A Study On The Correlation Between English Learning Motivation And Pragmatic Competence Of Non-English Majors

Interlanguage Pragmatics (ILP) is a new interdisciplinary branch of study in recent years, which emerges on the basis of pragmatics and second language acquisition (SLA). This discipline describes not only the pragmatic features of nonnative speakers'interlanguage, but also the development of pragmatic competence. Untill now, lots of researches have been conducted on the problems of the learners' target language in pragmatic comprehension and pragmatic production. Besides, many scolars discussed pragmatic failures and pragmatic transfers. Nevertheless, the studies on the development of pragmatic competence are far from enough.In the last few years, following the tradition of second language acquisition study, interlanguage pragmatics reseachers have paid much more attention to the influence of individual differences exerting on pragmatic competence development. Study on the role of language learning motivation, which is an important individual difference variable, should be one of the main research topics. Still and all, studies about its influence on the development of pragmatic competence are far from enough.Considering this fact, the purpose of the present study is to explore the correlation between language learning motivation and pragmatic competence, a topic which is worth investigating.The author conducts an empirical study among 151 non-English major college students in Zhengzhou Institute of Aeronautical Industrial Management (ZZIA), employing quantitative research method. Based on a review of studies on pragmatic competence and several motivational models, the present study investigates the subjects'pragmatic competence together with three motivation categories---cultural motivation, instrumental motivation and situational motivation.The study reveals that (1) The result on the general situation of the subjects' pragmatic competence indicates that the non-English majors'pragmatic competence is at a low level and there are no significant differences between the subjects'level of pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic competence. Besides, there is an imbalance between the subjects'English proficiency level and pragmatic competence. (2) The dominant type of motivation possessed by the subjects is instrumental motivation. Situational motivation is weak among the subjects. Furthermore, the subjects hold relatively positive attitude towards pragmatic learning. (3) The correlation between cultural motivation and pragmatic competence is stronger than that of instrumental motivation and pragmatic competence. Situational motivation doesn't show significant correlation with pragmatic competence. In addition, No significant correlation has been found between the positive attitudes and pragmatic competence as well.In the light of the above findings, the relationship between motivation and pragmatic competence can be summarized as following:cultural motivation, has a facilitative effect on students'pragmatic competence development by enhancing their pragmatic awareness. At the end of this thesis, the author provides some suggestions on how to stimulate and sustain students'motivation on pragmatic learning in college English teaching. For students, they should raise their pragmatic awareness with the help of teachers, participate in all kins of linguistic activities and acquire pragmatic knowledge in practice; For teachers, we should keep enthusiasm on pragmatic teaching, impart pragmatic knowledge and initiate and sustain students' motivation.