Professional Documents
Culture Documents
By
Doctor of Philosophy
NSW, Australia
August 2016
Statement of Originality i
Statement of Originality
The thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other
degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my
person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to the final
University’s Digital Repository, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968.
Signature: …………………………………………………………………
Acknowledgements
PhD candidature.
deeply grateful for their domain expertise, valuable feedback, scholarly guidance,
also go to Professor Max Smith for his valuable assistance with the statistics in my
study.
Education for giving me financial support to travel to Vietnam to collect data for the
Hawaii.
approval for me to collect data at their universities. I also am very grateful to the
my study.
environment and support services to students and, in particular, to the academics and
professional staff of the School of Education and the Faculty of Education and Arts.
the University of Newcastle for their good advice, sharing many memorable moments,
and for their constant encouragement. My sincere thanks also go to Mrs Jeanette Abery
Acknowledegments iii
and Mr Bryan Abery and everyone in their family for their love and concern as if I were
sisters, nephews, and nieces. Words cannot express the extent of my appreciation for all
that you have done for me. Your love has given me the strength to accomplish this
study.
Table of Contents iv
Table of Contents
Page
Statement of Originality ..................................................................................................................... i
Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. ii
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................ iv
List of Tables ....................................................................................................................................... viii
List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... ix
List of Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................... x
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... xi
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY ............................................ 1
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1
Research Questions ................................................................................................................................ 4
Organization of the Thesis ................................................................................................................... 4
HIGHER EDUCATION AND ENGLISH TEACHING AND
LEARNING IN VIETNAM ........................................................................................... 7
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 7
Vietnam: Demographic detail and its system of education ........................................................ 7
A brief historical overview of foreign language policies in Vietnam ..................................... 8
The role of English in Vietnam ........................................................................................................ 11
Vietnamese higher education ............................................................................................................ 15
Historical perspective on higher education in Vietnam .................................................... 15
Higher Education Reforms since 1986 .................................................................................. 17
Teaching and learning English in Vietnamese higher education ............................................ 22
English programs in higher education ................................................................................... 22
English competency in Vietnam .............................................................................................. 24
Teacher shortage .......................................................................................................................... 26
Approaches to teaching and learning ..................................................................................... 26
Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 29
LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................ 31
Motivation defined ............................................................................................................................... 31
Expectancy-value theory: A brief history ..................................................................................... 33
The Eccles et al. expectancy-value model of achievement motivation ................................ 36
Expectancy-related beliefs ........................................................................................................ 39
Task values .................................................................................................................................... 43
Table of Contents v
List of Tables
Table 5.2 Descriptive statistics and variance (R2) values for the latent and observed
List of Figures
Figure 3.1 Expectancy-value model of achievement motivation. Adapted from Eccles &
Figure 5.1 Path diagram for final fitted model showing standardised coefficients ........ 89
List of Abbreviations x
List of Abbreviations
Abstract
This study examined the motivation to study English and the English achievement of
framework. Given the Vietnamese context, an additional variable was added to the
The investigation used a mixed method approach that included surveys, focus group
interviews, and individual interviews. Data were gathered in three universities located
in Ho Chi Minh City. Participants were first year university students who were
studying non-English majors but who were required to take English classes and
lecturers who teach English classes. The quantitative component was a survey
completed by 1207 students. The qualitative component was individual interviews with
nine lecturers of English and focus group interviews with their 72 male and female
The quantitative data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The
particularly the utility value of studying English, predicted students’ willingness to take
additional courses in English. The new family variable directly predicted students’
interest in English and their utility value of English and indirectly predicted students’
The interview data from lecturers and students provided additional insights into
students’ motivation to study English and their experiences of English classes. Students
and lecturers agreed that most students were motivated to achieve a level of oral
competency in English that would help them get desirable jobs after graduation.
However, most English classes devoted little time to this aspect of English and the oral
competency of most students was low. There were a number of reasons for this
The thesis finishes with a set of recommendations for ways in which the teaching of
improved.