A Microgenetic Study On Chinese College Students' Motivational Dynamics In English Learning Under The Context Of Virtual Learning Community

Motivation is one of the important individual factors on the effectiveness of foreign language teaching and learning.It is also a continuous driving force in the process of language learning.Learning motivation is influenced by many factors.Among them,the environment is the key one.In the educational context,virtual learning community can organically integrate and extend the online and offline classroom learning to realize the goals of knowledge construction.Therefore,research on language learning motivation in the new context has received more attention.Based on D?rnyei's framework of L2 motivation(D?rnyei,1994,2001),this study uses We-Chat learning group as the virtual learning community(VLC),taking the course of Contemporary College English as an example to investigate non-English majors' motivational dynamics under the context of VLC at the language level,learner level,and virtual learning situation level.At the same time,motivational dynamics of the individual learners with high,medium and low English proficiency under the context of VLC is also identified at the three levels.The data of this experiment were obtained through questionnaire,self-reflective journal,classroom observation(including the classroom learning and VLC)and interview to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data collected.The results indicate that: under the the context of VLC,non-English majors' learning motivation shows a dynamic trajectories of fluctuation-stability-fluctuation at the language level,learner level and the virtual learning situation level.Among them,learning motivation at the language level presents a significant difference with a staged dynamic trajectory.At the learner level,the learning motivation runs through the whole stages of the experiment,showing a dynamic trajectory of negativeness-improvement-positiveness-stability.At the virtual learning situation level,the learning motivation presents a significant enhancement.The results of the three individuals with high,medium and low English proficiency indicate that: the learning motivation presents a dynamic trajectory of fluctuation from a longitudinal perspective.Among them,high level learner's motivation remains in a relatively stable state,while the medium and low levellearners show a dynamic trajectory of fluctuation-stability-fluctuation.Specifically,at the language level,high level learner's motivation is characterized by an integrative,instrumental and significant dynamic trajectory.While the medium and low level learners mainly present an instrumental and insignificant dynamic trajectory.The factors at learner level run through the entire experiment,but the motivational trajectories of the three individuals are distinct: the high level learner consistently demonstrates high achievement needs and strong self-efficacy.However,the medium and low level learners display a dynamic trajectories of fluctuation-stabilityfluctuation.At the learning situation level,the three individuals' learning motivation present a significant enhancement at every stage of the experiment.This thesis combines D?rnyei's framework of L2 motivation with a specific VLC to study learning motivation.Therefore,it expands the theoretical significance on motivation research and provide empirical support for the dynamic study on motivation in the virtual learning situation.Meanwhile,it couples the dynamic trajectory with an innate class and individuals with different English proficiency from a longitudinal perspective,which broadens the static and cross-sectional research perspectives.The mixed research method used in this study has improved the reliability and validity of the result,providing an in-depth investigation and analysis of the dynamic characteristics in learning motivation.Empirical evidences are provided for digital English learning and teaching in colleges.