Analysis on the motivation of students in English learning

楊志鑫

【Abstract】the performance of students in English learning is influenced by plenty of elements， such as the hard word of students， interest， motivation， the assistant of teachers and so on. The performance of students in English learning is mostly influenced by internal factors and outside factors. The author thinks that internal factor plays most the important role in the place， especially the motivation of students themselves. In the thesis， the author analyzes the motivation and interest of students in English learning in university.

【Key words】English learning； Motivation Internal factor

1. Related theories

Gardner， Lambert and Jordan were scholars who firstly analyzed motivation of language learners in English learning. They have proposed a model to express learning motivation. Attitude， level of motivation， level of achievement are three key parts of the model.

Most of students motivation can be typed into two groups， one is intrinsic motivation and the other is extrinsic motivation. They are two kinds of different motivation and make effect in various of areas. Intrinsic motivation refers to the interest of people themselves. Extrinsic motivation refers to factors in the environment. The intrinsic motivation of students focuses on long-term targets and extrinsic motivation of students focuses on short-term targets. For example， the intrinsic motivation can be promoted， when a student wants to know the cultures of foreign countries.

Learning motivation is divided by Brown into three groups： global motivation， situational motivation and task motivation. Global motivation refers to common attitude of English learners. Situational motivation refers to natural motivation of English learner. Situational motivation is different from the motivation in classes. Task motivation is based on tasks.

2. Importance of motivation

If a student has enough motivation， he or she will learn English positively. Learning English is a continuous progress. More energy and time students donate into the progress， more achievement students will get. Without motivation， a student may study English one day and play several days. The result is that he or she forgets what he or she have learnt in the past. Scientific research has found that students with more motivation can perform better than students who dont have enough motivation. Motivation can help students save a lot of time and promote their efficiency.

3. Cultivating motivationendprint

3.1 Confidence should be rose and sense of achievement should be promoted

A group of data proposed by scientists has revealed that students with confidence can perform better than students who dont have confidence in learning English. Confidence is a relatively abstract idea. Students establish confidence in their mind with the method of psychological hint or receive the appreciation from other people. As an English teacher， he or she can appreciate his or her students in classes or after classes， which is a good way to rise the confidence of students. In addition， English teachers must arrange suitable homework for their students. In other word， the homework cant be too difficult or too simple.

3.2 Students should know their motivation of learning English clearly in their mind

For a part of students， they dont understand why they should learn English， so English teachers and even their parents should encourage them to set clear motivation in their mind. The motivation should be clear and inspired， because a too small motivation cant inspire a student to achieve his or her goal. Such a rule has been proved by plenty of researchers and scholars. Motivation is similar to the nature of gas. When car lacks gas， it cant work anymore. However， if the owner of the car adds gas into the car， the car can move. Parents， teachers and the society can create an environment where students can have more motivation to study English.

3.3 Combining professional knowledge with English together

English class is relatively simple， because it cant provide chances of practice for students. If English teachers combine professional class with English classes together， on one side， students can practice English in professional knowledge， on the other side， they can learn English. Quietly， students may realize that their levels of English can promote their knowledge in other areas， so they would have more motivation to learn English. There is a difficulty in the combination of professional knowledge and English classes. The difficult is that English teachers must know the proportion of professional knowledge and English knowledge. In order to overcome the difficulty， English teachers and students must choose right textbooks at first.

4. Conclusion

Napoleon Hill has said that you likely achieve a target， if you desire it for a very long time. The accumulation of motivation can help a student achieve success in learning English well. Both students and teachers play important roles in promoting motivation and they should carry out different suitable actions in the process based on the nature of their roles.

References：

[1]于書穎.影響學習動機的因數及學習動機的激發和培養[J].沈陽師范學院學報，2002（2）.endprint