严格的英文motivation动机论文

Motivation in Second Language Learning and English Teaching

Abstract

It is believed that individual learner variables influence learning outcomes. The

variables

have

been

categorized

into

cognitive

variables,

affective

variables

and

personality

variables.

Of

affective

variables,

motivation

has

been

thought

to

play

a

most

important

role

in

L2

learning.

Therefore,

a

further

study

o

f

motivation

can

really help a lot in English teaching. The article states the information of motivation

and its influence on English language teaching.

Key words:

motivation; second language learning; English teaching

From

the

second

half

of

the

twentieth

century

on,

researchers

have

begun

to

analyze child language learning systematically. They have attempted to discover the

nature of the psycholinguistic process that enables every human being to gain

great

control of an exceedingly complex system of communication.

Learning

outcomes

may

be

influenced

by

individual

learner

variables.

The

motivation

of

learning

plays

very

important

role

in

second

language

learning.

A

language

teacher

should

get

the

intimate

knowledge

about

the

categories

of

motivation, which will help to conduct a well arranged language teaching.

1. Second Language Learning

As the global society in which we live flows more easily across state borders, our

people,

cultures,

companies,

governments,

and

institutions

from

around

the

world

have more contact. Borders are blurred and the importance of bi-and multi-lingualism

becomes

necessary

to

sustain

this

constant

contact.

As

a

result

of

this

increase

in

language learning and teaching, much research has been devoted to exploring ways in

which

a

diverse

set

of

factors

affects

learning

and

acquisition.

The

significance

of

these

variables

lies

in

the

impact

on

how

we

teach

second

languages.

In

a

where

barriers

to

inter-cultural

and

inter

-

lingual

interaction

are

being

torn

down,

this

research will have a

great

impact

on its future.

Our world

has

become

more

globle

1

leaving

fewer

realms

to

exist

in

state

boundaries

and

expanding

the

number

of

activities

involving

different

cultures

and

languages.

Migration,

inter-language

marriages,

bilingual

education,

multi-national

corporations

and

international

organizations

are

just

a

few

phenomena

on

the

rise

that

require

bilingual

or

multi-lingual

participants.

This

trend

has

in

turn

spawned

research

into

two

overlapping

areas:

initial

language

acquisition

in

young

children

and

that

on

acquisition of second language.

The most

important

factor affecting initial

language acquisition is

neurological

developments

in

the

brain.

Children

can

also

have

some

characteristics

that

aid

in

rapid acquisition. They are unselfconscious, learn clear positive advantages associated

with

successful

communication,

and

have

no

other

language

to

fall

back

on.

These

types of advantages play a role in how fast and well children acquire language.

In

second

language

acquisition

and

learning

the

similar

factors

determine

whether

or

not

the

language

is

acquired

or

learned

at

all.

While

initial

language

acquisition

relies

mainly

on

neurological

development

over

time,

second

language

acquisition and learning rely on age only in associated characteristics and not in actual

brain

structure.

More

relevant

to

second

language

learning

are

four

other

factors:

motivation,

opportunity,

environment,

and

personality.

In

this

paper,

I

will

turn

to

motivation in detail.

2. Concept of motivation

The analysis of social context makes it possible to focus on the individual learner

and ask how social effects are carried into language learning. The first connection is

in the development of motivation. According to Carroll, the more motivation a learner

has, the more time he or she will spend learning an aspect of a second language. To be

more specific

about

motivation, three questions arise: Where does motivation come

from?

Is

there

one

kind

of

motivation,

or

more?

What

parts

of

second

language

learning does motivation (of what kind) influence? In one of the earliest statements on

motivation

in

second

language

learning,

Gardner

and

Lambert

suggested

that

individuals’

motivation

to

learn

a

second

language

is

controlled

by

his

attitudes

towards the other group in particular and by his orientation to the learning task itself.

2

Of all school subjects, language learning is the one where attitude is specially relevant:

Gardner points out that:

Language courses

are different from other curriculum topics. They require that

the

individual

incorporates

elements

from

another

culture.

As

a

consequence,

reactions

to

the

other

culture

become

important

considerations.

Motivation

is

commonly thought of as an inner drive or desire that moves one to a particular action.

Some

researchers

hold

that

certain

motivational

anthropological

constants

do

exist.

These include:

1. need for exploration ( curiosity)

2. need for manipulating or controlling the environment

3. need for activity

4. need for stimulation

5. need for knowledge

6. need for ego- enhancement

Motivation is a complex structure, defined by three main components: desire to

achieve a goal, effort extended in this direction, and satisfaction with the task.

3. Types of Motivation

Motivation in L 2 learning has chiefly been used to refer to the long-term fairly

stable

attitudes

in

the

students’

minds.

Gardner

and

Lambert

have

introduced

two

types

of

favorable

motivation.

A

person’s

motivation

behind

learning

a

second

language and the views he holds regarding the L 2- speaking community both come

into play in speed of SLA and degree of proficiency achieved.

Motivation

is

differentiated

a

long

a

continuum

integrative

at

one

end

and

instrumental at

another.

The more that a student

admires the target

culture

reads its

literature, visits it on holiday, looks for opportunities to practice the language, and so

on the more successful the student will be in the L2 classroom. Motivation has been

identified

as

the

learners’

orientation

with

regard

to

the

goal

of

learning

a

second

language. It is thought that students who are most successful when learning a target

language

are

those

who

like

the

people

that

speak

the

language,

admire

the

culture

and have a desire to become familiar with or even integrate into the society in which

3

the language is used. T his form of motivation is known integrative motivation. When

some one becomes a resident in a new community that uses the target language in its

social interact ions, integrative motivation is a key component in assisting the learner

to

develop

some

level

of

proficiency

in

the

language.

It

is

also

theorized

that

integrative

motivation

typically

underlies

successful

acquisition

of

a

wide

range

of

registers and a native like pronunciation.

In

contrast

to

integrative

motivation

is

the

form

of

motivation

referred

to

as

instrumental motivation. Instrumental motivation means learning the language for an

ulterior motive unrelated to its use by native speakers. This is generally characterized

by the desire to

obtain some thing practical

or concrete from the study

of a second

language. With instrumental motivation the purpose of language acquisition is more

utilitarian.

Instrumental

motivation

is

often

characteristic

of

second

language

acquisition, where little or no social integration of the learner into a community using

the target language takes p lace, or in some instances is even desired.

While

both

integrative

and

instrumental

motivation

are

essential

elements

of

success, it is integrative motivation which has been found to sustain long term success

when learning a second language. In some of the early research conducted by Gardner

and

Lambert

integrative

motivation

was

viewed

as

being

of

more

importance

in

a

formal learning environment than instrumental motivation. In later studies, integrative

motivation

has

continued

to

be

emphasized,

although

now

the

importance

of

instrumental

motivation

is

also

stressed.

However,

it

is

important

to

note

that

instrumental motivation has only been acknowledged as a significant factor in some

research,

whereas

integrative

motivation

is

continually

linked

to

successful

second

language

acquisition.

It

has

been

found

that

generally

students

select

instrumental

reasons more frequently than integrative reasons for the study of language. Those who

do

support

an

integrative

approach

to

language

study

are

usually

more

highly

motivated

and

overall

more

successful

in

language

learning.

One

area

where

instrumental

motivation

can

prove

to

be

successful

is

in

the

situation

where

the

learner is provided with

an opportunity to use the target language and therefore, no

chance to interact with members of the target group. Brown makes the point that both

4