VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
***************** LÊ MINH HƯỜNG

FACTORS AFFECTING NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’
MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS
AT COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNIQUES
CÁC YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN HỨNG THÚ HỌC KĨ NĂNG
NGHE TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN ANH
TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code : 60140111

Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code : 60140111
Supervisor : Dr. Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa Hanoi, 2014 DECLARATION

I certify that the thesis entitled “Factors affecting non-English major students' motivation
in learning English listening skills at College of Industrial Techniques" is entirely my own
work. The substance of this thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree to
any other universities or institutions.
I would also like to send my sincere thanks to all staff, teachers and members at Faculty of
Post-Graduate Studies of University of Languages and International Studies-Vietnam
National University for their work and services. Especially, I am grateful to the librarians
who supplied me with a lot of materials.
My gratitude is also to my colleagues and students at the College of Industrial Techniques
who were willing to answer my questions and complete my questionnaires. They gave me
invaluable advice and suggestions on the thesis. Without them, my thesis could not be
completed and successful.
Last but not least, I would like to send my thanks to my beloved people, my parents, my
husband and my daughter for their encouragement and support which help me overcome
difficulties to complete this study.

ABSTRACT

Motivation is one of the most important factors that influences the rate and success of
second language learning. This study aims to investigate the factors affecting non-English
major students' motivation in learning English listening skills at the College of Industrial
Techniques. In this study, 55 first-year non- English major students from different faculties
of College of Industrial Techniques were chosen as the subjects. A survey questionnaire
and a semi-structured interview were used as the data collection instrument. The findings
of the study showed that the factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in
learning English listening skills derive from 3 sources: students, teachers, learning
conditions. In details, the first factor is that students‟ lack of basic knowledge, lack of
confidence, personality and belief in learning English listening skills. The other factor is
that students have to face are teachers‟ behaviors and methods in teaching English
listening. In addition, inadequate school facilities, lack of target language environment,
textbook and exam- orientation are also factors affecting that prevent students at College

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
1.1. Theoretical background of motivation 5
1.1.1. Definition of motivation 5
1.1.2. Types of motivation in foreign language learning. 6
1.1.3. The role of motivation in second language learning. 7
1.2. Theoretical background of listening skills 8
1.2.1. Definition of listening skills 8
1.2.2. Teaching listening skills 9
1.2.3. The factors affecting motivation in learning listening skills 10
1.2.3.1. The student-related factors 10
1.2.3.2. The teacher-related factors 12
1.2.3.3. Teaching and learning conditions 14
1.3. Previous studies in the world and in Vietnam 15
1.4. Summary 16
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17
2.1. The setting of the study 17

2.2. Participants 18
2.3. Instrument for collecting data 20
2.4. Data collection procedures 21
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 22
3.1. Findings 22
3.1.1. Level of students‟ motivation 22
3.1.1.1. Students‟ attitudes towards the learning of listening English 22
3.1.1.2. Students‟ motivation in learning listening English 25
3.1.2. Factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in learning English
listening skills at CIT. 27
3.1.2.1. The student-related factors affecting non-English major students‟
motivation in learning English listening skills 27
3.1.2.2. The teacher-related factors affecting non-English major students‟
LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1: Students‟ attitudes towards the learning of listening English
Chart 2: Students‟ participation in speaking lessons
Chart 3: Students‟ motivations on learning listening skills
Chart 4: Teachers‟ factors
LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The student-related factors
Table 2: Learning conditions

how well they do on curriculum related achievement tests, how high their general
proficiency level becomes, and how long they preserve and maintain L2 skills after
language study is over Ely (1986); Oxford & Shearin (1996). Particularly, toward learning
listening skills, motivation is one important element in foreign language teaching in
general and learning English listening skills in particular.

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With six years of teaching English at College of Industrial Techniques (CIT), the
researcher has realized that students normally lack of motivation in learning English in
general and in listening skills in particular. In fact, most students have passive attitudes
toward learning listening English due to the previous experiences that listening skill is hard
to learn and they fail to take listening input. Many of them get bored and become de-
motivated when listening classes start. They are generally less aware of its importance. In
addition to the lack of well-equipped facilities, classes at colleges and universities are
usually very large-between fifty and sixty students. Another problem is students‟ low level
of proficiency in terms of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, skills. Listening skill is
treated equally as other skills in terms of time allocation. The foreign language they learn
is often presented in the first language, the emphasis is on grammar only with the aim to
help students pass the exams given by either the school examination board or the Ministry
of Education and Training. All of these have inspired the author to make an attempt to
carry out the research “Factors affecting non-English major students‟ motivation in
learning English listening skills at CIT”. This will be the basis for the researcher in general
and the teachers of English at CIT in particular in arousing motivation for students in
listening skills, helping them to get involved in different listening activities, keep their
efforts during learning process and then achieve successes.
2. Aims of the study
This survey is conducted in order to investigate the factors affecting non-English
major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at CIT.
Objectives of the study are summarized as follows:

Part B is the Development. It consists of three chapters:
Chapter 1: Literature Review presents the theoretical background of motivation, the
theoretical background of listening skills and discussion of issues and aspects concerning
the topic of the study.
Chapter 2: Methodology gives the situation analysis, participants; instruments for
collection data and data analysis method are discussed in this chapter.
Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions present the results from the detailed analysis of
collected data and provides several discussions related to them.

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Part C is the Conclusion. It summarizes the major findings and points out the limitations of
the study. Furthermore, some suggestions for further studies are also given in this part.
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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter presents the theoretical background of motivation, the theoretical
background of listening skills and discussion of issues and aspects concerning the topic of
the study.
1.1. Theoretical background of motivation
1.1.1. Definition of motivation
Motivation plays an important role in the process of English learning – teaching.
Research shows that motivation is one of the main determining factors in an individual‟s

1.1.2. Types of motivation in foreign language learning.
Motivation can be classified in different ways. In some studies, motivation is
categorized: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Besides, motivation in foreign language
learning is more broadly categorized into two types: integrative and instrumental
motivation. In addition, there are some different categorized of motivation as follows:
global, situational, task, resultative motivation. Yet due to the scope of the study, the focus
was on two types: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation: Intrinsic motivation is generally possessed by people having personal
interests in doing something and helping to set their goals. People are intrinsically motivate
not because accomplishing the activity they do brings a rewards, but because doing the
activity itself is a reward by Dornyei (2001:51).
Dornyei (2001) notes that a student with intrinsic motivation participates in his/ her
learning for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the learning it permits, or the
feelings of accomplishment it evokes.
Extrinsic motivation: Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, derives from an anticipation
of rewards such as praise, awards, prizes, and evaluation and fear for punishment as
extrinsically motivated students does the activity itself, and this kind of motivation refers
to learning situations where the reason for doing a task is something other than an interest
in the task itself by Williams & Burden (1997:40)

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The goal connected with intrinsic motivation is a positive learning effect that lasts a long
time, but the goal of an extrinsic motivated student is completely different. Ur (1996)
points out that extrinsic derives from the influence of some kind of external incentives, as
distinct from the wish to learn for its own sake or internet in learning tasks. Many sources
of extrinsic motivation are beyond the influence of important people, such as parents.
However, other sources are certainly affected by teacher action, including success and its
rewards, failure and its rewards, failure and its penalties, authoritative demands, tests,
competition. Teachers use extrinsic motivation to stimulate learning or encourage students

understanding speech in a second or foreign language.
Listening plays a vital role in our social life that no one can deny. Indeed, listening takes
up as much as fifty percent of our everyday communication time and it is the most used
language skill at work and at home by God (2002).
According to Rost (1994) listening now becomes an essential element of communication.
Listening is essential for interaction. A learner can express himself orally but never be able
to communicate with speakers of English if unable to understand what is said to him.
As Grant (1987), he states that the listening skill includes everything from learning
particular sounds to comprehending complicated messages. Without this skill,
communication can break down. Therefore, successful communication really depends on
listener or receivers of messages.
Yagang (1993) provide a simpler definition as listening is considered “the ability to
identify and understand what others are saying.” In order to understand what is listening,
the concept of listening by Underwood (1989) is extracted „listening is the activity of
paying attention to and trying to get meaning from something you hear.”
Also according to Underwood (1989) to listen successfully to spoke language, we need to
be able to work out what speakers mean when they use particular words in particular ways
on particular occasion, and not simply to understand the words themselves.
All in all, listening involves a multiplicity of skills. It is a complex, active processes of
interpretation in which listener match what they hear with what they have already know.

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1.2.2. Teaching listening skills
Teaching listening as well as learning listening is not simple, complex and difficult
processes. Teachers and students meet many challenges in this skill.
Mendelsohn (1998) emphasizes that in teaching listening; teachers need to help students
become self-regulated learners. He claims that listening should be changed from product to
process, and the role of teacher is to teach his/her learner “how” to listen, not to test their
listening proficiency during listening lessons.

different students can also stimulate reflection and worthwhile evaluation. Students are
encouraged to share individual routes leading to success, for instance, how someone
guessed the meaning of a certain word or how someone modified a particular strategy.
In order to help students consciously focus on planning, monitoring and evaluation before
and after the completion of listening tasks, teachers can develop performance checklists.
These instruments help students prepare for a listening task and evaluate their own
performance.
1.2.3. The factors affecting motivation in learning listening skills
There are a variety of factors influencing learners‟ motivation such as learners,
parents, community, the learning context, the teacher, the subject matters, teaching and
learning conditions, ect. However, the author of this research pays much of the attention to
some influential factors, namely: students‟ factors, teachers‟ factors and learning
conditions.
1.2.3.1. The student-related factors
Personality: Personality of the students constitutes a major factor contributing to success
or failure in language learning. For example, Ellis (1997) proves that extrovert students
are advantaged in the development of language associated with interpersonal
communication. From the same point of view, Lightbown & Spada (1999) give a number
of personality characteristics: extroversion, inhibition, self – esteem, empathy, dominance,
talkativeness, responsiveness. To sum up, personality characteristics are likely to affect
second language learning including extroversion, relaxation, self-esteem (self-confidence),
anxiety and empathy.
Attitudes: According to Gardner (1985), “the relationship between attitudes, motivation
and second language achievement is complex; they always interact and influence each

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other”. In learning listening, they are expressed through the awareness of the importance of
listening, learners‟ needs (personal growth, cultural enrichment, practical goals, and
integrative reason) and learners‟ effort and interest in learning and practicing listening.

that a particular type of instruction is the best way for them to learn.” Lightbown (1999:
59). Hence; teachers should help learners expand their repertoire of learning strategies and
thus develop greater flexibility in their ways of approaching language learning.
Students’ lack of confidence: Learner‟s motivation can strongly decrease depending on
how much confidence learner‟s lack. As a result, when a learner lacks confidence toward
the language they are learning and the environment they are in, they can easily get anxiety
which not only de-motivate them but also is related to proficiency as suggested by Clemen,
Dorneyi and Noel (1994)
Aptitude: According to Lightbown & Spada (1999:53), aptitude is the factor that “predicts
whether individuals become efficient learners of foreign language in a classroom setting”.
An aptitude is an innate. Aptitude comprises different types of abilities: auditory ability
(the ability to identify and memorize new sounds), grammatical sensitivity (the ability to
figure out grammatical rules from language samples, the ability to understand the function
of particular words in sentences) and memory (the ability to memorize new words).
1.2.3.2. The teacher-related factors
The teacher also needs to be clearly aware of learners‟ needs, their motivation and
their purposes of their learning. A good teacher should be the one who is capable of pulling
the student and the lesson closely together.
Teacher’s behaviors: The first factor affecting the motivation of learners is the teacher‟s
attitudes and behaviors. The way the teacher feels, thinks, and behaves while teaching
surely has a profound influence on learners‟ motivation and the learning atmosphere.
When the teacher has personal and interpersonal variables such as good mood, warmth,
respect, empathy, understanding, sensitivity, enthusiasm, good sense of humor, the
learning environment is likely to be relaxing and enjoying to students. It is suggested that
when learners have chances to work with an instructor who shows students excitement
about the subject matter being taught, or simply expresses their love for teaching job,
inevitably they are affected by this energy and will engage themselves more actively in the
learning process.

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1.2.3.3. Learning conditions
Physical conditions: Physical conditions in the classroom include the classroom size,
chairs, desks, table, lights, boards and even bulletin boards affect students' motivation
either positively or negatively. The decoration (poster, flowers, funny objects) also has a
strong influence on the classroom atmosphere. Moreover, according to Dornyei (2001: 42),
personalizing the classroom can be seen as students exercising increasing control over their
environment.
Besides, noise and quality of listening facilities might cause students‟ listening become
challenging. Noise including both background noises on the recording and environmental
noises, can take the listener‟s mind off the content of the listening passage. Furthermore,
listening material on tape or radio lacks visual and aural environmental clues. Not seeing
the speaker‟s body language and facial expressions makes it more difficult for the listener
to understand the speaker‟s meaning. Moreover, unclear sounds resulting from poor-
quality equipment can interfere with the listener‟s comprehension.
Classroom atmosphere: Teacher must be aware of how important to create a pleasant and
supportive classroom atmosphere. The teacher's rapport with the students, the students'
relationship with each other and the norm of tolerance will help students feel safe and
comfortable taking risk. Moreover, teacher should make students know that making
mistakes is a natural part of learning. Therefore, students are encouraged to express their
own opinion and thinking. As Lightbown & Spada (1999), they state that the supportive
and non- threatening atmosphere made a contribution to learners' motivation.
Learning materials: One of the most important factors that influence the learner‟s
motivation is learning materials. Interesting, relevant, and carefully-designed materials will
surely more motivate students in learning the subject matter. For example, students will
easily lose their interest in dealing with reading text containing too many new words,
complex structures and ambiguous ideas. And if the content of the reading is nothing
relevant to the topic at hand of the lesson, students are definitely uninterested in working

background for this study. However, only questionnaire was used. If there were interviews
with students, the deeper information could be collected from students.
Relating to factors affecting students‟ motivation to study English, Tuyen, N.T. (2012) did
research on “factors affecting students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at An
Lao high school” The researcher uses a questionnaire of two parts and interview as the data

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collection. The study revealed that students lacked listening strategies, but teachers didn't
teach those listening strategies regularly. Teachers had to face in teaching listening was
that students lacked language knowledge and vocabulary. Moreover, learning environment
and learning facilities also badly affected teaching and learning listening.
Another study conducted by Huong, N.T.T. (2010) to investigate non-majors‟ motivational
factors in learning English listening at Hai Phong private university. Participants were 186
English non - major students at TOEIC level 2 in total of 1078 students from seven
different classes. The data was collected using a survey questionnaire in Likert Scale
pattern. After analyzing five learners‟ related factors, the findings showed that the effect of
each factor on students‟ motivation was different while, for each factor, the ideas were
shown rather similarly in both groups of participants coming from the country and from the
urban areas.
Overall, there have been number of studies in motivation in foreign language learning and
learning English skills. However, there has been little research into factors affecting non-
English major students‟ motivation in learning English listening skills at College of
Industrial Techniques. This is the gap that the current thesis study tries to bridge. By doing
research through questionnaires a semi-structured interview, this study hopes to add further
evidence to the small but growing body of research on this topic.
1.4. Summary
In this chapter, motivation has not been paid more attention from Vietnamese students
and researchers. From the factual contexts that the researcher works in and finds the matter
interesting and necessary, this study aims to measure the factors affecting non-English