Luận văn tiếng Anh:A study on students' motivation in reading skills at Quang Lower secondary school = Nghiên cứu về động lực học kỹ năng đọc hiểu của học sinh trường THCS Quảng Định. M.A. Thesis Linguistics : 60 14 10

Motivation is a key factor to success of second language acquisition that teachers of EFL (English as a foreign language) have always tried to find out motivational strategies and techniques to motivate their students to learn. In an attempt to investigate students’ motivation and main factors affecting their motivation in learning reading, the case study was conducted with 65 grade-9 students and 2 teachers at Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School with data collected from the classroom observation, survey questionnaires and interview. The study focuses on 4 main issues: (1) types of motivation possessed by the grade-9 students at Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School, (2) main factors affecting students’ motivation in learning English reading, (3) motivational activities and techniques employed by the teachers in reading lessons as well as participants’ opinions on the reading materials and (4) suggestions for applying motivational strategies and techniques to improve students’ reading skills
PART 1: INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................1
1.1. Rationale of the study ............................................................................................1
1.2. Aims of the study...................................................................................................2
1.3. Research questions.................................................................................................2
1.4. Scope of the study..................................................................................................2
1.5. Methods of the study..............................................................................................3
1.6. Significance of the study........................................................................................3
1.7. Design of the study ................................................................................................3
PART II: DEVELOPMENT……………………………………………………………...5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ..........................................................................5
1.1. Theoretical backgrounds of motivation ......................................................................5
1.1.1. Definition of motivation ......................................................................................5
1.1.2. Main types of motivation in second language learning. ......................................6
1.1.3. Role of motivation in second language learning. ................................................8
1.2. Theoretical backgrounds of reading. ..........................................................................9
1.2.1. Definitions of reading. .........................................................................................9
1.2.2. Reasons for reading. ..........................................................................................10
1.2.3. Types of reading. ...............................................................................................10
1.2.3.1. According to ways of reading.....................................................................11
1.2.3.2. According to reasons of reading .................................................................12
1.2.4. The importance of teaching and learning reading .............................................14
1.3. Motivation in reading................................................................................................15
1.3.1. The importance of motivation in reading second language...............................15 1.3.2. Main factors affecting students’ motivation in reading second language. ........16
1.3.2.1. The reading materials..................................................................................16
1.3.2.2. The teacher..................................................................................................17
1.3.2.3. The students ................................................................................................18
1.4. Summary...................................................................................................................19
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................20
2.1. Context of the study..................................................................................................20
2.2. Participants................................................................................................................21
2.3. Instruments................................................................................................................21
2.3.1. Classroom observation.......................................................................................21
2.3.2. Survey Questionnaires .......................................................................................21
2.3.2.1. Survey questionnaires for the teachers .......................................................22
2.3.2.2. Survey questionnaires for the students .......................................................22
2.3.3. Interview ............................................................................................................22
2.4. Data collection procedures........................................................................................22
2.5. Summary...................................................................................................................23
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS......................................................24
3.1 The identification of students’ motivation.................................................................24
3.1.1 Types of students’ motivation in learning reading .............................................24
3.1.2 Students’ attitude towards reading......................................................................26
3.1.3 Factors affecting students’ motivation in learning reading ................................27
3.2. Activities and techniques employed by the teachers ................................................28
3.3 Motivational strategies and techniques to motivate students.....................................33
PART III: CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................35
1. Summary of the major findings and discussion...........................................................35
2. Implications .................................................................................................................36
3. Recommendations........................................................................................................37
4. Limitations ...................................................................................................................37
5. Suggestions for further study.......................................................................................38 PART I: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the study
English has developed with an unprecedented speed in Viet Nam since the Government
implemented the open-door policy to the regional and global integration. English
proficiency is, then, seen as vital requirement for employment and higher education. As a
result, almost learners have to study English as second language for job seeking, job
promotion or overseas studies. Nowadays, in lower secondary schools, English becomes
one of the compulsory subjects on which Grade-9 students are tested at their State
Graduation Examination.
Douglas (2007) wrote that "children who read frequently grow to become skillful readers".
Many researchers also argue that reading is one of the most important skills for second
language readers. According to these researchers, reading is crucial for learning new
information, explaining, interpreting, and combining it based on old information and
expectations. Its instrumental use is particularly important at the lower secondary school
stage. From my own observation and involvement as a part-time teacher of Quang Dinh
Lower Secondary School since 2007, I realize that almost students find reading lessons
tough and boring in which they often feel sleepy. Only a few students get involved in the
activities conducted by teachers while others keep silence or do something else. Obviously,
one of the biggest challenges to teachers is to find out effective ways to improve their
students' reading skills.
This study addresses the issue by looking at the students' motivation in learning reading
skills as it is widely acknowledged that motivation plays a very important role in second
language learning process. Motivation is one of the key factors that determines the success
or failure of language learning. While a considerable amount of research has been
conducted to study the motivation and its effects on second language acquisition, little has
been particularly taken on students' motivation in learning reading comprehension skills
alone.
For the above reasons, I would like to carry out ―A study on students' motivation in
reading skills at Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School” with an attempt to investigate
the factors affecting students' motivation in learning reading skills and suggest some ways to motivate them to learn reading comprehension skills better. It is believed that the study
will be helpful for those who are facing similar problems and those who want to improve
students' motivation in learning reading skills.
1.2. Aims and objectives
The study aims at investigating the motivation in learning English reading among grade-9
students at Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School. To achieve this aim, the study sets out to
obtain four specific objectives as follows:
1. To examine types of motivation possessed by the grade-9 students at Quang
Dinh Lower Secondary School.
2. To identify the main factors affecting the students’ motivation in learning
English reading.
3. To examine activities and techniques used by the teachers to motivate their
learners in reading lessons.
4. To recommend how to use reading materials and suggest some motivational
strategies and techniques to enhance the grade-9 students’ reading
comprehension skills.
1.3. Research questions
(i) What types of motivation do the grade-9 students have in learning English
reading?
(ii) What are the main factors affecting students’ motivation in learning English
reading?
(iii) What are motivational activities and techniques employed by the teachers in
reading lessons? What are teachers and students’ opinions on the reading
materials?
(iv) What motivational strategies and techniques should be applied to improve
students’ reading skills?



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