Luận án tiến sĩ nghiên cứu tự chủ học tập của sinh viên tiếng Anh tại một trường đại học ở Đồng bằng sông Cửu Long

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE THANH NGUYET ANH EFL TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES REGARDING LEARNER AUTONOMY: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY AT A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY IN THE MEKONG DELTA DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING HUE, 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE THANH NGUYET ANH EFL TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES REGARDING LEARNER AUTONOMY: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY AT A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY IN THE MEKONG DELTA DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 9 14 01 11 SUPERVISORS: 1. TRUONG BACH LE 2. DO MINH HUNG HUE, 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ LÊ THANH NGUYỆT ANH NGHIÊN CỨU THĂM DÒ Ý KIẾN TỪ GIẢNG VIÊN VÀ SINH VIÊN TIẾNG ANH VỀ NHẬN THỨC VÀ THỰC HIỆN DẠY HỌC TỰ CHỦ ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN NGÀNH TIẾNG ANH TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Ở ĐỒNG BẰNG SÔNG CỬU LONG LUẬN ÁN TIẾN SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH HUẾ, NĂM 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ LÊ THANH NGUYỆT ANH NGHIÊN CỨU THĂM DÒ Ý KIẾN TỪ GIẢNG VIÊN VÀ SINH VIÊN TIẾNG ANH VỀ NHẬN THỨC VÀ THỰC HIỆN DẠY HỌC TỰ CHỦ ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN NGÀNH TIẾNG ANH TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Ở ĐỒNG BẰNG SÔNG CỬU LONG LUẬN ÁN TIẾN SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 9 14 01 11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: 1. TRƯƠNG BẠCH LÊ 2.

ĐỖ MINH HÙNG HUẾ, NĂM 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have learnt, and experienced to become an autonomous learner throughout my PhD course. I believe that this precious experience will help me with my teaching process. Without my supervisors’, lecturers’, colleagues’, students’, friends’ and family’s help, encouragements, and suggestions, the present thesis would not have succeeded. First of all, I would like to express my deeply sincere gratitude to my two supervisors: Dr.

Trương Bạch Lê and Assoc. Đỗ Minh Hùng for their early suggestion of the topic, invaluable guidance, support and sincere advice throughout my PhD journey. Both of them have supplied a large amount of their expert knowledge to me and have helped me to change track completely to finish my thesis. I am also heavily in debt to the staff of Hue University of Foreign Languages: Assoc.

Trần Văn Phước, Dr. Bảo Khâm, Assoc. Phạm Thị Hồng Nhung, Assoc. Trương Viên, Assoc.

Lê Phạm Hoài Hương, Dr. Tôn Nữ Như Hương who provided me with critical, useful feedback to help me conduct my thesis better. I would also like to thank Assoc. Lê Văn Canh for his early advice and early suggestion of the title.

I also gratefully acknowledge my colleagues as well as my students in the Faculty of Foreign Language Education at Dong Thap University who assisted, understood, and supported me through my thesis. My special thanks to my Mum, my husband, my brothers’ family, and my friends for their love, encouragement, and being with me along my PhD course. i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. i TABLE OF CONTENTS .ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.

vii LIST OF TABLES .viii LIST OF FIGURES. x Chapter One INTRODUCTION .1 Background of the research .2 Aims of the research .5 Organization of the thesis. 7 Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Definition of learner autonomy.2 Roles of learner autonomy.1 Learner autonomy in Asian EFL higher education.2 Learner autonomy in Vietnamese EFL higher education .2 Learner autonomy in foreign language education .1 Learner autonomy as ability .2 Learner autonomy as responsibility .3 Learner autonomy as cognitive processes .4 Learner autonomy in lifelong learning .5 Learner autonomy as cultural challenge .6 Learner autonomy in this study .20 ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.3 Aspects of learner autonomy .1 Technical aspect of learner autonomy .2 Psychological aspect of learner autonomy .3 Political aspect of learner autonomy .4 Sociocultural aspect of learner autonomy .4 Perceptions and practices .3 Relationship between perception and practice of learner autonomy .5 Assessment as learning in learner autonomy.1 Assessment as learning as an indispensable segment of LA.6 Previous studies on EFL teachers’ and students’ perceptions and practices of learner autonomy .42 Chapter Three RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOG Y .1 Research approach: Mixed methods research .3 Data collection methods .1 In-depth interview .3 Interview for teachers .4 Interview for students .57 iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.3 Coding questionnaire and interview data .1 Qualitative data analysis .3 Data analysis and reconcilement .2 Quantitative data analysis .6 Research reliability and validity.63 Chapter Four FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .1 Teachers’ perceptions and practices of learner autonomy .1 Teachers’ perceptions of the concept of learner autonomy.2 Teachers’ perceptions of the role of learner autonomy .3 Teachers’ self-report of their practices of learner autonomy .1 Teachers’ stories of organizing learner autonomy activities .2 Teachers’ achievements of organization and instruction of students’ LA activities .3 Teachers’ difficulties of organization and instruction of students’ LA activities .4 Teachers’ assessment of their students’ LA ability .5 Teachers’ self-assessment about their organization and instruction of students’ LA activities .2 Students’ perceptions and practices of learner autonomy.1 Students’ perceptions of the concept of learner autonomy .2 Students’ perceptions of the role of learner autonomy .3 Students’ self-report of practices of learner autonomy.84 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.1 Students’ special LA stories .2 Students’ achievements of practicing LA activities .3 Students’ difficulties of practicing LA activities .6 Learner autonomy activities .9 Metacognition in learning language .10 Students’ self-assessment of learner autonomy .3 Relationships between teachers’ and students’ perceptions and practices .1 Relationship between teachers’ perceptions and practices.2 Relationship between students’ perceptions and practices.3 Relationship between teachers’ and students’ perceptions .4 Relationship between teachers’ and students’ practices .1 Teachers’ perceptions and practices of learner autonomy .1 Teachers’ perceptions of learner autonomy.2 Teachers’ practices of learner autonomy .2 Students’ perceptions and practices of learner autonomy .1 Students’ perceptions of learner autonomy .2 Students’ practices of learner autonomy .3 Relationships between teachers’ and students’ perceptions and practices .1 Relationship between teachers’ perceptions and practices .2 Relationship between students’ perceptions and practices .3 Relationship between teachers’ and students’ perceptions .4 Relationship between teachers’ and students’ practices .5 The influential factors in relationship between teachers’ and students’ perceptions and practices of learner autonomy. 124 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter Five CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS .2 Contributions of the study.3 Pedagogical contributions and implications for the future of TESOL in Vietnam.4 Learner autonomy in local context.

132 PUBLICATIONS INTEGRATED IN THE THESIS. 1 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LA : Learner autonomy EFL : English as foreign language MOET : Ministry of Education and Training ELT : English language teaching DTU : Dong Thap University SPSS : Statistical package for the social science TESOL : Teaching English to students of other languages vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Research questions and instruments .2: Summary of teacher interview clusters .3: Summary of student interview clusters .4: Summary of questionnaire clusters.5: Summary of Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficients .1: Students’ perceptions of ability and cognition .2: Students’ perceptions of responsibility .3: Students’ perceptions of role of learner autonomy .4: Students’ practices of setting goals.5: Students’ practices of planning study.6: Students’ practices of LA activities .7: Students’ practices of time and life management .8: Students’ practices of materials and resources.9: Students’ practices of metacognition in language learning .10: Students’ practices of self-assessment .99 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: The interaction of perception, cognition, and action .1: Exploratory design procedure in this study.1: Integrated students’ perceptions and practices regarding LA. 102 ix LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Learner autonomy is currently one of the central themes in language education in the 21 st century. In life-long learning societies, autonomous learning plays an important role not only in university life but also extends beyond university.

Exploring English-as-foreign-language (EFL) teachers’ and EFL students’ perceptions and practices of LA is necessary, especially in local contexts. It became more special when the study was conducted in a rural area in Mekong Delta because there was very little research on EFL autonomous learning there. In the present exploratory study, a mixed methods approach was conducted with 20 EFL teachers and 60 EFL students through in-depth interviews and group interviews respectively, and with 285 EFL students at a University in Mekong Delta by means of a questionnaire survey. Data of the study were collected through two stages, including qualitative data and quantitative data.

The findings disclosed that most of the teachers and students had positive understandings in related aspects and levels of learner autonomy as well as its role in English language study at higher education. For teachers, in practice, they made significant attempts to cultivate students’ autonomy. However, they faced certain problems shared by EFL teachers elsewhere. For students, they gained achievements to different extents and related problems were found.

Besides, the relationship between teachers’ and students’ perceptions and practices of learner autonomy was investigated. Thereby, it implies that since learner autonomy is a long process, students should patiently keep on cultivating it by virtue of both their own sufficient ongoing efforts and instructor supports when in need. The findings of this study also indicated a relationship between perceptions and practices of learner autonomy among the teachers and the students as well. If teachers perceived the importance of learner autonomy, they tended to apply it in their teaching practice.

Similarly, if students believed that learner autonomy was a crucial factor, they implemented it in their own learning. The results of the study will provide more insights of this realm for EFL teachers, policy-makers, and administrators to make plans in order to foster EFL students’ LA ability to meet the socio-economic needs. x LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter One INTRODUCTION This chapter presents background and focus on the study. The aims of the study, research questions, research significance, and organization of the thesis are introduced.1 Background of the research Recently, the importance of autonomy in second language learning has been intensively concerned.

Autonomy plays a vital role in language education because in any educational contexts, learners are autonomous when they establish their own learning goals and have responsibility for planning, managing and evaluating particular learning activities and the learning process overall. The practice of learner autonomy (henceforth LA) not only depends upon, but also develops and expands the learner’s ability for detachment, critical reflection, decision making, and independent action (Little, 1991). Yet, LA is originated from European education (Benson, 2006) and whether it is suitable for Asian learning style (Pennycook, 1997) is both Western educators’ and Asian educators’ concern. Therefore, how Vietnamese university students, can be encouraged to increase their autonomous practices, which is a challenge to the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) as well as educators.

In the context of the informative technological development these days and the changing situation of ELT in the 21 st century, autonomy is considered as a crucial goal in teaching and learning process. Therefore, the Vietnamese MOET has supported the Law of Higher Education to promote the quality of the higher educational system approaching international standards in the 21st century. Recently, the Vietnamese MOET has tried to integrate and develop LA in the credit education system. A number of new policies have been issued.