An Empirical Study Of Counter-strategies To Lack Of English Learning Motivation Of Inland Tibetan Students

In the field of general psychology, we have had rich achievements inthe study of learning motivation. Researches on foreign language learningmotivation have been rapidly developed since Gardner and Lambert first putforward the distinction between integrative motivation and instrumentalmotivation in 1959. The 1990's saw a new development in the field of theforeign language research. A lot of researches show that motivation is a keyfactor in the success of language learning. Students with strong motivationcan always achieve greater success. Therefore, motivation plays a vital rolein foreign language learning. Motivation research can help us to exploresome strategies to motivate students in their foreign language learning.According to Deci and Ryan, who first introduced the intrinsic &extrinsic motivation theory, learning motivation is an innate human need,which is not stable. Learners vary in motivation level and a learner'smotivation level can be enhanced from the lower to the higher if somestrategies are used in language teaching process. Motivation in foreignlanguage learning can be classified into two general types, intrinsicmotivation (IM)and extrinsic motivation (EM), which are not categoricallydifferent, but rather lie along a continuum of self-determination.With the development of the policies of open door and nationaleducation, considering the poor foundation of education in Tibet, innerschools have admitted Tibetan students to study inland since 1985. Therefore, more and more Tibetan students have moved inland to study.Inland Tibetan students (ITS) are from a special community. Generallyspeaking, their English level is lower than inner students'. Based on theimportance of motivation, we think it is necessary for us to have the clearknowledge of English as a foreign language (EFL) learning motivation ofinland Tibetan students.According to some particular characteristics of inland Tibetan students'English learning and mainly based on the intrinsic & extrinsic motivationtheory, this thesis investigates 151 freshmen in 2005 from Hunan VocationalCollege for Nationalities (HVCN) by means of a questionnaire, and analyzesthe data by employing some statistical methods. The results show that inlandTibetan students tend to be more externally motivated than internallymotivated and some of them even lack the both kinds of motivation. So, wedesigned five strategies and carried out a contrasting experiment. In theexperimental group were adopted these strategies in English teaching, and inthe control group were still used existing teaching methods. After asix-month experiment, an English test and questionnaires were given to thetwo groups. The results indicate that these strategies had positive effects onmotivating these students in their English learning, and their Englishachievement was improved.