A Research On The English Learning Motivation And Achievement Of Non-English Major Yi And Han Freshmen

Motivation is considered by many to be more of the main determining factors of success in developing a L2 or a foreign language (FL). At present, there are quite many research papers in which researchers from home and abroad illustrated a lot on learning motivation. EFL teachers have been concerned with the issue to guide and assist the first year non-English major undergraduates in adapting to the college English learning. So it is crucial for teachers to know what their students'motivations are. This thesis is concerned with an empirical study of motivation among non-English major freshmen studying in Xichang College, a newly-founded general college of ethnic minority areas. The purpose of the study is to investigate non-English major freshmen's motivation types, the differences of motivation types among Han learners and Yi learners, and explore the interrelations among motivation and English achievement. The study also presents some implications for college English teaching and learning, especially for the newly-founded general colleges of ethnic minority areas.The data are collected from the questionnaires based on the related literature, including three parts:personal information, Gao Yihong's motivation type scale and participants' CET-4 scores in June 19,2010. The participants are 246 non-English major freshmen studying in Xichang College who are asked to complete the questionnaires, and their CET-4 scores are collected at the end of August,2010. Then all the data are input into the computer and analyzed by SPSS. The analysis procedures are as follows:1) Descriptive statistics including means and standard deviations are adopted to show the distribution of variables; 2) Independent samples T-test are used to compare the differences of variables between Han and Yi learners and between high-and-low-score groups; 3) Pearson correlation analysis is used to examine the correlation between the motivation variables and CET-4 scores. The present study has yielded the following findings:1) There is a diversity of motivations among the students in Xichang College. But according to Gao Yinghong's theory, College non-English major freshmen's English learning motivation can be grouped into three main types:instrumental, cultural and situational, as well as eight sub-types of motivation (individual development, intrinsic interest, going abroad, learning situation 1, information medium, immediate achievement 1, learning situation 2 and immediate achievement 2). In accordance with previous studies, the subjects in this study are inclined to instrumental motivation.2) Both Yi learners and Han learners are inclined to have instrumental motivation; the mean scores of the three main types of motivation (instrumental, cultural and situational motivation) of Yi learners are higher than those of Han learners, however, the further analyses show that there is significant difference only in cultural motivation between Yi learners and Han learners. And for the eight subtypes of motivation, Yi learners and Han learners have significant differences in intrinsic interest motivation and immediate achievement motivation 1. Due to the small number of Yi learners (23), Yi learners are not grouped into high achievers and low achievers. For Han learners, high achievers and low achievers have significant differences in individual development, intrinsic interest, information medium and immediate achievement 1 motivations, and also have a significant difference in cultural motivation.3) Moreover, the results also indicate that although the total mean score of Yi learners' English learning motivation is higher than that of Han learners, the mean score of Yi learners' CET-4 is lower than that of Han learners. Furthermore, Yi learners' English study motivation is not significantly correlated with their CET-4 scores, while Han learners' individual development motivation, intrinsic interest motivation, information medium motivation, immediate achievement motivation 1 and cultural motivation are significantly correlated with their CET-4 scores.At last, some tentative suggestions are put forward based on the findings in the present study from learners' perspective as well as teachers' perspective. It is hoped that this study can generate more research in this area in the future. On the basis of the results in this study, the following proposals are made. Firstly, Han learners should improve their study motivation and minority learners should maintain their study motivation, and all the students should pay attention to their learning methods. Secondly, teachers should know learners' motivation in order to help them have a favorable learning motivation; teachers should find out the differences between the minority students and Han students, and give the minority students more concern. Thirdly, teachers should improve teaching methods in order to increase teaching efficiency and enhance learners'interest in English learning; increase students'intrinsic interest motivation and cultural motivation in order to improve their proficiency.