A Study On Learner Attitudes And Motivation In The L2 Teaching And Learning Context

The study of attitudes and motivation dates back to about half a century ago when Gardner and Lambert first explored motivation from a social-psychological perspective. Since then, attitudinal and motivational researches have been blossoming, and many a model and theory on motivation have been proposed, such as socio-educational model, self-determination theory, willingness to communicate, process model of L2 motivation, to name a few. The related research in China, however, was much later. Ever since China adopted the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, plenty of advanced theories and models on motivation have been introduced into the country. The 1980s bore witness to a period of introduction and translation of foreign theories. Since the 1990s, motivational research in China has been flourishing. However, the researches in China have mainly focused on motivation types, internal structure of motivation, and the relationship between motivation types and language achievements, paying less attention to another important relevant factor—learner attitude.Since the socio-educational model was proposed, large quantities of researches on attitudes and motivation, dominated by Gardner, have been conducted. However, there is still some room left for research, especially in the context of China. Based on the socio-educational model, the present study attempted to examine the general situation of first-year college students' attitudes and motivation in English learning in Anqing Teachers College. For this purpose, the researcher sampled four different-major classes from the first-year students of Anqing Teachers College and administered questionnaires to them. The questionnaire employed in the present study was adapted from Gardner's (2004) Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB)—EFL version, measuring five scales, namely, motivation, integrativeness, instrumental orientation, attitudes toward the learning situation and language anxiety. All together 224 students participated in the study and responded to the questionnaire. In addition, all the first-year college students of Anqing Teachers College took the same English final test at the end of the first semester, thus the subjects'final test scores were taken as their English achievement in the present study. The major objectives of the study boil down to three aspects:(1) to depict the general features of the subjects in terms of learner attitudes and motivation in English learning, (2) to examine the relationship between attitudes/motivation and English achievement, and (3) to observe differences in attitudes and motivation between high score group and low score group, between males and females, and also between liberal arts and science students.Analysis of the collected data with SPSS (17.0) has led the researcher to the following conclusion:(1) first-year college students were generally motivated to learn English, with both high levels of integrative and instrumental orientations, and they held favorable attitudes toward the learning situation, foreign languages and English-speaking people. (2) Motivation, integrativeness, instrumental orientation, attitudes toward the learning situation, and language anxiety were all significantly correlated with English achievement. And integrativeness, instrumental orientation, attitudes toward the learning situation, and language anxiety were significantly and highly correlated with motivation. Motivation topped the list of the predictors of English achievement, and integrativeness, instrumental orientation, and attitudes toward the learning situation also predicted English achievement. Language anxiety was a negative predictor of English achievement. (3) The differences in motivation, integrativeness, attitudes toward the learning situation, and language anxiety between high score group and low score group were significant. There was no significant difference in instrumental orientation between the two groups, though high score group's mean in this scale was higher than that of low score group. The differences in motivation and integrativeness between females and males were significant. There were no significant differences between females and males in instrumental orientation, attitudes toward the learning situation, and language anxiety, but the means of females in these three scales were generally higher than those of males. The differences in motivation, integrativeness, instrumental orientation, attitudes toward the learning situation, and language anxiety between liberal arts and science students were not significant.In view of the few related researches on attitudes and motivation as a whole in China, it was hoped that the present study could provide a reference for further research thus to attract a jade by casting this'brick'.