

Speaking II course to enhance their autonomous learning .....................................85

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4.4.2 Students' reticence in using Project work's evaluation as one of criteria of

course assessment...................................................................................................86

4.4.3 Students’ attitudes towards the effect of Project works on enhancing their

autonomous learning...............................................................................................87

4.4.5 Students’ difficulties while doing Project works..............................................89

4.5 Summary of Chapter 4 .........................................................................................90

Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................91

5.1. Conclusion...........................................................................................................91

5.2 Contributions of the study....................................................................................92

5.3 Limitations ...........................................................................................................93

5.4 Recommendations................................................................................................93

5.4.1 Recommendations to students .......................................................................94

5.4.2 Recommendations to English teachers..........................................................94

5.4.3 Recommendations to the college ...................................................................95

5.5 Suggestions for further research ..........................................................................96

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................98

APPENDIX 1 (A).......................................................................................................109

APPENDIX 1 (B) .......................................................................................................113

APPENDIX 3..............................................................................................................119

APPENDIX 4..............................................................................................................121

APPENDIX 5..............................................................................................................123

APPENDIX 6............................................................................................................124

APPENDIX 7..............................................................................................................126

APPENDIX 8..............................................................................................................129

APPENDIX 10............................................................................................................134

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Autonomous learning………………………………………………….27

Figure 2.2 Conceptual framework ………………………………………………..40

Figure 4.1 Students’ responses on the effect of PW on their creativity

enhancement…………………………………………………………...64

Figure 4.2 Students’ attitude towards English lesson with PW…………………..67

Figure 4.3 Results of student’ attitude towards the use of PW in English

speaking class from the observation ………………………………….80

Figure 4.4 Students’ difficulties with PW ……………………………………….83

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LIST OF DIAGRAMS

Diagram 2.1 Gold Standard PBL……………………………………………….9

Diagram 3.1 Study research instruments ………………………………………49

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Subdivision of projects according to the outcome ………………………19

Table 2.2 Developing a Project in Language classroom …………………………...20

Table 2.3 Summary of previous studies in the PBL implementation on

enhancing students’ autonomous learning……………………………....32

Table 3.1 Evaluation scale for projects…………………………………………… 38

Table 3.2 Steps in doing Poster project ……………………………………………47

Table 3.3 Development of Video making project …………………………………48

Table 3.4 Summary of questionnaire ……………………………………………...52

Table 3.5 Reliability coefficient of the questionnaire …………………………….57

Table 3.6 Schedule of classroom observation …………………………………….48

Table 3.8 Summary of the content of the observation checklist ………………….60

Table 3.9 Evaluation criteria of the questionnaire ………………………………..51

Table 4.1 Summary of the demographic information of the participants …………62

Table 4.2 Students’ motivation in English speaking class with PW ………………66

Table 4.3 Students’ attitude towards PE and their learning skill…………………..68

Table 4.4 Students’ opinion on using PW as a part of English speaking course ….69

Table 4.5 Students’ attitude s towards the use of PW in English speaking class ….71

Table 4.6 Students’ attitudes towards learning responsibility enhanced by PW…...73

Table 4.7 Students’ attitudes towards practical learning enhanced by PW………...74

Table 4.8 Students’ attitudes on their ability in self-discovering new information..75

Table 4.9 Students; attitudes on self-evaluation ability……………………………76

Table 4.10 Students’ attitude on their dependence on teachers……………………77

Table 4.11 Questionnaire items on teamwork ……………………………………..78

Table 4.12 Students’ attitude towards autonomous learning………………………82

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ABBREVIATIONS

IT Information technology

ICT Information and Communications

Technology

PBL Project-based Learning

PW Project work

ESL English as Second Language

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Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

This study aims at investigating students’ attitudes towards the use of project

works as instances of Project-based Learning in enhancing their autonomous

learning in English speaking class. In this chapter, the author presents relevant

background information, statement of problems, research purposes, research

questions and significance of this study. The chapter concludes by the overview for

five chapters of the present study.

1.1. Background of the study

The requirements of 21st century have placed a renewed emphasis on

enhancing students’ autonomous learning experience. They need to learn how to

learn and think autonomously. Holec (1981, cited in Skai & Takagi, 2009) claims

that students need to have the ability to take charge of their learning. Thus, it is

believed that one of the key factors for students to be successful in this challenging

society is their learning autonomy. They need to be active rather than passive and

figure out the answers rather than be told them. However, fostering students’

autonomous learning is not an easy issue. In fact, it is challenging to encourage

students to be autonomous learners, especially in the countries which were strongly

affected by Confucian heritage like Vietnam. Students from these countries are

generally viewed as typically passive, unwilling to ask questions or speak up in

class and often based on memorizing rather than understanding knowledge

delivered by teachers (Nguyen et al. 2005).

For centuries, Vietnamese students have been educated with the passive

learning style along with the teacher-centered belief (Nguyen, 2014). Furthermore,

they tend to believe that sitting in classes will give them the information they need

to continue in “spoon-feeding” culture, which “in the long run, teaches nothing but

the shape of the spoon” (Foster, 1951, as cited in Halonen, 2002, p.56). This

phenomenon has been reported by many researchers. Rao (2001), for instance,

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claims that most of students are less autonomous, and they dislike “ambiguity”,

“uncertainty” or “fuzziness”. Being consistent with Rao (2001), Bigg (2003) points

out one more weakness of Vietnamese students is the lack of critical thinking skill.

These problematic issues are restated in the conclusion made by Stephen et al.

(2006). To identify problems of teaching and learning at selected Vietnamese

universities, they conducted an observation in one year, then, gave a summary of

main findings as follow:

- Ineffective teaching methods, which have high a dependence on lecturers and

little use of active learning techniques, were used.

- There was a lack of emphasis on conceptual learning or higher order learning

- Students’ learning is passive

- Students spend too much time in classes each day (and there was) no deep

learning comprehension.

(Stephen et al., 2006, p.6)

To sum up, most of the scholars share the same viewpoint that Vietnamese

students are less autonomous, lack of critical thinking skill (Rao, 2001; Biggs,

2003), and dependent as passive learners (Stephen, et al., 2006, p.6). Undoubtedly,

these weaknesses will cause negative impacts on their learning process, especially

in foreign language learning.

Being aware of this problematic situation, educators are scrambling to

innovate their teaching and learning approaches to better meet the needs of students

in improving their autonomous learning. The demanding task for teachers is

creating student-centered learning environment where students can experience the

learning process by themselves. They themselves decide to take their learning

responsibility autonomously and become engaging builders of a new knowledge

and active as lifelong learners. A teaching method, namely Project-based Learning

(PBL), which has gained the international popularity in recent years, is highly

suggested as an appropriate method of teaching (Tricia, 2000) that can help to solve

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the mentioned problem. PBL is a teaching methodology that uses student-centered

projects to facilitate student autonomous learning (Mergendoller, 2006), and is

touted as superior to traditional teaching methods in improving problem solving and

thinking skills, and engaging students in their learning (Berends et al., 2003).

Through completing projects, learners are inspired to learn autonomously. In

addition, they are actively engaged with real world problems and challenges in

order to acquire deeper understand (Felipe et. al, 2016). Consequently, PBL is

worth investigating as it motivates students’ learning autonomy (William & Burden,

1997, as cited in Nada, 2015).

1.2 Statement of problem

In Vietnam, at the tertiary level, there are some researchers, who conducted

studies on students’ learning style. Many of them agree that Vietnamese students

are generally passive. Tran (2013), in her study conducted at VNU University of

Languages and International Studies, claims that Vietnamese students are generally

viewed as typically obedient, shy and unwilling to question their teachers in class.

This issue is restated in another study: “Some Utilization of Project-based Learning

for Vietnamese University Students of English in the Intercultural Communication

Course” by Ngo (2014). He says that Vietnamese students learning style “is likely

to be passive”. They are “deep-rooted in repeating and repeating after their

teachers”. That passive learning style is popular in the educating system, and many

students still consider teachers as the main source of knowledge and rarely speak up

in class Ngo (2014).

At Vien Dong College, where the author is working, students are no

exception. With her two year teaching experience at this College, she comes to a

conclusion that the lack of autonomy in learning has been a serious problem among

students, especially with those who major in Foreign Languages Department. The

similar viewpoint is shared by her colleagues. All five lecturers who participated in

an informal conversation via email, relating to Vien Dong students’ autonomous