英语论文网

Chapter I Introduction

1.1 Research background
Nowadays, students in China begin to learn English at a young age, mostly from primary school andsome even from the kindergarten. It is fair to say that as long as one continues his study, he has to learnEnglish. However, long years’ English learning doesn’t produce successful English learners as expected.Instead, due to the lack of natural and native environment for English learning and various other reasons, alarge number of students experience varying degree of learning burnout, which not only frustrates Englishteachers and hinders the improvement of teaching quality but also poses a threat to students’ academicperformance and their physical and mental health. This phenomenon is especially common among collegestudents because these students are less motivated to learn English than they were in senior high schoolwhen they had to study hard at English so as to achieve higher scores to enter universities.Under this circumstance, scholars have conducted a lot of researches to explore the reasons forEnglish learning burnout in colleges. But most of these studies are carried out from the perspectives ofdemography which includes gender, grade, family-related factors, etc. and learners’ internal factors such aspersonality traits, motivation, learning strategies and so on (Guo Ying & Zhou Wenjing, 2008). Only a fewones mention that external environment such as learning environment in school and social support alsoexerts influence on learning burnout (Zhang Zhiyao, 1989), but almost no empirical studies have beenconducted to explore how or to what extent environment affects learning burnout.Although most studies have proved that individual factors determine the success of English learning,the external environment also influences the process and outcomes of English learning. After all, any formof second language acquisition is carried out in a certain environment (Spolsky, 1989). For Chinese Englishlearners, there is no such advantageous environment as native speakers. Classroom is undoubtedly the mainplace where English learning takes place and classroom environment becomes the main external factor thatcan affect the outcome of English learning. Therefore, it is very necessary to explore the potentialrelationship between English learning burnout and classroom environment.
.........

1.2 Significance of the study
The present study is of great significance in both theory and practice.Theoretically, the study verified and enriched the relevant theories such as social interaction theorywhich includes constructivism and humanism, Lewin’s dynamic field theory (1936) and Murray’sNeeds-Press theory (1938). Social interaction theory agrees with the proposition of constructivism andhumanism that it is important to respect students’ emotion and needs and meanwhile stresses the role thatteaching process plays in students’ learning. It also insisted that a person learns knowledge and developshimself in the interaction with others. For students, teachers are the best interaction object. (Williams,2000). Classroom is the main place in which students and teachers interact with each other. So goodclassroom environment is very important for successful learning and teaching and teachers should playtheir instructive role and try to create a good learning environment for students. Lewin’s dynamic fieldtheory also insisted that any kind of human behaviors is the res