School of English Study
Xi’an International Studies University
Xi’an China
2018
Abstract
This study aims to emphasizing the importance of language learning motivations in EFL education. It draws its attention on the Chinese university English majors, and attempts to investigate the language learning motivations hold among English learners with different linguistic levels from the educational and psychological point of view. Drawing on data sources from 50 students’ written reflections, the study reveals that: intrinsic interest is the most effective motivation for one’s language learning; most of top learners learn English well because their truly intrinsic interest to English.
Key words: L2 learning motivations; Chinese English majors; qualitative inquiry
1. Introduction
Research on L2 learning motivation began in the 1960s. Since then, the development in social psychology and cognitive psychology have exerted great influence on this field of study. However, over the last few decades, emphasis in the language learning motivation field shifted towards cognitive models, reflecting the “cognitive revolution” taking place in psychology at the time. Consequently, many research have been conducted in the area of cognition. Researchers such asGardner & Lambert (1959), Gardner (1985), and Williams & Burden (1997) have proved that how one thinks about one’s abilities, possibilities, potentials, limitations, and past performances has major influences on motivation.
Despitethe uptrend research in L2 language learning motivations abroad, there are some other research that has been carried out by home scholars (see for example, Liu 2013; Zhang 2013; Wang 2014; Sun & Lv, 2014). Although there have been many studies in L2 learning motivations, most of them investigated motivations of middle school students or college students who are not major in English. In additional, they also don’t explore this survey further. In view of these gaps, there is a need of additional research into how L2 learning motivations affect English major students’ learning outcomes. Therefore, this study made a qualitative enquiry based on student’s motivations of English learning, trying to explore the dilemmas in learning they had encountered with the aims to deepen our understanding by examining the correlation between the English learning motivations and English learning outcomes.
2. Research Review
Second language?refers to a language an individual learns that is not his/her?mother tongue, but is of use in the area of the individual. In research on?motivation, it is considered to be an internal process that gives behavior energy, direction and persistence in research.?Learning a new language takes time and dedication. Once you do, being fluent in a second language offers numerous benefits and opportunities. In learning a language, there can be one or more goals–such as mastery of the language or communicative competence–that vary person to person. There are a number of?language learner motivation?models that were developed and postulated in fields such as?linguistics?and?sociolinguistics, with relations to?second-language acquisition?in a classroom setting.
3. The Study
Participants
Participants involved were 60 undergraduate English majors (female = 54 and male = 6) from the School of English Studies at a language teaching university in the northwest part of China. They came from two classes, each with approximately 30 students (30 sophomores and 30 junior students). The age of the students ranged from 19 to 22, with the average age of 21.13 years old. Before admission to the university, the participants had had at least 6 years of formal English learning from middle to high school.
Instruments
This study conducted by the way of questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was developed according to Taguchi, Ryan and Gao. The validity of the questionnaire was checked by CFAs. The statistical result showed that the fitting indices met what was required by various fitting index criteria, so the instrument used in this study has good construct validity.
Procedures
A self-administered questionnaire was adopted to assess the use of the L2 learning motivations used by Chinese English majors. In the questionnaire, ten questions were listed mainly about the types of motivation, students can choose their answers by ticking “” in the blank. Before all the data collection was preceded, the permission of using the participants’ information of academic performance was ensured; meanwhile all the questions used for this study were not possible to cause physical or emotional harm to participants.
Analysis and Statistical Treatment
Data analysis was preceded through descriptive statistics to compile information about demographic of participants and to calculate their overall English learning motivation and variation in motivation hold relative to academic performance. All the response were entered directly into excel document.
4.Findings
The questionnaires were handed out 60, and all of them were took back. At the same time, these statistical results were analyzed.
Table 1Summary of L2 learning motivation
According to the investigation and data analysis, it is found that external motivation (52%) is greater than internal motivation (48%), and nine subtypes of internal and external motivation exist in the process of students’ English learning motivation in college school. We can find that students’ English learning motivation in college school has problem in two points:
First of all, on the one hand, among the subtypes of internal motivation, opportunities for advance (16%) pays an important role in college school students’ English learning, and interesting (14%) is another important factor which affects students’ English motivations greatly. On the other hand, among the subtypes of external motivation, utility value (13%) also promotes students’ English learning motivation. Secondly, the students who hold the internal motivations usually learn better than students who hold the external motivations. In addition, most of middle-learners are students who are mixed by both of these two motivations.
5. Discussion and Implication
According to Table 1, I find that students in college school are affected by internal factors and external factors. Thus, I provide some strategies of motivating students’ English learning motivation.
Students communicate with classmates who are good at English about English learning strategies and English knowledge, which contributes to strengthening friendship of each other. Students learn to cooperate with classmates and solve encountered during the process of learning English together, which is helpful of leading to mutual-trust. Students set short-term goals and long-term goals on English study, if achieving one goal, students can award themselves properly. Once students achieve the goal, they will have a sense of achievement. On the contrary, they can punish themselves. They can even invite several classmates to participate in and monitor each other.
6. Conclusion
As is known to all, most of students spend lots of energy and time on English learning, but get little effect. New standard curriculum requires teachers to pay attention to cultivating students’ emotional attitude and not just to teach English for passing exams. Learning motivation is an important factor in the foreign language learning. The present thesis shows that internal motivation and external motivation exist in the processing of learning, and internal motivation plays a more important role. Through this survey, I hope to arouse people’s attention to proper learning motivation, and give some help for English learning and teaching. But about learning motivation, it is still need to further study, there are still a lots of questions need to be done.
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作者：杨倩（1998年）。性别：女。民族：汉。籍贯：陕西宝鸡。学历：大学本科三年级。职称：学生。工作单位：西安外国语大学。研究方向：英文学院英语专业。单位邮编：710128。
论文作者:Yang Qian
论文发表刊物:《语言文字学》2018年第8月
论文发表时间:2018/8/24
标签：宝鸡论文; 单位论文; 英文论文; 陕西论文; 西安论文; 籍贯论文; 大学本科论文; 《语言文字学》2018年第8月论文;