The Learning Motivation Of Interpreting Novices

Different kinds of learning motivations generate various behaviors among all thenovices. Learning motivations are regarded as the most dynamic factor in leveling uplanguage learning. The degree of the participation in the knowledge learning is subjectto different learning motivations. So during the whole process of the knowledgeacquisition, the learning motivations have exerted a significant influence on thelearning effect of mastering a kind of foreign language. Besides, interpreting noviceswho are so malleable are at the beginning of learning interpreting. Therefore, they arethose who also deadly need proper motivations to guide them and their learningmotivations are more likely to change for better learning interpreting.Hence, mainly based on the motivation theory of educational psychology andattribution theory of social psychology, this research is undertaken to solve thefollowing questions.1. What are interpreting novices’ motivations for learninginterpreting?2. What are the main factors to maintain their motivation intensity?3.How do they make attributions for their performance in interpreting? In order toaddress the above problems, the author chooses2013MI students and juniors withinterpreting major of SITS at GDUFS as the survey subject and distributes writtenquestionnaires or online questionnaires to them.The major findings of this survey are as follows: the learning motivations ofinterpreting novices belong to instrumental/extrinsic motivation; some external factorssuch as interpreting teachers and learning environment keep their motivation intensity;they mainly attribute their interpreting performance to aptitude, personal capacity andinterpreting skills.This research makes a meaningful exploration and contribution to theenhancement of these novices’ ability and presents some useful implications for theinterpreting teaching, especially for MI degree program.