The perceptions of teachers and their young learners on motivational strategies in English classrooms - A case study at Chu Van An primary school

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

THE PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHERS AND THEIR

YOUNG LEARNERS ON MOTIVATIONAL

STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH CLASSROOMS: A CASE

STUDY AT CHU VAN AN PRIMARY SCHOOL

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL

Submitted by: DINH THI CAM LOAN

Supervisor: Dr. LE HOANG DUNG

HO CHI MINH City, October 2017

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

Đinh Thị Cẩm Loan

THE PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHERS AND THEIR

YOUNG LEARNERS ON MOTIVATIONAL

STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH CLASSROOMS: A CASE

STUDY AT CHU VAN AN PRIMARY SCHOOL

Major: TESOL

Code: 60140111

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS (TESOL)

Supervised by

LE HOANG DUNG, PHD

Ho Chi Minh City, 2017

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I declare this thesis entitled “THE PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHERS AND

THEIR YOUNG LEARNERS ON MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES IN

ENGLISH CLASSROOMS: A CASE STUDY AT CHU VAN AN PRIMARY

SCHOOL” is the result of my own work except as cited in the reference.

The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and it is not currently submitted in

candidature of any other degree.

Ho Chi Minh City, 2017

Dinh Thi Cam Loan

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my

supervisor, Dr. Le Hoang Dung. I am very grateful for his help, suggestions and

advise on various drafts of this thesis. Without his patience and valuable help, I

would not have finished this thesis on schedule.

I would like to express my thanks to the principal, all teachers and learners at

Chu Van An primary school who participated in my study. They facilitated my data

collection, so I could successfully collect the data.

I would also like to express my thanks to my husband for his great support

and help. Without his encouragement and love, I could not have been able to finish

this thesis.

iii

ABSTRACT

The vital role of motivation in teaching and learning English is emphasized

and has been the subject of many studies for years. Several studies have been

conducted to find out the most effective motivational strategies in different contexts

from primary schools to universities in many countries. However, in Vietnam, the

studies on students’ motivation and teachers’ motivational strategies mainly focus

on the students in high schools or universities, which lacks the concentration on

young learners, who are from seven to twelve years old, at primary schools.

Case study is used to explore both teachers’ perceptions and their young

learners’ perceptions on motivational strategies in English classrooms at Chu Van

An primary school. 212 young learners and their two teachers of English

participated in the questionnaires to learners and interview to teachers.

The study found that the young learners were extrinsically motivated by

praise, rewards, grades and celebration of their success and accomplishment. While

difficult tasks were considered to be obstacles to learners, the learners did not think

that. For teacher behaviors towards learners, teacher care was the most favorite

thing to learners while comparison between learners and their classmates and being

put in the spotlight unexpectedly were two unfavorable practices from learners’

perceptions. Additionally, the teachers employed a variety of strategies relating to

learners’ active participation, attention and self-confidence as well as interaction in

learning, pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere and teacher behaviors in

order to motivate their young learners. However, moving when doing tasks, visual

aids, practice of English in real life situations, encouragement to the learners to take

risks and be not afraid of making mistakes did not get much attention of the

teachers. Some suggestions which were based on the findings of this study were

made for the teachers to motivate their learners better.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

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

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS......................................................................................................iii

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

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

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

1.2 The context of the study............................................................................................... 4

1.3 The aims of the study .................................................................................................. 5

1.4 Significance of the study.............................................................................................. 6

1.5 The outline of the thesis............................................................................................... 6

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

2.1 Definitions of terms .................................................................................................... 7

2.1.1 Definition of motivation ........................................................................................ 7

2.1.2 Definition of motivational strategies........................................................................ 9

2.2 Motivation in language learning.................................................................................. 10

2.3 Sources of motivation of young language learners at primary schools.............................. 11

2.4 Motivational strategies in teaching English to young learners at primary schools ............. 14

2.4.1 Stimulating young learners’ active participation ..................................................... 14

2.4.2 Maintaining young learners’ attention ................................................................... 16

2.4.3 Building learners’ self-confidence......................................................................... 18

2.4.4 Integrating interaction into teaching young learners ................................................ 20

2.4.5 Creating pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere .......................................... 21

2.4.6 Displaying appropriate teacher behaviors............................................................... 23

v

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY........................................................................................ 28

3.1 Research design........................................................................................................ 28

3.2 Sampling ................................................................................................................. 29

3.2.1 Setting of the study ............................................................................................. 29

3.2.2 Participants....................................................................................................... 29

3.2.2.1 Young learner respondents............................................................................. 29

3.2.2.2 Teacher respondents ..................................................................................... 30

3.3 Research tools.......................................................................................................... 30

3.3.1 Questionnaire to learners ..................................................................................... 30

3.3.2 Interview to teachers........................................................................................... 30

3.4 Data collection procedure .......................................................................................... 31

3.4.1 Procedure for collecting questionnaires to learner respondents ................................. 31

3.4.2 Procedure for interviewing teacher respondents...................................................... 31

3.5 Data analysis............................................................................................................ 32

CHAPTER 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................... 34

4.1 Data analysis............................................................................................................ 34

4.1.1 Results of questionnaire to learners....................................................................... 34

4.1.1.1 Learners’ perceptions on strategies to stimulate their active participation............. 34

4.1.1.2 Learners’ perceptions on teachers’ practices to maintain learners’ attention ......... 36

4.1.1.3 Learners’ perceptions on their teachers’ strategies to build learners’ self-confidence

............................................................................................................................. 37

4.1.1.4 Learners’ perceptions on their teachers’ strategies to integrate interaction into

learning English...................................................................................................... 39

4.1.1.5 Learners’ perceptions on their teachers’ strategies to create pleasant and supportive

classroom atmosphere.............................................................................................. 40

4.1.1.6 Learners’ perceptions on their teachers’ behaviors............................................ 41

4.1.2 Results of interviews to teachers........................................................................... 44

vi

4.1.2.1 Young learners’ motivation at Chu Van An primary school from their teachers’

perceptions............................................................................................................. 44

4.1.2.2 Teachers’ strategies to stimulate their learners’ active participation in classroom.. 45

4.1.2.3 Teachers’ strategies to maintain their learners’ attention.................................... 47

4.1.2.4 Teachers’ strategies to build their learners’ self-confidence................................ 48

4.1.2.5 Teachers’ strategies to integrate interaction into their teaching ........................... 49

4.1.2.6 Teachers’ strategies to create pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere ....... 50

4.1.2.7 Teachers’ strategies to show their appropriate behaviors towards their learners.... 51

4.1.2.8 Other teachers’ suggested strategies................................................................ 53

4.1.2.9 Summary of results of interview for teacher respondents................................... 54

4.2 Discussion of results.................................................................................................. 56

4.3 Summary of major findings........................................................................................ 62

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS ....................................................... 65

5.1 Conclusion............................................................................................................... 65

5.2 Suggestions.............................................................................................................. 67

5.3 Limitation and recommendations................................................................................ 70

5.4 Chapter summary...................................................................................................... 70

REFERENCES.................................................................................................................. 72

APPENDIX A................................................................................................................... 79

APPENDIX B................................................................................................................... 83

APPENDIX C................................................................................................................... 85

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Pages

Table 2.1 The conceptual framework of this study.................................................26

Table 3.1 Distribution of learner respondents by gender and class........................29

Table 4.1 Strategies to stimulate learners’ activeness ............................................35

Table 4.2 Strategies to maintain learners’ attention................................................36

Table 4.3 Strategies to build learners’ self-confidence ..........................................38

Table 4.4 Strategies to integrate interaction into teaching .....................................39

Table 4.5 Strategies to create pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere ......40

Table 4.6 Strategies to display appropriate teacher behaviors ...............................42

Table 4.7 Summary of learners’ perceptions on their teachers’ motivational

strategies..................................................................................................................43

Table 4.8 Results of interview for teacher respondents..........................................56