Consider to What Extent Chinese Students’ Motivation to Learn English Differs Across Levels of Schooling

Abstract

A substantial literature has regarded motivation as determinants that affect the quality of individuals’ English learning and learners’ motivation is dynamic, changing with time. This study focuses on how Chinese students’ motivation to learn English differs at different levels of study, namely primary schools, secondary schools and universities. It aims to explore the differences in Chinese students’ integrative-instrumental motivation and intrinsic-extrinsic motivation to learn English across different schooling stages as well as the potential motivational factors explaining these differences. To investigate these issues, a research synthesis approach was used and 9 articles were analyzed to answer the synthesis questions. The results of the analysis show that Chinese primary school students share unbiased integrative and instrumental motivation to learn English. Secondary pupils and university students exhibit a higher level of instrumental motivation than integrative motivation due to different reasons. Additionally, Chinese primary school students are more intrinsically motivated in that they are interested in and curious about the new language. However, extrinsic motivation becomes prominent among secondary school students and university students since they are motivated by different external factors, like teachers, parents and exams. Based on these findings, some pedagogical suggestions and directions for future research are also discussed.