Vietnamese EFL students’ perceptions of learner autonomy factors: An analysis of gender, major, and tenure differences

Thi Anh Nguyen; Tra Huong Nguyen; Thao Thanh Le; Yen Hoang Phuong; Thu Thi Anh Huynh; Thuy Trut Pham

doi:10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.14.4.2804.2024

14(4)2024

Vietnamese EFL students’ perceptions of learner autonomy factors: An analysis of gender, major, and tenure differences

Author - Affiliation:

Thi Anh Nguyen - Can Tho University, Can Tho , Vietnam

Tra Huong Nguyen - Nam Can Tho University, Can Tho , Vietnam

Thao Thanh Le - Can Tho University, Can Tho , Vietnam

Yen Hoang Phuong - Can Tho University, Can Tho , Vietnam

Thu Thi Anh Huynh - Can Tho University, Can Tho , Vietnam

Thuy Trut Pham - Nam Can Tho University, Can Tho , Vietnam

Corresponding author: Tra Huong Nguyen - nhuongtra@ctu.edu.vn

DOI:10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.14.4.2804.2024

Submitted: 10-06-2023
Accepted: 23-10-2023
Published: 02-04-2024

Abstract

This study investigates the perceptions of Learner Autonomy (LA) factors among students in the context of English language acquisition in Vietnam. Specifically, the study examines the potential impact of students’ gender, major, and tenure on their perceptions of these factors. A quantitative comparative research design was employed, utilizing survey-based methodology to collect data from a sample of 117 Vietnamese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. The data were analyzed using Independent-samples t-tests to identify significant differences in perceptions across gender, major, and tenure groups. The results indicate that, overall, gender does not significantly impact students’ perceptions of the examined learning factors. However, gender differences were observed in the clusters of teachers’ behavior and teachers’ instructions, suggesting variations in how males and females perceive these aspects of LA. The study also reveals that students’ majors, specifically English Teacher Education and English Studies, do not significantly influence their perceptions of LA factors. Furthermore, students’ tenure in the program does not significantly shape their perceptions of these factors. Accordingly, the results provide valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and curriculum developers in the field of language education, highlighting the need for gender-responsive approaches and inclusive educational practices to promote LA.

Keywords

differences; English language acquisition; factors; learner autonomy

Full Text:

PDF

Cite this paper as:

Nguyen, T. A., Nguyen, T. H., Le, T. T., Phuong, Y. H., Huynh, T. T. A., & Pham, T. T. (2024). Vietnamese EFL students’ perceptions of learner autonomy factors: An analysis of gender, major, and tenure differences. Ho Chi Minh City Open University Journal of Science – Social Sciences, 14(4), 19-41. doi:10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.14.4.2804.2024

References

Akareem, H. S., & Hossain, S. S. (2016). Determinants of education quality: What makes students’ perception different? Open Review of Educational Research, 3(1), 52-67. doi:10.1080/23265507.2016.1155167

Akdere, M., Hickman, L., & Kirchner, M. (2019). Developing leadership competencies for STEM fields: The case of purdue polytechnic leadership academy. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 21(1), 49-71. doi:10.1177/1523422318814546

Baumeister, R. F., & Sommer, K. L. (1997). What do men want? Gender differences and two spheres of belongingness: Comment on Cross and Madson (1997). Psychological Bulletin, 122(1), 38-44. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.122.1.38

Benson, P. (2011). What’s new in autonomy. The Language Teacher, 35(4), 15-18.

Blidi, S. (2016). Collaborative learner autonomy: A mode of learner autonomy development. Singapore: Springer.

Bligh, M. C., Schlehofer, M. M., Casad, B. J., & Gaffney, A. M. (2012). Competent enough, but would you vote for her? Gender stereotypes and media influences on perceptions of women politicians. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42(3), 560-597. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00781.x

Brands, R. A., & Kilduff, M. (2014). Just like a woman? Effects of gender-biased perceptions of friendship network brokerage on attributions and performance. Organization Science, 25(5), 1530-1548. doi:10.1287/orsc.2013.0880

Cheng, M. Y., & Lin, Y. Y. (2012). The effect of gender differences in supervisors’ emotional expression and leadership style on leadership effectiveness. African Journal of Business Management, 6(9), 3234-3245. doi:10.5897/AJBM11.1705

Christie, N. G., & Dinham, S. M. (1991). Institutional and external influences on social integration in the freshman year. The Journal of Higher Education, 62(4), 412-436. doi:10.1080/00221546.1991.11774140

Clements, K., & Schumacher, J. A. (2010). Perceptual biases in social cognition as potential moderators of the relationship between alcohol and intimate partner violence: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15(5), 357-368. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2010.06.004

Dwee, C. Y., & Anthony, E. M. (2017). Learner autonomy in university English classrooms: Teachers’ perceptions and practices. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 6(2), 19-25. doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.6n.2p.19

Etmanski, B. (2019). The prospective shift away from academic career aspirations. Higher Education, 77, 43-358. doi:10.1007/s10734-018-0278-6

Fotiadou, A., Angelaki, C., & Mavroidis, I. (2017). Learner autonomy as a factor of the learning process in distance education. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-learning, 20(1), 95-110. doi:10.1515/eurodl-2017-0006

Freeman, D. (2017). The case for teachers’ classroom English proficiency. RELC Journal, 48(1), 31-52. doi:10.1177/0033688217691073

Gebbels, M., Pantelidis, I. S., & Goss-Turner, S. (2020). Conceptualising patterns of career commitment: the leaving process in hospitality. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(1), 126-147. doi:10.1108/IJCHM-04-2019-0338

Goodchild, M. F., & Janelle, D. G. (2010). Toward critical spatial thinking in the social sciences and humanities. GeoJournal, 75, 3-13. doi:10.1007/s10708-010-9340-3

Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy and foreign language learning. Oxford, UK: Pergamon Press.

Johnson, J. (2020). Designing with the mind in mind: simple guide to understanding user interface design guidelines. Cambridge, UK: Morgan Kaufmann Publisher.

Katz, I. (2017). In the eye of the beholder: Motivational effects of gender differences in perceptions of teachers. The Journal of Experimental Education, 85(1), 73-86. doi:10.1080/00220973.2015.1101533

Klein, S. S., Ortman, P. E., Campbell, P., Greenberg, S., Hollingsworth, S., Jacobs, J., ... Wiggins, J. (1994). Continuing the journey toward gender equity. Educational Researcher, 23(8), 13-21. doi:10.3102/0013189X023008013

Lee, M., & Huang, L. (2018). Gender bias, social impact framing, and evaluation of entrepreneurial ventures. Organization Science, 29(1), 1-16. doi:10.1287/orsc.2017.1172

Little, D. (1994). Learner autonomy: A theoretical construct and its practical applications. Die Neuren Sprachen, 93(5), 430-442.

Little, D. (2007). Language learner autonomy: Some fundamental considerations revisited. International Journal of Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 14-29. doi:10.2167/illt040.0

Littlewood, W. (1999). Defining and developing autonomy in East Asian contexts. Applied Linguistics, 20(1), 71-94. doi:10.1093/applin/20.1.71

Liu, W. C., Wang, J. C. K., & Ryan, R. M. (Eds.). (2015). Building autonomous learners: Perspectives from research and practice using self-determination theory. Singapore: Springer.

Martin, J. M., Sellnow-Richmond, D. D., & Strawser, M. G. (2020). Building a diverse curriculum: The role of diversity across communication coursework. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, 21(1), 1-9. doi:10.1080/17459435.2019.1677750

McBurney, D. H., Gaulin, S. J., Devineni, T., & Adams, C. (1997). Superior spatial memory of women: Stronger evidence for the gathering hypothesis. Evolution and Human Behavior, 18(3), 165-174. doi:10.1016/S1090-5138(97)00001-9.

McGee, R., Saran, S., & Krulwich, T. A. (2012). Diversity in the biomedical research workforce: developing talent. Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine: A Journal of Translational and Personalized Medicine, 79(3), 397-411. doi:10.1002/msj.21310

McPherson, M. S., & Schapiro, M. O. (1999). Tenure issues in higher education. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 13(1), 85-98. doi:10.1257/jep.13.1.85

Nguyen, M. X. N. C. (2019). Language education policy in Vietnam. In The Routledge international handbook of language education policy in Asia (pp. 185-201). London, UK: Routledge.

Nguyen, S. V., & Habók, A. (2020). Non-English-major students’ perceptions of learner autonomy and factors influencing learner autonomy in Vietnam. Relay Journal, 3(1), 122-139.

Nguyen, T. T. T., & Nguyen, M. H. T. (2017). Thinking globally or “glocally”? Bilingual identity of Vietnamese international school students. International Journal of Educational Research, 85, 24-32. doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2017.06.001

Nguyen, T. V. (2018). Project 2020 and professional development for high school EFL teachers in Vietnam. In Professional development of English language teachers in Asia (pp. 95-108). London, UK: Routledge.

Nicholas, M. C., & Labig, C. E. (2013). Faculty approaches to assessing critical thinking in the humanities and the natural and social sciences: Implications for general education. The Journal of General Education, 62(4), 297-319.

Oxford, R. L. (2015). Expanded perspectives on autonomous learners. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 9(1), 58-71. doi:10.1080/17501229.2014.995765

Paradis, J. (2011). Individual differences in child English second language acquisition: Comparing child-internal and child-external factors. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 1(3), 213-237. doi:10.1075/lab.1.3.01par

Phan, H. T. T. (2011). Factors affecting the motivation of Vietnamese technical English majors in their English studies (Doctoral dissertation). University of Otago, New Zealand.

Rovai, A. P. (2002). Sense of community, perceived cognitive learning, and persistence in asynchronous learning networks. The Internet and Higher Education, 5(4), 319-332. doi:10.1016/S1096-7516(02)00130-6

Rubin, M., & Wright, C. L. (2017). Time and money explain social class differences in students’ social integration at university. Studies in Higher Education, 42(2), 315-330. doi:10.1080/03075079.2015.1045481

Sanprasert, N. (2010). The application of a course management system to enhance autonomy in learning English as a foreign language. System, 38(1), 109-123. doi:10.1016/j.system.2009.12.010

Shah, R. K. (2020). Learner centered teaching: Barriers in developing countries. International Journal of All Research and Scientific Methods (IJARESM), 8(2), 11-22.

Siegfried, J. J., & Walstad, W. B. (2014). Undergraduate coursework in economics: A survey perspective. The Journal of Economic Education, 45(2), 147-158. doi:10.1080/00220485.2014.889965

Silverman, F. H. (2001). Teaching for tenure and beyond: Strategies for maximizing your student ratings. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Stryker, S., Owens, T. J., & White, R. W. (Eds.). (2000). Self, identity, and social movements (Vol. 13). London, UK: University of Minnesota Press.

Sundkvist, P., & Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (2020). English in Vietnam. In The Handbook of Asian Englishes (pp. 683-703). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.

Thorson, A., & Diwan, V. K. (2001). Gender inequalities in tuberculosis: Aspects of infection, notification rates, and compliance. Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine, 7(3), 165-169.

Truong, T. D., Hallinger, P., & Sanga, K. (2017). Confucian values and school leadership in Vietnam: Exploring the influence of culture on principal decision making. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 45(1), 77-100. doi:10.1177/1741143215607877

Villarejo, M., Barlow, A. E., Kogan, D., Veazey, B. D., & Sweeney, J. K. (2008). Encouraging minority undergraduates to choose science careers: Career paths survey results. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 7(4), 394-409. doi:10.1187/cbe.08-04-0018

Vu, T. T. (2021). Early childhood education in Vietnam, history, and development. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 15(1), 1-18. doi:10.1186/s40723-020-00080-4

DOI: https://doi.org/10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.14.4.2804.2024