An Empirical Study Of Engineering Students’Directed Motivational Currents In English Learning

Learning motivation has always been an essential factor in Second Language Acquisition(SLA).After years of development,the study of second language motivation has developed from a static model to a multi-dimensional and dynamic model.Directed Motivational Currents(DMCs),as the latest research achievement in this field,are described as the surges of intense and enduring motivation during a long period directed by a clear goal or vision,with the behavioral structure as the pathway and the fulfillment of short-term goals as the foundation.This view highlights the importance and necessity of time,individuals,and context in L2 motivation.A DMC contains four core dimensions:Goal/vision orientedness,the launch of DMC,the salient and facilitative structure and positive emotionality.The study of DMC will be pedagogically significant for understanding L2 motivation among L2 learners in China and other similar contexts.This study raises the following three research questions for the purpose of exploring engineering students’English learning DMCs experiences based on DMC Theory:(1)To what extent do DMCs reflect in engineering students’ college English learning experiences?(2)For engineering students,what are the differences in English learning DMCs between CET-6 passers and CET-6 failures?(3)What are the significant factors that can facilitate engineering students’ English learning DMCs?To find the answers to the above questions,the author selected 156 engineering students of one University as the research participants.Based on whether they passed CET-6,all the participants were divided into CET-6 passers and CET-6 failures.Besides,the research data was collected through questionnaire a semi-structured interview and SPSS software(version 26.0)was used for quantitative data analysis.The findings of the study are as follows:(1)DMCs exit in engineering students’ college English learning experiences.Furthermore,DMC is a well-known and widely recognized motivational phenomenon which has been experienced by most of the learners rather than a few students under some special learning circumstances;(2)The differences in English learning DMCs between CET-6 passers and CET-6 failures are reflected in the length,intensity,the disposition and the core dimensions of DMCs;(3)There are five factors that can facilitate engineering students’ English learning DMCs:English learning goal setting,positive emotion in the process of learning English,English teachers’ positive feedback,English learning atmosphere,and individual internal components.Finally,suggestions for English teaching of engineering students were provided based on the findings of this research.