Mar. 2008, Volume 6, No.3 (Serial No.

54)

US -China Foreign Language, ISSN1539-8080, USA

Survey of college non-English adult learners English learning motivation and its implications
ZHANG Rui1, FU Liang2
(1. Foreign Language College, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China; 2. Foreign Languages Department, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China)

Abstract: Nearly all the human behaviors originate from certain kind of motivation. English learning is no exception. For non-English adult learners, English as a compulsory course in college is regulated to learn in curric ulum. In order to better understand adult students and get them to learn, it attaches great importance to study their learning motivations. This thesis aims to put forward the motivation theories and their implications in language teaching, meanwhile studies the motivational factors and presents several motivational strategies. Questionnaire survey is to be conducted among the adult non-English learners in Xinjiang Normal University in order that non-English learnersmotivation and motivational factors could be generally identified. Statistical data analysis is to be done after the survey and the factors affecting the non-English adult learnersEnglish study are expected to be exposed to the readers. Based on the analysis of the data and statistics, some practical implications are provided. Key words: English learning motivation; non-English adult learners; implication

1. Introduction
1.1 Background of the study With the rapid development of psychological linguistics and foreign languages teaching, teacher-centered language teaching style is gradually converted into student-centered teaching style. Much more attention has been drawn to the characteristics of the individual learners then. On account of the various educational, social and psychological backgrounds, language learners vary in each other and learners differences influence their studying outcomes. Of all these differences, eight have been mainly focused and discussed. Respectively they are motivation, intelligence, aptitude, personality, age, sex, first language and learning strategies (Rod Ellis, 1997). Of the eight differences mentioned above, motivation plays an essential part in language learning, Skehan (1997) points out that motivation is the second most powerful factor in forecasting language learning effects and it is only after aptitude. For motivation determines the degree of effort the language learners make in learning foreign language. The more motivation they have, the positive attitude they would adopt and the more efforts they would make in learning the target language. 1.2 Purpose of the study English as a compulsory course is required to learn among the adult non-English learners in universities. The authors of this essay have been teaching non-English adult learners for three or four years. For the writersown
ZHANG Rui, teaching assistant of Foreign Language College, Xinjiang Agricultural University; research field: teaching methodology of second language. FU Liang, teaching assistant of Foreign Languages Department, Xinjiang Normal University; research field: SLA. 47

Survey of college non-English adult learners English learning motivation and its implications

part, in a heterogeneous class, the top learners are always highly motivated and actively participate in the classroom activities whereas the slow learners seldom join in any interactive classroom activities and they are always worried about their English final examinations. Some adult learners even have feelings that they can t improve much in their English learning in college stage and they complain about their college English teaching. There must be some problems in existence in L2 learnerslearning, so it is worthy of being investigated and studied. The purpose of this essay is to cope with the following two research questions: (1) What motivates the non-English learners to study English and how? (2) What can be done to enhance non-English learners motivation in learning English?

2. Literature review
2.1 Definition of motivation Motivation is commonly considered to be an inner drive, impulse, emotion or desire that moves o to a ne particular action; or a general sense, motivation can be defined as the dynamically changing cumulative In arousal in a person that initiates, directs, coordinates, amplifies, terminates, and evaluates the cognitive and motor processes whereby initial wishes and desires are selected, prioritized, operationalised and (successfully or unsuccessfully) acted out(Dornyei & Otto, 1998). Gardener defined motivationas combination of effort the plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes towards learning the language . According to Keller, motivation refers to choices people make as to what experiences or goals they will the approach or avoid, and the degree of effort they will exert in that expect (Keller, 1983). It has an undoubted evident effect on second language teaching and learning and is generally accepted as one of the major determinants of second language teaching and learning. 2.2 Types of motivation 2.2.1 Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation One of the most general and well-known distinctions in motivation theories is that of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation. Deci (1985) defined intrinsic motivation. Intrinsically motivated activities deal with behavior performed for its own sake in order to experience pleasure and satisfaction, such as the joy of doing a particular activity or satisfying one curiosity. According to Vallerand (1983) and his colleagues , there are three subtypes of s intrinsic motivation: (1) to learn (engaging in an activity for the pleasure and satisfaction of understanding something new, satisfying one curiosity and exploring the world); (2) towards achievement (engaging in an s activity for the satisfaction of surpassing oneself, coping with challenges and accomplishing or creating something); (3) to experience stimulation (engaging in an activity to experience pleasant sensations). For extrinsically motivated behavior, on the other hand, is carried out in anticipation of a reward from outside and beyond the self, such as passing an exam, obtaining financial rewards and even certain type of positive feedback are likely to be extrinsic. According to Deci and Ryan (1985), there are four types of extrinsic motivation in existence: (1) External regulation refers to the least self-determined form of extrinsic motivation, coming entirely from external sources such as rewards or threats; (2) Interjected regulation involves externally imposed rules that the student accepts as norms to be followed in order not to feel guilty; (3) Identified regulation occurs when the person engages in an activity because he or she highly values and identifies with the behavior, and sees its usefulness; (4) Integrated regulation is the most developmentally advanced form of extrinsic motivation, involving optional behavior that is fully assimilated with the individual other values and needs. s

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Survey of college non-English adult learners English learning motivation and its implications

2.2.2 Integrative and instrumental motivation The most widely known concepts associated with Gardner work in the L2 field are two orientations (which s is Gardner term for a s goal labeled as integrative and instrumental (Zoltan Dornyei, 2005). Integrative ) motivation concerns a positive disposition toward the L2 group and the desire to interact with and even become similar to valued members of that community; it was defined in Gardner and Lambert (1959) pioneering study s as the willingness to be like valued members of the language community An integrative motive is employed . when learners wish to integrate themselves within the culture of the second language group, to identify themselves with and become a part of that society. Instrumental motivation is the utilitarian counterpart of integrative orientation in Gardner theory, pertaining to the potential pragmatic gains of L2 proficiency, such as getting a s better job or a higher salary. Instrumental motivation reflects practical value and advantages of learning a language. An instrumentally motivated person has very limited interest in the people and the culture of the target language community. 2.3 Leading motivation theories in psychology 2.3.1 Expectancy-value theory The expectancy-value theory, similarly to most cognitive theories, is the belief that humans are innately active learners with an inborn curiosity and an urge to get to know their environment and meet challenges. Therefore, the main issue in this theory is not what motivates learners but what directs and shapes their motivation. According to the main principles of expectancy-value theories, motivation to perform various tasks is the product of two key factors: one is the individual expectancy of success in a given task; the other is the value the s individual attaches to success on that task. The greater the perceived likelihood of goal-attainment and the greater the incentive value of the goal, the higher the degree of the individual positive motivation (Zoltan Dornyei, s 2005). If the individual is convinced that he/she cannot succeed no matter how hard he/she tries, or the task doesn give rise to any valuable achievement, he/she will object to devoting time and energy to do it. In general, t learners who think they are likely to succeed are more highly motivated than those who expect to fail. Those who think they control their own learning and attribute success or failure to their own efforts are more motivated than are those who attribute outcomes to external causes such as luck, a teacher moods, or the difficulty of the task s (Deci, 1975). 2.3.2 Attribution theory The main principle of attribution theory is that the casual attributions one makes of past successes and failures (i.e. inferences about why certain outcomes have occurred) have consequences on future achievement strivings. As Graham (1994) summarizes, the most common attributions in school environments (ability, effort, task difficulty, luck, mood, family background, help or hindrance from others), of which the first two are identified as the most dominant perceived causes. Past failure that is ascribed to stable and uncontrollable factors such as low ability (e.g. failed because I am too stupid hinders future achievement behavior more than failure I ) that is ascribed to unstable and controllable factors (i.e. ones that the learner can change, such as effort; e.g. I didn pass the test because I hadn prepared enough for it Empirical studies (Platt, 1988) show that when t t ). learners ascribe their success to high ability, they are more likely to view future success as highly probable as if they attribute their success to other factors. In the case of failure, a lack of effort attribution would enhance the personal responsibility for the failure and increase striving for success; a task difficulty attribution should decrease personal responsibility and make the change from failure to success less possible, a lack of ability attribution should increase personal responsibility for failure, but it could reduce the possibility of striving for success. If lack
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Survey of college non-English adult learners English learning motivation and its implications

of ability is considered as a stable cause and frequently used to explain repeated failure, it could lead to passive behavior and eventually to learned helplessness (Perry, 1989). 2.3.3 Goal-setting theory Goal setting theory is compatible with expectancy-value theories in that commitment is seen to be enhanced when people believe that achieving the goal is possible and important. Locke (1996) summarizes the main findings of past research under five points: (1) The more difficult the goal, the greater the achievement is; (2) The more specific or explicit the goal, the more precisely performance is regulated; (3) Goals that are both specific and difficult lead to the highest performance; (4) Commitment to goals is most critical when goals are specific and difficult; (5) High commitment to goals is attained when the individual is convinced that the goal is important or the individual is convinced that the goal is attainable. 2.3.4 Self-efficacy theory It refers to people judgment of their capabilities to carry out certain specific tasks and, accordingly, their s sense of efficacy will determine their choice of the activities attempted, along with the level of their aspirations, the amount of effort exerted and the persistence displayed. Bandura (1988) proposes that self-efficacy is determined by four factors: (1) Previous performance; (2) Vicarious learning, that is to say, learning through observing models; (3) Verbal encouragement by others; (4) One physiological reactions, e.g. anxiety. s

3. Procedure, findings and discussions

60 learners with ages from 20 to 35, selected randomly from the Law Department and Economics Department, Xinjiang Normal University took part in the quantitative questionnaire survey (See Appendix). They have been studying in the university for 2 years. Among the subjects, 42 were females and 18 were males. They at least have learned English for 8 years. The results of the survey are laid out in Tables 1-4.
Table 1 Need for achievement 4 3 p 14% 6% 10% n 16 10 18 p 26% 16% 30% n 0 1 0 2% p n 30 25 31

Item 1 2 3

5 n 8 4 6

2 p 50% 42% 52% n 6 8 5

1 p 10% 13% 8%

Note: n=Ss number, p=percentage.

Need for achievement has a direct effect on motivational behavior. The above data (Table 1) imply that adult learners with low achievement needs expend less time and energy in learning English. Adult learners with a low need for achievement demonstrate a weak desire to achieve success in the learning task and thereby do not obtain a sense of achievement satisfaction. As the statistics (Table 2) show that the lower the adult learnersself-efficacy is, the less actively they perform in English learning. For them, adult learners with high self-efficacy are more likely than their low-efficacy counter-parts to choose more difficult tasks, expend greater efforts, persist longer, use more complex learning strategies, and experience less fear and anxiety regarding academic tasks.

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Survey of college non-English adult learners English learning motivation and its implications

Table 2 Self-efficacy motivation

Item 4 5 6 7 5 n 11 7 13 8 p 18% 12% 22% 13% n 14 14 12 18 4 p 23% 23% 20% 30% n 0 0 0 0 3 p n 30 32 31 30 2 p 50% 53% 51% 50% n 5 7 4 4 1 p 9% 12% 7% 7%

Note: n=Ss number, p=percentage.

Table 3 Goal motivation

Item 8 9 10 11 12 5 n 4 5 27 26 24 p 6% 8% 46% 44% 40% n 18 19 18 17 24 4 p 30% 34% 30% 28% 40% n 2 4 4 2 1 3 p 4% 6% 6% 4% 2% n 30 28 5 10 9 2 p 50% 46% 8% 16% 14% n 6 4 6 5 2 1 p 10% 6% 10% 8% 4%

Note: n=Ss number, p=percentage.

Table 3 shows that the adult students set up goals that are related to their job rather than the short purposes, such as passing the exams. This result suggests that in China, few adult learners really have the chance to integrate themselves with the target language society and people. English is usually used as a tool for most learners. It is obvious from the result (Table 4) that effort and persistence are greater when adult learners attribute their performance to internal and controllable causes rather than to external or uncontrollable causes. Attributing success in learning to internal, and mostly stable and controllable causes makes the learners confident that they will continue to succeed on this and similar tasks in the future. However, they will have less confidence if they attribute their success to more external, less stable and controllable reasons. Table 4 Attribution motivation
Item 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 5 n 18 7 7 4 34 30 31 27 p 30% 12% 12% 6% 56% 50% 52% 46% n 7 5 8 7 14 19 17 22 4 p 12% 8% 14% 12% 24% 32% 28% 36% n 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 p 8% n 24 18 24 22 6 9 9 9 2 p 40% 30% 40% 36% 10% 14% 14% 14% n 6 30 20 25 5 2 4 2 1 p 10% 50% 34% 42% 8% 4% 6% 4%

Note: n=Ss number, p=percentage.

4. Implications for enhancing non-English adult learners motivation

Since English teacher is the prompter and guider of the class, they play essential roles in classroom teaching

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Survey of college non-English adult learners English learning motivation and its implications

and greatly influence the learning behaviors of the adult learners. The author would like to provide implications and suggestions from the perspective of the teachers. 4.1 Arouse learners interest of participating classroom activities Since interest is closely connected with curiosity, the teacher faces up to the challenge of getting and maintaining adult learnersinterest in the class. He/She has to come up with a variety of ways to arrest the studentsattention. Generally speaking, adult learnersinterest can be aroused when the teacher makes his/her class interesting and unusual. Therefore, it is necessary for the teacher to design and select varied interesting and challenging classroom activities. During the course of participating in the classroom activities, students learning motivation is highly maintained and they tend to heightened level of interest in the task. Classroom activities such as games, presentations and discus sions are very helpful in increasing adult learnersmotivation. Only when they are fully involved in the participation of the classroom activities, they gradually form the interest of learning English. 4.2 Help learners set suitable goals Helping adult learners set realistic and achievable goals is a very important job for English teachers. Most of the adult learners do not have clear goals of learning English. They study English just because they have to, but seldom set clear goals during the course of learning. As we know, the goal-setting processes definitely affect the foreign language motivation since the adult learners know what to do and how to do clearly. Students are encouraged to schedule how many words they want to bear in mind each day, whic h passage they would like to retell every week, what kind of examination they want to pass, etc. By means of setting up the short-term and long-term goals, adult learners would have a clear picture in their minds about what to do and the pace of achieving their goals.

5. Conclusion
Through the research work, it is easy for us to detect that there are some problems in existence in adult learnersEnglish learning, in particular, the low motivation in language learning. However, if we adopt the right way to arouse their motivation and prompt them to learn, they would make great progress in learning and upgrade the level of English study.
References: Rod Ellis & Skehan. 1997. Classrooms, goals structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology. Keller & Vallerand. 1983. Motivation: Reopening the research agenda. Language Learning. Gardner & Lambert. 1959. Teaching and researching motivation. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Researching Press. Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. 1985. Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum Press. Dornyei, Z. 1994. Motivation and motivation in the foreign language classroom. Modern Language Journal. Granham & Locke. 1996. Adult English learning motivation and its implication. Shanghai Foreign Language Teaching Press. Bandura & Platt. 1988. The second language learning motivation study and its problem (24th ed.). Foreign Language Teaching Press.

Appendix:
Questionnaire There is no right or wrong answer for the following questions. What you are expected to do is to write down the number which best indicates your opinion on the answer sheet. (1=strongly disagree; 2=disagree; 3=neither agree nor disagree; 4=agree; 5=strongly agree) 52

Survey of college non-English adult learners English learning motivation and its implications Need for achievement: 1. I have a high need to learn English well. 2. I am eager to achieve a high level of English proficiency. 3. Need for success and achievement in English learning urges me to obtain high score in English courses. For self-efficacy motivation: 4. When I graduate from the university, I think I can understand articles in English magazines. 5. When I graduate from the university, I think I can speak English fluently for daily use. 6. When I graduate from the university, I think I can keep English diary. 7. When I graduate from the university, I think I can basically understand the English radio program, such as Special English. For goal motivation: 8. I want to pass CET-4/CET-6. 9. I want to pass the exams of the English course for my degree. 10. If I learn English well, I will find a good job. 11. If I am good at English, I will be more competent than my colleagues. 12. If I am proficient at English, I will expect a job promotion in my future career. For attribution motivation: 13. When I learn English better than my classmates, I think it is because I am better at learning English. 14. If I fail in English course, I tend to think I lack English ability. 15. I think that my success in learning English is mainly due to my language ability. 16. If I do not succeed in the English course, it would cause me to question my English ability. 17. My success in learning English is a direct result of my effort. 18. I succeed in English because I expend much time and energy on it. 19. When I get a low score in the English course, I think it is because I haven studied hard enough. t 20. When I fail in an English course, I tend to think it is because I didn expend enough time and effort on it. t

(Edited by Katrina and Doris)

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