A Research On Demotivation Of Freshmen Of Non-English Major In English Learning

Students' learning is affected by many factors,such as learning motivation,learning interests,learning needs and students' attitudes towards learning.Motivation is one of the main factors that decide a learner's second or foreign language learning achievements.Lack of motivation or demotivation will affect English learner's attitude and behavior towards English learning,and even their learning outcomes.There are many factors leading to demotivation,and the exploration of factors contributing to demotivation can help prevent or improve the situation of demotivation,and then improve the efficiency of learning and teaching.Although scholars have done some researches on demotivation in foreign language learning,the studies specifically for the demotivation of freshmen of non-English major in English learning are rare.Therefore,this study analyzes the overall situation of the demotivation of freshmen of non-English major in English learning,and abstracts the main factors causing demotivation,in hope of offering some suggestions to moderate student' s demotivation in English learning and improve the effectiveness of English teaching.In this study,questionnaire is the primary means for collecting data and interview is a supplement to those data based on Humanistic Approach and Krashen' s Affective Filter Hypothesis.258 freshmen of non-English major are selected as subjects from Guangxi Normal University.Based on Sun Yunmei's questionnaire(2013)and referring to Hideki Sakai and Keita Kikuchi's questionnaire(2009),the Questionnaire of Demotivation of college English learning is drawn up and then applied in this study.The research questions addressed in the present study are:(1)Are non-English majors demotivated in English learning in their freshmen year? If they were,then what is the overall situation of demotivation?(2)What are the factors causing demotivation for non-English majors in English learning in their freshmen year in this study?(3)Are there any differences in the effects of these demotivating factors between less motivated group and more motivated group in English learning?(4)Are there any differences in the effects of these demotivating factors between the arts group and science group in English learning? The present study indicates that:(1)Demotivation of freshmen of non-English major in English learning is a common phenomenon.(2)There are six main demotivating factors in this study: teacher(including teaching abilities,teaching methods,and teaching attitudes and so on),inadequate school facilities,lack of intrinsic motivation,experiences of failure,learning contents and materials and influence of classmates.(3)There are significant differences between the less motivated group and the more motivated group in the effects of these six factors.(4)There are no significant differences between the arts group and the science group in the effects of these six factors.Based on these findings,some implications are given from teachers' and students' aspects respectively to improve the situation of demotivation.For teacher:(1)improving professional quality(2)providing proper feedback for students' learning;(3)arranging reasonable teaching contents and tasks;(4)developing students' cooperative study.For students:(1)improving self-confidence;(2)cultivating interests in learning English;(3)trying to study well the given learning materials;(4)making proper attributions of success and failure.