VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

TẠ THỊ THƯƠNG
A SURVEY OF FACTORS THAT DEMOTIVATE EFL
TEACHERS AT VINH PHUC TECHNICAL - ECONOMIC
COLLEGE

Khảo sát các yếu tố gây mất hứng thú của giáo viên dạy tiếng Anh
trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế - Kỹ thuật Vĩnh Phúc
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Dr. Nguyễn Đức Hoạt
Hanoi – 2014
i

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT I certify that the minor thesis entitled: “A Survey of Factors that Demotivate
EFL Teachers at Vinh Phuc Technical Economic College” is submitted in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts is the result of my
own work, except where otherwise acknowledge and that this minor thesis or any
part of the same had not been submitted for a higher degree to any other universities
or institutions. Hanoi, 2014 T Th Thương

and being a great source of support in my difficult time. I am thankful to my parents for
their continuous encouragement, and trust in my ability over the years since I started
school. I also want to thank all my sisters for their help, encouragement and care.
I thank the English staff at Vinh Phuc Technical Economic College for
completing the survey questionnaires, for their constructive suggestions to this
research, and for their willingness to share their relevant problems with me during the
interviews. Without them, my research would never have become a reality.
iii

ABSTRACT
Although demotivation constitutes an important factor, only a limited number of
studies were conducted on teacher demotivation. The purpose of this paper is to
determine the sources of demotivation and the most salient demotivation factors among
seven EFL teachers at Vinh Phuc Technical - Economic College (VTEC). In addition,
it attempts to explore the possible differences on demotivating factors in term of
gender. The study used a survey design involving a five - point Likert questionnaire
and semi - structured interview techniques to obtain information. The findings of the
study revealed that, firstly, in term of three main themes, students were found the main
source of demotivation in which "students forget doing homework" demotivated the
respondents most. However, when analyzing them in aspect of sub-categories, items
related to professional life, administrative pressures and workload tend to demotivate
the participants most. Moreover, there were some differences in respondents'
demotivating factors in relation to gender. Some pedagogical recommendations for
both teachers and administrators were also discussed based on the findings.

1

1.
Rationale for the study
1

2.
Aims of the study
2

3.
Research questions
2

4.
Research method
2

5.
Scope and significance of the study
2

6.
Structure of the study
3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
4


7 1.2.1. Definition of demotivation
7 1.2.2. The impact of demotivation
7 1.2.3. Factors that demotivate teachers in teaching
8 1.2.3.1. Student - related factors
9 1.2.3.2. Working environment
9
v
1.2.3.3. Personal aspect
11

1.3
Previous research on teacher's demotivation

18

2.3
Research setting and participants
18

2.4
Data collection instruments
19 2.4.1. Questionnaire
19 2.4.2. Interviews
20

2.5
Data collection procedures
21

2.6
Data analysis
22
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
23

3.1
Findings


e. Administrative pressure
30 3.1.1.3. Personal aspects
31 a. Professional life
31 b. Family life
32
vi
3.1.1.4. Other factors for teacher demotivation
32 3.1.2. The most salient demotivating factors of EFL teachers
33 3.1.3. Comparison of de – motives on the basis of gender
34



2.2. For college administrators
39

3.
Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research
40
REFERENCES
42
Appendix 1: Questionnaire for teachers
I
Appendix 2: Interview questions for teachers
IV
Appendix 3: Interview questions for former teachers
V
Appendix 4: One - way ANOVA analysis of demotivating factors between
genders
VI

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figures:
Figure 1.1: Basic model of the role of aptitude and motivation in second language
learning
Figure 3.1: Workload for teacher demotivation
Figure 3.2: Salary for teacher demotivation
Figure 3.3: Professional life factors for teacher demotivation
Figure 3.4. Means for demotivating factors in sub-categories
Tables:
Table 3.1: Student – related factors for teacher demotivation
Table 3.2: Facilities and material for teacher demotivation
Table 3.3: Colleague relationship for teacher demotivation
Table 3.4: Administrative pressure for teacher demotivation
Table 3.5: Family life factors for teacher demotivation
Table 3.6: Means for Demotivating factors in theme and subcategories
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PART I: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale for the study
We are living in the global world in which English language has rapidly
become an international language. To meet this requirement, English has been taught
almost everywhere in Vietnam, especially in schools, colleges, universities as a
compulsory subject. During language teaching and learning process, teachers are
considered as one of the most influential factors affecting directly the students‟
personality, their major and their progress in studying and determining the quality of
education system. Besides professional knowledge and teaching experience, another
key criteria which ensures teaching quality is motivation in working. There appears,

Technical Economic College”.
2. Aims of the study
The first aim of the study is to investigate demotivating factors among EFL
teachers at VTEC. The second aim is to find out the order of significance of these
demotivating factors. The third and final aim is to explore the possible differences
in demotivating factors among EFL teachers in terms of gender.
3. Research questions
To achieve the above aims, the following questions are addressed:
1. What are demotivating factors among EFL teachers at VTEC?
2. What factors most significantly demotivate EFL teachers at VTEC?
3. What are differences of demotivating factors among EFL teachers in terms
of their gender?
4. Research method
This study is a survey research work in which both qualitative and
quantitative methods are used in order to find out the factors that demotivate EFL
teachers. Quantitative research provides readers with “numbers, logic and the
objective, focusing on logic, numbers, and unchanging static data” (Babbie & Earl,
2010). And the goal of qualitative study has historically been “to explore, explain,
or describe the phenomenon of interest” (Marshall & Rossman, 1999). To collect
data, a questionnaire and semi- structured interviews are used to gain more in- dept
information concerning on the demotivating factors for EFL teachers.
5. Scope and significance of the study
The study only focuses on finding out the factors that demotivate EFL
teachers and examining differences in demotivating factors between male and
female teachers at VTEC. The results of the study cannot be generalized to all EFL
teachers in Vietnam. It is only useful for the colleges which have similar economic,
social conditions and teacher staffs.
This study is of great importance. We know that student‟s learning depends
upon effective teaching; hence we need to know factors that help in the
3
4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

There are various factors affecting the language teaching and learning
processes. Among of these, motivation and demotivation have been widely
acknowledged by both teachers and researchers as one of the key factors that
influence the rate and success of the second/ foreign language learning. These terms
are, however, relatively complex issues that have produced a wide range of theories
over the past decades. In this chapter, motivation is firstly briefly defined and after
that some of most influential motivation theories are introduced as a basis for
demotivation. The next part will deal with the definition and the impacts of
demotivation in EFL/ ESL teaching and learning. Finally, summary of the studies
related to demotivation will be presented.
1.1. Motivation
1.1.1. Definition of motivation
A number of definitions of motivation has been raised over the past decades.
In everyday situations, this term is used to explain why people think and behave as
they do. In other words, it is a general way of referring to the causes and origins of
an action (Dörnyei: 2001). From the literature review, it appears that most
researchers viewed motivation as “the drive behind human behavior” (Hollyforce &
Whiddett, 2002: 3). Motivation concerns the direction and magnitude of human
behavior (Dörnyei and Ushioda 2011:4). Therefore, motivation is thought to be
responsible for “why people decide to do what they do, how long they are willing to

of various individual differences in the learning of an L2. In the model, two classes
of variables, integrativeness and attitudes toward the learning situation are said to
contribute to the learner‟s level of motivation. Thus, motivation in Gardner‟s theory
is seen to consist of the following elements: efforts to learn the language, desire to
achieve the goal to learn the language and positive affect towards learning the
language because it is enjoyable (Amemori, 2012).
1.1.2.2. Cognitive – situated approaches
In the beginning of 1990s, there was a growing need for alternative
perspectives, major changes had taken place from cognitive revolution in
psychological research. This begins the so-called cognitive- situated period of L2
motivation research in which there was a desire to narrow down the macro
perspectives of L2 motivation to a more situated approach characterized by micro
perspective. During this period, there appeared two most significant approaches:
Self- determination theory and attribution theory.
Self – determination, one of the most influential approaches in motivational
psychology (Dörnyei: 2005), was first introduced by Deci and Ryan (1985). In this
theory, motivation is divided into two main types: Intrinsic motivation refers to
Integrativeness
Attitudes toward
the learning
situation
Motivation
Other support
Integrativeness motivation
Other factors
Language
achievement
Language aptitude
6


of three main sources of motivation to learn a second language: the learner‟s image
of oneself as a successful L2 user; the social pressure that comes from the learner‟s
environment - the attributes that one should possess in order to meet expectations
and avoid negative outcomes; and the positive learning experiences concerning to
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motives that are related to the immediate language environment and experience
(Dörnyei and Ushioda 2011: 86).
In conclusion, a brief summary of some influential approaches of motivation
has been illustrated which clearly shows a growing need for learners to adapt a new
global identity because modern globalized world is now characterized by linguistic
and sociocultural fluidity where language use, ethnicity and identity have become
complex issues.
1.2. Demotivation in L2 learning and teaching
1.2.1. Definition of demotivation
In sharp contrast to motivation and motivating factors is demotivating factor
which has been completely or, at least, partly neglected in teaching and learning
studies especially in EFL context. Therefore, not much literature can be found on it.
Demotivation can be interpreted simply as the lack of adequate motivation to do a
specific goal and it was called differently: “another side of motivation” (Sakai and
Kikachi, 2009) or “the dark – side of motivation” (Jenni, 2004) that makes both
learners and teachers lose their interest in learning and teaching a second language.
In other words, a demotivated person is one who lacks deliberate effort, willingness
and investment for achieving a specific purpose (Kamal and Parisa, 2012). In the
common-sense use or understanding of demotivation, it concerns negative
influences that reduce or cancel out motivation (Dörnyei 2001:142). In 2005, once
again, he defined de-motivation as “specific external forces that reduce or diminish
the motivational basis of a behavioral intention or an ongoing action”. However, he
also emphasized that demotivation does not mean all the positive influences that
originally made up the motivational basis of a behavior have been annulled; rather,

consequences also listed by Bennell (2004) such as: teacher absenteeism is
unacceptably high and rising, time on task is low and falling, teaching practices are
characterized by limited effort with heavy reliance on traditional teacher-center
practices. Moreover, teachers are devoting less and less time to extra - curricular
activities, teaching preparation, and marking. In addition, the 2004, World
Development Report notes "cases malfeasance among teachers are distressingly
present in many settings: teachers are shown drunk, are physically abusive, or simply
do nothing. This is low-quality teaching - this is not teaching at all." (World Bank,
2004). Finally, Bennell (2004) and VSO (2005) added two other negative impacts of
poor job satisfaction were high teacher attrition rates and brain drain. It is widely
reported that there has been a large scale migration of teachers from developing
countries to the United Kingdom and other OECD countries. In short, low teacher
motivation can result in a number of negative impacts on teaching process.
1.2.3. Factors that demotivate teachers in teaching
Based on the theoretical basis and the findings from previous studies which
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will be discussed more detailed in the next part of this chapter, factors demotivating
students in foreign language teaching can be classified into three large groups:
student – related factors, working environment and personal aspects.
1.2.3.1. Student - related factors
According to Sugino (2010), demotivating factors related to student sources
consist of (a) students‟ attitudes toward English such as: forgetting to do homework
and sleeping in class, (b) their English competence such as: low basic English
knowledge and low achievement, (c) culturally specific factors such as: lack of student
participation and students‟ speaking to one another in mother tongue language.
Similarly, Siti Sari (2013) summarized the findings of studies conducted by
Doyle and Kim (1999), Tiziava (2003), Hettiarachchi (2010) and Aydin (2012) by
classifying this theme into some subcategories such as: low basic of English, lack of
motivation, students' achievement is low, negative attitudes and lack of vocabularies.

most significant demotivators related to working environment include limited
facilities for teaching and learning in school, overcrowded classes, textbooks that do
not match students proficiency and issues in teaching methodology. In the process of
teaching and acquiring a new language, adequate materials and classroom facilities
play a crucial role because it can reduce time of preparing or designing the activities
for students, students also may have more chance to enjoy authentic materials.
* Workload
Increasing hours of work, more subjects, and constantly changing curricula
are cited as major demotivators in some countries (Garrett, 1999). Many teachers
express their dissatisfaction with the amount of work that they have to be
responsible for. With long working hours and big amount of extra- work would
limit them from:
+ Spending more time at home or on their hobbies;
+ Being able to work elsewhere - such as giving private lessons, where there
is not a fixed payment scale;
+ Having more time to prepare carefully for their lessons;
+ Making time to check their students‟ homework.
* Salary
This section analyses trends in teacher pay and the extent to which it
constitutes a living wage. There is a broad consensus among all stakeholder
respondents that teachers are underpaid and this is the main factor affecting their
motivation and morale (Kadzamira, 2006). Yet – although in low-income countries,
their salaries can represent the largest expenditure in an education budget – teachers
often have the lowest status and are the lowest paid of government employees
(Brannelly and Ndaruhutse, 2008). Total pay does not cover basic household
survival needs obviously leads to teacher demotivation.
* Colleague relationship
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Another factor that is pertinent to job satisfaction is the aspect of working

increase their motivation to work. In short, all of these factors, depending on the
situation, can be a factor increasing or decreasing the teachers' motivation.

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1.3. Previous research on Teacher’s Demotivation.
1.3.1. In foreign countries
Present research on motivation has focused mainly on introducing positive
motives, with little attention paid to de-motivation studies, which “ in spite of their
great importance, have received very little attention either in mainstream psychology
or L2 research” (Dörnyei, 2005). Despite its salient phenomenon in mainstream
education, teacher motivation and demotivation still remains a highly overlooked area
of research in SLA and TESOL (Dörnyei, 2001). Many studies mainly focused on
three issues: Teacher motivation, strategies to motivate teacher and teacher – student
motivation relationship (Addison & Brundrett, 2008; Roth, Assor, Maymon &
Kaplan, 2007) rather than on the factors that demotivate EFL teachers.
1.3.1.1. Teacher’s demotivation in ESL context
Even though a great deal of research suggests that teachers in many contexts
derive motivation from intrinsic rewards of teaching. Pennington (1995) listed some
external factors that demotivated teachers including: lack of job security, stress
levels, heavy workloads, and disagreement with teaching methods. And then in
2000, Dörnyei stated that there are a large “number of detrimental factors that
systematically undermine and erode the intrinsic character of teacher motivation”
(p.15). According to him, teacher demotivation is often associated with five main
factors: stressful nature of work, inhibition of teacher autonomy, insufficient self-
efficacy, content repetitiveness, and inadequate career structures. Resulting from
many research (Kyriacou, 2001, Chien‟s, 2004), “teaching is considered to be one
of the highest stress profession” in many countries. Teaching stress is often caused
by bureaucratic pressure, lack of adequate facilities, low salaries and constant
alertness needed in working with children or young adults who lack motivation

Additionally, drawing on in-depth qualitative data from fifty-four surveys
and five interviews using a convenient sample of five ESL English teachers in
public schools in Sri Lanka, age ranged from 36 to 43 years. Hettiarachchi (2013)
investigated the elements of motivation and demotivation reflected in Sri Lankan
ESL teachers. Out of 78 demotivators reported by the teachers in the survey, 40
(51%) of them were related to practical issues in teaching. The most frequent
demotivators related to teaching included limited facilities for teaching and learning
in school, overcrowded class, writing school – based assessment, textbooks that do
not match student proficiency and issues in teaching methodology.
To sum up, most of the studies above have some common findings in term of
teacher demotivational factors in ESL teaching process. These factors include stress
level, heavy workload, restricted teacher autonomy, community‟s poor opinion of
teacher and low salaries.

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1.3.1.2. Teacher's demotivation in EFL context
Above are some significant factors that demotivate teachers in ESL
context, teachers in non-native English contexts faced additional challenges
when they teach English to students who have limited knowledge to the target
language in the classroom.
Among limited studies available on teacher demotivation, Doyle and Kim
(1999) conducted a study about this issue and discovered that salary, teacher –
administrator relationships, problems related to advancement, curriculum, course
books, heavy workload, lack of teaching autonomy and job security were the factors
leading to demotivation.
As for the Greek teaching context, Konstadina Tziava (2003) who surveyed
52 non – native EFL, in-service teachers, working for private language centers in
Athens, Greece, found out some factors that motivate teachers such as: working
environment, their relationship with their boss, colleagues and students, their

pay role, rarity of promotion prospects, low prestige of basic school teaching and
poor relations with supervisors were the causes of teacher demotivation.
Similarly, Aydin (2012) from Turkey obtained the main result from a study
that there are six main factors that cause demotivation during EFL teaching process.
They included problems relating to (a) teaching profession, (b) curriculum, (c)
working conditions, (d) students and their parents, (e) colleagues and school
administrators, and (f) physical conditions.
Finally, by inheriting the results from previous studies, in 2013, Siti Rahma
Sari conducted a qualitative study using demographic questionnaire and face - to -
face interviews, the findings from this study are consistent with results of previous
teacher demotivation research conducted both in developed and developing
countries. Some main demotivators for the teachers are students (their performance
and success, their motivation and their negative attitudes toward English), school
environment, physical condition, inadequate facilities in teaching and learning,
duties besides teaching, poor salary, and inadequate parental involvement in their
children‟s education.
In conclusion, basing on the findings of the previous studies on
demotivation, six main factors can be drawn out in EFL teaching context: teaching
profession, curriculum, working environment, students and their parents,
colleagues and school administrators, and duties besides teaching.
1.3.2. In Viet Nam
Although demotivation is a salient phenomenon in general, and in L2 and
EFL in particular, as we can see above, only a few studies have been conducted in
order to gather information of its role in the L2 learning and teaching process, and
majority of published studies are virtually, conducted in developed countries.