A Survey Study On The Correlation Between English Juniors’Demotivation And Self-efficacy In English Learning

Demotivation is a phenomenon that learners meet in the process of learning. It concerns various negative influences phenomenon which may affect the existing motivation and bring about poor academic performances. Researchers have done a large number of studies about motivation on learners’foreign language learning. However, the negative force of motivation which is called’demotivation’is rarely concerned, and few studies have been conducted on English majors’demotivation in English learning. Similarly, self-efficacy is also a critical factor in foreign language learning. Though researches on L2learners’self-efficacy are not new, few researchers have conducted studies on the relationship between English majors’demotivation and self-efficacy in foreign language learning.In order to solve this problem and investigate English majors’situation of demotivation and self-efficacy in English learning, this study is undertaken to investigate the status quo of English Juniors’demotivation and self-efficacy in English learning, as well as the correlation between demotivation and self-efficacy through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. To be specific, the research questions to be addressed in the study are:1) What is the overall situation of English Juniors’demotivation in English learning?2) What is the overall situation of English Juniors’self-efficacy in English learning?3) What is the relationship between English Juniors’demotivation and self-efficacy in English learning?Both quantitative and qualitative methods are adopted in the study. The quantitative research mainly involves a self-designed questionnaire about demotivating factors in English learning and a questionnaire made by Wu Xiuwen (2002) about English efficacy with the whole internal reliability reaching.869and.890respectively. The questionnaires are handed out to87English Juniors of Yangzhou University in November,2013and finally86are found valid. Then, the data is processed by SPSS16.0. The qualitative research is a semi-structured interview with6students being selected from those whose questionnaires are considered valid. The interview is carried out in Chinese. Afterwards, the results are transcribed into English and the transcriptions of the interview are carefully analyzed.Detailed analysis of both quantitative and qualitative research yields the findings as follows:(1) Generally speaking, English Juniors have a relatively low level of demotivation (Mean=2.45) in English learning. According to the mean values, the categories rank from the highest to the lowest are as follows:Occupation-related Demotivating Factors (Mean=3.73), Learning Strategies-related Demotivating Factors (Mean=2.90), Personality-related Demotivating Factors (Mean=2.90), Attitudes toward English-related Demotivating Factors (Mean=2.83), Hardware and Software Facilities-related Demotivating Factors (Mean=2.80), Teaching Materials and Curriculum-related Demotivating Factors (Mean=2.62), Confidence in English Demotivating Factors (Mean=2.59) and Teachers and Classmates-related Demotivating Factors (Mean=2.16). Among all the factors only the mean value of Occupation-related Demotivating Factors (Mean=3.73) is above3.00. This result indicates that English majors are much worried about their future employment and thus have great employment pressure, which demotivates their academic study.(2) In general, English Juniors have experienced a relatively high level of self-efficacy (Mean=3.39) in English learning. According to the mean values, the categories rank from the highest to the lowest are as follows:General Self-efficacy (Mean=3.60), Writing Self-efficacy (Mean=3.53), Reading Self-efficacy (Mean=3.52), Oral Self-efficacy (Mean=3.15), Listening Self-efficacy (Mean=3.15). English Juniors have a relatively higher level of General Self-efficacy, Writing Self-efficacy and Reading Self-efficacy with the mean values all above3.50, which indicates that English Juniors are confident with their general English learning, especially with English writing and reading. Compared with the above three categories, English Juniors’level of Oral Self-efficacy and Listening Self-efficacy is relatively lower, which indicates that compared with General Self-efficacy, Writing Self-efficacy and Reading Self-efficacy, English Juniors have less confidence in speaking and listening.(3) There exists a significant and negative correlation between Overall Demotivation and Overall Self-efficacy (r=-.278**). As far as the correlation between Overall Demotivation and the five categories of self-efficacy is concerned, three categories of self-efficacy (General Self-efficacy, r=-.274**; Listening Self-efficacy, r=-.319**; Oral Self-efficacy, r=-.336**) are significantly and negatively correlated with Overall Demotivation. As far as the correlation between Overall Self-efficacy and the eight categories of demotivation is concerned, three categories of demotivating factors (Attitudes toward English-related Demotivating Factors, r=-.239**; Confidence in English Demotivating Factors, r=-.316**; Learning Strategies-related Demotivating Factors, r=-.409**) are significantly and negatively correlated with Overall Self-efficacy. The results indicate that English Juniors with lower level of demotivation may get a higher level of self-efficacy and vice versa.In light of the findings, this thesis makes some pedagogical implications for both teachers and English majors:Firstly, more attention should be paid to English majors’employment problem so that their demotivation level could be lowered. Secondly, English majors’oral and listening self-efficacy should be improved. Thirdly, English majors can improve their level of self-efficacy in English learning by reducing their degree of demotivation. In the same way, English majors can reduce their degree of demotivation by improving their level of self-efficacy.