| Over the past few decades of vast urbanization and social transformation in China,a special group called “left-behind children” has attracted widespread public’s attention.It has been estimated that the drop-out rate tends to be much higher for left-behind children who generally show little interest in learning(English)and have pretty low motivation for study.On the one hand,this is a unique issue within the unique social context of modern China,which deeply involves student,family,school and society,therefore,more concerns and attention should be given to this group of children.On the other hand,motivation,as an important emotional factor that determines the success or failure of study,is what keeps learners passionate about their learning and willing to invest time and energy in it.Accordingly,teaching strategies should be optimized to better stimulate learners’ learning motivation.This research attempts to investigate the status quo and the different types of English learning motivation for left-behind children in the rural junior high school,to find out the effects that teaching motivational strategies have on students’ learning behavior,and to provide suggestions on motivating students,using questionnaires,observations,interviews and case studies to collect and analyze the data,propose solutions and draw conclusions.The major findings are as follows:(1)the overall English learning motivation is at a medium level,and there is no significant difference in English learning motivation among left-behind children;(2)the overall motivational strategies level is higher than the medium level,but it is not well balanced in all dimensions.There are significant differences in teacher factors;(3)Teachers have the greatest impact on students’ English learning,and students have a strong tendency toward peers.Finally,this research provides some useful suggestions on how to motivate left-behind children in rural junior high schools to learn English better.Firstly,change the teacher’s role;secondly,bring out the best in students;thirdly,create a positive classroom atmosphere. |
