An Investigation Into The Motivation Of Interpretation Learners And Its Implications For Interpreting Teaching

All human behaviors result from certain motivation. Motivation is considered to be the inner impetus and source of strength in developing a foreign language(FL). It determines the learners'extent of active, personal involvement in FL learning(Dornyei,1994). The study of learners'motivation has long been the focus in the eyes of many scholars and linguists home and abroad.According to Gardner, Deci&Ryan, Brown, and Dornyei, etc., motivation can be put into different categories: integrative motivation and instrumental motivation; intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation; global motivation, situational motivation and task-oriented motivation; three-level categorization of motivation, and achievement motivation. There is also Maslow's Need Theory, and many practical researches on learning motivation in China. It have been proved that the stronger the motivation, the more effort will be made to learn a foreign language; the higher the motivation, the better the learning result; positive attitudes will lead to integrative motivation to learn the target language; learners with integrative motivation tend to achieve greater proficiency, while the learning effect of learners with instrumental motivation may cease quickly as soon as the incentives disappear; the intrinsic motivation is eternal, it gives a strong and permanent support to learning, so the behavior controlled by intrinsic motivation can persist longer; extrinsic motivation may, to some extent, restrain the long-term retention of intrinsic motivation; intrinsic motivation will be developed gradually after extrinsic motivation; and motivation is in no way invariable, it can be shaped and adjusted to a higher level. In recent years, with the increasing demands for interpreting talents in every field, there emerge throngs of crazy learners and trainers in China's present interpreting market. Yet it still fails to offer qualified interpreters with admirable skills. Meanwhile, the interpreting teaching or training market is by no means an ordered one.'Motivation is the key to all learning'. Fruitful achievements in learning motivation research have been made in China, however, none of the studies or investigations has touched upon the special learning motivation of interpretation learners so far. Hence, study of their special learning motivation should gain its due attention in this aspect.By means of a new research perspective, some implications are drawn here to improve the efficiency and positive outcome of interpreting learning, to enhance the standardization and specialization of interpreting teaching from the very headstream so as to raise a more fruitful cultivation of interpreters.In this thesis, chapter one provides a general introduction. Chapter two highlights motivation from theoretical perspective. Chapter three casts an overview on the present situation of China's interpretation learning and teaching. The above two chapters serve as a strong theoretical framework and practical necessity of this thesis. The next chapter centers on a study of Chinese interpretation learners'motivation. A questionnaire is designed among 100 English majors in Lishui College, Zhejiang province to investigate the learning motivation of interpretation learners. The collected data are analyzed by SPSS 13.0. Based on the analysis of the data, chapter five provides some implications for interpreting learning and teaching in China: to grade learners or trainees on the basis of their language competence; to group learners at same language level according to motivation types; to classify training organizations by teaching qualifications; to optimize teaching environment and lessen teachers'burden; to intensify the supervision and management on interpreting training and to regulate interpreting teaching sections. Chapter six draws a brief conclusion of this thesis. And here it is specially pointed out that the interpretation learners in this thesis refers to learners of all level except those who specialize in interpretation in Graduate Institute of Interpretation and Translation at universities.