The Correlation Between Second Language Motivational Self System And English Vocabulary Learning

Vocabulary is the foundation of language learning.The study of vocabulary learning has become the research hotspot in the field of second language acquisition since the end of 20 th century,among which are accidental vocabulary learning,vocabulary learning strategies,vocabulary learning and teaching,etc.During the process of English learning in real life,vocabulary learning is influenced by multiple factors,in which motivation is one of the key factors.The theory of “second language motivational self system”(L2MSS)proposed by Zoltán D?rnyei has become one of the most popular theories in explaining issues of language learning motivation since its proposal.Based on the theory of L2 MSS and previous studies,the thesis investigates students’ vocabulary learning situation and studies the correlation between the L2 MSS proficiency and scores of vocabulary learning from the perspective of L2 MSS.The participants in the current study are 56 grade one senior high school students in Xinyu No.1 High School,in which 33 male students and 23 female students are included,and the average age of the students is 15 years old.The thesis applies the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods,and the experimental period lasts for one and a half months due to practical condition.During the process of data collection,two kinds of questionnaires are applied in the pre-test,and three in the posttest.The questionnaires are the scale of L2 MSS,the vocabulary test,and the English vocabulary learning situation questionnaire.An immediate interview is conducted after the test.The current study aims at investigating two research questions: 1)How correlative is school level students’ vocabulary learning with L2MSS? 2)If there exists a correlation,to what extent do the three components of L2 MSS influence students’ vocabulary learning? The research conducts correlation and regression analyses on the experimental data by applying the tool of statistical package for social science(SPSS)17.0.The results reveal that: 1)there does exist a certain correlation between students’ vocabulary learning and the theory of L2 MSS.There exists a medium positive correlation(r=0.334 in the pre-test and r=0.467 in the post-test)between L2 Learning Experience and vocabulary learning,a weak positive correlation in the pre-test and later in the post-test a medium positive correlation(r=0.275 in the pre-test and r=0.408 in the post-test)between Ideal L2 Self and vocabulary learning,and no significant correlation(r=0.024 in the pre-test and r=-0.188 in the post-test)between Ought-to L2 Self and vocabulary learning;2)the extent of the three components’ influence on students’ vocabulary learning is ranked by the order from strong to weak as L2 Learning Experience> Ideal L2 Self> Ought-to L2 Self(r=0.336 in the pre-test and r=0.467 in the post-test between L2 Learning Experience and vocabulary learning,r=0.275 in the pre-test and r=0.408 in the post-test between Ideal L2 Self and vocabulary learning,and r=0.024 in the pre-test and r=-0.188 in the post-test between Ought-to L2 Self and vocabulary learning).The research provides an empirical case for the appliance of“second language motivational self system” to English teaching.Teachers can adjust their teaching strategies according to students’ degree of self-motivation,and researchers can acquire enlightenment from the research results.