Xutangtownshipcanalprimaryschool,funancounty,fuyangcity,anhuiprovince.JiangChenghuapostcode236323.
Abstract
AninvestigationwascarriedoutonpupilswhoattendclassesinruralsecondarymiddleschoolsinthenorthoftheprovinceofPordenoneinordertodeterminetheirmotivationinlanguagelearning.Itwasamixed-methodresearch,sincequantitativequestionnairesandqualitativeinterviewshavebeenadoptedinordertocollectthedata.Theresearchisinterpretativeinnaturebecausethedatahavebeeninterpretedonlythroughtheuseofdescriptivestatisticalmethods.Fouraspectshaveemergedfromthestudy.First,lackofinterestintheEnglishcourseseemstobethemainproblemregardingthepupils’languagelearningmotivation.Second,pupilsarenotexposedtoEnglishsufficientlyintheireverydaylives.Third,thepositionofSecondYearpupils,whorepresentasortofgreyarea,wouldappeartobethemostcriticaloftheMiddleSchoolpupils.Lastly,thepositionofthefemalepupilswho,ingeneral,tendtobemoredemandingthanthemalepupils.
1Theoriesonlanguagelearningmotivation
AccordingtoBrown,motivationis«aninnerdrive,impulse,emotion,ordesirethatmovesonetoaparticularaction»(asquotedinZhu,Zhou2012,p.34).Balboniclaimsthatmotivationis«theenergythatactivatesthebrainandthemind»(Balboni2006,p.52)..
2Thestudy
Foreignlanguagelearning(FLL)meanslearningatargetlanguageinaninstitutionalsettingwithoutregularinteractionwiththecommunityofthelanguagenativespeakers(Dörnyei1990).Instead,secondlanguageacquisition(SLA)involveslearningatargetlanguage«wherethetargetlanguageismasteredeitherthroughdirectexposuretoitorthroughformalinstructionaccompaniedbyfrequentinteractionwiththetarget-languagecommunityinthehostenvironmentorinamulticulturalsetting»(Dörnyei1990,p.48).AfterhavingconductedaresearchprojectinvolvinglearnersofEnglishinHungary,in1990DörnyeiclaimedthatthefindingsofSLAresearchcannotbedirectlyapplicabletoFLLsituations.Themainreasonforthisisthatforeignlanguagelearnersdonothaveenoughexperienceofthetargetlanguagecommunitytohavepositiveornegativeattitudestowardsit(Dörnyei1990).
4Results
4.1Researchquestion1
ThefirstresearchquestionaskswhetherthepupilsareexposedsufficientlytoEnglish.Theresultsfromthequestionnaires,interviewsandfocusgroupconfirmthehypothesisthattheyarenotsufficientlyexposedtothelanguage.
4.2Researchquestion2
Thesecondresearchquestioninvestigatesa.howpupilsperceivethemselvesasforeignlanguagelearners,andb.whethertheirlanguagelearningorientationismoreintrinsicorextrinsic.Thehypothesisthatthepupils’perceptionofthemselvesdoesnotencouragemotivationhasnotbeenconfirmedbythedatabecausenearlyalltheaspectsanalysedplayapositiveroleinthepupils’languagelearningmotivation.Theresultsarebrieflysummarized.
5Discussion
Theyaregenerallymuchmorecriticalthanmales.Itisthereforeimportantthattheteacherbeawareofthisdifferenceandregularlymonitorthefemalepupils’attitudestowardsthelanguageandthecoursethroughconstantpersonalcontact.
Toconclude,inthelightofthedatagathereditcouldbesaidthatthepupils’motivationtolearnEnglishasaforeignlanguageisnotencouragedduringthemiddleschool,quitethecontrary:wehaveseenthatmotivationisalmostdejectedfromtheFirsttotheThirdYear.Thisnegativetendencyistobechangedbecauselowmotivationhasadetrimentaleffectonlearning.
References
Dörnyei,Z.(1990).«ConceptualizingMotivationinForeign-LanguageLearning».LanguageLearning,40(1),pp.45-78.
Dörnyei,Z.;Ushioda,E.(2011).TeachingandResearchingMotivation.SecondEdition.Harlow:PearsonEducation.
luglio2012Sono:MASCHIOFEMMINAScuola:MEDIAClasse:123(indicarelaclassefrequentataquest’anno).
标签：Balboniclaimsthatmotivationis论文; theenergythatactivatesthebrainandthemind论文; impulse论文;