On Stimulating English-Learning Motivation of Junior.doc

毕业论文(设计)On Stimulating English-Learning Motivation of JuniorHigh School Students in Rural Areas1. Introduction- 1 -2. Theoretical foundations- 3 -2.1 Classifications of learning motivation- 3 -2.1.1 Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation- 3 -2.1.2 Integrative motivation and instrumental motivation- 4 -2.2 Effects of motivation on learning- 6 -3. Research design- 6 -3.1 Object- 6 -3.2 Respondents- 7 -3.3 Means- 7 -3.4 Procedures- 7 -4. Analysis of the survey- 8 -4.1 Findings from the questionnaire- 8 -4.2 Discussions of the findings- 12 -5. Suggestions on stimulating students motivation- 13 -5.1 Cultivating intrinsic motivation in students- 13 -5.1.1 Arousing students interest in English learning- 13 -5.1.2 Helping students to set goals- 14 -5.1.3 Developing students self-confidence- 15 -5.1.4 Evaluating students own success and failure properly- 15 -5.1.5 Building up an appropriate teacher-student relationship- 16 -5.2 Stimulating extrinsic motivation- 17 -5.2.1 Overcoming disadvantages of teaching conditions- 17 -5.2.2 Achievement in English learning- 18 -5.2.3 Competition and exam- 19 -5.2.4 Creating a good classroom environment- 19 -6. Conclusion- 20 -References- 22 -1. IntroductionIn the process of foreign language learning, motivation has been considered to be one of the main factors in determining learning outcomes. Second language learning motivation research was started by Gardner and Lambert (1972) in Canada. Gardner (1985: 203) defines motivation to learn an L2 as “the extent to which the individual works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction experienced in this activity.” Motivation is commonly thought of as an inner drive, impulse, emotion, or desire that moves one to a particular action. In more technical terms, motivation refers to “the choices people make as to what experiences or goals they will approach or avoid and the degree of effect they will exert in that respect” (See H. D. Brown, 2002: 152). The most extreme statement about the importance of motivation in language learning is probably Skehans noted statement “given motivation, anyone can learn a language” (1989: 49). This statement suggests that a motivated learner can overcome any unfavorable condition in language learning. Motivation is an important part of affective attitude in learning process. The New National Standard of English Curriculum also points out that affective attitudes are important factors which influence students learning and development.Therefore, in language teaching, teachers should pay more attention to students motivation. But when the author worked as an intern teacher at Lanshan Junior High School, she found that most students are of low motivation of English learning. Whats more, the present situation of English learning of the students in rural areas is very worrying. The pass rate of the English Tests for Senior School Entrance quoted from this school in 2005-2007 shows that though the pass rate of English was increasing year by year, it still far from the lowest standard of English that Quality Education requires. So, it is necessary that some researches on variables that influence English learning motivation of rural junior high school students should be done to explore ways to stimulate their motivation. Graph 1-1 The English pass rate of the English Tests for Senior School Entrance quoted in 2005-20072. Theoretical foundations2.1 Classifications of learning motivation2.1.1 Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivationKeller (1984: 89) defines intrinsic motivation as “an intrinsically motivated activity for which there is no apparent reward except the activity itself”. People seem to engage in the activities for their own sake and not because they lead to an extrinsic reward. That is, intrinsic motivation exists when one works because of an inner desire to accomplish a task successfully.“Extrinsic motivation is a motivation to engage in an activity as a means to an end. Individuals who are extrinsically motivated work on tasks because they believe that participation will result in desirable outcomes such as a reward, teachers praise, or avoidance of punishment” (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996: 124). Extrinsically motivated behaviors, on the other hand, are carried out in anticipation of a reward from outside. It focuses on something external to the learning activities. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations have influence on motivated students.Intrinsic Extrinsicpreference for challengepreference for easy workcuriosity/ interestpleasing teacher/ getting gradesindependent masterydependence on teacher in figuring out problemsindependent judgmentreliance on teachers judgment about what to dointernal criteria for successexternal criteria for successTable 2-1: Dimensions of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996: 124).2.1.2 Integrative motivation and instrumental motivationAnother influential dimension of motivation is that integrative and instrumental. Integrative motivation means that learners wish to integrate themselves within the culture of the second language group, to identify themselves with and become a part of that society (Brown, 2002:154). Integrative motivation is considered as the desire to achieve proficiency in a new language in order to know about the other culture, and to participate in the life of the community that speaks the language. It reflects a sincere and personal interest in the people and the culture represented by that community.Instrumental motivation can be defined as the desire to acquire a language as a means for attain utilitarian goals such as pass an exam, get a job, position or status, read or translate technical materials in target language, etc. Instrumental motivation reflects the practical value and advantages of learning a new language. An instrumentally motivated person has limited interest in the people and the culture of the target language community. Some research evidences show that students of English with higher instrumental motivation will score higher in the tests of English proficiency. In China, most students learn English are out of instrumental motivation. 2.1.3 Achievement motivationAchievement motivation is defined as the motive to be successful to perform well, to be capable, to maintain or to improve the standard of excellence.Psychologists D. C. Meclellard and J. A. Atkinson (1999) had a research on achievement motivation. In their point of views, the students with higher achievement motivation were often confident of their abilities and had the courage to overcome the difficulties. They were easy to produce the behavior of seeking success. In contrast, those students who with lower achievement motivation were often lack of confidence and easy to produce the behavior of avoiding failure. Many experts at home and abroad consider that the levels of students achievement motivation are related with the results of study. The higher achievement motivation the students have, the better results of study they will get. In English learning, some students who are weak in their studies are not because of their intelligence; the reason is that they thought they couldnt study successful. Therefore, for such students, the level of achievement motivation is an important factor, which can influence their results of English learning.2.2 Effects of motivation on learningMany researchers try to make a careful study on the effects of motivation on learning. Woolfolk (1990: 35) summarizes the relationship between students motivation and their performance as follows: Goal-directed behavior Effort and energyMotivation Initiation of activities Persistence with activities Information process Reinforcing consequencesWoolfolk (1990: 63) believes that motivation directs students behavior toward particular learning goals and increases effort and energy expanded toward these goals. Motivation also determines the degree of students initiation and persistence at activities. Another important effect of motivation on leaning is that it affects what and how information is processed. Just as Woolfolk (1990: 72) claims, motivated students are more likely to pay attention, which is critical for getting information into both working memory and long-term memory. In contrast, unmotivated students may process information in a superficial manner. 3. Research design3.1 ObjectAs discussed in the previous part, motivation is one of the central factors determining success in learning a foreign language. So it is significant for teachers to adopt effective motivational strategies to stimulate and sustain students motivation. Therefore, the author carried out a survey, hoping that the findings of the study will help to find out the problems which decrease rural students motivation and provide proper solutions for English teachers to increase students motivation.3.2 RespondentsThe survey involves 120 students randomly selected from two classes of Grade One in Lanshan Junior High School. 3.3 MeansThis research adopted a questionnaire. It includes four parts: integrative motivation (5 questions), instrumental motivation (12 questions), motivational intensity (8 questions), and attribution (10 questions). Each one of the 35 items has five choices: 1=I strongly disagree; 2=I disagree; 3=I have no clear answer; 4=I agree; 5=I strongly agree. All subjects responded to the Chinese version of the questionnaire. A sample questionnaire is provided in appendix.3.4 ProceduresThe questionnaire was administered to 120 students during the sixth week of the second term of the academic year 2007-2008. It took place during regular class hour. Each class teacher reserved fifteen minutes of the class time for the author to administer the questionnaire. Before the students answered these items, detailed instructions were given by the author on how to respond to the questionnaire so that the students knew clearly what they were expected to do. Of the 120 worksheets 94 were valid.4. Analysis of the surveyTo measure the result of every specific statement about different aspects of students English learning motivation, the author counted up the votes and calculated the percentage of each item. For the convenience of calculation, the votes for choice 1 “I strongly disagree” and choice 2 “I disagree” were merged to show the negative response, and the votes for the choice 4 “I agree” and choice 5 “I strongly agree” were merged to show the affirmative response. Comparing the percentage of each statement, the most important factors influence students motivation can be concluded and solutions for how to stimulate students motivation can be suggested.4.1 Findings from the questionnaireTable4-1 Statistics for Integrative MotivationItems T1 T2 T3 T4T5Affirmative votes 3630233876Percentage 38%32%24%40%81%The results of item 1-2 shows only 32% of the students really like learning English and only 24% are interested in the cultures of English-speaking countries. The first three items show that not many students have interest in English and its culture. Students English learning motivation is hinder by lower interest for interest has contact with inherent motivation of foreign language learning closely. Item 5 “I hope I can speak English fluently” gets the most votes of these items, that is to say, students have strong wishes to learn English well no matter whether they good at English or not. Generally speaking, a few of them have strong integrative motivation.Table4-2 Statistics for Instrumental MotivationItemsT6T7T8T9T10T11T12T13T14T15T16T17Affirmative votes345071394353282536215762Percentage36%53%76%41%46%56%30%27%38%22%61%66%The findings of the present study show that most students learn English for instrumental motivation. From the table 4-2, the results of item 7-10 indicate that 53% students learn for further education, 76% learn for good jobs, 41% learn for the English Tests for Senior School Entrance and 46% learn to pass the graduate examination. Item 16 and 17 get the most votes because it is connected with the current situation of China. In China, though parents work hard all the year, they cant provide good conditions for family with such poor incomes. However, they believe that their children can master a foreign language will be of a great help, so they concern their childrens English study, hope that their children can learn English well and will have better life in the future. Children also want to do a good job in English to satisfy their parents. According to the total average mark of these 12 questions, it shows that students are all aware of the importance of learning English. However, most of them have strong instrumental motivation, integrative factors and intrinsic factors seem to have fewer effects on students learning motivation.Table4-3 Statistics for Motivational IntensityItemsT18T19T20T21T22T23T24T25Affirmative votes6417822556563331Percentage68%18%85%27%60%60%35%32%The results of the responses indicate that students (85%) can finish their homework on time, more than half of them (68%) want to learn English better and will keep learning in the future (60%), but only 35% of them like English and fell satisfy by English. Item 19 “I always initiatively answer the questions in English class” gets the least votes, it indicate that many students are unwilling to answer teachers questions voluntarily in class. The figures of items 21, 23, 24 show that students are unwilling to learn English and lacking in self-conscious intention. According to the above results, the overall motivation intensity of rural areas students is weak.Table4-4 Statistics for Attribution to Success or FailureSuccess (item 26-30)Failure (item 31-35)Affirmative votesPercentageAffirmative votesPercentageEffort6064%5457%Ability4649%3032%Luck2324%1415%Paper3335%2426%Teacher4649%1118%The above figures reflect that most students attribute success to effort, followed by learning ability, good teacher, paper and luck, almost the same with the dominant cause of failure. More than half of students can adopt a correct attitude towards success and failure in learning and pay attention to the value of efforts. As discussed in part two, attribute success to controllable factors such as effort is helpful. This kind of attribution style will increase the students self-efficacy, and help them to take control of their English learning. However, 36% of the students attribute success to outside uncontrollable factors (luck, the paper, and teacher). This kind of attribution will influence students self-confidence, learning enthusiasm and motivation. As the results show that, 43% of the students attribute failure to outside uncontrollable factors (inability, task difficulty, teacher and luck). The author believes that why the students attribute failure to uncontrollable factors is mainly due to lack of confidence in the face of frustration. Some students are discouraged by their failure in English learning, so they lose faith in their ability to learn English and come to have a sense of inability. By making attribution to the uncontrollable factors, they seem to find a measure to free themselves from guilt in the case of failure. This can be harmful to the improvement of motivation.4.2 Discussions of the findingsIn a word, we can get the following findings from the survey:a) Students interest in English affects their English learning motivation，it also correlates positively with motivational intensity and their achievements. Therefore, teachers should take any possible measures to arouse students curiosity and develop their interest in English learning.b) Students English learning motivation is influenced by the test-oriented educational system in China. Students achievements in English are vital for them to get admission to good schools for sure. This is a typical instrumental motivation.c) Although extrinsic motivation has influence on students English learning, however, intrinsic motivation is strongly related to motivational intensity. So teachers should develop not only students extrinsic motivation, but also their intrinsic motivation.d) Different attribution has different influence on students motivation. Correct attribution will strengthen students learning motivation. The students who attribute success or failure to own efforts will meet challenge in learning and have inherent interest and positive attitudes towards English learning. Therefore, teachers should guide students correct attribution to success or failure. 5. Suggestions on stimulating students motivation5.1 Cultivating intrinsic motivation in students5.1.1 Arousing students interest in English learningInterest has contact with inherent motivation of foreign language learning closely. “Interest is the best teacher.” It is the most influential motivational factor in Chinese students. Therefore, in order to motivate students to learn English, generating and maintaining their interest become an important task for rural English teachers. There are some suggestions on increase students interest in their English learning.First of all, use different teaching methods. Many rural English teachers just explain the text and grammar. Such kind of teaching often make students feel bored, and the students will probably become de-motivated. Teachers can use role playing, debates, discussions, game activities or other performanc