An Empirical Study On Young EFL Learners’ Motivation In The Classroom

In the field of language acquisition and learning, learner differences have beenextensively and profoundly studied. Motivation, a hypothetical concept of learners’ affectivefactors, has so far been unanimously identified as an important contributor influencinglearners’ achievement in language learning. Scholars like D rnyei, Nakata, Lightbown&Spada in the west and Gao Yihong, Wen Qiufang in China have been focusing on thedescriptive analysis of language learners’ motivation types and status in the process oflearning. Concerning the developmental change of learners’ motivation, or the intervention oftheir motivation, however, research has been sparse.This study, based on a primary school in a northern city of China, endeavors tocontribute such evidence by looking at the relationship between young English learners’motivation and their teachers’ teaching methods. The participants in the study included216fourth-grade Chinese primary school students (n=216;100girls and116boys), and4English teachers (all female, aged26to36). Questionnaire, interview, and classroomobservation were used to gather data about students’ motivation status, teachers’understanding of curriculum, and their teaching methods. Motivational data analysis withSPSS and analysis of the recorded teaching process in two typical classes pointed to atentative conclusion: teachers’ teaching style and methods used have strong influence onstudents’ motivation levels. Task-based model played a more significant role in arousingstudents’ motivation compared with the traditional, teacher-centered model in the Englishclassroom.