- Title
- The motivation of Vietnamese university students to learn English: a study using the expectancy-value model of academic motivation
- Creator
- Truong, Bang Cong
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2017
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- This study examined the motivation to study English and the English achievement of Vietnamese university students, using the expectancy-value model as a theoretical framework. Given the Vietnamese context, an additional variable was added to the model. This variable measured students’ motivation to study English as a means of pleasing their parents and bringing honour to their family. The investigation used a mixed method approach that included surveys, focus group interviews, and individual interviews. Data were gathered in three universities located in Ho Chi Minh City. Participants were first year university students who were studying non-English majors but who were required to take English classes and lecturers who teach English classes. The quantitative component was a survey completed by 1207 students. The qualitative component was individual interviews with nine lecturers of English and focus group interviews with their 72 male and female students who also completed the survey. The quantitative data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results provided support for the expectancy-value model. Students’ expectancy to do well in English predicted students’ achievement in English. Students’ values, particularly the utility value of studying English, predicted students’ willingness to take additional courses in English. The new family variable directly predicted students’ interest in English and their utility value of English and indirectly predicted students’ willingness to take additional courses in English. Students’ sex predicted expectancy to do well, interest in English, utility value of English, willingness to take additional English courses, and achievement in English. The interview data from lecturers and students provided additional insights into students’ motivation to study English and their experiences of English classes. Students and lecturers agreed that most students were motivated to achieve a level of oral competency in English that would help them get desirable jobs after graduation. However, most English classes devoted little time to this aspect of English and the oral competency of most students was low. There were a number of reasons for this situation. The influence of the family, an integral part of a Confucian-based culture, on students’ motivation to study English also was explored in detail. The thesis finishes with a set of recommendations for ways in which the teaching of English, especially the teaching of oral English, in universities in Vietnam might be improved.
- Subject
- expectancy; value; motivation; EFL
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1333816
- Identifier
- uon:27159
- Rights
- Copyright 2017 Bang Cong Truong
- Language
- eng
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 369 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |