Effects Of Guided Inquiry Learning On Task Motivation And Language Achievement Of Senior High Students

Traditional teaching of English conjures images of teacher-centered classes and memorization of chunks of linguistic information. Obviously, this lecture style does not contribute to increase learner motivation, which is viewed as one of the main determinants of second/foreign (L2) language learning. Accordingly, the last three decades have seen a considerable amount of research that investigates the nature and role of motivation in the L2 learning as well as instructional methodologies to boost learner motivation. Based on the constructivism learning theory, guided inquiry learning and teaching method, a theoretically motivated approach, is gaining growing attention from researchers and teachers as a tool for efficient language learning and teaching. Therefore, the present study aims to verify the effect of guided inquiry learning pedagogy to help senior high school students enhance their task motivation in English learning. Meanwhile, since language achievement has great value in school evaluation system in China, language achievement has become another research target.Composed by 102 students from a high school in Chongqing, an experimental class and a control class were compared to investigate their state motivation, task motivation, task engagement, persistence to learn and language achievement. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations. There are mainly two questions to answer:1. What is the effect of the use of guided inquiry learning on students’ task motivation when compared to traditional lecture-style English pedagogy?2. Is there a difference in the English achievement between students taught through guided inquiry learning methods and the traditional lecture-style methods?Results indicate that the guided inquiry learning positively impacts task motivation but not to language achievement. Although there was an overall increase in task motivation in the experimental class, some students experienced a decrease in learning motivation, possibly indicating the existence of different learning styles or multiple intelligences. Moreover, there is no significant difference in language achievement. Eventually, this study provides a pedagogical implication that strategic guidance is essential to any heuristic method in high school in China.