A Study On Achievement Motivation In China’s EFL Learning Context: A Social Constructivist Perspective

Despite the large number of studies of achievement goal orientation in the fieldof educational psychology, there have hardly been any attempts in L2studies to adoptthe well-known goal orientation theory in educational psychology. As we all know, tounderstand the L2learning motivation of Chinese college students in the frameworkof achievement goals is extremely significant in China where foreign languageeducation is highly exam-oriented. However, we know little about the characteristicsand role of achievement goals in foreign language learning so far. This study is anattempt to identify the types of L2achievement goals adopted by Chinese collegestudents and examine the role of L2achievement goals in EFL learning context in thehope that that the findings will contribute to the study of motivation in the field ofSLA, and ultimately, to improving English learning and teaching in China.To investigate the L2achievement goals pursued by Chinese college students,we formulated the following research questions:1) What types of achievement goalsdo Chinese college students tend to adopt in English learning?2) What are the overallpatterns in adopting L2achievement goals among Chinese college students?3) Whatare the differences in adopting L2achievement goals in terms of the students’ genderand majors?4) Are there any differences in adopting L2achievement goals betweenstudents with different English proficiencies?5) What are the impacts of L2motivational self system and L2classroom goal stresses upon the adoptions of L2achievement goals?6) What are the relations between the adoptions of L2achievement goals and L2self-regulated learning behavior?7) What are the relationsbetween the adoptions of L2achievement goals and English attainment?The present study consists of a quantitative study and a qualitative study. Thequantitative study was aimed at identifying the types of L2achievement goals pursuedby Chinese college students, and examining the role of L2achievement goals inforeign language learning from the perspective of social constructivism. To this end,five questionnaires on L2achievement goal orientation, L2motivational self system,L2self-regulated learning behavior, L2anxiety, and L2classroom goal stresses were designed or revised based on the relevant literature, the characteristics of China’s EFLlearning, and the first-hand information from a pilot study. Altogether485studentsfrom8different levels of universities in Shanghai responded to these questionnaires.The qualitative study was conducted to further analyze the characteristics of theadoptions of L2achievement goals by Chinese college students and their roles inChina’s EFL learning by collecting data via answers to an interview and aretrospective description. The present study has yielded the following importantfindings.1) The study found Chinese EFL college students pursued or adopted differenttypes of L2achievement goals in China’s EFL learning context. Using the exploratoryfactor analysis, the present study identified three types of L2achievement goals: L2mastery goal, L2performance goal, and L2performance-avoidance goal. As a whole,students adopted these achievement goals with different degrees of frequency. Femalestudents tend to adopt L2mastery goals and L2performance-approach goals morefrequently than their male counterparts, but adopt L2performance-avoidance goalsless frequently than their male counterparts. English majors adopted L2mastery goalsand L2performance-approach goals more frequently than did non-English majors, butadopted L2performance-avoidance goals less frequently than did non-English majors.In addition, the study also found that the higher the students’ English proficiency, themore frequent the students’ adoption of L2mastery goal and L2performance-approach goal.2) With regard to the relations between L2motivational self system (L2MSS)and the adoptions of L2achievement goals, the results indicated that the threedimensions of L2motivational self system help to understand the adoptions of L2achievement goals. Specifically, ideal L2self could positively predict students’adoption of L2mastery goal and L2performance-approach goal, but could hardlypredict their adoption of L2performance-avoidance goal; ought-to L2self couldpositively predict the adoption of L2performance-approach goal and L2performance-avoidance goal, but could not predict the adoptions of L2mastery goal;L2learning experience was an individual predictor for L2mastery goal and L2 performance-approach goal, but negatively predicted the adoption of L2performance-avoidance goal. The finding points to the conclusion that the students aremotivated through a self-internalized, inner-directed imaginary view of their future L2self or through an other-directed, less-internalized picture visualized to fulfill others’expectations or through a positive learning experience make a real difference in thestudents’ adoptions of L2achievement goals.3) With respect to the relations between L2classroom goal stresses and theadoptions of L2achievement goals, the results indicated that different goal stresses ofL2classrooms elicited different patterns of achievement motivation. Specifically,mastery-oriented instructional practices could positively predict the adoption of L2mastery goal and L2performance-approach goal. By contrast, performance-orientedinstructional practices were the significant positive predictor for the adoption of L2performance-avoidance goal. Mastery-oriented instructional practices did notindividually account for a significant portion of the variance in L2performance-avoidance goal while performance-oriented instructional practices couldnot significantly predict the adoption of L2mastery goal and L2performance-approach goal. The results provide some evidence regarding theadoptions of L2achievement goals in China’s EFL classroom learning context andsupport the belief that a comprehensive approach to classroom intervention is not onlydesirable, it becomes essential.4) The findings provide evidence that there exists a strong relation between theadoptions of L2achievement goals and L2self-regulated behavior. Specifically, L2mastery goal and L2performance-approach goal were significant and positivepredictors for L2self-regulated learning behavior, though L2performance-avoidancegoal could not significantly predict the initiation of L2self-regulated learningbehavior. In addition，the study has also presented the findings about the relationsbetween the adoptions of L2achievement goals and English achievement.Specifically, the adoptions of L2mastery goals and L2performance-approach goalscould significantly and positively predict English achievement, while the adoption ofL2performance-avoidance goals was the significant but negative predictor for English achievement. To figure out what enhances or reduces the link between L2achievement goals and performance attainments, the study has identified twosignificant factors (i.e., L2self-regulated learning behavior and L2anxiety) formediating the relations between the adoptions of L2achievement goals and Englishachievement via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results provide someevidence regarding the significance of the adoptions of L2achievement goals for FLlearning and support the belief that L2achievement goals represents an importantaspect of L2motivation that contributes to students’ self-regulation in FL learning andthen academic attainment.The findings of the present study have significant implications. The model ofL2achievement goals, which is an innovative reformation of the previous L2motivation theories, reframes language learning motivation within the individual’sconcept of one’s goal-orientation so that we can prevent different paradigms inprevious L2motivation studies from overlapping and challenging each other. Inaddition, the study also suggests that foreign language teachers should intervene inintegrating the goal orientation into the language learning classroom, and helpstudents to navigate the goal-setting process to increase motivation, promoteautonomous learning, and enhance academic attainment.