An Analysis of Middle School Students’ English Learning Motivation

郭亚楠

【Abstract】The new curriculum reform has started to be implemented. In the new curriculum standard， cultivating students emotion has been put in the first place， so the current one of the most important aspects of the basic educational curriculum reform is paying attention to the development of students emotion and putting the cultivating of students emotion into teaching and learning. Based on this situation， this paper will analyze previous studies and put forward some suggestions to cultivate students English learning motivation， which aims at improving their English achievement， and providing some enlightenment for the middle school English teaching.

【Key words】English learning motivation； motivation theory； suggestions

【摘要】新的課程改革己经在全国开始实施。在己经颁布的新课程标准中，培养学生的情感目标已被放在了首位，所以目前基础教育课程改革的一个重要方面是关注学生情感态度的发展，并把学生情感态度的培养渗透到学科教育和教学之中。基于这种现状，本篇论文分析了以往的相关研究并提出培养学生学习英语兴趣的建议，旨在提高他们的英语学习成绩，同时以期在具体的中学英语教学实践中能够起到抛砖引玉的作用。

【关键词】英语学习动机 动机理论 策略

1. Relative Studies about Language Learning Motivation Theory

There are three parts of Gardners motivation theory we should pay attention to. They are Gardners foreign language learning motivation theory， the motivation theory of Crookes and Schmidt and Dornyeis three level of foreign language learning motivation.

Gardners summary of the second language learning is one of the shining points of his early theory. Gardner classified the learning motivation into integrative motivation and instrumental motivation through the analysis of Canadas immigrants language learning study （Stipek， 2003）. Integrative motivation is referred to learners real interest in the target language. Instrumental motivation is the opposite of integrative motivation in Gardners early theory， which is to achieve the practical purposes. Besides， in 1990s， Gardner got some new elements from expectancy-value theory and goal theory （William&Burden， 2000）. They are goal salience， valence and self-efficacy. The research tool of Gardners language learning is ATMB， which is still the authoritative research tool of foreign language learning motivation. Gardner emphasized that it is impossible to use only one research tool， so researchers should adjust the ATMB appropriately according to the actual situation to accord with the needs of investigation.

2. Factors Influencing Students Motivation to Learn English

According to the relative analysis and motivation theories， we classified the factors into two kinds. The first one is internal factors， they are sex and age， the experience and knowledge students have， attribution. External factors include social environment， home environment， school environment， classroom learning environment.endprint

3. Problems about Students English Learning

“Interest is the best teacher”， during the process of English learning， cultivating students interest to learn English is important. The researchers find the main problems about students English learning are students attitude and ways to learn English.

In a word， we should help students have a positive attitude and good ways to learn English.

4. Strategies to Cultivate Students Motivation to Learn English

According to the problems and the motivation theories at home and abroad， some strategies should be put forward to stimulate and cultivate students motivation to learn English. We can set a system of rewards and punishment， use modern teaching resource and strengthen the construction of learning atmosphere in the classroom.

5. Conclusion

English has attracted more and more attention nowadays and the new English curriculum standard provides higher demands for the teacher and students. The strategies to cultivate students English learning motivation put forward in this essay are based on the research. And I hope it can help English teachers working in middle school.

References：

[1]Arnold.Affect in Language Learning[M].Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2000.

[2]Dornyei.Teaching and Researching Motivation[M].New York：Person Education Limited Inc，2001.

[3]Marsland.Lessons from Nothing[M].Beijing：Peoples Education Press，2000.

[4]Stipek.Motivation to Learn-From Theory to Practice[M].Shanghai：Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，2003.endprint