Name : Ayu Pardede

Student Number : 1061031

A CRITIQUE OF A THESIS

1. Title
Title of this thesis is clearly stated. It is understandable.
Evidence:
 Perceptions of Motivational Teaching Strategies in an EFL Classroom: The Case
of a Class in a Private University in Indonesia

2. Abstract
The abstract of this thesis is clearly stated. It has the short introduction about the study,
the purpose, the methodology, the participants, the data collection method, the
findings and the implications of the study.
Evidence:

Students’ motivation in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom

is affected by their perceptions of the teaching strategies used. These perceptions are
influenced by the context in which they learn. This study aims to explore both
tertiary students’ and their lecturers’ perceptions of teaching strategies that both
groups consider impact on students’ motivation in learning EFL in an eastern
region of Indonesia.
This study used a qualitative research methodology. The case was composed
of one cohort of student-teachers and their EFL lecturers in one Teacher Training
and Education Faculty of one private university in the area of Sulawesi Island of
Indonesia. The data were collected from semi-structured individual interviews with
EFL (English as a Foreign Language) lecturers and focus groups with student
teachers. Both the lecturers and the student-teachers agreed that creating and
maintaining relationships was a highly effective strategy to motivate students in an
EFL classroom. However, the findings also showed that the two groups of

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 participants put different values on the teaching strategies employed by EFL
lecturers in this context. The study also found that some EFL lecturers were not
aware of how some of the strategies that they used in teaching English impacted on
their learners’ motivation. Lecturers’ time commitments outside this university
proved to be a significant challenge in maximizing the use of some motivational
teaching strategies in teaching English. These findings raise implications for
lecturers’ practice. By being more aware of how students view specific teaching
strategies in the EFL classroom, teachers can enhance students’ motivation, by
generating, maintaining and building on initial motivation.

3. The research questions

The research questions is this thesis is well-mentioned.
Evidence:
 How do lecturers’ teaching strategies impact on the motivation of student teachers
to learn EFL in one Teacher Training and Education Faculty in one province in
the area of Sulawesi Island of Indonesia?

4. The research purpose

The purpose of this study is mentioned clearly.
Evidence:
 This study aims to explore both tertiary students’ and their lecturers’ perceptions
of teaching strategies that both groups consider impact on students’ motivation in
learning EFL in an eastern region of Indonesia.

5. The significance of the study

The significance of this study is mentioned clearly.
Evidence:
 In utilizing the findings of this study, I also hope that tertiary
teachers of English in Indonesia will gain a greater understanding of the
importance 8 of teaching strategies to motivate their students and thereby increase
students’ mastery of English.

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  Moreover, by studying the perceptions of student-teachers and EFL lecturers of
strategies used in teaching, lecturers in similar contexts (including myself, as a
member of the teaching staff in this university), will be able to build their
knowledge of possible ways to implement more effective motivational teaching
strategies in tertiary classrooms.

6. Literature Review
The literature review of this thesis is provided vividly and they all are related to the
phenomenon which is investigated in the study.
Evidence:
 The writer provided the definitions of motivation, the importance of motivation
for foreign/second language learning, the relationship of teaching strategies,
learners’ motivation and learners’ academic performances, motivational teaching
strategies in teaching English as a second/foreign language, motivational teaching
strategies in teaching ESL/EFL based on language learners’ perceptions,
motivational teaching strategies based on second/foreign language teachers’
perceptions, and the relationship between second/foreign language learners and
teachers’ perceptions of motivational teaching strategies.

7. The Methodology
The methodology used in this study, the participants, procedure and method of data
collection, data analysis and coding, research ethics, and the limitations of this study are
clearly mentioned. The researcher also provided clear evidence about Transferability,
Confirmability, Credibility, and Dependability.
Evidence:

7.1 The method

 The researcher stated the reason of choosing this method, which is, to gain a wide
range of information and seek the views, beliefs and perceptions of the study
participants
 Case study methods were used in this research

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7.2 Participants
 Purposefully chosen
 One cohort of student-teachers and the EFL lecturers who taught a particular
class in an English Education Department, Teachers Training and Education
Faculty.
 The second year student-teachers
 In total five EFL lecturers and 23 student-teachers
 The description of the participants in this study is clearly described. However,
I personally think that the writer should provide their demographic
information.

7.3 Procedure and method of data collection

 The writer first obtained ethics approval from Faculty of Education
and permission to conduct the study from the head of the chosen
faculty.
 Furthermore, prior to the period of data collection, the writer
explained the aim and the procedure of the study to the participants by
sending (to EFL lecturers) and giving in-person (to student-teachers) the
letter of invitation and the permission form.
 Data were collected from focus group discussions of student-teachers and
individual interviews of EFL lecturers
 Using a semi-structured interview
 The writer did interview first, then focus group discussions
 All focus group discussions were conducted outside the student-teachers’
learning time at the university to avoid any perception that might be
developed by any party especially the student-teachers that the research had
any relation to any of their coursework at the university.
 For reasons of convenience, all focus group discussions took place in a
classroom in the university.

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  The length of the focus group discussions varied, from 30 minutes to 70
minutes.
 The researcher asked the help of one person (from outside of the study
context) to be the moderator for each focus group interview.
 Audio-recording
 The recordings of all focus group discussion were then transcribed using
pseudonyms for all participants.
 The researcher wrote notes to record my reflection and understanding of the
interviews and discussions.

7.4 Data analysis and Coding

 Used Nvivo8 software
 Used line by line coding, open coding and selective coding to classify and
categorize the 45 themes and sub-themes of the fieldwork interviews
 Themes and categories were derived from the broad concepts of motivational
teaching strategies in teaching English as a second/foreign language identified in
the literature review and from reading the interview transcriptions.
 Themes were coded the themes in Nvivo8 by creating tree nodes with hierarchical
structures from the interview transcripts.
 All of these themes from the interviews transcripts were classified as tree nodes;
that is they tended to include sub-themes.
 The researcher worked through a process of reduction to come up with three main
codes both from reading and interviews.
 Once the data was coded, it was further analyzed by looking for the themes.

7.5 Research ethics

 All participants (five EFL lecturers & 23 student-teachers) gave their written
consent by signing consent forms.
 These forms acknowledged that participants’ identity would be protected.

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 7.6 Trustworthiness of the study
 The interview transcriptions from this study are described in the most detailed and
thorough way to ensure transferability by any other interested researcher as well
as to allow an assessment of the extent to which conclusions drawn in this study
setting can be transferred to another.
 For confirmability, all data such as consent forms and interviews as well as
focus-group discussions transcriptions of the participants of this study will be kept
securely stored until five years after the thesis is submitted.
 In assuring the credibility of this study, member-checking was conducted
continuously.
 For the dependability this study, an audit trail was achieved through seeking the
help of supervisors.

7.7 The Limitations

 There was limited time period to gather the data
 A limitation in interpreting the data may have arisen because translating the
interviews from Indonesian to English

8. Findings and discussion

The findings of this study are provided and stated evidently. There are three themes of
findings in this study. They are discussed vividly.
Evidence:
 Strategies that influence relationship between the student-teachers and EFL
lecturers
 General teaching methods and strategies
 Challenges and problems related to the implementation of the motivational
teaching strategies faced by the EFL lecturers.

9. Conclusions, Implications and Recommendations

Conclusions, Implications and Recommendations in this study are provided clearly.
Evidence:

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  This concluding chapter provides a summary of the student-teachers and
EFL lecturers’ perception of motivational strategies used by these lecturers
and explores significant implications arising from the findings.
 The findings also indicated that there was a dilemma for the lecturers
regarding when and how often to use the L1 (Indonesian).
 It is important that lecturers realize that a positive relationship brings
fundamental benefits to student-teachers’ engagement and motivation in
learning activities.
 Lecturers should pay more attention in establishing a positive relationship
with their student-teachers.
 Lecturers may need to monitor student-teachers working in small groups
every once in a while to ensure that student-teachers maintain their roles.
 Feedback should be as informative as possible to student-teachers.
 Further research, therefore, will be needed to confirm the effectiveness of
those teaching strategies in other contexts and to link the teaching strategies
to students’ achievement.
 It would also be useful to know whether there are certain culturally or
contextually teaching strategies in teaching English as a foreign language
that cannot be applied to other contexts.

10. References and appendixes

The references and appendixes in this study is provided completely.

11. General critique

I personally consider that this thesis is a good and well-structured thesis. The writing
style is good and is easy to understand. The methodology is clearly described. I
personally like reading this thesis.
For suggestion, since this is a qualitative study, I think that it is needed to provide any
demographic information about the participants. Thank you.