英语论文网

Chapter One Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study
Since 1970s, the focus of L2 acquisition has shifted from the way the teacherteaches to the way the learner learns. It has been increasingly realized that the successof L2 acquisition depends largely on the learner him / herself. Besides, linguisticstudies focus more and more on the learner factors influencing foreign language study.According to some scholars, motivation is the most important one among all thelearner factors influencing foreign language study. Hence, it’s out of doubt thatmotivation plays a vital role in English learning.Researches of FL motivation starts from the perspective of social Psychology.Since 1950s, Gardner and Lambert (1959, 1972) conducted researches related to L2learning motivation from the perspective of classical social psychological model.Researches on FL learning motivation came into an era of hundreds of flowers inbloom since 1980s. And the scope of the studies ranges from the social perspective toschools and classrooms where foreign language is learnt. By comparison, studies onlearning motivation in China occur relatively late, which have experienced thetransition from the introduction and translation of foreign theories to deeperresearches since 1980s. Then many researches have been carried out related tolearning motivation and learner factors (for example, English learning strategies,attitudes and so on) and the internal structure of motivation. Learning motivation hasbeen introduced to China for many years and both researchers and teachers readilyacknowledge that motivation is of crucial importance in learners’ good command ofEnglish. Students with different learning motivations may lead to their different waysof English study and the efforts they exert in English learning can affect their learningresults. However, many teachers fail to be aware of students’ specific motivations forlearning English. They show complete lack of the knowledge about students’ realreasons for learning English and the degree of efforts students devote to English study.Therefore, it is necessary for us to find out the underlying reasons of students’motivation in learning English and the possible factors influencing students’sustaining motivation, especially for the English teachers who want to stimulatestudents’motivation.
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1.2 Purpose and Significance of the Study
The present study focuses on the investigation of the correlation between Englishlearning motivation and self-identity changes of the non-English-major graduatestudents. The purposes of the study are as follows:Firstly, the study aims at exploring the main motivation types of thenon-English-major graduate students. What is generally acknowledged by theresearchers and teachers in previous studies is that motivation plays an vital role inlearning English. Yet disagreement about motivation types do exist among thesestudies and most of them are directed to undergraduate students or the English majorstudents. Little attention is paid to the kind of motivation non-English-major graduatestudents possess. Hence, it is necessary for the author to probe into the main types ofmotivation of non-English-major graduate students in this study.Secondly, the current study attempts to have a basic description of thenon-English-major graduate students’motivational intensity.Thirdly, this study pays close attention to whether non-English-major graduatestudents have undergon