On Non-English Major Freshmen's English Learning Motivation

Motivation is considered by many to be one of the main determining factors of success in developing a L2 or a foreign language (FL). It determines the effort to learn a new language, the extent of active, and personal involvement in learning the target language. Conversely, unmotivated students are insufficiently involved in L2/FL learning and therefore unable to develop their potential L2/FL skills.EFL teachers have been concerned with the issue on how to guide and assist the first year non-English major undergraduates in adapting to the college English learning. So it is crucial for teachers to know what their students' motivations are. This study examined the motivational beliefs of 405 first-year non-English major undergraduates from Nanchang University. Data were gathered through administering a modified version of the motivation scale developed by Qin Xiaoqing and Wen Qiufang (2002). The study revealed many beliefs that are detrimental to the enhancement of freshmen's motivational level. Many freshmen attach high cost to English learning and prefer short-term goals to long-term goals. Freshmen show imbalanced expectation of four basic skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Many freshmen attribute failure to uncontrollable factors. Freshmen consider their English teachers as controlling and less informative. Compared to the successful, more of the unsuccessful tend to show less interest in English, high evaluation of cost, low sense of self-efficacy, and focus on short-term goals and attribute failure to uncontrollable factors.In order to alter these negative beliefs, the author also provides nine methods: developing freshmen's interests in learning English, creating pleasant and supportive learning atmosphere, deepening students' understanding of value and lowering students' perception of cost, promoting students' self-efficacy and motivation-enhancing attributions, encouraging learners to set long-term goals, creating learner autonomy, giving positive feedback and raising teachers' motivational awareness.