A Study Of English Learning Motivation And Learning Strategies Among Secondary Vocational School Students

Since the 1970's, researchers and English teachers have shifted their focus of study from "how to teach" to "how to learn". They have found that learners differ considerably in such factors as age, attitude, motivation, personality, language aptitude, cognitive styles.Generally speaking, previous research have been chiefly made, firstly, on definitions, classifications and characteristics of English learning motivation and strategies; secondly, on relationship between English proficiency and English learning motivation; thirdly, on factors that influence learning motivation and use of English learning strategies; and fourthly, on trainings of English learning motivation and strategies. To date, it has been recognized that motivation is an important factor that affects learners' strategy use. However, few studies have explored the relationship between English motivation and English learning strategies. There are rare such studies among vocational school students.Responding to the present situation, this study aims at: 1) investigating the status quo of the English learning motivation and strategy use among the vocational school students; 2) discovering the differences in the motivation and strategy use between boys and girls who have different majors; 3) finding out the relationship between English learning motivation and English learning strategies use. Hopefully, this study will contribute a bit to the teachers and learners of English with regard to their English teaching and learning.The thesis, first of all, makes a brief introduction about the background of the research, need for the study and arrangement of the thesis. Secondly, it reviews the studies of learning motivation and strategies both at home and abroad. Thirdly, it lays emphasis on defining and classifying learning motivation and strategies. On the basis of literature review, SPSS11.0 is used to examine the data and test the hypothesis of the study. The statistical programs include l)Use descriptive statistics (mean value, and standard deviation) to investigate the status quo of vocational school students' use of English learning strategies, and make comparison with previous researches to find out the similarities and differences. 2)Use correlation analysis to find out the correlation between learning strategies and learning motivation among the vocational students. Finally the thesis gives suggestions on English learning and teaching.Findings of this study may provide teachers with a better understanding of the vocational school students with regard to their English learning motivation and strategy use, and help them improve teaching skills to form more autonomous and effective learning among learners. It also implies that it is important to help to build up positive English learning beliefs and attitudes, and set appropriate English learning goals among vocational school students. Besides the necessity of strategy training, it is urgent to enrich English teaching and learning resources in vocational school.