An Empirical Study On English Reading Motivation Of English Majors

Ever since Gardner and his associates'initial work of introducing motivation into second/foreign language acquisition, many researchers have begun to investigate the learning motivation. At present, despite the abundance of literature, the majority of researches focus on learning motivation in general while a few have researched into such specific areas as reading motivation. In view of the significance and scarcity of researches on reading motivation in Chinese setting, the paper tries to explore into English majors'motivation to read in English.With the questionnaire as main instrument and interview as a supplement, the present empirical study is carried out among a group of 120 sophomores majoring in English to explore into English majors'motivation to read in English. SPSS 13.0 is used to analyze the collected data. Factor Analysis, Bivariate Pearson Correlation Analysis, and Independent Samples T-Test are employed to examine learners'English reading motivation.The results reveal that:1) English majors in general hold a positive attitude towards English reading and their reading motivation strength is relatively high; 2) English majors' reading motivation is multifaceted with six factors identified, including Intrinsic Value of Reading in English, Attainment Value of Reading in English, Expectancy for Success, Integrativeness, Interest in Cultures, and Extrinsic Utility Value; 3) The high achievement group contrasts with the low achievement group in Intrinsic Value of Reading in English and Expectancy for Success, while there is no significant difference between the two in Attainment Value of Reading in English, Integrativeness, Interest in Cultures and Extrinsic Utility Value; but there shows no significant gender difference in general motivation to read in English and English reading motivation factors; 4) Intrinsic Value of Reading in English and Expectancy for Success exert positive influence on English reading achievement, while Attainment Value of Reading in English, Integrativeness, Interest in Cultures and Extrinsic Utility Value are not significantly correlated with English reading proficiency.Based on the above findings, some pedagogical implications and suggestions are drawn in the hope of improving and sustaining English majors' motivation to read in English.