A Study On The Correlation Among Learning Motivation、Anxiety And Learner Autonomy Of EMs

Research in second language learning has shown a close connection between anxiety and motivationas well as between motivation and autonomy. However, the studies about the correlation among motivation,anxiety and learner autonomy are truly rare. This study goes one step further in examining the interactionsamong these three affective factors, namely, anxiety, motivation and learner autonomy. More specifically,the present study addresses the following two questions:(1) What are the levels and features of participants‘motivation, anxiety and learner autonomy?(2) What‘s the correlation among motivation, anxiety and learner autonomy?In order to find out the answers to those questions above, the116sophomores from LanzhouCommercial College in Gansu Province were chosen as the subjects. Both quantitative and qualitativemethods are adopted. The questionnaires used were the―EMs‘Motivation Investigation Questionnaire‖,―EMs‘Language Anxiety Investigation Questionnaire‖,―EMs‘Trait Anxiety Investigation Questionnaire‖and―EMs‘Learner Autonomy Investigation Questionnaire‖. After completing these questionnaires,10students took part in the interview spontaneously.Based on the data analysis, the author found out that there was no correlation between anxiety andautonomy, but there were statistically significant correlations between motivation and autonomy, andbetween motivation and anxiety. In addition, in general, approximately54%participants were highlymotivated, and their mean score of instrumental motivation was higher and stronger than integrativemotivation.27%of the participants in this study were highly anxious, and test anxiety was the main sourceof participants‘anxiety which meant participants were more anxious about the English tests. While26%were highly autonomous and the average score of the self-regulation was the highest. It implied that mostof the participants had relatively strong performance on time planning, time management, goal-setting andimplementation.Although the research has some limitations, the results will have an important influence on the Englishlearning and English teaching. Motivation and anxiety are psychological jargons which are widely used inour daily life and the research. When students have the higher levels of learning motivation and lowerlevels of anxiety, they will behave more pro-active, be interested in learning, and establish learning goals.From this perspective, the study brings the correlation among motivation, anxiety and autonomous learninginto the field of English learning and provides a new perspective to explain the individual differences in English learning. According to the data analysis and discussion, the author also put forward some tentativesuggestions for both college students and college teachers.