A Comparative Study On High School Students’ English Learning Motivation Based On The L2Motivational Self System

Motivation is an important factor affecting second language acquisition. It has been arousing a large amount of attention. In the field of second language acquisition, how to stimulate and keep learners’ motivation is always a hot issue.This thesis does research from the perspective of the L2motivational self system. The author carried out a comparative study among junior high school and senior high school students.The study addresses the following specific research questions:(1) Among the three components of the L2motivational self system, which influences the learners’ L2learning motivation most? Will there be different answers in different groups?(2) Among the three components of the L2motivational self system, which has the most prominent relationship with learners’L2proficiency? Does the answer vary from groups to groups?(3) Is there any difference in the L2selves among learners from different types of schools?The research results are as follows:(1) As a whole, ought-to L2self and second language learning experience predict better the L2leaning motivation. For students from ordinary schools, second language learning experience is the best predictor, with ought-to L2self and ideal L2self following behind. For students from foreign language schools, ought-to L2self is the best predictor, with second language learning experience and ideal L2self following behind.(2) Second language learning experience affects learners’L2learning proficiency most. It plays the most important role in promoting the L2proficiency in all the four groups of students. The effects of ideal L2self and ought-to L2self on L2learning proficiency are different for different groups. For junior high school students from ordinary schools, ought-to L2self influences L2learning proficiency more, followed by ideal L2self. For senior high school students from ordinary schools and both junior and senior students from foreign language school, ideal L2self has a bigger influence, followed by ought-to L2self.(3) For both junior high school students and senior high school students, their L2selves are different if they come from different types of schools.From the research we can find that second language learning experience plays a vital role in affecting both learners’ L2learning motivation and L2proficiency. The main contents of the L2motivational self system, namely ideal L2self and ought-to L2self, however, have not occupied a place as important as we suppose. In the future, the enhancement of learners’ L2learning motivation and L2proficiency may start from helping learners obtain better designing related approaches to develop learners’ L2selves.