- Title
- EFL teachers’ motivation in the tertiary sector in Vietnam: a self-determination theory perspective
- Creator
- Tran, Huong Linh
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Teachers’ motivation has been the focus of research in the field of language teaching. Given the impact of teachers’ motivation on students’ attitudes and achievement, various quantitative studies have looked for sources of teachers’ motivation. However, little is known about language teachers’ enthusiasm for teaching in developing countries in general and in Vietnam in particular. To provide a broad overview of Vietnamese EFL teachers’ motivation in the tertiary sector, this study presents an investigation of different types of motivation held by EFL teachers, teachers’ perceived satisfaction or frustration of their basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), and the contextual factors that influence teachers’ motivation for EFL teaching. Drawing on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the current study used a framework containing the internalisation process of motivations and three basic psychological needs to examine influences of contextual conditions on teachers’ motivation for EFL teaching. A mixed-method approach with the use of a survey and semi-structured interviews was employed to address the research questions. Data were collected from 104 EFL teachers (in a survey) and 30 EFL teachers (in interviews) from 14 universities in Vietnam. The findings revealed that teachers demonstrated a relatively high level of intrinsic motivation, and moderate levels of introjected regulation and external regulation for EFL teaching. Teachers also reported strong needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. However, their needs were not met by EFL teaching. There were gaps between the strength of teachers’ needs and the extent to which these needs appeared to be satisfied. Teachers who perceived that their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness were met by teaching reported higher intrinsic motivation for EFL teaching than those who perceived that their needs were not met. However, given the correlational nature of the survey data in the current study, causal links between the satisfaction of teachers’ basic psychological needs and their intrinsic motivation could not be established. Motivating factors and demotivating factors reported by ELF teachers were categorised in three main groups: student-related factors, collegial factors, and institutional factors. Among those, student-related factors appeared to be the most influential. Findings of the current study support the application of SDT in teachers’ motivation research. The study also suggests a framework for examining relationships among contextual conditions, teachers’ cognitive evaluation, teachers’ experience of need satisfaction or need frustration, and their motivation. Both theoretical and practical implications have been drawn for educational researchers, university EFL teachers, university administrators, and higher education policy makers.
- Subject
- teacher motivation; English language teaching; self-determination theory; Vietnamese higher education; basic psychological needs; intrinsic motivation; teacher development
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1504971
- Identifier
- uon:55605
- Rights
- Copyright 2022 Huong Linh Tran
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 189 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |