Research On The Correlation Between Motivational Regulation Strategies And Learner Autonomy Of N On-English Majors

As far as the foreign language learners are concerned, motivation makes great influence on the successful language learning. However, the learners' motivation is dynamic and changeable. Furthermore, foreign language process is long-term and even difficult during which motivation will be undermined by certain interference. At this time, foreign language learners have to take advantage of some strategies to regulate and stimulate their motivation. In addition, learner autonomy has gained increasing popularity in the field of second language acquisition. And it has been proved to be a significant role in enhancing students' learning independence. Many researchers in the field of second language acquisition have verified that there exists correlation between motivation and learners' autonomy. However, there are few researches conducted on the correlation between motivational regulation strategies and learner autonomy, especially with regard to the correlation between motivational regulation strategies and non-English majors' learner autonomy.The present research aims to investigate the correlation between motivational regulation strategies and non-English majors' learner autonomy by means of researching the overall situation of motivational regulation strategies and general features of non-English majors' learner autonomy first. The following research questions will be studied respectively:1) What is the general pattern of motivational regulation strategies used by non-English major undergraduates?2) What is the overall situation of non-English majors' Learner Autonomy?3) Are there any significant differences in Learner Autonomy between high frequency and low frequency level of using motivational regulation strategies?4) Is there any correlation between non-English majors' Learner Autonomy and their motivational regulation strategies? If yes, to what degree are different types of motivational regulation strategies correlated with Learner Autonomy?In order to analyze the data collected from the two questionnaires and the interview, the author takes advantage of both quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis. And the specific research findings are summarized as follows: 1) the frequency of non-English majors' usage of all eight strategies reaches a medium to high level. 2) Non-English majors' learner autonomy reaches at a medium level. 3)There are significant differences in learner autonomy between high frequency level and low frequency level of using motivational regulation strategies. 4) Different types of motivational regulation strategies are correlated with non-English majors' learner autonomy to varying degrees. Concretely, mastery self-talk strategy is the most significantly correlated with learner autonomy, while negative-based incentive strategy is the least correlated with learner autonomy.On the basis of the findings listed above, some suggestions are provided so as to improve non-English majors' learner autonomy by learning how to use strategies to stimulate and maintain their learning motivations. On the one hand, teachers should inspire and encourage students to utilize varied subtypes of motivational regulation strategies by approach of strategy training programs. On the other hand, students should enhance their awareness of using motivational regulation strategies to be persevered in learning consciously.