An Investigation Into The Correlation Between Enrollment Motivation And Learning Engagement Of Postgraduates Of English Education

In second language acquisition researches,both motivation and learning engagement are important factors affecting learner's individual difference in second language learning.Much research has been conducted regarding these two topics both at home and abroad.However,enrollment motivation,an important component of learning motivation,has not been paid enough attention so far.In addition,few researchers have proved into the correlation between enrollment motivation and learning engagement,especially on the correlation between the two among postgraduates of English education.Therefore,the present study takes pre-service teachers from M.ED.program(Master Degree in English Education)in grade 2016 in Central China Normal University(CCNU)as respondents and tries to figure out their enrollment motivation and the current situation of learning engagement in English learning and analyze the correlation between them through questionnaire and interview.This study aims to address the following four research questions:(1)What are the initial enrollment motivations of English MED students?(2)Are there any changes about their enrollment motivation through one year's systematic learning period?What factors contribute to the changes?(3)What is the current situation of English learning engagement of postgraduates of English education?(4)What is the correlation between enrollment motivation and learning engagement of postgraduates of English education?Findings of the study show that both intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation are motivating the respondents to be postgraduates of English education and intrinsic motivation is playing a major role;40%participants agree that their enrollment motivation has been changed after a whole year' study under the influence of multiple factors,such as the practicum experience and school courses or online courses,communicating with peers and tutor as well as attending some practical lectures or seminars.Those participants whose enrollment motivation has not been altered account for 30%,which is probably because the participants of this study are postgraduates who are mature and determined enough to keep consistent in their enrollment motivation.The remaining 30%are not sure whether there is any variation about their enrollment motivation,which can be attributed to some fluctuations during the learning process without clear awareness;Furthermore,the present study also finds that the current learning engagement of postgraduates of English education is satisfying and a moderate correlation exists between enrollment motivation and learning engagement.Based on the above research findings,this study yields implications on how to make full use of enrollment motivation to promote learning engagement.Firstly,teacher educators are supposed to have a clear understanding about enrollment motivation and current learning engagement of postgraduates of English education,making corresponding teaching designs,monitoring learning engagement of students appropriately,offering timely guidance and suggestions to achieve the goal of facilitating students to learn happily.Moreover,student teachers from M.ED.program should reflect upon their enrollment motivation and have a clear picture of current learning engagement,adjusting their time and efforts in learning engagement to maximize learning efficiency.