A Study On The Relationship Between Senior Middle School Students' Expectancy-value And Their English Autonomous Learning Ability

With the rapid development of economy,the establishment of people-oriented idea,we pay more and more attention to autonomous learning and lifelong learning.For senior middle school students,English plays an important role in the college entrance exam.Meanwhile,English is a necessary tool for them to understand the world and communicate with others.Therefore,senior middle school students should learn English well and strive to improve their English autonomous learning ability.Expectancy-value theory is one of the important motivation theories,including expectation of ability,conception of value and emotion and interest.So,it is of great theoretical and practical significance to study the English autonomous learning ability of senior middle school students from the perspective of expectancy-value theory.In view of this,this article is trying to study the relationship between expectancy-value and English autonomous learning ability based on reviewing the domestic and foreign scholars' study of expectancy-value and autonomous learning ability,so as to obtain some inspiration to improve senior middle school students' English autonomous learning ability.In this study,senior middle school students' English autonomous learning ability questionnaire is slightly adapted on the basis of questionnaires from Xu Jinfen(2004)and expectancy-value questionnaire is based on the one created by Allan Wigfield &Jacquelynne S.Eccles(2000).Then a questionnaire survey is used to investigate 240 senior middle school students from Nanchang certain middle school,adding semi-structure interview,and discusses the following questions :1)What is the current situation of senior middle school students 'expectancy-value?2)What is the current situation of senior middle school students' English autonomous learning ability?3)Is there any relationship between senior middle school students 'expectancy-value and their English autonomous learning ability? Which component of expectancy-value is the most powerful predictor for senior middle school students' English autonomous learning ability?After analyzing the data collected by SPSS17.0 and analyzing the contents ofregression analysis and interview,the following conclusions are drawn:(1)Descriptive analysis shows that the expectancy-value of senior middle school students was at a moderate level.(2)Descriptive analysis shows that the English learning ability of senior middle school students was also at a moderate level.(3)Correlation analysis finds that the expectancy-value of senior middle school students has a significant positive correlation with their English autonomous learning ability.At the same time,the regression analysis shows that the three parts of expectancy-value have different effects on English autonomous learning ability.Expectation of ability is the most powerful predictor of English autonomous learning ability.In addition,emotion and interest also has a great influence on the English autonomous learning ability of senior middle school students.That is to say,the improvement of senior middle school students' expectation of ability and emotion and interest can help improve their English autonomous learning ability.The results of the interview further prove these results.According to the results of this study,the author suggests that senior middle school English teachers should teach knowledge.At the same time,they need pay much more attention to taking effective strategies to promote senior middle school students' expectancy-value,especially the students' expectation of ability and emotion and interest,so as to create a good condition of improving senior middle school students' English autonomous learning ability.