论学习动机对英语学习的影响

许楚娟

1. Introduction

English learning is a complex process which is relevant to many factors such as linguistics， psychology， sociology etc. There are many factors that will affect the process of Second Language Acquisition. As a teacher， I know the benefits of being able to read well， to write clearly， to solve problems properly and to communicate effectively in English. Recently， following the development of psychological linguistics， the form of English teaching has changed from “teacher-centered” to “student-centered”. How to facilitate the motivation of students to learn has become more and more important. There is no doubt that motivation is one of the most important factors in the field of Second Language Acquisition as well as in our lives. Generally speaking， a learner who has a proper motivation may be called a willing learner. A willing learner is self-motivated； thrive on challenge and change， and take responsibility for his learning and development. The more he wants to learn， the easier and more sustainable it learning becomes and the greater his contribution now and in the future. Motivation， as one of the important learning factors， has gained researchers attention. Studies indicate that motivation has a positive effect on learning English. So， what is the definition of motivation？ How many types of motivation are there？ Which type of motivation plays a more important role in learning English？ What are the factors that affect motivation？

2. Literature Review

2.1 Definition of motivation

Motivation explains why people decide to do something， how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activity. All motivation theories in the past have been formed to answer these questions but， quite frankly， none of them have succeeded fully. Indeed， different scholars of psychology offer different explanations of motivation. In the first half of the twentieth century， the dominant views considered motivation as being determined by basic human instincts and drives. The middle of the twentieth century was dominated by conditioning theories related to behaviorists psychology， with a great deal of research focusing on how stimuli and responses interplay in forming habits. The current spirit in motivational psychology is characterized by another theoretical orientation， the cognitive approach， which focused on how the individuals conscious attitudes， thoughts， beliefs and interpretation of events influence their behaviors， that is， how mental processes are transformed into action. In western countries， some linguists define motivation quite complete. Motivation is an internal state or condition （sometimes described as a need， desire， or want） that serves to activate or energize behavior and give it direction. （Keinginna and Kleinginna， 1981） Gardner （a famous social psychologist comes from Canada） defined motivation in his social-psychological model as the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitude toward learning the language.

There are some definitions of motivation below which were gleaned from a variety of psychology textbooks.

·Internal state or condition that activates behavior and gives it direction；

·Desire or want that energizes and directs goal-oriented behavior；

·Influence of needs and desires on the intensity and direction of behavior；

·The arousal， direction， and persistence of behavior. （Franken 1994）

Joe Kelly presents a simple model that illustrates the process of motivation：

Needs — drives—behavior—goals—reduction or release of tension

Kellys model of motivation presents a sort of chicken-egg dilemma. Which comes first， the goal or the need？ When we talk about behavior being goal-oriented， we mean that individuals feel a need， want， desire or drive to do something that leads to the achievement of a goal. Some experts define a goal as that outcome which someone strives to attain in order to satisfy certain needs. The goal is the end result， the need the driving force that spurs us towards that result. A student might have a goal to get 100 in a course， but this goal may reflect a number of different needs. He or she may feel a need to confirm his or her competence； his/her friends may all be getting 100 or him/her want to keep a scholarship. As Abraham Maslow says， “If we are interested in what actually motivates us and not what has or will， or might motivate us， then a satisfied need is not a motivator.” The word unsatisfied is most important. Just like the student who wants to get 100. Because he/she is not satisfied his/her present score， he/she wants to get a higher score. That is his/her motivation.

Every individual has a number of needs which vie for satisfaction. How do we choose between these competing forces？ Do we try to satisfy them all/ much like a small child in a candy store， faced with the dilemma of which to eat， we are forced to decide what we want the most； that is； we satisfy the strongest need first. Although there is general agreement among psychologist that man experiences a variety of needs， there is considerable disagreement that which is more important. There have been a number of attempts to present models of motivation which list a specific number of motivating needs， with the implication that these lists are all inclusive and represent the total picture of needs. Unfortunately， each of these models has weaknesses and gaps.

As Robert J.Mckain says， “There is no achievement without goals.” We may say “There is no achievement without motivation.” Motivation is quite important. Most motivation theorists assume that motivation is involved in the performance of all learned responses； that is， a learned behavior will not occur unless it is energized. The major question among psychologist， in general， is whether motivation is a primary or secondary influence on behavior. That still need psychologist to make a further research.

2.2 Types of motivation

In general， motivation can be considered as either intrinsic （behavioral， needs） or extrinsic （cognitive and humanistic， reinforcement）. Intrinsic motivation is the most fundamental motivation. Intrinsic motivation is generally possessed by people having personal interest（s） in doing something and helping to set their goals. People are intrinsically motivated not because accomplishing the activity they do brings a reward， but because doing the activity itself is a reward. Mark Lepper notes that a student with intrinsic motivation participates in his/her learning for its own sake， for the enjoyment it provides， the learning it permits， or the feelings of accomplishment it evokes. Extrinsic motivation， on the other hand， derives from an anticipation of rewards such as praise， awards， prizes， and evaluation， and fear for punishment. An extrinsically motivated student do the activity in order to obtain some reward or avoid some punishment external to the activity itself， and this kind of motivation refers to learning situations where the reason for doing a task is something other than an interest in the task itself. Comparing these two types of motivation in a classroom， it becomes clear that intrinsic motivation produces more potential benefits than does the extrinsic. Intrinsically motivated students tend to try harder and think more deeply. It is also found by researchers that they tend to prefer more difficult tasks when others tend to choose easier tasks.

On the other hand， motivation also can be considered as either integrative motivation or instrumental motivation. Integrative motivation is basically a motivation to be a member of a target society in a foreign country but it also includes a motivation coming from just an interest or a favorable feeling to a target culture or people. McDonough noted that there are two types of integrative motivation； assimilative motivation， strong motivation to belong to the target group， and affiliate motivation， weak motivation and a desire for wider social contact with target language speakers. Learners who are integrative motivated seems to have a strong intrinsic motivation to learn a language. Famous research carried out in the second half of the twentieth century by Gardner and Lambert who described instrumental motivation as a motivation to acquire some advantages by learning a second language suggested that who felt most warmly about a language and who wanted to integrate into the culture of its speakers were more highly motivated and learnt more successfully than those who were only learning language as a means to get a better job. In other words， integrative motivation was more powerful than instrumental motivation. A learner with instrumental motivation regards language as an instrument to get a reward. But whatever kind of motivation students have， it is clear that highly motivated students do better than ones without motivation at all.

2.3 The relationship between motivation and learning English

Someone says， motivation is the concept that a student is able to keep interested in， and continue to learn more about， a learn object of goal. Saying in other way， motivation is a tool to achieve a goal. Motivation to learn English is influenced by group related and context related attitudes. If someone want to learn English well， he has to change his life a little， such as： do crazy things like talking to yourself in English or spending your evening reading a dictionary. In order to do these things regularly， he has to enjoy doing them. If he is like most learners and doesnt feel like doing these things， he will have to work on his motivation， and improve his motivation for learning English. Students are most concerned with motivation for learning. In one of the earliest studies of why well motivated students want to learn English， most said they do so to acquire the necessary knowledge and skill for communicating with target group. While today， another common reason may be to get a high payment job in a foreign company. Wanting to succeed in career motivates them to learn. No matter the motivator， if students can learn more of what they want and less of what they dont， learning English becomes more appealing. So， students， if you want to learn English well， a clear motivation is quite necessary. However， teachers are not ultimately responsible for their students motivation. They can only encourage by word and deed. Real motivation comes from each individual.

3. Discussion

3.1 Social contexts

As we all know that teenagers are easily affected by others. For example， if the peers of a student have a negative attitude towards learning， a student may not be highly motivated. But if the student is in a school situation where his/her peers having a positive attitude to learning activities， the student will be more highly motivated. If the student is in a household where family members have a positive attitude to school learning activities， such as homework， the student will be motivated to do their homework. If a student is in a family situation in which good grades are not praised and rewarded， a student will probably be less motivated than a student in a family where good grades are praised and rewarded. From the example， we can see that motivation is easily affected by social context. So， its important to cultivate an encouraging condition for students to learn English.

3.2 Relationships between the teacher and the students

Besides social context， there is still some factors affected students learning motivation. I still remember when I was a junior student， my learning motivation usually influenced by the relationship of the teachers. I liked the subject because I liked the teacher. Now， I wonder， at present， do the students still have such trend？ A good relationship may help students to accept the teacher. But in reality， some students relationship of teachers is not so good. Some researches indicated： some students do not trust their teacher. “Building trust in a classroom is a slow process and results from many small incidents in which the teacher has responded honestly and dependably.” （James Raffini.1993）. Developing a personal relationship with the students and achieving their respect is easier said than done. It is a gradual process built on a foundation whose components include the teachers acceptance of the students and ability to listen and pay attention to them. Broadly speaking， if you show commitment towards the students learning progress， there is a very good chance that they will do the same thing. It is important that everybody in the classroom should be aware that you care； that you are not there just for the salary； that it is important for you that your students succeed； that you are ready to work just as hard as the students towards this success. A good relationship between teacher and students needs efforts from both parts. I believe a good relationship would benefit teachers and students.

3.3 Some advice of stimulating and maintain students learning motivation

Motivation is rather important for learning English. Some researchers have found that students learn best when motivated. Well motivated students approach learning tasks with confidence， knowing that they have the necessary knowledge and skill to complete them or can adopt a positive approach to ask for help or guidance. Often students are motivated for a variety of reasons， but in every case the motivation leads to learning. Then how to stimulate， arouse and maintain students motivation？

1） There are some advices below for the teachers.

a） Suggest students to set class goals which accepted by the whole class.

The teacher may advise the students to negotiate their individual goals and outline a common purpose， and display the final outcome in public， and then help students to make particular activities to attain them.

b） Make the teaching materials relevant for the students.

As a teacher， find out what your students goal are and what topics they want to learn about， and then build these into your curriculum as much as possible. I think， your teaching would be successful. In my opinion， if the subjects are relevant to the everyday experiences and backgrounds of the students， they would more easily accept them.

c） Promote cooperation among the students.

Encourage cooperation between students has already been mentioned by many researchers. If students are allowed to cooperate with each other towards a certain goal， their expectancy of success is likely to be higher than if they are to work individually. Because they know that they can also count on their peers. They can help each other to succeed.

2） Besides some advice for teacher， there is also some advice for the students.

a） Imaging your can talk to native speakers just like you talk in your first language.

Imagining the possibility of writing e-mail to people from all over the world， I think， you may want to learn English well. If your English is good enough， you can understand English-language TV， talk to native speakers easily， read books in English， write English letters without mistake， etc.

b） Try to use English whenever you can.

This is very important. Because English is so popular， you can use it everywhere. You can use Goggle to find English-language websites with interesting information， you can watch American cartons， you can play adventure games on your computer， etc. The more you use English， the more you will want to learn it.

c） Remember that learning English requires Practice.

One small action is more powerful than reading hundreds of articles. Its very hard to do things， even if they are good for us. That is why not many people speak English well. But if you want to succeed， you have to change something about your life. That means if you want to learn English well， dont put it off. Begin now.

4.Conclusion

Motivation is， without question， the most complex and challenging issue facing teachers today. Motivation for learning English has become one of the most important non-intelligence factors affecting the achievement of English learning. Motivation， which we consider it very important， but partly of them doubted. They learn knowledge very quickly while at the same time， they are easily affected by others. So our English teaching have to meet the need of students， cultivate active learning attitude of students， unceasingly improve the teaching method in order to arouse， maintain and protect the students learning motivation.

References：

[1]Herbert，L.P.Motivation：Theory，Research，and Applications[M].California：Wadsworth Publishing Company，1991.

[2]Jeremy，H.How to Teach English[M].Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2003.

[3]Paul，R.P.and Dale，H.S.Motivation in Education： Theory，Research，and Applications[M].New Jersey：Pearson Education，Inc，1991.

[4]Zoltan，D.Motivation Strategies in the Language Classroom[M].Cambridge：Cambridge University Press，2001.