An Empirical Study of the Relationship between English Learning Attitude and English Achievement for Junior High School Students

abstract：This paper aims to investigate the relationship between English Learning Attitude and English Achievement， finding out correlated attitudinal predictors of successful English learning for junior high school students by using a quantitative research method. Through a detailed analysis and discussion of the data， it finds that junior high school students hold a positive attitudes to English learning， there are differences of students English Learning Attitude in respect to grade， gender and school location， and English achievement is weakly and significantly related with learning attitude. Therefore， the teachers should provide opportunities for students to develop a good English learning attitude， especially attitude to English Learning and attitude to Foreign Language and Culture.

Key words： English learning attitude， English achievement， correlation， junior high school students

Introduction

English is one of the three most important required subjects offered in middle schools in China. Commonly， students spend at least four or five hours per week for  schooling. Ideally， secondary school graduates should have a substantial knowledge of and skills in English， but this is not the case with most of the Chinese students. After three years of EFL， the English proficiency of the students is quite limited. This study applies the SLA/FLL attitude theory to EFL in China. If attitude influences success in foreign language acquisition， information from this study would be valuable in EFL counseling and program planning.

Attitude and English Learning Attitude

Attitude is a kind of psychological phenomenon with tendentiousness. In other words， it is a kind of psychological disposition. Different scholars have different understandings of attitude. Thurstone defines attitude as the intensity of positive or negative affect for or against a psychological object， and a psychological object is any symbol， person， phrase， slogan， or idea towards which people can differ as regards positive or negative effect. Shaw and Wright （1967） believe that attitude is a relatively enduring system of affective， evaluative reactions based upon and reflecting concepts or beliefs which have been learned about the characteristics of a social object or class of social objects （cited in Setiyadi， 1999， p. 42）. Lambert （1974） holds that learning attitude consists of three components which include conation， cognition and affection. Gardner （1985） considers that learning motivation consists of the desire to succeed， learning attitudes and degree of effort. Baker （1992） puts forward that the attitude towards the language should be one of the essential parts of attitudes in the language learning context. Besides the scholars abroad， some of the scholars at home also make researches on the attitudes. Li Mingzhen （1994） holds that learning attitude can be regarded as a state of readiness produced in the process of learning. And it will play a significant part in the learners decision to choose their learning activities.

The attitude discussed above will shed a light on the analysis of the attitude of English learning of middle school students in China. The mature stage came in the 1990s （Tan Jia， Jiang Kewei， 2008）. Wang Chuming （2003） pointed out that learning attitude is very important factors in English learning， success in English learning mainly depends on attitude. This paper adopts both Bakers and Ellis attitudinal theories to explore the attitudes of middle school learners of English in China.

Findings

The General Attitudes for English Learning of Junior High School Students

The descriptive statistics of attitudes for junior high school students indicates that junior high school students generally hold positive English learning attitude. From the interpretation of the four factors， attitude to foreign language and culture is the most common attitudes for middle school students， followed by attitude to English learning， while the attitude to foreign languages and culture， and attitude to native speakers of English are less common.The finding echoes with the previous study that “majority English/foreign language learners hold a positive attitudes to English/foreign language learning”. Therefore， it is necessary and significant to develop students positive learning attitude in EFL teaching.

The Correlation between Junior High School Students English Achievement and Learning Attitude

There was a weak and significant relationship between junior high school students English achievement and learning attitude. The four attitudinal factors（Attitude to Ethnic Identity， Attitude to English Learning， Attitude to Foreign Language and Culture， as well as Attitude to British and American People） are all significantly but weakly related with English achievement. Among the four factors， attitude to English Learning and attitude to Foreign Language and Culture are important indicator of students English achievement. This result sheds a light on us that the positive attitude is of great importance in English learning， especially the participants significant， strong and positive attitude to English Learning as well as Foreign Language and Culture.

The Difference in English Learning Attitude among Students in Respect to Grade， Gender and School Location

As for grade， all the students hold a positive English learning attitude， the students opinions on Attitude to English Learning are significantly different in terms of grades. However， the other three factors of English learning attitude shows no significant differences. Junior one students hold the most positive attitude toward English learning. and junior three students hold the least positive attitude. This can be explained by the fact that Junior three students are faced with the High School Entrance Examination. junior one have strong interests in English learning， since most students come from village and just getting to start English learning.

In terms of gender， female students got higher scores in each factor， it means that the female students hold a more positive English learning attitude than the males. This supports the previous studies and explains the reason why the most female students have a better English achievement than male students.

More specific， students from county or above have higher scores in each factor of English learning attitude than others from the town or village， which suggests that students from the school of county or above is more positive above learning English.

Implications

Since this study indicates that attitude affects language performance， attention should be given more to the factor. The teachers can provide opportunities for the  students to develop a good English learning attitude， especially attitude to English Learning and attitude to Foreign Language and Culture. Hopefully， by encouraging students to have a good attitude， English teachers can facilitate better English learning achievement for students.

References

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作者简介：王敏，（1996年12月-），女，汉族，云南省昭通市，在读硕士研究生，学科教学（英语）