Russian Majors In Gansu Province Motivation To Learn And Research

In the modern theoretical studies of foreign language teaching, one important tendency focuses on the process from how to teach to how to learn. And the study on the individuals in foreign language learning (i.e. the way learners learn a specific language) mainly includes the studies of the learning process and individual differences. Of the studies on individual differences in foreign language learning, scholars have come to realize the important role affective factors play in the learning, among which factors as motive and attitude are of vital importance to learning efficiency and effects. Consequently, it is necessary and important to have relevant investigations about motives in foreign language learning.A number of these studies have concerned themselves with the studies on motives in language learning and have established a comparatively integral system. However, relevant studies in China are far from being fruitful, most of which are centered on the studies on motives of college English majors and non-English majors. There have been few studies of this kind targeting at college Russian majors, even fewer pertinent empirical studies in this field. And to my knowledge, there is no study focusing on the motives of college Russian majors in the North-West region of China.The objective of the present study is, therefore, to focus on motives in Russian language learning of college Russian majors, based on which a tentative approach may be obtained by enhancing students' motives in Russian learning to ultimately improve their academic achievements so as to provide pedagogical implications to Russian teaching.The investigation on the motives of Russian learning was conducted among college Russian majors of Gansu Province in September, 2004. The data obtained were subsequently analyzed scientifically. Based on the statistical analysis, a holistic description was presented about the motives of the subjects; the differences in motives were compared and explained respectively as to the subjects of different schools, different grades as well as the gender differences. Furthermore, the degree to which the concrete motive factor influenced the students' academic achievements was analyzed. Based on the results of statistical analysis, the dominant motive factor toward subjects' Russian academic achievements was located. And some studentswere singled out for the pertinent training on motives of Russian language learning from November, 2004 to January, 2005. The results revealed that the training is of great benefit to the improvement of students' academic achievements.The thesis is divided into five parts:The first part focuses on the need and significance of the present study and presents the reason as to the selection of the topic.The second part is the literature review. A general review was given regarding the related studies on learning motives and foreign language learning motives home and abroad. It points out that the study by Qin Xiaoqing (2002) provided a comprehensive method towards a better understanding of foreign learning motives and the study by Dornyei (1998) prescribes teaching strategies to elevate students' foreign learning motives. Most of the previous studies were centered on English learners; consequently, the literature review gives prominence to the originality of the present study.The third part is the theoretical basis. It presents the clarification of some related terms, the results by Qin Xiaoqing (2002) and the theory of foreign language learning motive as well as the teaching strategies towards cultivation of foreign language learning motives by Dornyei (1994,1998).The fourth part is the empirical study, consisting of two sections. The first section puts emphasis on the investigation of motive and statistical analysis. It describes the procedures of the investigation and results of the analysis. The second section is about the experiment and statistical analysis of the pertinent training on motives of Russian language learning. It focuses on the design, concrete measures and experimental procedures...