The Influence Of Reflective Learning On Learning Motivation

As one of the learner factors, the importance of learning motivation has been proved in the educational field. From1980s, the scholars in China have started to make extensive studies on learning motivation, which centered on the inner structure of learning motivation, the relationship between learning motivation and other learning factors and so on. Through the study on learners’ inner cognitive feature, this research aims to find an effective way to stimulate learners’ learning motivation with the method of empirical study. In the present study, a class at SWPU (59students majoring in Petroleum Engineering) is chosen as the experimental class and another class at SWPU (58students majoring in Chemistry Engineering) is chosen as the control class. The experimental class accepts the reflective learning ability training for ten weeks, but the control class doesn’t accept the training. The present study observes the difference of reflective ability and learning motivation before and after the training and analyzes the relationship between reflective learning ability and learning motivation so as to find out the reason for the change. On one hand, this study can provide foreign language teachers with the situation of non-English major freshmen’s reflective ability and learning motivation and an effective way to improve students’ motivational level. On the other hand, this study discusses the influence of reflective learning ability on learning motivation so as to prove the cyclical relationship between reflective learning ability and learning motivation.The present study involves both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The questionnaire made by Kember (2000) for checking learners’reflective learning ability and the questionnaires made by Dornyei (1990) and Gardner (1985) for checking learners’ motivational types and intensity are used on the subjects before and after the reflective learning ability training, and statistical package SPSS18.0was employed to make the descriptive analysis and paired samples T-test. To obtain more information about reflective learning and learning motivation,6subjects in the experimental class are chosen to take part in the semi-structured interview. And then the deeper analysis can be made on the influence of reflective learning ability on learning motivation.According to the results of descriptive analysis and paired samples T-test, in the pretest, the reflective learning ability and learning motivation of experimental and control class are almost the same, and their motivation types are extrinsic motivation at a large scale. However, after the reflective learning ability training for ten weeks the reflective learning ability and learning motivation of experimental class are definitely stronger than that of control class. At the same time, as the statistics show, the percentage of extrinsic motivation of experimental class declines after the reflective learning ability training, but the percentage of intrinsic motivation is on the rise. On the contrary, the learning motivational intensity, the motivational types and the reflective learning ability of control class keep the same after ten weeks. According to the data analysis, the reflective learning ability correlates positively and significantly with learning motivation.Taking reflective learning ability training as a carrier, the influence of reflective learning on learning motivation is conducted in this thesis. The author combines cognitive factors with affective factors to make the research so as to provide the possibility to learn the relationship between reflective learning and learning motivation. Besides, the methods to inspire learning motivation in this paper are also for reference and discussion in the future.