The Impact Of Descriptive Feedback On The Motivation Of Interpretation Learners

Motivation plays a very important role in learning and may greatly impact learners' performance and achievements. Studies show that formative assessment, characterized by descriptive feedback, can enhance students'motivation. However, research on the relationship between descriptive feedback and motivation is somewhat neglected in interpretation learning.14 students from grade 2 of the Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation in Beijing Foreign Studies University participated in this study. Influences of descriptive feedback on students' motivation were shown, and pedagogical suggestions were also identified.In this study, descriptive feedback is classified into "class-oriented" and "one-to-one". In this qualitative research, interviews serve as the primary tool to collect data. Classroom observation (one semester) is employed as an auxiliary tool. Recordings of interviews were coded and analyzed with the help of Nvivo 10. The theoretical framework of this study was Self-Determination Theory (SDT), and the analysis was conducted under the guidance of Grounded Theory (GT).The study revealed that descriptive feedback had little impact on intrinsically motivated students and no lasting effect on extrinsically motivated students. It was also revealed that both "class-oriented" and "one-to-one" descriptive feedback could improve students'learning abilities. By giving descriptive feedback, the teacher could help students cross the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and improve their interpreting abilities. Some suggestions for pedagogy were also identified: class-oriented feedback should be given if necessary; one-to-one feedback should be tailored; the two categories of feedback should be effectively combined.Studies in the field of motivation are mainly quantitative ones, so this study may encourage qualitative research in this field.