A Study On English Classroom Motivational Changes Of Senior High School Learners From The Perspective Of L2 Motivational Self System Theory

Motivation is one of the important factors for the success of English learning and teaching.It has attracted the attention of many researchers and educators,and has always been one of the hot topics in the research field of second language acquisition at home and abroad.Dornyei’s(2005)“L2 Motivational Self System(L2MSS)” theory provides a new theoretical framework for motivation research in the multicultural context.Researchers focus on the long-term changes of motivation in the L2 learning process,and few studies have involved the classroom motivational changes of L2 learners.Based on Dornyei’s L2 MSS theory,this study explores the L2 motivation status of high school English learners in classroom.This study focuses on the following questions: 1)What is the L2 MSS status of senior high school English learners? 2)What are the characteristics of the L2 motivational changes in English class? 3)Is there any correlation between the L2 MSS status and the L2 motivational changes in the high school students’ English class? If yes,which part has the highest correlation,and which part is the lowest correlation?This study combines quantitative research with qualitative research.The Quantitative research adopts questionnaires to explore learners’ L2 MSS status,while the qualitative research is conducted in the form of semi-open interview.A total of 127 students from a high school in Shandong Province were selected as the research subjects,including 67 males and 60 females.Through the way of self-drawing track chart,the change of students’ classroom motivation is analyzed.Ten subjects were randomly selected to participate in the semi-open interview,with the purpose of supplementing the interpretation of the L2 MSS status and their motivational changes.The study uses SPSS25.0 for data analysis,and through descriptive statistics students’ L2 MSS is analyzed;by regression analysis,the correlation between the L2 MSS and classroom motivation changes was explored.The findings of this study showed that: 1)There were differences in three aspects of the L2 MSS of the subjects participating in the survey.Among them,the overall “L2learning experience” strength of the subjects was the highest,followed by the “ought-to L2 self”,and the strength of the “ideal L2 self” was the lowest.2)In a relatively short time dimension,students’ motivation for L2 learning in class is still dynamic.With the progress of classroom teaching,students’ classroom motivation presents the law of temporal development.There are great differences in the level and changing trend of individual motivation among learners.3)The L2 MSS status of the participants in this survey are correlated with their English class motivation.Among them,the L2 learning experience has the highest correlation with motivation.The correlation between oughtto L2 self and motivation is intermediate.And the ideal L2 self has the lowest correlation with motivation.The findings of this study are helpful for teachers to better understand the changes of students’ classroom motivation and adjust their teaching methods timely.The research puts forward corresponding strategies to improve students’ L2 MSS status in three aspects,and which provides practical measures for teachers to improve students’ L2 learning motivation.The study further enriches the empirical study of L2 MSS theory and expands the scope of application of the theory.