An Investigation Into Students’ English Learning Motivation Of Junior High School

Motivation has long been the focus of linguistics and psychology. Learning motivation exerts influence on individual learner’s degree of efforts, attitude towards difficulty and enthusiasm. According to the description of affective targets by National English Curriculum Standards for compulsory education,students in level-5 are expected to have a clear English learning motivation, an active learning attitude and a strong confidence, which they are requested to achieve when they graduate from junior high school. As hierarchical description of affective targets demonstrates, students in level-1 and level-2 are supposed to be curious and interested in English. And it is very critical to enhance students’ learning initiatives and perceive their learning needs when they occupy level-3 and level-4. The scholars and experts in China and abroad have conducted many researches and practice on foreign language learning motivation. In the era of globalization, English is learned by more and more people in China, while high school students account for the majority. Consequently, it’s of great practical significance to research students’ English learning motivation in junior high school in improving English teaching.Considering the background of this research, the following three questions are formulated:(1) What are the most influential motivational factors in affecting the English learning of junior high school students?(2) Which type of motivation plays a more important role in English learning of junior high school students,intrinsic motivation or extrinsic motivation?(3) What are the negative influences on junior high school students’ motivation in English learning? By employing the method of questionnaire survey and interview,the research takes the 268 Grade Seven students from the Affiliated Middle school of Henan Normal University as participants. Adapted from Attitude/Motivation Test Battery(Gardner 1985) and the motivation questionnaires used by Taguchi et al.(2009), a questionnaire consisting of 45 items is developed according to China cultural setting, which focuses on ten specific categories:(a)interest,(b)attitude,(c)significant others,(d)rewards and punishment,(e)instrumental orientation,(f)integrative orientation,(g)sense of responsibility,(h)sociocultural context,(i)affective factors,(j)attribution. With full analysis of the results gathered from questionnaire survey and follow-up interview, the thesis comes to the conclusions as follows:(1) The most influential motivational factors are sense of responsibility, integrative orientation,interest, significant others and attitude;(2) Students in junior high school are primarily intrinsically oriented;(3) Reduced confidence, experience of failure and inadequate characteristics of classes undermine students’ English learning motivation. On the strength of above-mentioned findings and the researcher’s six-month internship experience, the researcher proposes the following pedagogical suggestions for practical teaching:(1) Creating a supportive and satisfying learning environment;(2) Generating and enhancing students’ initial motivation;(3) Setting specific individual goals and increasing the students’ self-confidence;(4) Providing positive attribution and enhancing learners’ satisfaction.