Students' motivation in learning English: A study at a high school in Phu Cat district = Động cơ học tiếng Anh của học sinh một trường trung học phổ thông tại huyện Phù Cát

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

HUYNH THI MINH THY

STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING

ENGLISH: A STUDY AT A HIGH SCHOOL

IN PHU CAT DISTRICT

Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching

Code: 8140111

Supervisor: Dr. HA THANH HAI

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

HUỲNH THỊ MINH THY

ĐỘNG CƠ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH MỘT TRƢỜNG

TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG TẠI HUYỆN PHÙ CÁT

Ngành: Lý luận và phƣơng pháp dạy học bộ môn tiếng Anh

Mã số:

8140111

Ngƣời hƣớng dẫn: TS. HÀ THANH HẢI

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I totally assure that the thesis “STUDENT‟S MOTIVATION IN

LEARNING ENGLISH: A STUDY AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN PHU CAT

DISTRICT” is my own work for the purpose of graduating the MA course of

Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching.

The content of this thesis has not been published or written by any other

authors except for some references which are used in this thesis.

The thesis has not been submitted for any degree or diploma in any

university.

Binh Dinh, 2022

Huỳnh Thị Minh Thy

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

During the period of doing the research, much considerable support and

great encouragement from my teachers, friends, and family were given to me

so that I could overcome difficulties and complete my master thesis

successfully.

First of all, I would like to show my deep gratitude to my respected

supervisor, Dr. Ha Thanh Hai, who gave me his helpful guidance and were

together with me from the beginning to the end of my thesis. Without his

companion, encouragement, and helps, I do not think I could finish a MA

thesis which met nearly all of the requirements of an MA thesis like that.

Second, my special thanks also go to students and my colleague Nguyen

Lan Phuong at a high school in Phu Cat District. I greatly appreciate their

time and efforts in filling questionnaires, answering interview questions.

Third, I owe an unpaid debt to all the qualified and experienced teachers

who helped me broaden my knowledge about Theory and Methodology of

English Language Teaching and my friendly classmates who gave me

unforgettable memories during the two-year master course.

Last but not least, I am extremely thankful to my parents, especially my

husband who gave spirit supports in the past two years of pursuing this MA

course.

iii

ABSTRACT

Among the factors influencing students‟ studies, motivation is

considered to be one of the most important reasons for different achievement

levels. The purposes of this study are to find out the students' levels of

motivation to study English, to investigate the relationship between students'

motivation and their achievement. The subjects are 114 high school students

in Phu Cat. The instruments used for data collection are questionnaires and

interviews. The data from the returned questionnaires is statistically analyzed

by using the SPSS program to derive percentages, frequencies, means,

standard deviations, as well as to perform exploratory factor analysis. Major

findings from this study indicates that the majority of the students are

motivated. Students' motivation and their English learning achievement are

strongly and positively correlated with each other. If we want to improve

achievement, we should influence motivation. The findings could be useful

for researchers and teachers in improving students‟ achievement by devising

effective teaching and learning strategies to increase students‟ motivation.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................ii

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................ iv

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

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................... vii

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

CHAPTER 1..................................................................................................... 1

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 1

1.1. Rationale.................................................................................................... 1

1.2. Aim and Objectives................................................................................... 2

1.2.2 Aim.................................................................................................... 2

1.2.2 . Objectives........................................................................................ 2

1.3. Scope of the Study..................................................................................... 2

1.4. Research Questions ................................................................................... 3

1.5. Significance of the Study........................................................................... 3

16. Organization of the Study........................................................................... 3

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................... 5

2.1. Previous Studies ........................................................................................ 5

2.2. Theoretical Framework ........................................................................... 12

2.2.1. Definition of Motivation................................................................. 12

2.2.2. Types of Motivation ....................................................................... 16

2.2.3. Instrumental Motivation ................................................................. 18

2.2.4. Integrative Motivation.................................................................... 20

2.2.5. Motivation in relation to achievement............................................ 22

2.3. Summary.................................................................................................. 26

v

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY.................................................................. 27

3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 27

3.2 Research approach.................................................................................... 27

3.3 Participants............................................................................................... 27

3.4 Research site............................................................................................. 28

3.5 Data collection methods ........................................................................... 29

3.5.1 Questionnaire................................................................................... 29

3.5.2 Interview.......................................................................................... 32

3.6. Data analysis............................................................................................ 34

3.7. Summary.................................................................................................. 37

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS ............................ 38

4.1. Findings and discussions......................................................................... 38

4.1.1 Findings and discussions in instrumental motivation...................... 38

4.1.2 Findings and discussions in integrative motivation........................ 42

4.1.3 Findings and discussions in motivation.......................................... 46

4.1.4 Findings and discussions in motivation and academic achievement......47

4.1.5. Finding from interview.................................................................. 48

4.2 Chapter summary...................................................................................... 51

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS ................................ 53

5.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 53

5.2. Summary of the key findings .................................................................. 53

5.3. Implications............................................................................................. 53

5.4 Limitation of the study ............................................................................. 54

5.5 Suggestions............................................................................................... 55

REFERENCES............................................................................................... 57

APPENDIX

vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

L2: Second Language

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

SD: Strongly Disagree

D: Disagree

N: Neutral

A: Agree

SA: Strongly Agree

LLM: Language Learner Motivation