An Analysis Of Demotivating Factors In Vocational College English Learning

Motivation, as an influential factor on second language learning, has beenstudied since the1950s. Motivation is considered to explain why learners choose tostudy a second language and what keeps them interested in learning this language andmaking continuous efforts(D rnyei2005:65). Traditional studies mainly focused onmotivation as a positive influence on foreign language learning, and thus neglectedthe “dark side” of it, that is, demotivation.Demotivation is relatively new in the second language motivation studies. Anincreasing number of scholars have been studying main demotivating factors in thesecond language learning since the1990s. In the researches conducted by Oxford(1998), Gorham (1992) and Christophel (1992), external influences, especially“teacher”, were found to be the main demotivating factors. Later, researchersconcluded that besides external factors, internal factors like “lack of intrinsicmotivation” could also lead to demotivation in the process of learning a secondlanguage (Kikuchi and Sakai,2007). In China, most researches focus on the strategiesof improving students learning motivation, but the research on demotivation is still atits initial stage, simply introducing study background of demotivation abroad (LiuHonggang,2009). Li Yanhui (2004), Zhang Zhe (2007), Liang Liang (2008), etc. havearrived at similar conclusions to researches abroad that “teacher” is a salientdemotivating factor. Among most of the researches, students in elementary schools,middle schools and universities are usually chosen to be the subjects, but vocationalcollege students, as a special group in Chinese education system, are barely studied.This thesis is designed to investigate the demotivating factors in Englishlearning in Chinese vocational colleges. The study was carried out by quantitativeapproach. A total of200first-year and second-year students who major inInternational Trade, Accounting, Finance, and Logistics Management in a vocationalcollege in Shandong province participated in this study and they were asked to complete a close-ended questionnaire on demotivation. The participants were dividedinto “less motivated learners” and “more motivated learners” based on their ownreflections of motivation to further find out whether there are differences indemotivating factors between the two groups. After analyzing data through SPSS16.0,conclusions are reached as follows:1. English learning demotivation is a common andserious issue in vocational colleges and there are six salient demotivating factors forvocational college students:1）Teachers’ competence and teaching styles.2) Learningfailures.3) Inadequate facilities and learning context.4) Inappropriate handling withlearning materials.5) Learning content.6) Lack of intrinsic motivation.2. There arestatistically significant differences between the two groups for five factors (factor1,factor2, factor3, factor4and factor6).3. Demotivation negatively affects vocationalcollege English learners’ language proficiency in terms of four factors: Teachers’competence and teaching styles, Learning failures, Inadequate facilities and learningcontext and Lack of intrinsic motivation.Based on the results of this study, tentative suggestions are put forward with anaim to shed more light on vocational college English teaching and minimize learner’sdemotivation.