The Structural Relationship Between Sensory Styles, Imagination,L2 Motivation And Learning Achievement Among Chinese High School EFL Students

Motivation has been one of the most researched individual differences in the field of second language acquisition(SLA).Currently,one of the research focuses of L2 motivation is the role of students' sensory styles and imagination in generating L2 motivation.However,most of the past studies,employing the method of correlation analysis,failed to accurately verify and quantify the complicated causal relationship between the variables.Moreover,although previous literature has revealed gender difference in L2 motivation,little focused analysis has been directed at the influence of gender difference on the interrelationship between sensory styles,imagination and L2 motivation.Thus,more studies are needed to deepen the research on the relationship between sensory styles,imagination,L2 motivation and gender.In the light of the L2 Motivational Self System(L2 MSS),the present study drew together the main variables studied in the past in a single investigation.Employing structural equation modeling(SEM),this study probed into the causal relationship between sensory styles(visual style and auditory style),imagination,L2 MSS(ideal L2 self,ought-to L2 self and L2 learning experience),motivated behavior and learning achievement,and examined the gender variance in the postulated relationship.Specifically,the following two research questions were addressed:Q1.What is the structural relationship between sensory styles,imagination,L2 MSS,motivated behavior and learning achievement among Chinese high school students?Q2.Is there any gender difference in the structural relationship between sensory styles,imagination,L2 MSS,motivated behavior and learning achievement among Chinese high school students? If so,what is the difference?816 Chinese EFL students from two of provincial model senior high schools in Shanxi Province participated in this study.Quantitative data was collected through questionnaire survey,which was then analyzed via SPSS 22.0 and Amos 22.0.Besides,15 out of the 816 students were selected to participate in the face-to-face semi-structure interviews,serving as the qualitative data to supplement the quantitative research.In accordance with the research questions,the main findings of the study are summarized as follows: Firstly,the hypothesized relationship between students' sensory styles,imagination,L2 MSS,motivated behavior and learning achievement was confirmed.Specifically,the structural relationship between the variables could be summarized in the following four aspects:(1)sensory styles,especially the visual style,had direct influences on imagination and L2 learning experience;(2)imagination directly influenced ideal L2 self and ought-to L2 self;(3)L2 learning experience was the strongest predictor of motivated behavior,followed by ideal L2 self and ought-to L2 self;(4)motivated behavior directly and significantly affected learning achievement.Secondly,significant gender differences were identified in the structural relationship of above variables:(1)during English learning process,females were visually stronger than males;(2)males' ought-to L2 self had a much stronger explanatory power for ideal L2 self than that of females;(3)females' L2 learning experience played a more crucial role than that of males within the whole motivational model.The results obtained in this study not only corroborates the suggested relationship between sensory styles,imagination and L2 motivation,but also extends the line of inquiry by constructing a comprehensive structural model of sensory styles,imagination,L2 motivation,motivated behavior and learning achievement.With a detailed discussion about the findings,the present study is expected to offer English teachers some practical information about Chinese high school students' English learning motivation,and thus to help them arrange teaching materials and activities,and improve teaching methods.