Providing choices: Enhancing primary students’ learning motivation in Hong Kong ESL classroom through autonomy-supportive teaching

Lingrong WU

Research output: ThesisHonours Projects (HP)

Abstract

Due to the exam-oriented culture in Hong Kong, students are not provided enough autonomy support by the teacher to make decisions for their own learning, so they tend to be cultivated the habit of obedience which may have an adverse effect on their learning motivation. According to Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier & Ryan (1991), the opportunities of decision-making can fulfill the need for autonomy, and autonomy is one of the essential factors of increasing motivation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate how the provision of choices as autonomy-supportive teaching to enhance primary students’ learning motivation in Hong Kong ESL classroom. The study was conducted through quasi-experimental one group design to compare the differences of students’ learning motivation and perceptions toward the high autonomy-supportive teaching in terms of procedural autonomy support and cognitive autonomy support. The same questionnaires (SRQ-A) were distributed to students after they had experienced each type of teaching to investigate and analyze the effect of providing choices on students’ learning motivation. A semi-structured interview was also conducted for students at the end of the experiment to validate the evidence from questionnaires as well as to gain students’ perceptions of autonomy supportive teaching. While during the experiment, a teaching journal was used to record the researcher’s own feelings and understanding within the study for the further discussion of the challenges of implementing autonomy supportive teaching in Hong Kong primary classroom. The findings collected from this teaching experiment reveals that procedural autonomy supportive teaching can trigger students’ interest in learning, but cognitive autonomy support plays a vital role in increasing and maintaining their intrinsic motivation in learning English.
Original languageEnglish
QualificationBachelor of Education (Honours)
Supervisors/Advisors
  • WONG, Ming Har, Ruth 黃明霞, Supervisor
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords

  • Alt. title: 通過提供選擇作為教學,提高小學生在香港英語課堂的學習動機
  • Honours Project (HP)
  • Bachelor of Education (Honours) (English Language) (Five-year Full-time)
  • Programme code: A5B059
  • Course code: ENG4903

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