ERIC Number: EJ832183
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-May
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1175-8708
EISSN: N/A
Learners' Motivation and Identity in the Vietnamese EFL Writing Classroom
Tran, Ly Thi
English Teaching: Practice and Critique, v6 n1 p151-163 May 2007
The study reported in this paper explores issues of motivation and learners' identity in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing classroom in Vietnam from the perspectives of the learners. It was conducted with thirty English-major students at a university in central Vietnam. While relevant literature appears to place much emphasis on students' extrinsic motivations related to institutional needs, their linguistic need, and social needs in learning EFL writing, students are not only concerned with these but more significantly, with their intrinsic motivations such as their interest, passion and inspiration, which are linked to their personal and cultural needs in writing. Students in this study show their potential to write independently, creatively and passionately if they are really motivated. This reflects an image of students who are able and ready to write with a sense of authorship in a foreign language, which is different from how they appear to be in the routine described with writing as imitating the model and developing some preconceived ideas. The research also suggests that decisions about appropriate methods and materials for teaching writing in the study context need to be based on a comprehensive interpretation not only of visible signs or visible needs (mainly shaped by institutional requirements and social expectations) but also of what is deep inside students' act of writing in a foreign language, involving their own cognitive and affective process embedded in their unrecognized needs. (Contains 2 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Writing Instruction, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Learner Engagement, Academic Aspiration, Learning Motivation, Questionnaires, Student Attitudes, Writing Attitudes, Writing Research, Writing Skills
Wilf Malcolm Institute for Educational Research, University of Waikato. PB 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand. Tel: +64-7-858-5171; Fax: +64-7-838-4712; e-mail: wmier@waikato.ac.nz; Web site: http://education.waikato.ac.nz/research/journal/index.php?id=1
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Vietnam
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A