An Empirical Study Of College Non-English Majors' English Learning Motivation

Motivation is one of the most important aspects of learners' psychological factors and individual differences in learning a foreign language.This study is an empirical study of motivation among Chinese non-English majors. The subjects are 380 sophomores from Dalian Maritime University. Four instruments—classroom observation, questionnaire, interview and students' CET-4 scores—are employed. In the study, motivation types of non-English majors are investigated. Differences between motivation types and English proficiency are examined. Differences between motivation types and gender are identified. Interrelations between motivation types and CET-4 scores are explored. Interview is also conducted aiming at adding some insights into English learning motivation.The results of the study are summed up as follows:1) Chinese non-English majors present four types of motivation in their English learning. They are respectively intrinsic motivation, integrative motivation, learning situation motivation and instrumental motivation. Among them, instrumental motivation and learning situation motivation are more powerful than intrinsic motivation and instrumental motivation.2) Motivation is affected by English proficiency. High achievers and low achievers bear some similarities in integrative motivation and learning situation motivation. On the other hand, they differ in intrinsic motivation and instrumental motivation. High achievers have stronger intrinsic motivation than low achievers, while low achievers have stronger instrumental motivation than high achievers.3) Motivation is influenced by gender. Female students are mostly influenced by intrinsic motivation, integrative motivation and learning situation motivation, while male students are mainly affected by instrumental motivation.4) Intrinsic motivation correlates positively with CET-4 scores, while instrumental motivation correlates negatively with CET-4 scores. Integrative motivation and learning situation motivation have no significant correlations with CET-4 scores.Finally, suggestions about how to stimulate students' motivation are put forward in the present study.