Correlation Between High School Students' L2 Learning Motivation And English Achievements

In the globalized context,English learning in China is receiving more and more attention.Motivation is an important factor affecting the success of English learning,which is not only the source power of English learning,but also a continuous driving force in the process of English learning.In the field of motivational researches,a growing dissatisfaction that the integrative motive cannot reflect students' English learning motivation in the context of globalization makes it necessary to redefine the integrative concept.Facing the necessity and referring to possible selves theory and self-discrepancy theory in the psychology,Dornyei put forward L2 Motivational Self System(L2MSS)in 2 005.The theory starts with language learners' views on themselves and their vision of the future to find the reasons for their external actions,and its wide applicability and strong explanation in L2 motivation have been proved by many research ers.In the researches of exploring the correlation between English learning motivation and English achievements,few of them adopted L2MSS as the theoretical framework,and also very few of them focused on high school students.The very few researches under the framework of L2MSS focusing on high school students either lacked the qualitative data or not explored the correlation between the eight variables of L2MSS and English achievements.Therefore,it is necessary to investigate the correlation between English learning motivation and English achievements of high school students from the perspective of L2MSS.This research adopts L2MSS theory as the theoretical framework,and takes 72 high school students as research participants.Through quantitative and qualitative methods,this stu dy aims to investigate the current situation of high school students' English learning motivation based on the L2MSS theory,as well as the correlation between high school students' English learning motivation and their English achievements.This study expects to enrich the relevant studies in the correlation researches between English learning motivation and English achievements of high school students in China,and provide practical suggestions for students and teachers to improve English learning motivation.Following are the main findings of the study:Firstly,the overall English learning motivation of high school students is at a high level.Students' L2 motivation referring to learning efforts and desire is at an upper-middle level.The level of the three dimensions of L2MSS can be ranked in this order:ideal L2 self>L2 learning experience>ought-to L2 self.More specifically,in terms of the level of the eight variables of L2MSS,the top two are international posture and milieu,while the bottom two are family influence and English learning anxiety.Secondly,the correlation between L2 motivation and English achievements is significant and positive though it is a weak correlation.For the three dimensions of L2MSS,only the correlation between L2 learning experience and English achievements is statistically significant and positive.In terms of the eight variables of L2MSS,self-confidence,milieu,and instrumentality-promotion have significant and positive correlations with English achievements,while English learning anxiety has a significant and negative correlation with English achievementsThe findings of the study can help English teachers to combine students' current situation of L2MSS and correlation between L2MSS and English achievements with their teaching practice to stimulate and maintain students' high motivation in English learning,and give teachers some advice and implications to keep the persistence of English learning motivation.