An Investigation Of English Learning Motivation Of Government-Sponsored Normal Education English Majors

Motivation is considered to be one of the several keys to effective learning.And researchers have conducted numerous studies in the field of L2 motivation.However, some limitations are inherent in previous studies and some problems are left unsolved.For example,as for the role that motivation plays in language achievement,there exist too many ambiguous or even contradictory assumptions and findings.Some researchers (Gardner & Lambert,1972;Wen & Wang,1996) found that motivation could serve as a predictor of learners' achievement while some other researchers found that there were no correlations between motivation and language achievement(Ma,2005).The 6 key normal universities which are under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education of China have imposed free normal education since the fall in 2007. So this thesis is concerned with an empirical study of the correlations between motivation types and English achievement based on Gardner's classification of motivation types in the hope of improving free normal English learners' motivation as well as teaching effects and shedding some light on the implementation of the free normal education policy.200 English majors in Southwest University are sampled.100 sophomores are government-sponsored normal education English majors.Another 100 junior students are self-sponsored normal students English majors.Data elicited method was mainly questionnaire-based,with an adopted questionnaire and an interview.All data were analyzed with SPSS 13.0.The results of the current study show:1) Government-sponsored English Majors' hold higher instrumental motivation than integrative motivation.2) And Government-sponsored English majors' instrumental motivation has positive correlation with their English learning achievement,while learners' integrative motivation has no direct correlation with their English learning achievement.3) Government-sponsored English majors hold higher instrumental motivation and integrative motivation than self-sponsored normal English majors.4) Most government-sponsored English majors will not teach in rural place all their lives.If there is a better choice,they will leave the countryside.The findings of this study have pedagogical meanings for second language teaching. Teachers should be able to change the traditional teaching model and evaluation model and help students form integrative motivation that assists in the successful acquisition of a second language.And for free normal education policy,there is a great need not only to subsidize government-sponsored students but also to improve social status and material benefits of teachers especially rural teachers so as to create an atmosphere of respecting teachers and education in society,to increase the attraction of normal education,to enhance awareness of the value of the education profession.Only in this way can we attract talented people to teach in rural areas.This thesis consists of five chapters.The paper begins with a brief introduction, which introduces the background of free normal education policy,the introduction of newly free normal education policy,research purpose and significance and the main structure of the study.Chapter two is literature review which reviewed related studies on motivation.Chapter three describes the research methods and procedures in detail. Chapter four mainly describes and discusses major findings of the study.Chapter five,the last chapter,is the conclusion,in which the pedagogical implications,the implications of free normal education policy and the limitations of the study are discussed.