Motivation in English Learning.docx

Motivation in English Learning.docx

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MotivationinEnglishLearning

MotivationinEnglishLearning

MotivationinLanguageLearning

Nowadays,withthequicklydevelopmentoftheworld,moreandmorepeoplemakeeffortstolearnasecondlanguage.Andwhenwetalkaboutlearningaforeignlanguage,weoftentalkaboutdifferentmethods,ifyoushouldgotoschoolornotandhowmuchtimeisidealtospendonthetargetlanguageeachday.Thesearecommonquestionstoaskbyourselves,butIthinktheyarenotasimportantasonething:

motivation.Differentpeoplehavedifferentmotivationsinlearningasecondlanguage.Here,motivationisadesiretoachieveagoal,combinedwiththeenergytoworktowardsthatgoal.Itseemsasimpleandeasyword.Butinfact,itisverydifficultdefine.ItseemstohavebeenimpossiblefortheoriststoreachconsensusonasingledefinitionHerearesomedefinitions:

AccordingtotheWebster's,tomotivatemeanstoprovidewithamotive,aneedordesirethatcausesapersontoact.AccordingtoGardner（1985）,motivationisconcernedwiththequestion,"Whydoesanorganismbehaveasitdoes?

Hedefinesmotivationasreferringtoacombinationofeffortplusdesiretoachievethegoaloflearningthelanguageplusfavorableattitudestowardslearningthelanguage.Motivationisalsodefinedastheimpetustocreateandsustainintentionsandgoal-seekingacts（Ames&Ames,1989）.Itisimportantbecauseitdeterminestheextentofthelearner'sactiveinvolvementandattitudetowardlearning.（Ngeow,KarenYeok-Hwa,1998）Itisatermfrequentlyusedinbotheducationalandresearchcontexts.Manyresearchersconsidermotivationasoneofthemainelementsthatdeterminesuccessindevelopingasecondorforeignlanguage;itdeterminestheextentofactive,personalinvolvementinL2learning.（Oxford&Shearin,1994）Motivationinvolvesfourbasicaspects:

internalcondition;inference;initiation,activation,ormaintenance;andgoal-directedbehavior.Motivationreflectsaninternalcondition.Theconditionmaydevelopfromphysiologicalneedsanddrivesorfromcomplexdesires,suchasthedesiretohelpothers,toobtainapproval,ortoearnahighincome.Motivationisaninferredconceptthatlinksaperson’sinternalconditionstoexternalbehavior.Itcannotbeobserveddirectly,butwecaninferits’presencebyitsbehavioraleffects.

Motivationinitiatesactivates,ormaintainsbehavior.Personalityandmotivation,expectancytheoriesshowthatifpeopleholdbeliefsorexpectationsforsuccess,theywillbehave,operate,orcooperateinspecificways,however,people’sbeliefsandexpectationsaredeterminedpartlybyhowpeopleperceivethecausesofsuccessorfailure,ifapersonbelievesataskisimpossible,forexample,thenthecauseoftheultimatefailuresillhavelittletodowithexpectationsforsuccess.Similarly,ifapersonbelievesthatataskissosimplethatanyonecandoitproperly,thensuccessatthetaskwillprovidelittlerewardorsatisfaction.Weshouldlearnthefunctionofmotivationandrealizetheimportanceofmotivation.First,arousalfunctionmotivation,itcanarouseorganismtoengenderspecialactivity.Theorganismwithmotivate,whichespeciallyhavebearingoncertainstimulus,isarousedmoreearlybythestimulus.Second,directionalfunctionmotivationcanmakeactivityoforganismbeaimedatspecialgoalorspecialobject.Third,maintenanceandadjustfunction.Afteractivityisaroused,motivationcanmaintaintheactivitytobeaimedataspecialgoal.Whenitisnecessary,motivationcanadjusttheintensityoftheactivityandthetimewhentheactivitymaintains.Usually,motivationhasbeenidentifiedtovariouskinds—instrumental,integrative,resultativeandintrinsic.Amongthesefourtypesofmotivation,whatsortofmotivationisbetterforlanguagelearning?

Wesomelearnersbelievethatknowingasecondlanguagemayhelpgettingabetterjob,orgetaplaceatuniversity.AsurveyofyoungpeopleinEuropefoundthat29%wantedtolearnmorelanguagestoincreasetheircareerpossibilities,while14%wantedtheminordertolive,work,orstudyinthecountry.Thelastfigureisareminderthatinstrumentalandintegrativemotivationsareonetwoofthepossiblekindsofmotivation.Learnersmightlearnasecondlanguagewellwithaninstrumentalmotivationorwithanintegrativeone,orindeedwithbothatthesametime,orwithothermotivations.Definitely,secondlanguagelearningmotivationplaysanimportantroleintheprocessoflearners’learningsuccess.Weallknowthatmotivationisimportanttoourstudyonforeignlanguage.Butwealllookforwaystoimproveourlanguagelearning,weforgetourmotivation.We

trytomotivateourselvesformanythings,butsomehowweonlylookatmethodswhenlearningaforeignlanguage.Onlywhenyouaremotivated,youcanlearnaforeignlanguage.Whenyouarenotmotivated,youwon’tshowuptolearnyourtargetlanguage.So,Ithinkbeingmotivatedisthemostimportantthinginlanguagelearning.Itispossibletolearnmanythingsinashortamountoftime,buttotrulylearnalanguagetofluencyyouneedyearstoinput,studyandpractice.ZolttanDornyei,whotestedthemotivationoflearnersofEnglishinthetypicalEuropeansituationofHungary,foundthataninstrumentalmotivationconcernedwithfuturecareerswasverypowerful.Andintegrativemotivationbecamemoreimportantasthelearnersadvancedinthelanguage.Someresearchersindicatedthatthestrongerandclearermotivation,thehigheractiveinlearningandthemoreeffectiveitmaybe.However,somestudiesfoundthatmotivationgoesbothdirections.Learnerswhoexperiencesuccessinlearningmaybecomemore,orinsomecontexts,lessmotivatedtolearn.Ontheotherhand,forinstance,iflearnershaveachievedtheirtargets,thentheymayworkharderthanbeforeinordertoreachinganotherhighertarget.Inotherwords,highmotivationisonefactorthatcausessuccessfullearning;successfullearning,however,maycausehighmotivation.Thelatterprocessofcreatingsuccessfullearningwhichcanspurhighmotivationmaybeundertheteacher’scontrol,ifnottheformer.Ontheotherhand,forexample,theymayletthemselvesrelaxedforthinkingthattheyhaveachievedandtheydon’tneedtopaymoreeffortsitanymore.What’smore,Ausubelpointedoutthattherelationshipbetweenmotivationandlearningistypicallyinteractiveanditisnotjustaone-wayrelationship.Thatmeans,motivationpromptslearningbythewayofenhancingbehavior,andwhatlearnersgaincanincreasemotivation.So,weshouldsetagoal.Here,goalscanbedistinguishedintotwokind’sshorttermgoalsandlongtermgoals.Shorttermgoalsmayincludewantingtopassatermtestorfinishinganassignmentofaunitinabook.Whilelongtermgoalsmayhavesomethingtodowithawishtogetabetterjobinthefuture,oradesiretobepromoted,ortheabilitytoreadarticlesandbooksabouttheirmajorinEnglish.

Generallyspeaking,studentswithgoalsareusuallyeasytoteachthanthosewhohaven’t.Thenmotivationcanbeseparatedintoextrinsicmotivation,whichisconcernedthefactorsoutsidetheclassroom,andintrinsicmotivation,whichisconcernedwithwhattakesplaceinsidetheclassroom.Howtoimprovelearningmotivation?

Accordingtopsychologicalresearches,motivationisnotgenetic,itislearned.Inotherwords,motivationislearnableandteachable.Therearesomefactorsthataffectone’smotivation,suchasfamily,neighbors,priorteachers,learningconditionsandsoon.Theyarebeyondourcontrol.However,therearesomewaysthatcanchangeyourlearninghabitsandestablishyourmotivation.Herearesuggestions.1）Raiseone’slevelofconcern.Properlevelofconcerncanactivateone’sefforttolearn.Learnersshouldtakecareaboutwhattoleanandlearningresults,andhavearightattitudetowardlearning.Supposelearnersshowindifferenceorunconcerntotheirlearning,theywillmakenoorlittleprogressinlearning.Sowecansaynolearningwithoutconcern.2）Setlearninggoals.Settingagoaldemonstratesanintentiontoachieveandactivateslearningfromonedaytothenext.Italsodirectslearners’activitiestowardthegoalandoffersanopportunitytoexperiencesuccess.3）Acquirethesenseofsuccess.Successismoremotivatingthanfailure.Howtogainsuccess?

Normally,thematerialmustberelevant,andlearnerscanchooseproperactivitiesratherthanthosethataredifficult（littlelikelihoodofsuccess）oreasy（highprobabilityofsuccess）.Passingatestorgettingarewardisasuccess.Everyminorsuccessistheprogresstowardgoals.Themoreyougetsuccesses,themoresatisfiedyouare,andtheharderyoulearn.Thisistheemotionalexperience.4）Showone’sinteresttolearning.Interestisthebestteacher.Twomethodscanbeused.First,trytofindinterestinglearningmaterials（differentpeople,differenttopics）;second,trytoconnectyourlearningtorealisticlife（speaking,writing,andapplication）.Wearriveattheconclusionthatitispossibleandfeasibletoimprovemotivationtolearninforeignlanguageteaching.Anditisnotedthatteacherdevelopthestudents’extrinsicmotivation,encouragetheirconvictionthattheyhavetolearnforeignlanguage,enhancestudents’self-confidenceinlearningforeignlanguage,

fostertheirdirectinterestinforeignlanguageandmakethemhaveacompetitioninlearningforeignlanguage.Theultimategoalofimprovingmotivationtolearnisthatthestudentsgraduallybecomeinitiativelearner.References:

张庆宗，《外语学与教的心理学原理》，外语教学与研究出版社，2011.Ames,C.1992.Classrooms:

goals,structuresandstudentmotivation.JournalofEducationalPsychology,84（3）,261-71