A Study Into The Impact Of English Instruction On Senior Middle School Students' Motivation And Learning Strategy Use In Urban And Rural Areas

In the 1970s, research interests in EFL began to shift from teachers' teaching to learners' learning. Researchers tend to give much attention to learner variables especially motivation and learning strategy use. However, most studies focused on college students, yet studies on middle school students are fewer. Despite some researches on middle school students, few were carried out on the comparison between urban and rural students.Considering the current situation, the present study was conducted in September and October, 2007 to investigate whether there are significant differences in motivation and learning strategy use between urban and rural students. Besides, comparison between urban and rural English instruction was done to explore the reasons for the possible differences, including teaching context and teachers.A total of 540 students and 32 teachers in Senior One participated in the present study, coming from Zhengzhou and Kaifeng, Henan province. Gardner's (1985b) Attitude and Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) and Oxford's (1990) famous Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), version 7.0 were adopted to collect information of students' background, their motivation and learning strategy use. Karavas-Doukas' (1996) teacher attitude scale, classroom observation and teacher interviews were employed to examine teachers' teaching attitudes and teaching method.The investigations show the following major findings. First, both urban and rural students are highly motivated to learn English, yet rural students have a stronger instrumental orientation, and urban students give more positive evaluation of the English course. Second, strategies used by both urban and rural students fall at medium level, yet urban students employ significantly more cognitive, compensation and social strategies than rural students. Third, both urban and rural middle schools provide rigid examination system for teachers and students. Fourth, both urban and rural teachers hold favourable attitudes to the communicative approach, whereas in practice, urban teachers tend to follow Communicative Language Teaching to some extent, while rural teachers follow more of the Grammar-Translation Method.Based on the findings of the present study, the following pedagogical implications are made. First, school leaders should create more opportunities and contexts for students to learn English, especially for rural students. Second, school leaders should establish a strict and scientific evaluation system of teachers and students. Third, both urban and rural teachers should promote motivation and strategy awareness in students. Fourth, rural teachers need to improve their own English proficiency urgently, especially oral English.