Motivation in English LearningWord下载.docx
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Nowadays,withthequicklydevelopmentoftheworld,moreandmorepeoplemakeeffortstolearnasecondlanguage.Andwhenwetalkaboutlearningaforeignlanguage,weoftentalkaboutdifferentmethods,ifyoushouldgotoschoolornotandhowmuchtimeisidealtospendonthetargetlanguageeachday.Thesearecommonquestionstoaskbyourselves,butIthinktheyarenotasimportantasonething:
motivation.Differentpeoplehavedifferentmotivationsinlearningasecondlanguage.Here,motivationisadesiretoachieveagoal,combinedwiththeenergytoworktowardsthatgoal.Itseemsasimpleandeasyword.Butinfact,itisverydifficultdefine.ItseemstohavebeenimpossiblefortheoriststoreachconsensusonasingledefinitionHerearesomedefinitions:
AccordingtotheWebster&
#39;
s,tomotivatemeanstoprovidewithamotive,aneedordesirethatcausesapersontoact.AccordingtoGardner(1985),motivationisconcernedwiththequestion,&
quot;
Whydoesanorganismbehaveasitdoes?
Hedefinesmotivationasreferringtoacombinationofeffortplusdesiretoachievethegoaloflearningthelanguageplusfavorableattitudestowardslearningthelanguage.Motivationisalsodefinedastheimpetustocreateandsustainintentionsandgoal-seekingacts(Ames&
amp;
Ames,1989).Itisimportantbecauseitdeterminestheextentofthelearner&
sactiveinvolvementandattitudetowardlearning.(Ngeow,KarenYeok-Hwa,1998)Itisatermfrequentlyusedinbotheducationalandresearchcontexts.Manyresearchersconsidermotivationasoneofthemainelementsthatdeterminesuccessindevelopingasecondorforeignlanguage;
itdeterminestheextentofactive,personalinvolvementinL2learning.(Oxford&
Shearin,1994)Motivationinvolvesfourbasicaspects:
internalcondition;
inference;
initiation,activation,ormaintenance;
andgoal-directedbehavior.Motivationreflectsaninternalcondition.Theconditionmaydevelopfromphysiologicalneedsanddrivesorfromcomplexdesires,suchasthedesiretohelpothers,toobtainapproval,ortoearnahighincome.Motivationisaninferredconceptthatlinksaperson’sinternalconditionstoexternalbehavior.Itcannotbeobserveddirectly,butwecaninferits’presencebyitsbehavioraleffects.
Motivationinitiatesactivates,ormaintainsbehavior.Personalityandmotivation,expectancytheoriesshowthatifpeopleholdbeliefsorexpectationsforsuccess,theywillbehave,operate,orcooperateinspecificways,however,people’sbeliefsandexpectationsaredeterminedpartlybyhowpeopleperceivethecausesofsuccessorfailure,ifapersonbelievesataskisimpossible,forexample,thenthecauseoftheultimatefailuresillhavelittletodowithexpectationsforsuccess.Similarly,ifapersonbelievesthatataskissosimplethatanyonecandoitproperly,thensuccessatthetaskwillprovidelittlerewardorsatisfaction.Weshouldlearnthefunctionofmotivationandrealizetheimportanceofmotivation.First,arousalfunctionmotivation,itcanarouseorganismtoengenderspecialactivity.Theorganismwithmotivate,whichespeciallyhavebearingoncertainstimulus,isarousedmoreearlybythestimulus.Second,directionalfunctionmotivationcanmakeactivityoforganismbeaimedatspecialgoalorspecialobject.Third,maintenanceandadjustfunction.Afteractivityisaroused,motivationcanmaintaintheactivitytobeaimedataspecialgoal.Whenitisnecessary,motivationcanadjusttheintensityoftheactivityandthetimewhentheactivitymaintains.Usually,motivationhasbeenidentifiedtovariouskinds—instrumental,integrative,resultativeandintrinsic.Amongthesefourtypesofmotivation,whatsortofmotivationisbetterforlanguagelearning?
Wesomelearnersbelievethatknowingasecondlanguagemayhelpgettingabetterjob,orgetaplaceatuniversity.AsurveyofyoungpeopleinEuropefoundthat29%wantedtolearnmorelanguagestoincreasetheircareerpossibilities,while14%wantedtheminordertolive,work,orstudyinthecountry.Thelastfigureisareminderthatinstrumentalandintegrativemotivationsareonetwoofthepossiblekindsofmotivation.Learnersmightlearnasecondlanguagewellwithaninstrumentalmotivationorwithanintegrativeone,orindeedwithbothatthesametime,orwithothermotivations.Definitely,secondlanguagelearningmotivationplaysanimportantroleintheprocessoflearners’learningsuccess.Weallknowthatmotivationisimportanttoourstudyonforeignlanguage.Butwealllookforwaystoimproveourlanguagelearning,weforgetourmotivation.We
trytomotivateourselvesformanythings,butsomehowweonlylookatmethodswhenlearningaforeignlanguage.Onlywhenyouaremotivated,youcanlearnaforeignlanguage.Whenyouarenotmotivated,youwon’tshowuptolearnyourtargetlanguage.So,Ithinkbeingmotivatedisthemostimportantthinginlanguagelearning.Itispossibletolearnmanythingsinashortamountoftime,buttotrulylearnalanguagetofluencyyouneedyearstoinput,studyandpractice.ZolttanDornyei,whotestedthemotivationoflearnersofEnglishinthetypicalEuropeansituationofHungary,foundthataninstrumentalmotivationconcernedwithfuturecareerswasverypowerful.Andintegrativemotivationbecamemoreimportantasthelearnersadvancedinthelanguage.Someresearchersindicatedthatthestrongerandclearermotivation,thehigheractiveinlearningandthemoreeffectiveitmaybe.However,somestudiesfoundthatmotivationgoesbothdirections.Learnerswhoexperiencesuccessinlearningmaybecomemore,orinsomecontexts,lessmotivatedtolearn.Ontheotherhand,forinstance,iflearnershaveachievedtheirtargets,thentheymayworkharderthanbeforeinordertoreachinganotherhighertarget.Inotherwords,highmotivationisonefactorthatcausessuccessfullearning;
successfullearning,however,maycausehighmotivation.Thelatterprocessofcreatingsuccessfullearningwhichcanspurhighmotivationmaybeundertheteacher’scontrol,ifnottheformer.Ontheotherhand,forexample,theymayletthemselvesrelaxedforthinkingthattheyhaveachievedandtheydon’tneedtopaymoreeffortsitanymore.What’smore,Ausubelpointedoutthattherelationshipbetweenmotivationandlearningistypicallyinteractiveanditisnotjustaone-wayrelationship.Thatmeans,motivationpromptslearningbythewayofenhancingbehavior,andwhatlearnersgaincanincreasemotivation.So,weshouldsetagoal.Here,goalscanbedistinguishedintotwokind’sshorttermgoalsandlongtermgoals.Shorttermgoalsmayincludewantingtopassatermtestorfinishinganassignmentofaunitinabook.Whilelongtermgoalsmayhavesomethingtodowithawishtogetabetterjobinthefuture,oradesiretobepromoted,ortheabilitytoreadarticlesandbooksabouttheirmajorinEnglish.
Generallyspeaking,studentswithgoalsareusuallyeasytoteachthanthosewhohaven’t.Thenmotivationcanbeseparatedintoextrinsicmotivation,whichisconcernedthefactorsoutsidetheclassroom,andintrinsicmotivation,whichisconcernedwithwhattakesplaceinsidetheclassroom.Howtoimprovelearningmotivation?
Accordingtopsychologicalresearches,motivationisnotgenetic,itislearned.Inotherwords,motivationislearnableandteachable.Therearesomefactorsthataffectone’smotivation,suchasfamily,neighbors,priorteachers,learningconditionsandsoon.Theyarebeyondourcontrol.However,therearesomewaysthatcanchangeyourlearninghabitsandestablishyourmotivation.Herearesuggestions.1)Raiseone’slevelofconcern.Properlevelofconcerncanactivateone’sefforttolearn.Learnersshouldtakecareaboutwhattoleanandlearningresults,andhavearightattitudetowardlearning.Supposelearnersshowindifferenceorunconcerntotheirlearning,theywillmakenoorlittleprogressinlearning.Sowecansaynolearningwithoutconcern.2)Setlearninggoals.Settingagoaldemonstratesanintentiontoachieveandactivateslearningfromonedaytothenext.Italsodirectslearners’activitiestowardthegoalandoffersanopportunitytoexperiencesuccess.3)Acquirethesenseofsuccess.Successismoremotivatingthanfailure.Howtogainsuccess?
Normally,thematerialmustberelevant,andlearnerscanchooseproperactivitiesratherthanthosethataredifficult(littlelikelihoodofsuccess)oreasy(highprobabilityofsuccess).Passingatestorgettingarewardisasuccess.Everyminorsuccessistheprogresstowardgoals.Themoreyougetsuccesses,themoresatisfiedyouare,andtheharderyoulearn.Thisistheemotionalexperience.4)Showone’sinteresttolearning.Interestisthebestteacher.Twomethodscanbeused.First,trytofindinterestinglearningmaterials(differentpeople,differenttopics);
second,trytoconnectyourlearningtorealisticlife(speaking,writing,andapplication).Wearriveattheconclusionthatitispossibleandfeasibletoimprovemotivationtolearninforeignlanguageteaching.Anditisnotedthatteacherdevelopthestudents’extrinsicmotivation,encouragetheirconvictionthattheyhavetolearnforeignlanguage,enhancestudents’self-confidenceinlearningforeignlanguage,
fostertheirdirectinterestinforeignlanguageandmakethemhaveacompetitioninlearningforeignlanguage.Theultimategoalofimprovingmotivationtolearnisthatthestudentsgraduallybecomeinitiativelearner.References:
张庆宗,《外语学与教的心理学原理》,外语教学与研究出版社,2011.Ames,C.1992.Classrooms:
goals,structuresandstudentmotivation.JournalofEducationalPsychology,84(3),261-71