The Empirical Research On English Low Achievers' Intrinsic Motivation In Rural Senior High School

In recent years, a large number of people try to study English for various reasons, while may fail to learn it well. The phenomenon also can be seen at school, and lots of students fail in English learning, which increase gradually year after year. These students are called low achievers or students with learning difficulty. Intelligence is not seen as the only factor which affects their English studies. It has been proved that the successful foreign language learning has close connection with the students'affective factors. Of all the affective factors, motivation is considered one of the important factors which affect the learner's English learning, and meanwhile, intrinsic motivation is the center of motivation and could stimulate and maintain one's English learning longer. Thus, the writer should attempt to search for the factors which intervenes low achievers'intrinsic motivation, and then take some effective measures to solve them.In order to learn about the affective factors of intrinsic motivation, the writer did a teaching experiment in Liucheng Senior High School of Chaoyang County in Chaoyang City with the questionnaire, classroom observation and some interviews with teachers and students. This experiment lasted for 3 months. The making of questionnaire and interviews are referred to the theoretical foundations and teaching experience, such as need theory, goal orientation, self-efficacy, attribution, teachers'mediation, and these are considered as the most factors which influence students'learning motivation. In a result, the writer found low achievers in rural senior high schools lack of enough sleep, and English learning interests and self-confidence, have no mastery objects or goals in their studies, seldom use the effective learning strategies and lack of English teachers'encouragement and cultivation for culture consciousness of target language.Based on the findings, the writer took some measures in the class to stimulate and sustain the low achievers'intrinsic motivation: meeting low achievers'basic need for English learning, helping set clear and challengeable goals, developing students'self-confidence, helping students to form the positive attribution toward academic success and failure, making teachers and learners hold positive beliefs toward English learning, cultivating their culture consciousness of target language, develop students'effective learning strategies. After 3 months'experiment the countermeasures of transforming English low achievers are proved to be practical and efficient, and most of low achievers become more interested and confident in English learning. Thus, the writer hopes that it will be helpful for English teachers to transform low achievers in other rural senior high schools.