A Survey Study Of Secondary Vocational School Students’ Demotivation For English Learning

This study explores secondary vocational students’demotivation for English learning Demotivation for English learning is a common phenomenon among students in secondary vocational schools and its negative impact on their learning is remarkable.Therefore,it is of great importance to explore students’demotivation for English learning and identify demotivating factors so as to find solutions to the demotivation for English learning in secondary vocational schools.It intends to address the following research questions1)How does secondary vocational school students’demotivation for English learning vary across the grades?2)What are the demotivating factors relevant to their demotivation for English learning?The subjects are 522 students from Grade 1 to Grade 3 at Suqian Vocational School.The research instruments include a set of questionnaires,a post-questionnaire interview.Based on relevant internationally published studies(Gardner et al,2004;Dornyei,2001,2009;Kim,2009,2013),the questionnaires of the present study focus on three aspects:L2 English learning motivation,learner factors,and social factors and were further revised by the supervisor.The data collected were then statistically analyzed via Excel 2003 and SPSS 22.0The results of the data analysis are as followsFirstly,students’demotivation for English learning in secondary vocational schools increases across the grades(Grade 1/Grade 2/Grade 3:Mean=2.66/2.82/2.97,SD=.71/.69/.68 respectively).There is indeed a significant difference among different grades(F=8.937,Sig.=.000<.05),which lies in Grade 1 and Grade 3.Moreover,there are statistically significant differences among the three grades in seven motivation categories(SDM/AcaM/PM/AchM/IntM/InsM/StM:F=6.76/3.06/8.56/5.23/5.60/7.94/8.94,Sig.=.001/.048/.000/.005/.004/.000/.000),mainly reflecting in Grade 1 and Grade 3Secondly,five learner factors,i.e.;(desire to learn English well,usage of English,importance of learning English,joy of learning English and self-evaluation,)are found significantly correlated with English learning demotivation.(r=.387/.446/.332/.393./.307,Sig.=.000/.000/.000/.000/.000).This indicates in secondary vocational school students’desire,their attitudes towards English learning such as the usage of English,importance of learning English,joy of learning English and expectation of learning English are seriously inadequate,which finally results in their English learning demotivation.Meanwhile,four social factors,i.e.;(students’satisfaction of English teacher,satisfaction of English book,satisfaction of English teaching ways and parents’ expectation)are significantly correlated with students’learning demotivation(r=.166/.297/.309/.104,Sig.=.000/.000/.000/.018),which means dissatisfaction of English teacher,English book and English teaching ways has a significant relation with the students’demotivation for English learning.According to the findings,some pedagogical suggestions are proposed,i.e.,(Improving Students’Intrinsic Motivation;Establishing Teachers’Positive Image;Optimizing Learning Material;Perfecting Learning Environment)to remotivate students’motivation for English learning.