An Empirical Study on Demotivating Factors of Non-English Majors in Colleges of Science and Engineering

Abstract

Motivation is widely seen as the main factor of second language learning process. The major goal of this study is to find demotivators that impede non-English major learners’ second language learning. This paper took non-English major undergraduates in Colleges of science and engineering as the experimental objects, and conducted a survey on 250 students by a combination of interviews and questionnaires. The study found 6 main factors that contribute to non-English majors’ English learning demotivation in Colleges of science and engineering: English learning ability, value, influence of important others, negative attitude towards second language learning, the mandatory nature of second language learning and influence of teaching content. In order to further study the changing trend of demotivators of non-English majors, learners of different grades were identified and analyzed. Learners of different phases can be divided into junior learners and senior learners on the basis of their grades. Freshmen and sophomores were classified into junior learners, and juniors and seniors were classified into senior learners. Generally, the results showed no significant difference between the two stage learners except for English learning ability and professional work and future expectations. Junior learners were more demotivated by English learning ability while senior learners were more affected by professional work and future expectations.