VIETNAMNATIONALUNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
-------------------

TRẦN HOÀI LINH

A STUDY ON THE MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH OF
GIFTED STUDENTS AT HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS,
HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ ĐỘNG CƠ HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH
CHUYÊN, TRƯỜNG THPT CHUYÊN, ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2014


VIETNAMNATIONALUNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
-------------------

TRẦN HOÀI LINH

A STUDY ON THE MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH OF
GIFTED STUDENTS AT HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS,
HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

a number of people.
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr.
Hoang Van Van, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me
through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and
suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher.
A special word of thanks goes to my students, without whom it would never
have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished.
Last by not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for the sacrifice they
have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work.

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ABSTRACT
This study was intended to investigate the motivation of English gifted
students at High School for Gifted Students, Hanoi National University of Education
(HNUE). More specifically, the researcher attempted to offer several common
definitions and perceptions of motivation and identify the categories of motivation,
perceived by different theories by reviewing several models of language learning
motivation up to now. More importantly, the study aims to investigate the type of
motivations that exist among English gifted students at High School for Gifted
Students, HNUE and examine whether gifted students of grades 10, 11 and 12 have
the same or different types of English learning motivation. In the study, 158 students
participated in completing the questionnaire reflecting the learning motivation. The
results of the study reveal that the student surveyed had high motivation of learning
English, and the types of motivation that prevails among those students were
intrinsic, extrinsic, instrumental and integrative motivation. Moreover, it was also
found that students of grade 11 were more integrative and intrinsic oriented than
those in grade 10 and grade 12. Finally, based on the findings, some suggestions for
teachers of these classes are offered.

HNUE: Hanoi National University of Education
L2: second language
AMBT: Attitude / Motivation Test Battery

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ............................................................................................................I
ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................III
PART A: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1
1. RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY .................................................................... 1
2. AIMS OF THE RESEARCH ............................................................................ 2
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH.............................................................. 2
4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................... 2
5. SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH ......................................................................... 3
6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH.......................................................... 3
7. STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS ................................... 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT ......................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................. 4
1.1. Theoretical Background ................................................................................ 4
1.1.1. Definition of Motivation.......................................................................... 4
1.1.2. Language Learning Motivation ............................................................... 5
1.1.2.1. Socioeducational Model .................................................................... 5
1.1.2.2. Cognitive Revolution ........................................................................ 8
1.2. Review of Previous Studies Related to the Research Area of the Thesis ...... 13
1.3. Summary ..................................................................................................... 15
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................... 16
2.1. Research Setting .......................................................................................... 16
2.2. Subjects ....................................................................................................... 16

1. Rationale for the Study
In an article entitled “How motivation affects learning and behavior”, Ormrod
(2014), it claims that the motivation exists in most students, in one way or another.
One may be engrossed in a certain subject, play an active role in classroom
activities, and obtain high scores at school, while one may be more attentive to the
social activities in the society including communicative events and similar
occasions. It is undeniable that the motivation has a strong impact on the learning
and behaviour of students. Specifically, it affects students’ choice, their goals in
learning. It also determines students’ effort and energy as well as the initiation and
persistence spent on learning: once they feel motivated they will devote to the
study.
According to Hussin, Nooreiny, and D'Cruz (2001), a persistent issue claimed
by many English teachers is the effort to maintain the students’ interest in learning
English. Teachers have to well balance the preparation for the exam and the lifelong language skills.
Since most researchers and teachers are aware of the importance of motivation
in learning, they have been attempting to figure out ways to increase the students’
motivation by carrying out studies of motivation among students. Numerous studies
about motivation dated back from the 1960s and have still been one of the favored
themes for researchers worldwide.
As and old saying “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him
drink”, implying that you can lead your students to the treasure of erudition but you
cannot reinforce them to “swallow” the knowledge, instead you can let them acquire
the knowledge themselves by providing them with learning motivation. I am myself
a teacher and I know how crucial the motivation is for teaching and learning. Hence
a teacher’s goal is to show his or her students an interesting way to the water by
making him a motivated student. To work out the proper way, teachers are supposed
to be conscious of students’ own desire as well as their purpose of learning, or to be
more specifically, what can motivate and demotivate them in learning. A student
who is oriented to pursue natural sciences and does not care much about English
would wish to experience a different way of learning and teaching in comparison

In this investigation, the following research questions were addressed:
1. What types of motivation exist among students at High School for Gifted
Students (HNUE)? And which types of motivation prevail?
2. Do gifted students of English in grades 10, 11 and 12 differ in their
motivation to learn English, and what are the differences?

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5. Scope of the Research
This study only focused on investigation of the motivation of learning English of
students majoring in English, not students who learn English as a normal subject in
general, at High School for Gifted Students.
6. Significance of the Research
This study aimed to investigate the types of motivation that exist among English
gifted students, and the differences in the motivation among students of different
grades. Firstly, the survey itself, partly helped students be aware of the importance
of motivation in learning, and they could themselves figure out different ways to
increase their motivation. Secondly, the results of the finings can be of great use for
the teachers of the classes surveyed in the way that they can adapt their teaching
methods as well as activities so that their students can be more motivated in
learning English.
7. Structural Organization of the Thesis
The thesis is organized as follows:
Part A - Introduction – provides the rationale of the study, aims and objectives
and the significance of the study as well as raises research questions.
Part B - Development - consists of three chapters:
Chapter One – Literature review – presents an overview of relevant literature on
the issues of motivation in second/foreign language learning.
Chapter Two – Research methodology – provides a description of research

study, Dornyei also ironically compares it with an old umbrella that contains
numerous concepts, but unfortunately, they have very little in common. Following
are some definitions accumulated from several sources:
In the Online Oxford Dictionaries (2013) motivation is defined as “a reason or
reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way with interest or enthusiasm”
Meanwhile, Harmer (2007: 98) also agrees with Dornyei and Otto (1998: 65) that
motivation is “the dynamically changing cumulative arousal or internal drive in a
person that initiates, directs, coordinates, amplifies, terminates, and evaluates the
cognitive and motor processes whereby initial wishes and desires are selected,
prioritized, operationalized and successfully or unsuccessfully acted out”.
According to Gardner (1985: 10), motivation is “the extent to which the individual
works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the
satisfaction experienced in the activity.”

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However, such definitions are not adequate to explain the complicated essence
of motivation in language learning. To have a deeper understanding, it is necessary
to look at the history of the development of the motivation theory with its different
components looked from various perspectives.
1.1.2. Language Learning Motivation
As mentioned above, researchers still do not share the same points of view on
Language learning motivation (LLM) components and the different roles that these
components play - individual differences, situational differences, social and cultural
factors, and cognition (Renchler, 1992; Belmechri & Hummel, 1998). The
complication of the issue is due to its involvement in different aspects. Initially,
LLM was looked into on the basis of a behavioural framework to work out “what
moved a resting organism into a state of activity”, with heavy reliance on concepts
such as instinct, drive, need, energisation, and homeostasis (Weiner, 1990).

(Gardner & Lambert, 1959). Instrumental motivation refers to practical value in
learning the language, for instance, to obtain more job opportunities, strengthen
power, or gain access to scientific and technical information. Ahmadi (2011) gave
an example in his study about instrumental motivation: A designer in Chile who has
just graduated from university and wants to get a well-paid position which would
result in changing his economic situation completely. However, the job has one
requirement which is good command of English. And the desiring job with a chance
of improving financial situation becomes an instrument for him to study English.
Both integrative and instrumental motivation prove crucial factors leading to
learners’ achievement, integrative motivation is found to contribute more to long
term success as perceived by Taylor, Meynard & Rheault (1977); Ellis (1997),
Crookes et al. (1991) (cited in Ahmadi’s study). Gardner and Lambert themselves
also put more emphasis on integrative motivation than instrumental motivation in a
formal learning environment.
Socioeducational model consists of several components and they are
measured using Attitude / Motivation Test Battery (AMBT). The first component,
attitudes towards the learning situation refers to the individual’s attitudes towards
academic environment, including towards teachers and towards the course.
Meanwhile the integrativeness is valued based on the attitude towards target
language group, the interest in the language and integrative orientation. And finally,
motivation is evaluated based on the effort spent on learning language, the attitudes
towards learning the language, and affinity to learn the target language.

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Figure 1: Socioeducational Model
Source: Gardner (2001), cited in Keblawi (2009)
In Gardner’s model, the more important part is integrative motivation, which
consists of three different components: integrative orientation, integrativeness, and

According to Ryan and Deci (2000) intrinsic motivation is defined as “the doing of
an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for some separable consequence.
When intrinsically motivated, a person is moved to act for the fun or challenge
entailed rather than because of external products, pressures or reward”.
Meanwhile, extrinsic motivation is defined as “extrinsic motivation is a
construct that pertains whenever an activity is done in order to attain some separable
outcome. Extrinsic motivation thus contrasts with intrinsic motivation, which refers
to doing an activity simply for the enjoyment of the activity itself, rather than its
instrumental value (Ryan and Deci, 2000).
In general, according to Deci and Ryan, intrinsically motivated behaviors are
“out of interest and satisfy the innate psycho-logical needs for competence and
autonomy are the prototype of self-deter-mined behavior.” Meanwhile, extrinsically
motivated behaviors refer to those that are “executed because they are instrumental
to some separable consequence”.
Oudeyer et al. (2007) gave an example of intrinsically and extrinsically
motivated as following. A child does his homework because he is afraid that his
parents will punish him if he fails to finish it. And the homework is done for a
separable outcome, for not being sanctioned. This case, he is extrinsically
motivated. In contrast, when the kid completes his task since he finds the pleasure
and experience the feeling of satisfaction upon discovering new knowledge in doing
homework, just like playing video game, he is said to be intrinsically motivated.

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There is also a term to mention, namely, amotivation, which is the situation
when one has no intention to act because of not appreciate the activities or simply
not feeling capable of doing that (Deci, 1975). Accordingly, unmotivated
individuals fail to sense the relationship between their actions and the actions’
outcome (Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, & Briere, 2001). Such individuals may have


concept. More specifically, its main focus is on how the motivation fits with his
values and the belief how it gets along with other aspects of his life, which
eventually leads to integration. For example, a student may choose to leave other
activities behind to study because for him studying well at school is very important.
In other words, according to Deci and Ryan (2000), this happens when the
regulations are “assimilated to the self”. The more the regulations are assimilated,
the more the motivated actions are self-determined. According to Noels (2000,
2001) intrinsic motivation is improved when learners have more autonomy, receive
encouraging feedback and are less controlled by teachers.
The next category is intrinsic motivation. The intrinsic motivation is described
to involve three kinds. The first type is called “knowledge” which is the pleasure to
learn new things and obtain new knowledge. The second subcategory is
“accomplishment” which is the pleasure to achieve certain goals, and finally,
“Stimulation”, the pleasure gained when they perform the task.
1.1.2.2.2 Goal Theories
The two influential goal theories in studying motivation have been
introduced are goal setting theories and goal orientation theory. The former was
developed by Locke and Latham (1990). As stated in the theory, goals have two
aspects namely internal and external. The internal aspects of the goals are the ideas
that guide the goal obtaining process and the conditions sought for refer to the
external aspect of the goals.

Figure 2: General Model of Goal Setting Theory
Source: Lunenburg (2011)

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The theory assumes that there are two “cognitive determinants of behavior”:

the external elements such as luck, task difficulty for their failure. (Dweck, 1986).

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In general, it has been studied that mastery oriented students tend to concentrate
more on development and understanding. Such learners adopt more effective
learning strategies and would be engaged in more challenging tasks. Meanwhile
performance oriented students invest more effort on doing better than others,
wishing to attract public recognition, compliment, and they employ less effective
learning strategies and as well as prefer easy tasks. For example, mastery oriented
learners wish to master the subject matter and acquire new knowledge and while
students adopting performance approach goals tend to do to be recognized by
others.
1.1.2.2.3. Attribution Theories
This was an influential theory in the 1980’s. To put it simply, this theory is
about how people explain things or why things happened. According to William and
Burden (1997), the theory is not based on the experiences people have but it looks
into how the experiences are “perceived”. For example within academic contexts,
students may attribute their “locus of causality” (failure or success) to a wide
variety of reasons, which falls into two subcategories, namely external and internal
attribution, which means they see themselves or others as the causes. An external
attribution accuses something outside of motivating the event while internal
attribution ascribes the causality to factors within a person, meaning the people
themselves are directly responsible for the failure or success. The attribution theory
proved significant in classroom environment because it relates to motivation for
language learning. If a student attributes his failure to the uncontrollable internal
factors, let’s say lack of ability, and then the motivation may easily decline or even
disappear. While he/ she ascribes the failure to the controllable internal factors, for
instance, his or her laziness, the motivation is likely to be improved without

contribute to the understanding of the motivation of English learning of Japanese
elementary students.
Another study investigated a different aspect, the link between motivation and
gender by Akram and Ghani (2013). There were 240 students of grade 12 in
Pakistan participating in the survey, including 63 male and 87 female students,
coming from both urban and rural areas. A questionnaire adapted from Gardner’s
Attitudes/ Motivation Test Batteries (1985) was employed to investigate the
students' attitudes and motivations toward learning English. According to the
results, there were no distinguished differences between male and female students’
attitudes and motivation towards learning English, which showed a contrast to the
results of several previous studies in the same issue. Akram and Ghani (2013) also
pointed out that the previous research by MacIntyre et al. (2002); Baker and

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MacIntyre (2003) showed a significant difference between female and male, and
Sung & Padilla (1998) revealed a significantly higher motivation in female students
compared with male students.
Another research is carried out by Vaezi (2008), whose main subject is
undergraduate students, and mainly focused on two types of motivation,
instrumental and integrative motivation. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to
examine Iranian's undergraduate students' integrative and instrumental motivation
toward learning English as a foreign language. In the study, 79 students, not
specializing in English from Islamic Republic of Iran participated in the survey,
completing a modified 2 item questionnaire on motivation of learning English
(instrumental and integrative motivation). The result of the study revealed that
Iranian students participating in the survey had a very high motivation towards
learning English, and the level of instrumental motivation measured is higher than
that of integrative one. This is explained by the researcher that Iranian L2 learners

to goal orientation theories. The two categories, internal and external reasons given
by attribute theories are also another way of classification. The ultimate goal of
classifying motivation is to more easily determine the learners’ motivation and the
way to boost their incentives of learning. That is also the reason why there have
been, recently, a lot of studies revolving around this topic.
This study, mainly, based on the socioeducational model and self determined
model. This means that two categories namely instrumental and integrative
motivation and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are theoritical basis of the
research.

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CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1. Research Setting
The study was conducted at High School for Gifted Students (HNUE) whose
classes are categorized into different majors: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry,
Biology, Informatics, Literature, English, and two other non-majored classes: A1
and A2. As the students come from different parts in Vietnam, and aims to
following different majors, they, definitely, have different motivation of learnings.
Those who specialize in English are supposed to have higher motivation of
studying. However, among the English gifted students themselves, the motivations
are hypothesized to be varied.
2.2. Subjects
There were 158 students from six classes majoring in English in High School for
Gifted Students (Hanoi National University of Education) participating in the thesis
study. It is preferable to mention the distinguished characteristics of the school as
well as the academic schedule for students majoring in English in this school. Since
it is a school for gifted students, it offers a bit different orientation for students.
There are two milestones for English gifted students during their 3 years at high

2.3. Research Types
The ultimate goal of this study is to explore the motivation of English gifted
students and determine the differences among the motivation of students of different
grades. The research goal is mainly achieved by means of quantitative data, using
survey research. The sample of the research nearly covered the entire target subjects,
with aim to bringing a more complete result.
2.4. Data Collection Instruments
As mentioned above, the survey research design is employed in the study with the
use of questionnaire as instrument. The questionnaire on motivation is originally
designed by Gardner (1985). The one used in this study is based on the International
Attitudes/ Motivation Test Batteries (2004), the English version, reserved for
secondary school students learning English as a foreign language, which has been
translated and used in research in Brazil, Croatia, Japan, Poland, Romania, and Spain
(Catalonia). Each statement in the questionnaire employs the 6 point Likert scale
(from strongly disagree to strongly agree), requiring students to choose one point to
represent their idea.
The second part of the questionnaire is designed to determine the feelings of
students to a number of things with 7 point Likert scale.
However, the subjects of my study are high schools students aged from 15 to 18
with short concentration span, may fail to complete a lengthy questionnaire. Even if
they are completed, the result would be unreliable because they may tick randomly.
The questionnaire for the study is shortened and added some more articles to
investigate the goal of students. The mini version, which consists of 25 statements
with 6 point Likert scale and 8 statements with 7 point Likert scale and two multiple
choice questions to exclusively determine the main goal of these gifted students.
Specifically, question 1, 7 and 14 focused more on investigating the intrinsic
motivation of students, while question 9, 10, 11, 13 and 15 aimed to study their
extrinsic motivation. Instrumental motivation was mainly investigated via question 2,
3, 4, and 12, while integrative motivation information could be obtained primarily from
question 5 and 6. Demotivation was studied via question 16, 17 and 18. The