An Analysis Of The English Learning Obstacles Of Left-behind Middle School Students In Rural Areas From The Perspective Of Attribution Theory

With the urban and rural economic system reform and the promotion ofmodernization, many rural laborers came to the cities. The labor transfer brought a newproblem--left-behind children. Since2005, the issue of the left-behind has graduallybecome a research focus of many scholars.This thesis made an investigation and analysis of the English learning obstacles ofthe left-behind middle school students in a typical rural middle school in JiangxiProvince from the perspective of Attribution Theory (a social psychological theory) byaddressing the following three research questions:(1) What are English learningobstacles of the left-behind middle school students in the rural areas?(2) How do theleft-behind students and their English teachers attribute the English learning obstacles?(3) How can the English learning obstacles of the left-behind students be eliminated?This thesis, based on the definitions of learning obstacles and the framework ofAttribution Theory, designed the questionnaire for the students and the interviewquestions for their English teachers. Through the analysis of the201effectivequestionnaires and the recordings of the interviews, the thesis found that:1. The poor English learning conditions in the rural area and the high percentage(75.6%) of the left-behind students result in little difference in English learningbetween the left-behind and non-left-behind as a whole, whereas the gap betweenindividual students is very wide. Their English learning disabilities are respectivelylistening (38.4%), speaking (26.2%), writing (23.5%) and reading (12.1%). But theirEnglish teachers gave different answers. Besides, laziness (46.3%), lack ofself-confidence (36.2%) and lack of English environment (15.4%) constitute thebiggest obstacles in their English learning.2. As for the attribution, endeavor is a very important factor to58.4%of thestudents and all the teachers. Although most of the students do not think the familylearning situations, the parents’ supervision and help have little to do with theirEnglish learning, yet the extent of influence of those factors on the left-behind andnon-left-behind is quite different, about one third of the left-behind giving negativeanswers as compared with the nearly50%by the non-left-behind, clearly suggestingthat the degree of the effect of family on the students is different. As to some externaleffects, the left-behind give negative answers more determinedly than thenon-left-behind. Parents in the rural area do not attach sufficient attention to their children’s education.3. The English teachers interviewed hope to help the left-behind build upself-confidence of learning English through more talks and encouragement, to makethe parents more conscious of the importance of the children’s education through morecommunication, and to make suggestions for the improvement of the English learningenvironmentIt is suggested that joint efforts from the society, school, teachers, parents and theleft-behind should be made for the elimination of the internal and external Englishlearning obstacles.