A Study On The Correlation Of Second Language Learning Motivation And Learning Effect Among Students At CDTF

Learning motivation is the driving force of academic study among students. Examining learning motivation is thus of great significance to the study of teaching principles and guiding teaching practices. With the greater popularity of research concerning the motivations of second language (SL) and foreign language (FL) acquisitions both in China and abroad, a general consensus among researchers is the positive correlation of FL learning motivation and academic performance. The stronger the motivation is, the better scores students obtain. This is actually the reason why both Chinese and foreign scholars are increasingly focusing on the study of learners’ motivation of FL acquisition. Most motivation studies in China have college students as research subjects and a monolithic stance. For instance, they only address the relations between a few motivation factors such as learning objective or confidence, and academic performance. Few studies examine the relationship between various motivation factors and academic performance. No systematic study on the structures of foreign language acquisition motivations among Chinese college students has been done.The research of FL learning motivation began with Gardner and Lambert. Since the1950s, they had conducted a series of researches for the SL learning motivation from the perspective of social psychology and put forward the learning motivation classic mode. From the1980s, FL learning motivation research came into an era of hundred flowers in bloom. It is no longer confined from social perspective only, but is based on the environment of FL learning motivation in school and classroom education. In China, the related studies come late, and it has experienced a transition from the simple introduction and translation of foreign theories into deeper researches and many papers have been published since the1980s. Most researchers consider the motivation of foreign language learning as an important social psychological factor and study its impact and role in the Chinese students’foreign language learning process. Today, accompanied by the development of studying in foreign language learners individual differences, people start to pay attention to language learners’affective factors, emphasize the center of students and focus on learners’individual factors and the process of learning.At the same time, motives are controllable factors of all variables, thus learning motivation has been considered an important factor for language learning. During the psychology research, motivation is the strength to inspire people to conduct some activities. FL learning motivation is the direct promotion for foreign language learning from the internal aspect and a conscious and positive state of mind in the learning activities. It is also an important impact of learning as the non-intellectual factors.This thesis takes the theoretical and practical perspective on foreign language learning motivation. Based on the performance of students in CDTF (Sino-German Technical College in English) affiliated to QUST, this thesis deploys both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the relationship between motivation and TestDaF scores. A questionnaire of152CDTF students and some interviews have been done. The data, collected through questionnaires and interviews, were analyzed by using the SPSS. The thesis attempts to answer the following questions:1) What are the motivation factors of students in CDTF?2) Which factors can be used to predict TestDaF scores?3) What are the distinct differences between high-score and low-score groups in terms of motivation?Based on the statistical data and analysis, our findings as follows:1) CDTF students have various motivations of German learning, but integrative and instrumental motivations are common;2) Learning motivations are positively correlated to TestDaF scores;3) Intervention mechanisms can improve the students’language learning efficiency.Studying motivations and their relations with scores in a systematic manner allows researchers to identify methods to motivate language learners. In this way, language teachers can encourage language learners during their acquisitions, enhance their learning efficiency, and motivate their interests and potential, all contributing to second language teaching. This study has practical implications for the improvement of second language learning, especially for students at CDTF.