VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEARNER AUTONOMY AMONG VIETNAMESE EFL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS DURING THEIR ENGAGEMENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE WRITING E-PORTFOLIOS A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfilment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By NGUYỄN NGỌC ANH TRANG Supervised by Đặng Tấn Tín, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, MAY 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Đặng Tấn Tín, who has always been patient with me and supported me very much with valuable insights and critical advice throughout the hardships of this thesis journey I am always grateful to him for always being very sympathetic, encouraging and willing to guide me to be on the right track Without his guidance, I would never have had enough confidence to continue working on the thesis and reach this destination My sincere thanks go to my colleagues and big sisters, Ms Đặng Thị Vân Di and Ms Lưu Nguyễn Hà Vy for their constant spiritual support during the time I was working on my thesis They always spared time to give me academic advice and shared useful learning sources with me Without their encouragement, I could not have completed this thesis My grateful thanks also go to my teachers in Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City for their help in broadening my horizons Especially, my big thanks go to Dr Phó Phương Dung It is her devoted teaching and knowledge that inspired me to come to the world of academics Furthermore, sincere thanks go to Ms Nguyễn Kiều Yến Linh, Mr Trần Duy Khiêm, and other my TESOL friends for their spending time proofreading my thesis, and willing to share invaluable sources There were times I really wanted to give up, but they were always by my side to cheer me up In addition, I owe a special debt to my colleagues for their willingness to share the workload with me Many thanks also go to the students who participated in this study I truly appreciate the time and effort they put in this study i Last but not least, my heartfelt gratitude goes to my family for their endless support and encouragement throughout the course and the completion of this study Their everlasting love, constant care and sacrifice have always been a great source of encouragement for me to move ahead in my life ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This is to certify that the thesis entitled The Development of Learner Autonomy among Vietnamese EFL Undergraduate Students during Their Engagement in English Language Writing e-Portfolios is the product of my own work The thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degrees or diplomas in any other institutions The thesis’s content, except where clearly acknowledged within the text, has not been published by other authors I hereby state that I approve the requirements of the University for the retention and use of my thesis and that it is accessible for the purposes of study and research Ho Chi Minh City, May 2019 Nguyễn Ngọc Anh Trang iii RETENTION OF USE I hereby state that I, Nguyễn Ngọc Anh Trang, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the originality of my thesis deposited in the library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, May 2019 iv ABSTRACT Learner autonomy has been acknowledged to be a desirable educational goal To date, quite a few studies have been conducted to gain better insights into this phenomenon, particularly in the Vietnamese context However, very little research, in this context, has been found that explores students’ development of learner autonomy during their participation in ePortfolios in English writing skills Therefore, this study, which employs a qualitative case study approach, is an attempt to explore the development of learner autonomy among eight first-year English major students during their engagement in the English writing ePortfolios at a university in the South of Vietnam The data used for this study were mainly collected from the semi-structured interviews which were conducted after the Writing course had finished The findings of the study revealed how the students’ learner autonomy were fostered in terms of three processes, namely Initiating, Monitoring and Evaluating during their engagement in the English writing e-Portfolios in the Writing course The findings from the interviews suggested that the students experienced positive changes in their learning behaviours during the course, which demonstrated the developing process of learner autonomy during the students’ engagement in the English writing e-Portfolios Nonetheless, not all the attributes in the three processes of learner autonomy were fully developed Certain reasons were recommended to contribute to the findings Based on these findings, the pedagogical implications and recommendations are made for further studies in order to foster learner autonomy more in the field of teaching and learning English writing skills Key words: learner autonomy, development, English language writing e-Portfolios, writing skills v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ELT: English Language Teaching ESL: English as a Second Language EFL: English as a Foreign Language FFL: Faculty of Foreign Languages ICT: Information and Communication Technology L2: second language LMS: Learning Management System ZPD: Zone of Proximal Development vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2-1 Processes of learner autonomy 18 Figure 2-2 Components of the writing e-Portfolios 32 Figure 2-3 Conceptual framework of the study 37 Figure 3-1 A snapshot of the writing e-Portfolio interface 45 Figure 3-2 A snapshot of the interface of a student’s writing e-Portfolios on the platform 46 Figure 3-3 A snapshot of the interface of a student’s writing e-Portfolios on the platform 47 Figure 3-4 A snapshot of the interface of a student’s final submission 48 Figure 3-5 A snapshot of the interface of student’s reflections 48 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2-1 Model of learner autonomy 15 Table 2-2 Index of learner autonomy attributes in three processes 16 Table 2-3 Six types of e-Portfolios categorised by IMS Global Learning Consortium (2005) 25 Table 3-1 Schedule for writing assignments on writing e-Portfolios 49-50 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY III RETENTION OF USE IV ABSTRACT V LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VI LIST OF FIGURES VII LIST OF TABLES VIII CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1.2 AIM OF THE STUDY 1.3 THE RESEARCH QUESTION 1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1.6 ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 LEARNER AUTONOMY IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION 2.1.1 Definitions of learner autonomy 2.1.2 Perspectives of learner autonomy 2.1.2.1 Technical perspective of learner autonomy 10 2.1.2.2 Psychological perspective of learner autonomy 10 2.1.2.3 Socio-cultural perspective of autonomy 11 2.1.2.4 Political – critical perspective of learner autonomy 12 2.1.3 Models of learner autonomy development 13 2.1.4 Using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to foster learner autonomy 18 2.2 E-PORTFOLIOS IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION 21 2.2.1 Definitions of e-Portfolios 23 2.2.2 Classification of e-Portfolios 24 ix APPENDIX 4: GUIDELINES FOR REFLECTION What have you learned about this kind of paragraph? What problems have you encountered when writing this kind of paragraph? How much effort have you made for this paragraph? (a lot/ some/ little) Which areas you need to concentrate on most? In what way you think the setting goal and planning steps (done at the beginning of each kind of paragraph) can help you improve your writing in this paragraph? Do you think the feedback from your peers has helped you in improving your paragraph? 105 APPENDIX 5: GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATION Evaluation criteria for descriptive paragraphs Topic sentence and concluding sentence Does the paragraph have a topic sentence that introduces the object/ person/ place you want to describe? ❑ yes ❑ no Does the writer provide background information about the object/ person/ place? ❑ yes ❑ no Does the paragraph have a concluding sentence that restates the idea in the topic sentence? Supporting sentences Did you include descriptive details about how the person/ object/ place looks, smells, tastes, sounds, feels, etc.? ❑ yes ❑ no Coherence and cohesion Grammar Are adjectives used correctly? (Adjectives come after an article and before a noun, and they can stand after some verbs such as be, appear, look, feel, taste, sound, smell) ❑ yes ❑ no Do you think you made any of the following errors? Circle them (if any) sentence fragment (SF) subject-verb agreement (S-V) comma splice (CS) possessive pronoun reference (PR) run-on sentence (RO) capitalization (C) end punctuation (EP) adjective clauses (AC) articles (A) 106 Word choice and spelling Did you use specific words as part of your description? ❑ yes ❑ no Did you use adjectives as part of your description? ❑ yes ❑ no Evaluation criteria for process paragraphs Topic sentence and concluding sentence Does the paragraph have a topic sentence that introduces the process you want to describe? ❑ yes ❑ no Does the writer provide background information about the process? ❑ yes ❑ no Does the concluding sentence restate the main idea in the topic sentence or give a suggestion or warning? ❑ yes ❑ no Supporting sentences Did you explain why this process is useful or necessary and include the tools needed? ❑ yes ❑ no Coherence and cohesion Do you believe that the steps are in the correct order? Grammar Is there a comma after all the introductory time words or phrases? ❑ yes ❑ no Do you think you made any of the following errors? Circle them (if any) sentence fragment (SF) subject-verb agreement (S-V) comma splice (CS) possessive pronoun reference (PR) run-on sentence (RO) capitalization (C) end punctuation (EP) adjective clauses (AC) articles (A) 107 Word choice and spelling Did you use time order words to help clarify the order of the steps in the process? ❑ yes ❑ no Evaluation criteria for opinion paragraphs Topic sentence and concluding sentence Was your opinion about the issue clearly stated in the topic sentence? ❑ yes ❑ no Does the concluding sentence restate the topic sentence or make a prediction? ❑ yes ❑ no Supporting sentences Do the supporting sentences give enough facts and reasons to support your opinion? ❑ yes ❑ no Are there any supporting sentences that not fit? ❑ yes ❑ no Cohesion and coherence Did you include an opposing opinion, or counterargument? ❑ yes ❑ no If so, is this opinion refuted? ❑ yes ❑ no Grammar Do you think you made any of the following errors? Circle them (if any) sentence fragment (SF) subject-verb agreement (S-V) comma splice (CS) possessive pronoun reference (PR) run-on sentence (RO) capitalization (C) end punctuation (EP) adjective clauses (AC) articles (A) 108 Word choice and spelling Do you have any problems with selecting and using vocabulary? ❑ yes ❑ no 109 APPENDIX 6A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WITH STUDENTS (ENGLISH VERSION) In the Writing course, during your engagement in the English language writing ePortfolio, you recognise any changes in… - Being aware of learning goals and strategies? - Identifying goals and setting goals? - Making plans or work agendas? - Looking for resources? - Maintaining agendas and keeping track of learning writing skills? - Identifying and employing suitable strategies? - Selecting appropriate materials? - Tailoring, customising and personalising learning writing skills? - Being flexible and regulating learning writing skills? - Taking actions or implementing agendas? - Concentrating on learning writing skills? - Collaborating and interacting with others? - Expressing opinions and negotiating with peers? - Reflecting critically? - Evaluating learning outcomes? - Correcting mistakes? 110 APPENDIX 6B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WITH STUDENTS (VIETNSMESE VERSION) Bạn có nghĩ q trình học mơn Viết 2, bạn tham gia hoạt đơng e-Portfolio, bạn có thay đổi về… - nhận thức mục tiêu học tập cho kỹ viết không? - việc xác định đặt mục tiêu học tập cho kỹ viết không? (ví dụ: viết đoạn văn miêu tả hồn chỉnh, nộp đoạn văn nêu nghị luận trước thời hạn đề ra) - lên kế hoạch học tập cho kỹ viết khơng? - tìm kiếm tài liệu học tập phục vụ cho kỹ viết không? - theo dõi tiến độ học môn viết không? - xác định áp dụng phương pháp học tập thích hợp cho kỹ viết không? - lựa chọn tài liệu học tập phù hợp cho kỹ này? - thay đổi, điều chỉnh việc học môn viết để phù hợp với thân không? - khả linh hoạt việc học kĩ viết? - thực theo kế hoạch đề cho mơn viết (ví dụ: dựa thời hạn nộp bài) không? - tập trung vào việc học kỹ viết không? - hợp tác trao đổi với bạn bè giáo viên vướng mắc mơn viết khơng? - trình bày ý kiến trao đổi với bạn bè không? - tự nhìn lại trình học tập? - đánh giá kết kỹ viết thân không? - tự chỉnh sữa lỗi sai q trình học mơn Viết không? 111 APPENDIX 7: PARTICIPANT CONSENT FORM IN VIETNAMESE BẢN ĐỒNG Ý THAM GIA PHỎNG VẤN Tên đề tài: Ảnh hưởng việc sử dụng e-Portfolio lên nhận thức lực tự học sinh viên Việt Nam kỹ viết Học viên cao học: Nguyễn Ngọc Anh Trang Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Tiến sĩ Đặng Tấn Tín  Tơi đọc thơng tin cho người tham gia nghiên cứu tính chất, mục đích đề tài nghiên cứu giải thích cho tơi  Tơi hiểu rõ mục đích nghiên cứu tham gia vào đề tài  Tôi biết tơi có quyền từ chối trả lời câu hỏi rút khỏi vấn lúc mà không bị ảnh hưởng đến kết học tập trường  Tôi biết liệu bảo mật dùng cho mục đích nghiên cứu đề tài  Tơi biết tơi liên lạc trực tiếp với học viên cao học muốn biết thêm thông tin khác đề tài nghiên cứu có thắc mắc tham gia đề tài  Tôi hiểu rõ đồng ý tham gia vào nghiên cứu Người tham gia nghiên cứu Chữ ký: Ngày tháng _ Họ tên: Thông tin liên lạc: Học viên cao học: Nguyễn Ngọc Anh Trang Email: trangnguyen8490@gmail.com 112 APPENDIX 8: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE FOR STUDENTS Name Time Student 9am, Wednesday 12 September, 2018 Student 10am, Wednesday 12 September, 2018 Student 2pm, Wednesday 12 September, 2018 Student 3pm, Wednesday 12 September, 2018 Student 4pm, Wednesday 12 September, 2018 Student 9am, Thursday 13 September, 2018 Student 10am, Thursday 13 September, 2018 Student 2pm, Thursday 13 September, 2018 113 APPENDIX 9: EXCERPT OF THE INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT Interview transcript with Student Q: Question from the researcher A: Answer from the student Q: Do you recognise any changes in being aware of learning goals and strategies? A: Well, yes, I know quite clearly how to the writing or the assignment After considering the result of the assignments, I know what I have improved then set other new goals for myself Q: Do you think that your goals have changed after each assignment? A: Definitely yes because the task type of every assignment was different from each other Therefore, after each exercise, I could find good ways to generate and develop ideas which were not out of the topic but also clear and concise Q: Do you recognise any changes in identifying and setting your goals in writing skills? A: Yes With the first assignment, I just hoped to have as fewer mistakes as possible as well as to express my ideas clearly However, with the second one, I wanted my ideas to be expressed in a better and more cogent way so that it’s understandable Q: Do you think that identifying and planning goal setting change after each assignment? A: Yes Each task type had their own requirements so after each assignment I hoped that I could grasp the structures of the task types and the way of writing During the course, I learned more about the outline or each type so I could gradually improve the coherence and cohesion in my writing The next assignment would probably be developed from the previous ones 114 Q: Does planning goal setting bring any changes to the way you plan your studying schedule for writing? A: I think going straight to the goals have set was quite relative because after reading my classmates’ assignments and rereading mine, I found mine quite monotonous Therefore, I think there were some changes but they are not much noticeable Q: Are there any changes in planning your schedule for Writing? A: Yes, I found it necessary to edit my writing and learned from the mistakes of previous assignments Also, I could learn from my friends’ and other sources to improve my skills Q: Do you recognise any changes in monitoring in your study progress in writing? A: Absolutely yes I saw it myself and from the feedback of my classmates After reading feedback of my friends, I edited the writing before handing in the final one I realized that some expressions were not appropriate Q: How does monitoring of study progress change every assignment? A: The following assignments were more demanding than the previous ones, I suppose For the first assignments, I was still confused but for the next ones, I required myself to write effectively and expressed my ideas completely Q: So, are there any changes in your identifying and applying proper methods in writing? The procedure was that while writing your assignments, you had to give feedback for your peers, received feedback from your peers and revised yours Does this procedure make you change your learning methods? A: Yes At first, I thought that after receiving feedback from my peers, I just needed to edit my assignments based on their feedback After that, I realized that not anyone could understand my ideas in certain ways of expressions Also, their feedback was not 100% correct because my writing still had lots of mistakes after editing Therefore, I drew the 115 conclusions that before deciding to something of editing something, I had to consider carefully and thoroughly Q: Do you recognize any changes in selecting suitable materials in writing skills? A: Thanks to the e-portfolio, through writing and reading the assignments of my friends who commented on mine, I found their sources of information varied a lot I asked them, especially the ones who were good at writing “How you search for certain information?”, and I carefully chose the information that was suitable for me to improve mine Q: So, you consider any changes in selecting materials after each assignment at certain time? For example, in the beginning of the course, in the middle of the course and at the end of the course? A: For example, in some first assignments I simply looked for information on the internet by typing the questions and entering “search” However, after reading my friends’ assignments, I realised that they didn’t conduct as I often did, they expressed in amazing ways, for example, some friends who had good writing skills I found that I can’t just search information anywhere I did search the assignments of my classmates on the Internet Q: Do you remember when you started to change the way you select the materials for writing? A: Probably after the second or third assignment Q: With the procedure of writing, editing, giving feedback, you find any changes in the way you flexibly adjust your study schedule so that it’s suitable for other subjects? For example, the time is more suitable? A: This procedure definitely made us working harder Regarding to writing, writing without feedback and correction from others was not effective as I found myself lazy editing my own ones and also, I didn’t know whether it was correct or not So with this 116 procedure, I could write my own ones and read my classmates’; in contrast, my peers could read my assignments and give feedback Besides, by reading my friends’ assignments, it broadened my view to have better ways of expressions and methods Q: Do you recognize any changes in conducting the plan you made in writing? While writing, to meet the deadline, was there any changes in following your plan? A: Yes When you set the deadline when we had to feedback for the others, some submitted quite early After seeing that, I thought that they were well-prepared, and I sometimes read their assignments I tried to form my ideas and make outline for my writing, obviously before the deadline Then I read some of the early submitted ones and found some great ideas Besides, I searched for more information on the internet to complete mine Q: When participating in activities on e-Portfolios, you think you focus more on learning skills of writing? A: Yes Through giving feedback for my peers, I learned how they express their ideas, let alone grammar, and vocabulary I knew how they coin the ideas, how they developed the ideas and how to give examples Also, I could learn a lot from the way they used idioms Q: Do you see any changes in collaborating and exchanging with your friends to solve some problems when you write? A: I found it more effective than sitting in the classroom then writing and starting to give feedback Because it took considerable time for discussing, there wasn’t enough time for writing during the class, so sometimes my ideas couldn’t be expressed completely Unlike at home, I could express my ideas better, and searched for ideas as well as made sure of grammar and vocabulary I read my friends’ writing and they read mine If there was anything I couldn’t understand, I could look for answer in the internet or asked myself directly In case my friends’ expression was vague, I could question them, too Honestly, I think I learned a lot from this Q: How is the discussion between you and your friends different every assignment? 117 A: It happened more frequently and effectively after each assignment For example, for the first assignments, I found it uneasy to frankly say about my friends’ mistakes as I was not a super star or something However, with time, I think it’s necessary to say what you think so everyone could get some improvement Besides, we became closer to each other Q: Do you find any difference in the way you express your opinions? You just said that you couldn’t say what you think at first but later you could say it frankly and directly… so when did this change take place? A: After the third assignment, I believe I didn’t have much experience in giving feedback like this By reading their feedback, I could learn from them and find appropriate ways to point out their mistakes Q: Do you think the reflection and evaluation in the last stage bring any changes to you… like the way you reconsider you study process? A: It really did It helped me see the whole picture When writing one after one besides different assignments of other subjects, I didn’t consider them seriously and carefully When comes to reflection, I had to reconsider myself, reread all my previous assignments before submitting I could aware whether I had some improvement or stayed at the same level Q: So, when you consider your study progress and aware of the result, is there any changes after each assignment? A: I think I become more demanding, and stricter Because of considerable knowledge, I have learned, I asked myself to apply more writing methods and techniques It meant that I had to learn more to improve my skills and the way I expressed the ideas Q: Do you recognize any changes in self-evaluating your writing skills? A: Um… yes Actually, this is the first time we have done this kind of writing so we couldn’t get ourselves accustomed with this at first We used to think that writing then 118 giving feedback and so on was no difference from the other assignments However, we soon realised that we had to utilize what we have learned and even in a better way I found some improvement in my self-evaluation Q: The last question for you, you find any difference in the way you correct your mistakes yourself? A: Absolutely yes Frankly speaking, I couldn’t write well in first assignments Fortunately, thanks to my friends’ feedback, and learning from them, my writing was getting better and better Q: How does your self-correction change after each assignment? A: For example, if my friends told me that I kept beating around the bush, after writing, I would proofread it several times and asked myself whether it made the same mistake Anyway, I had positive look from the feedback of my peers then applied it in later assignments Q: How does it change after each assignment? A: I would apply and consider more feedback of my friends because after couple of writing, it’s necessary to read the assignment carefully Q: To conclude, after considering the whole process of doing e-portfolio, what is the major difference in your writing? A: First, it helped me work more diligently Second, from writing and receiving feedback from others, the way I expressed my ideas was improved and so did my writing skill In general, I found myself more confident in my writing skills Q: Thank you for attending the interview 119 ... fostered in terms of three processes, namely Initiating, Monitoring and Evaluating during their engagement in the English writing e- Portfolios in the Writing course The findings from the interviews... being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the library In terms of these... suggested that the students experienced positive changes in their learning behaviours during the course, which demonstrated the developing process of learner autonomy during the students? ?? engagement