A Survey on the Demotivation in English Learning Among Chinese Rural Middle School Students

Abstract

Demotivation, as an emerging field of study, has received increasing attention in recent years. It has been found by many Chinese researchers that various demotivators, both external and internal, could lead to students’ decrease of motivation in learning English as a foreign language (EFL). A less researched area, however, is the demotivators in the EFL learning of Chinese rural middle school students, who account for a large proportion of the student population in middle schools in China. In the present research study, a total of 99 students in a rural middle school in Yancheng, China were randomly selected as respondents, among whom a questionnaire survey was conducted on their EFL learning motivation and demotivation. It is found by a factor analysis that the biggest factor contributing to the demotivation of these students in English learning is the lack of interest in learning, among other internal and external factors, such as decline in self-confidence, poor learning abilities, lack of learning strategies, difficulty of textbook articles, and rare use of multi-media in English classes. No significant differences were found between male and female students in their English learning demotivation. This study not only duplicates the results of previous studies, but also puts forward constructive suggestions to eliminate the phenomenon of demotivation in English learning in rural middle schools in China.