A Comparative Study On Young Learners's Differences In English Learning Motivation Between Urban And Rural Primary School

English learning motivation has become one of the emotional goals of the new English curriculum standard.Its importance has been widely recognized around the globe,so by far researchers have done considerable studies on motivation.However,most of the previous studies concerning language learning motivation focus on teenagers or adults,few concentrate on young learners.Thus,it seems necessary to pay more attention to pupils' English learning motivation.For such reasons,this paper examines young learners' differences in English learning motivation between urban and rural areas.A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods is adopted to answer the three research questions:(1)Does the regional difference between urban and rural areas influence pupils' English learning motivation? If so,how does it work?(2)Concerning the relationship between young learners' English grades and their motivation,what is the difference between the urban and rural primary school?(3)What is the learning motivation difference between the urban and rural primary school according to metaphor analysis?Based on Gardner's and D?rnyei's learning motivation questionnaire,a questionnaire was adapted and employed to 120 fourth-grade pupils from Hai'er Hope Primary School and Shuangtang Primary School in Yugan County of Jiangxi Province(60 in each school).The follow-up metaphor analysis was then conducted in order to further explore their English learning motivation.The major findings are summarized as follows:First,regional differences between urban and rural areas will indeed have an impact on young learners' learning motivation.On the one hand,Haier differs little from Shuangtang with respect to children's intrinsic motivation,achievement motivation and motivational intensity,because they are seldom affected by regional differences.On the other hand,Hai'er and Shaungtang are significantly different from each other since regional differences have exerted a profound influence on young learners' extrinsic motivation.Shuangtang students have gained far higher extrinsic motivation than their counterparts in Hai'er.Second,there is a significant positive correlation between young learners' English grades and their intrinsic motivation and motivational intensity in both Hai'er and Shuangtang,but in terms of the correlation between children's English grades and their extrinsic motivation and achievement motivation,Hai'er is quite distinct from Shuangtang.In Shuangtang,young learners are showing high correlations of their English grades with strong extrinsic motivation,whereas pupils are showing clear correlations of their English grades with achievement motivation in Hai'er.Third,according to metaphor analysis,positive emotional attitude towards English functions as the most motivational factor,playing a vital part in the success of young learners' English learning.Remarkably,while most of the young learners maintain the positive attitude towards learning English in both schools,more pupils in Shuangtang tend to be highly motivated by their intrinsic and extrinsic motivation,though they have lower achievements in examinations.Based on the findings of this study,several implications for English teaching are provided.