Study On The Persistence Mechanism In Foreign Language Learning Among Chinese University Students

In the modern life, the research on foreign language learning has integratedfindings in the liberal arts, such as sociology, linguistics, education, psychology andeven discoveries in the natural sciences, like computer science, neurophysiology andneurobiology, which was proved to be a great success and yielded a lot of fruits.With regard to the foreign language education for Chinese university students, itis undoubted that students’ abilities in using a foreign language has much cultivatedand improved to some extent. Most universities in China carried out foreign languageeducation with a combination of the required course and various optional courses;however, with the growing number of university students in recent years, a lack ofconstant instruction from relative teachers and the utilitarian attitude towards CET4&CET6, the proficiency in English skills among university students has declineddramatically, resulting in a negative influence on their employability and job prospect.Previous researches have shown that university students tend to “easier participatethan persist” in foreign language studies, but the mechanism in students’ mentality aswell as the intervention in students’ persistence in learning a foreign language suffersa kind of ignorance.“Commitment”, a term in psychology, refers to the power in motivation ofurging people to insist on a specific behavior, denoting an individual’s intention andreliance towards an activity or a relationship. Not only have commitment-orientedstudies been the focus of attention nowadays, but also discoveries and achievementsin this field kept on springing up, like organizational commitment, occupationalcommitment, professional commitment, marriage commitment and etc. Thisdissertation, borrowing the thoughts and models in the theory of commitment andbehavior, conducts a comprehensive investigation on foreign language studies ofChinese university students. Five successive surveys are carried out.(1) The initialmodel of foreign language learning commitment (FLLC) was conceived, based on thesurvey of100undergraduates.(2) The research was done to test the previous model,according to the questionnaire of212undergraduates.(3) The antecedent variables inFLLC were revised concerning the data of In-Depth Interview from30undergraduates.(4) The co-relationship in FLLC and its influential factors wereclarified as for the data of Focus Group Discussion from28undergraduates; moreover,a mechanism model of foreign language learning persistence (FLLP) was constructed with the help of Interpretative Structural Modeling method (ISM).(5) After theadjustment and creation of original variables, the mechanism model of FLLP wastested through the questionnaire of1247undergraduates.The research techniques are as follows.(1) During the phase of theoryexploration, the research framework was constructed based on literature reviews andlogical analysis. Besides, FLLC model was proposed according to the questionnaireand suggestions of experts; meanwhile, the model was tested through StructuralEquation Model (SEM).(2) During the phase of model reconstruction, eachinfluential factor in the persistence in foreign language learning was investigatedthrough a combination of In-Depth Interview and Focus Group Discussion. Thus asystematic theory conception was born and the original model was reconstructed byISM.(3) During the phase of model testing, the newly-created model was justifiedthrough psychological measurement, questionnaire and SEM. Some statisticalmethods involved are descriptive statistics, reliability and validity valuation,exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis by using SPSS11.0and LISREL8.53.The findings of the research include the following four aspects.(1) Constructionand confirmation of FLLC model. According to former findings about commitmentand behavior, this study constructs scales of FLLC together with its5predicativevariables, namely, learning pleasure, personal devotion, future development,environment restriction and opportunity cost. FLLC model is proved to forecast betterthe mentality of persistence in learning a foreign language among Chinese universitystudents; furthermore, a strong positive correlation exists between FLLC and foreignlanguage learning behavior (FLLB).(2) Development of antecedent variables inFLLC. This study, based on the previous research, introduces11new variables, inwhich5of them come from literatures: social support, learning condition, learningmotivation, self-efficacy and personality, and another6draw from interviews: effectassessment, learning difficulty, learning ability, leisure time, learning atmosphere andregulation restriction. Such a comprehensive study of influential factors refines FLLCmodel to a large degree.(3) Construction and confirmation of the mechanism modelof FLLP. With regard to FLLC, this study constructs the mechanism model of FLLPwith17factors located at5levels, which can be simplifies as: environment�'individual�'cognition�'commitment�'behavior. The mental mechanism of FLLC isrevealed: three psychological decision-making processes: motivation orientation, effect experience and self-efficacy work together to result in FLLC; besides, twodecision-making variables: environmental and individual factors interact with eachother to lead to FLLB. The research supports the mechanism model of FLLP. It is alsofound that effect experience plays the critical role in three psychologicaldecision-making processes; what’s more, some environmental and individual factors,like personal devotion, leaning ability, future development, social support, learningcondition and learning atmosphere positively strengthen FLLC and FLLB, whileothers like opportunity cost, learning difficulty, environment restriction and regulationrestriction produce side effects.(4) Innovation of factors concerning FLLP. Sincescales with Chinese characteristics are in a relative shortage, in this study, in order totest the mechanism model of FLLP,6sub-scales are revised based on the previousresearch and9are newly proposed, including FLLP, effect assessment, learningdifficulty, learning ability, social support, learning condition, leisure time, learningatmosphere and regulation restriction. Investigation shows that the above scales bearfavorable reliability and validity valuation, which on one hand benefits theconfirmation of the mechanism model of FLLP, on the other hand provides referencesfor the cultivation research on students with integrated abilities.In conclusion, this study offers suggestions on the procedure of promoting FLLPfor Chinese university students, tactics in education management and practiceoperation. Findings of the research not only guarantee present achievements in thereform of college English education and teaching, but also promote thetalent-cultivating strategy in China.