Quantitative research on online English learning motivational regulation strategies of undergraduate English majors

Abstract

The abrupt emergence of COVID-19 pandemic forced college students around the world to move courses online. Without timely monitoring or assistance offered by their teachers, some students may easily distract or may not motivate themselves when they are not willing to study. The purpose of this quantitative research is to explore whether there are significant differences between motivational regulation strategies (MRSs) used in the online learning context and different genders and grades of 224 undergraduate English majors in a certain university located in Changchun, China. The general level of MRSs used by those participants was high (M=157.35). The potential differences were proved by the quantitative data analysis. Through independent-sample t test, the research revealed that significant differences exist between MRSs and different genders. Specifically speaking, females used more MRSs than males. Also, significant differences could be seen from the following four factors of MRSs: regulation of mastery goals, regulation of situational interest, environmental structuring, and regulation of value. In addition, the result of analysis of variance showed that there were no significant differences between used MRSs and learners of different grades. It meant that most students still made their efforts to keep in line with what they had learned in the online learning text. Implications of this quantitative research are as follow. First, teachers would have a general view of MRSs used by their students so that they could adjust their teaching plans to make the most of their MRSs. Second, teachers could also turn to similar techniques provided by MRSs to encourage students in the online learning context.