Effect Of POA-based Intensive English Reading Class On Motivationto Learn Englishamong English Majors

Proposed by Professor Wen Qiufang,the Production-oriented Approach(POA)is a localization theory of English teaching in Chinese university.This theory has been widely drawing attention from and practiced in academic circles.The results of existing studies show that the Production-oriented Approach can effectively improve learners’ learning efficiency.As one of the important indicators of learning,motivation is an important factor to stimulate learning behavior and is an internal driving force to maintain long-lasting learning.L2 Motivation plays an important role in L2 teaching and learning.L2 Motivational Self System(D?rnyei,2005)consists of the Ideal L2 Self,the Ought-to L2 Self,and the L2 Learning Experience.Dynamic Systems Theory has been gradually used in L2 motivation research,providing a theoretical reference for the current research on L2 motivation in multicultural contexts.This study attempts to investigate the effect of POA on students’ L2 motivation in Intensive English Reading class using Dynamic Systems Theory as a framework.This study uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods such as questionnaires and follow-up interviews.The subjects of this study are two classes of English majors in the same grade.They are divided into an Experimental Group and a Control Group.Among them,there are 23 students in the Experimental Group,whose Intensive English Reading class uses the POA teaching mode;and 27 students in the Control Group,whose Intensive English Reading class uses the traditional teaching mode.The purposive sampling method is used to select 8 and 5students from the Experimental and Control Groups respectively for follow-up interviews.The experimental period is one semester.According to various basic conditions equal to those of the Experimental and Control Groups,questionnaires are conducted on their L2 motivation before and after the experiment,and semi-structured interviews were conducted in the pre-,mid-and post-experimental stages.The results of the study reveal that(1)in the traditional teaching mode,the L2 motivation of the Control Group does not change significantly before and after the experiment.The L2 motivation of the Experimental Group significantly changes under the POA teaching mode,among which the Ideal L2 self and L2 Learning Experience change most obviously.(2)The attractors that contribute to the deepening of the attractor basin of Ideal L2 Self in the Experimental Group include: “Increased Awareness of Gap Driven by Output Tasks”,“Clearer Direction for Effect by Completing Output Tasks” and “Peer Performance”.(3)The attractors that contribute to the deepening of the attractor basin of L2 Learning Experience in the Experimental Group contain “Varity of Output Tasks”,“Content of Output Tasks”,“Opportunities to Use Prior Knowledge while Completing Output Tasks”,“Teacher Guidance”,“Group Discussion”,“Peer Performance” and “Peer Assessment”.Based on the results of the study,the following insights can be drawn:(1)As a teaching method that can effectively enhance learners’ L2 motivation,POA can be widely used in college English teaching;(2)teachers should pay attention to classroom activities or tasks.The difficulty of the tasks should be slightly higher than the learners’ actual level,so that learners can find the gaps and improve themselves;the form of the tasks should be diversified;the content or topics of the tasks should be authentic;the design of the tasks should aim at the learners’ application of what they have learned;(3)teachers should not dominate in teaching,but should act as a guide for the learners and give full play to the role of “scaffolding”;(4)assessment is an indispensable part of teaching.The form should be a combination of various assessment methods,and the content should be relevant and not generalized.