A Study On English Major’s Translation Learning Motivation And Translation Learning Strategies

For today’s English majors, translation learning has become one of the compulsory courses for language learning. As a comprehensive expression of students language skills, translation is one language learning purpose and also one important means of learning a foreign language(Ma Xuemei, 2010). Student’s learning achievement is influenced by many factors such as gender, age, motivation and learning strategies. Among these factors, motivation is thought as one crucial factor which have significant influence on learning achievement, and learning strategy is another one(Ellis, 1999). Many studies at home and abroad have explored the characteristics of language learning motivation and strategies as well as correlation between the two factors and with other factors(e.g. Oxford, 1990; Cohen,1998; Gao Yihong, 2003; Qin Xiaoqing, 2003, etc). As for the existing studies from the perspective of translation learning, studies on this area are not too much or seldom investigate the relationship between learning motivation and strategies with systematic methods(Han Min, 2004; Wang Jinbo, 2009). Thus, it is of important practical significance to do study on learning motivation and strategies and the correlation between the learner’s factors with the case study of translation learning.Under the theoretical framework of second language acquisition, the present study took the translation learning as case study and explored the characteristics of learning motivation and strategies and the correlation between the two factors by using quantitative and qualitative methods. 163 English majors from three universities in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region participated in this study. In this study, there are two questionnaires applied in this study: edited Motivation Inventory for Translation Learning(MITL) based on Gao Yihong’s motivation inventory and edited Strategies Inventory for Translation Learning(SITL) based on Oxford’s learning strategies inventory. Data is collected through the two questionnaires and analyzed with statistic software SPSS 19.0.The research’s conclusions are as follows:(1) Among the seven types of translation learning motivation held by subjects in this study, individual development motivation(Mean=3.5126) is the strongest one which is followed by information media motivation(Mean=3.3223) and intrinsic interest motivation(Mean=3.1667).The gender difference in translation learning motivation is not particularly significant.On the whole, the girls(Mean<3.6) have much stronger translation learning motivation than boys(Mean<3.5);(2) In the translation learning process, the memory strategies(Mean=3.1165), social strategies(Mean=3.0119) and compensation strategies(Mean=2.9947) are the most commonly used by English majors in this study, and the cognitive strategies(Mean=2.9238),meta-cognitive strategies(Mean=2.9396) and affective strategies(Mean=2.9018) are less commonly used.Female students(Mean<3.4) in general have much higher frequency of using various strategies than male students(Mean<3.24);(3) The intrinsic interest motivation,personal development motivation and information media motivation have significantly positive correlation with each translation learning strategy. However, the learning environment motivation has low correlation with six types of learning strategies and even negative correlation with memory strategies(r=-0.062), cognitive strategies(r=-0.074) and meta-cognitive strategies(r=-0.019), suggesting that students with strong dependence on learning environment such as teachers,textbooks and learning atmosphere, may use learning strategies inefficiently.The significance of this study lies in not only enriching the studies of translation learning, but also complementing the deficiencies of the studies on learning motivation and learning strategies. Moreover, the findings of this study have important enlightenment for translation learning and translation teaching. For example, teachers should try to apply authentic teaching materials or materials close to real life into translation teaching. Teachers can simulate the professional translation activities in real life or introduce the these activities into translationteaching and fully mobilize students’ learning enthusiasm combined with the students’ specific needs.