Research on Chinese High-School Students’ English Learning Motivation from the Self System Perspective

Minzi Li

doi:10.7176/jep/10-26-07

Abstract

L2 motivation has been proven to be an important factor for second language learning. The newly proposed framework of the L2 Motivational Self System by Dörnyei has offered researchers valuable insights into L2 motivation. However, few studies have been conducted on the L2 motivation of the English learners from a self perspective in the Chinese context. In consideration of the research gap and the distinctiveness of the Chinese high-school learners, this research aimed to explore L2 motivation among Chinese high-school students from the Self System perspective. A mixed methods approach of the questionnaire with follow-up semi-structured interview was utilized in the study. 128 students (randomly selected) from 4 high-schools in Wuhan in central China filled in the questionnaire survey, and six of them joined the interview. The results of the study showed that: 1) the key component of the L2 Motivational Self System, the Ideal L2 Self cannot be the reinterpretation of integrativeness in Chinese educational contexts; 2) among three dimensions of the Self system, the language learning experience had the highest correlation with learners’ motivation, followed by the Ideal L2 Self, with the Ought-to L2 Self produced the weakest correlation. Based on findings, some practical implications for English teaching are revealed. Keywords: L2 Motivational Self System, English language learning, Chinese high-school students, integrativeness, the Ideal L2 Self, the Ought-to L2 Self, language learning experience DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-26-07 Publication date :September 30 th 2019

Highlights

1.1 The Importance of L2 Motivation in Second Language Learning Motivation refers to an internal process that prompts the individual’s desire to participate in an activity and drives the behavior to maintain the action (Reeve, 2014)
According to the quantitative data analysis, correlation coefficients yielded that all three motivational variables of the
The study found that the core variable of the Self system the Ideal L2 Self shared similarities with integrativeness in explaining English learning motivation

Summary

Introduction

1.1 The Importance of L2 Motivation in Second Language Learning Motivation refers to an internal process that prompts the individual’s desire to participate in an activity and drives the behavior to maintain the action (Reeve, 2014). Though second language learning (SLL) is affected by various factors, motivation is deemed as one of the most important factors (Winke, 2007) and its importance have been examined by many experts in the area as most studies have reported positive correlations between motivation and learners’ achievements in SLL (Gardner, 2007; Masgoret & Gardener, 2003). Due to the complexity and dynamic nature of motivation, researchers were hard to see the whole picture of its construct and yet reached no consensus toward its definition (Kleinginna & Kleinginna, 1981). This aroused considerable attention within the field of second language learning and stimulated further studies in the past 50 years. According to Liu (2007), motivation has been a major topic in SLL since the 1950s and there has been a growing number of researches on L2 over the last several decades. Zhou and Rao (2007) further asserted it “the most-worthy researched factor of second language learning”

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