Non—ishMajors"EnglishLearningAttributionStudiesandCorrespondingImprovingStrategies

LIXueJIANG+Zhongqing+GUOJidong

【Abstract】Attribution is a psychological concept，whereas it has important application in second language acquisition （SLA）.Based on Weiners Motivation Attribution Theory and other studies abroad，researchers at home have done lots of work on Chinese students，especially non-English majors English-learning attribution，where the SLA attribution theory，foreign language teaching attribution，attributions influence on learning motivation and success or failure attribution and its countermeasures are analyzed and discussed.The results show that correct attribution of success and failure will promote autonomous learning，however，incorrect attribution can lead to learned-helplessness.Aiming to correct the inappropriate attribution，strategies are proposed for students and teachers in the end of this paper to improve non-English majors English-learning.

【Key words】Non-English majors； Second language acquisition； English learning； Attribution； Improving strategies

【摘要】歸因是心理學中的概念，但在二語習得方面有很重要的應用。在韋納動機歸因理論和其他國外研究的基礎上，我國學者對中國學生，尤其是非英語專業大學生的英語學習歸因情況做了大量研究，并從二語習得歸因理論、外語教學歸因、歸因對學習動機的影響、成敗歸因及其對策等方面進行了闡述和討論。結果表明，正確的成敗歸因將促進自主學習，而不適當的歸因可能導致習得性無助。對此，文末給出了學生和老師的歸因改進策略以促進非英語專業大學生的英語學習。

【關鍵詞】非英語專業大學生 二語習得 英語學習 歸因 改進策略

Attribution is a major factor which influences second language acquisition.It has both positive and negative impact on a learners motivation.Attribution is not a new field in psychology，however，its application in the field of SLA is only decades old，which has attracted lots of experts and scholars to spend time and energy in.

1.The Definition of Attribution and Relevant Theories

1.1 The Definition of Attribution

Attribution refers to the process that people analyze and deduce the causes of ones own and others behaviors，namely the individual chooses from a variety of factors which might lead to the behavior to find out the reason and estimate its property and psychological process.

1.2 Attribution Theories

The attribution theory is originated from psychology.Heider，an American social psychologist，first proposed the Attribution Theory in the 1950s，and distinguished attribution into internal attribution （character attribution） and external attribution （situation attribution）.On this basis，Jones and Davis proposed the Corresponding Inference Theory in 1965，Kelley the Cube Attribution Theory in 1967，and Abramson the Attribution Theory of Style in 1978.

From 1972 to 1982，American social psychologist Weiner referred to and summed up predecessors' thought and gradually put forward his own attribution system.At the beginning，Weiner deemed that ability，effort，task difficulty，and luck are four main factors people perceive when they account for success and failure，which all consist of two dimensions：control point and stability.According to the control point dimension，reasons are divided into internal and external factors，and the stability dimension to stable and unstable factors.For the four categories，ability is internal and stable； effort is internal and unstable； task difficulty is external and stable； while luck is external and unstable.

Table 1 The Interrelations between Categories and Dimensions of Weiners Primary Attribution Theory

Internal External

Stable Ability Task difficulty

Unstable Effort Luck

Later，Weiner developed his theory.Two factors of physical and mental condition and external environment，and one dimension of controllability were added into the system to form the latest Motivation Attribution Theory.Similarly，the controllability dimension consists of controllable and uncontrollable factors.So far，there are six categories and three dimensions，and their interrelations are as bellow：

Table 2 The Interrelations between Attribution Categories and Attribution Dimensions of Weiners Motivation Attribution Theory

Attribution

Categories Attribution Dimensions

Stability Control Point Controllability

Stable Unstable Internal External Controllable Uncontrollable

Ability √ √ √

Effort √ √ √

Task difficulty √ √ √

Luck √ √ √

Physical and

mental condition √ √ √

External

environment √ √ √

Weiners Motivation Attribution Theory has become the significant attribution theory in various fields such as psychology，sociology，pedagogy and linguistics.

2.Application of Weiners Motivation Attribution Theory in Non-English Majors' English Learning

2.1 Studies Abroad of Attribution Theory in Second Language Acquisition

Attribution analysis in SLA began to boom since the 1990s.Early in 1991，Crookes and Schmidt had applied the Motivation Attribution Theory to study the language acquisition phenomena.Thereafter，Dornyei studied the motivation attributions effect on SLA in different teaching environments.Moreover，Oxford et al.discussed the influence from the perspective of theory framework，and Schmidt et al.probed it from the angle of internal structure and external connections point.These above studies form the basis of the researches at home and abroad.

2.2 Studies in China of Weiners Motivation Attribution Theory in Non-English Majors' English Learning

There are also series of researches about attributions influence on SLA at home.Hu Xueyun and his colleagues first applied attribution to foreign language teaching field.In their paper，Weiners theory was expended into eight types and was used for attribution training in teaching.Wang Chuming also involved in this topic in his thesis Cognitive and Emotional Factors in Foreign Language Learning.

In the year 2002，Qin Xiaoqing made a survey and analysis of 500 non-English majors attribution preference in English learning，and found out that attribution had not only direct impact on foreign language learning motivation but also indirect impact through self-confidence，learning valence，learning purposes，and goals set for learning.In his study，SLA attribution was distinguished into four categories：learning environment attribution，classroom teaching attribution，language talent attribution and effort attribution.He also did case analysis through talking with several of the participants.At the same time，Jiang Xiaohong researched 307 non-English majors of six colleges in different cities in her master's thesis，and used SPSS to do analysis of variance （ANOVA），correlation analysis and regression analysis.The results showed that success and failure attribution was significantly correlated with learning strategies，and the regression mold of ability，effort and luck to success attribution and luck to failure attribution could predict the trend of learning strategies.Then various studies boomed in the late 2000s and early 2010s.Students of freshmen，graduates，special majors in different places and topics of attribution & College English Test Band Four （CET-4） scores，attribution & English self-esteem et al.were analyzed and teaching and learning strategies were also given.For example，Yang Ruizhi found that high-scores students in CET-4 got the tendency of ability，effort and studying strategies attribution，while the low-scores students attributed their failure to ability and luck.Moreover，after the investigation of 168 students，Li Kun and Yu Liming came to the conclusion that the external attribution of success would promote autonomous learning，and the external attribution of success and the internal and external attribution of failure would defeat progress.

2.3 Summary

The studies mentioned above can be generalized into four aspects：the SLA attribution theory，foreign language teaching attribution，attributions influence on learning motivation，attribution of success or failure and its countermeasures.For students and teachers，this paper focuses on the second and the fourth aspects and provides corresponding strategies to promote non-English majors progress in English learning.

3.Improving Strategies

3.1 Success or Failure Attribution Countermeasures for Students

In Weiners opinion，every dimension of attribution has important effect on motivation.In the control point dimension，if success is attributed to internal factors，proudness will be stimulated and motivation increased； otherwise to external factors，fluky mentality is produced.While if failure is attributed to internal factors，one will feel shameful，and to external factors feel angry.In the stability dimension，stable success attribution will promote proudness and motivation，while unstable success attribution leads to fluky mentality； stable failure attribution lets one feel despairing and unstable failure attribution makes one angry.In the controllability dimension，controllable success attribution spurs one to struggle for success while the uncontrollable doesnt.Controllable failure attribution stimulates one to endeavor，while the uncontrollable leads to despair.

Table 3 Results of Success or Failure Attribution in Three Dimensions

Success or Failure

Attribution

Attribution

Dimensions Success Attribution Failure Attribution

Stability Stable Self-confidence enhanced

Motivation increased Despair generated

Unstable Fluky mentality produced Anger ignited

Control Point Internal Self-confidence enhanced

Motivation increased Shame sensed

External Fluky mentality produced Anger ignited

Controllability Controllable Pursuing for success Endeavor added

Uncontrollable No effect Despair generated

As the table 3 shows，it does really good for one to attribute stable，internal and controllable factors to success，and controllable factors to failure.According to Weiners Motivation Attribution Theory，the controllable factor is mainly “effort”.That is to say，those who aim to improve English learning should stop finding excuses and do more endeavour for pursuing success.

On the contrary，there is a part of passive students who are accustomed to attribute success to unstable，external and uncontrollable factors like luck and external environment，and attribute failure to stable，internal，uncontrollable factors like ability，then they are suffering the risk of “learned-helplessness”.They need not only self-correction，but also help from others，especially English teachers.

3.2 Foreign Language Teaching Attribution Training for Teachers

In objective aspect，task difficulty and external environment are external and uncontrollable factors for students，but for teachers，they are partially controllable and changeable.Better environment and atmosphere should be provided for non-English majors such as holding English corners and English Salons，establishing English study cooperative groups and so on.And more appropriate English materials and stuffs should be selected for daily learning and examinations.

In subjective aspect，its best for English teachers to pay close attention to students attribution tendency.Positive attribution should be encouraged and negative attribution be corrected.Teachers can imply and guide with positive attribution in and out of classes，or talk with students directly.To those who get learned-helplessness，offer more proper praise to hence their self-confidence and adjust their learning methods.As other than self-effort，teachers intervention is a good and effective way to promote non-English majors English learning.

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作者簡介：

李雪（1988-），女，山西太谷人，遼寧師范大學，碩士，主要從事雙語心理學研究。

蔣重清（1973-），男，湖南新寧人，遼寧師范大學教授，博士，主要從事心理學認知神經科學研究。

郭繼東（1969-），男，吉林德惠人，杭州電子科技大學教授，博士，主要從事二語習得、心理語言學研究。