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2. Master Thesis / Tesis Master
3. Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan

Title:	The interplay of autonomy and attributions in the learning of English among UKM undergraduates
Authors:	Nurjanah Mohd. Jaafar (P57813)
Supervisor:	Thang Siew Ming Professor Dr.
Keywords:	English language - Study and teaching (Higher).
Issue Date:	11-Sep-2013
Description:	Issues on attributions, and more recently on autonomy, have received much attention in research on learning English as a second language. Weiner's attribution theory suggests that people tend to ascribe success to internal factors and attribute failure to external factors. Although the propagators of this theory claim that attribution patterns (i.e. self-enhancement and ego-protective biases) are universal in nature, researches have revealed that many Asian learners tend to attribute success to external factors and failure to internal factors. This is described as self-critical tendency. Such contradiction is also seen in autonomy, a concept perpetuated by the West and commonly defined as an individual's ability to take charge of one's own learning. This definition has been criticised as being ethnocentric in nature as the Western focus on the importance of personal autonomy is not compatible with some Asian learners' inclination towards teacher-centred approach to learning. This study attempts to understand the attribution patterns of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia students by relating it to issues of autonomy. Such investigation allows us to determine the relationship between self-critical tendency and teacher-centredness. It also seeks to find out whether differences in English proficiency influence this relationship. To realise these objectives, a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from UKM's Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities students. Statistical analyses through the use of descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the questionnaire, whereas content analysis was used to analyse the interview data. The findings revealed a relationship between teachercentred and self-critical tendencies of students, and suggested that the students' view of their English teacher and socio-cultural factors as having essential influence on this relationship. It can thus be implied that the influence of students' conception of their English teachers and socio-cultural factors should be acknowledged and duly addressed in further attempts to examine the interplay between autonomy and attributions in the learning of English.,Master / Sarjana
Pages:	171
Call Number:	P53.457.N854 2013 tesis
Publisher:	UKM, Bangi
Appears in Collections:	Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan

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