With the requirement of economic development, English has become more and more important that people begin to learn English with fully enthusiasm even from younger age. Learning a foreign language is not a simple and easy job but sometimes it is boring and dull. Motivation is critical in English learning, thus, how to effectively motivate students in English learning is an important problem. This paper expounds this importance and ways to motivate students. First, the author shows the definition of motivation and then explains intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and their relations, following with some personal factors that influence motivation. At last, according to the rationale, the author suggests several effective ways to motivate students in English learning.
Keywords: Motivation, English language learning, Ways
1. Introduction
In recent years in China, learning English has been a very prevalent tendency and it has become more popular and urgent as China succeeded in bidding to hold the 2008 Olympic Games and entering into the World Trade Organization. Mastery of a foreign language, especially English is viewed as a passport to one’s future success, thus, more and more people swarm into the tide of English learning. In addition, the English learners have become younger and younger that English courses are taught in Grade Three or Grade One of primary schools and even in kindergartens. Furthermore, most of parents send the children to some after-school English classes on the weekends in the hope of promoting the children’s English learning, yet some of the teachers and parents are in frustration of recognition of the children’s low attitude and grades in English learning. Therefore, as teachers should know the psychological theory and the process of English learning in order to encourage and enhance the English learning of students.
Language learning is a very complicated process that is influenced by many factors. Besides the intelligent factor, the non-intelligent factorsmotivation, attitude, interests, age, methods, will and characterare the direct and the most important factors to English learning. Because the behavior of English learners is dominated by cognition, in other words, the learners have a desire in which is a drive to persist in English learning. It is true that two students sit next to each other in a class. They look alike and are similar in ability, but they act very differently. One jumps into assignments, participates eagerly in class, and gets good grades; the other hesitates on assignments, seldom joins in discussion, and barely gets by. Why? This situation is typical. How many times have we heard teachers say,” She could. ” Theories of motivation help us explain these differences. In Jakobovits’s research, he shows that the mainly influential factors to English learning are: motivation which takes up 33%, aptitude which takes up 33%, intelligent which takes up 20%, and others which take up 14%(cited in Jia Guanjie, 1996). Therefore, teachers and parents are interested in motivation, which can drive students in English learning actively.
2. Theoretical Rationale
2.1 Definition of motivation
2.1.1 In the term of psychology
People are always motivated; in fact, they are never unmotivated. They may not be motivated to do what we would prefer they do, but it can never be truly said they are unmotivated (Belyayev, 1963). In psychology, motivation is a force that energizes and directs behavior toward a goal (Paul Eggen & Don Kauchak, 1994). Just as a force moves an object, motivation moves a person. More visualized, if individuals are machines, motivation is as the very engine that powers and directs individuals’ behavior. Motives serve three important functions: 1) energizing us (i.e., turning the key and starting the motivational engine), 2) directing us (i.e., pointing us in a particular direction), and 3) helping us to select the behavior most appropriate for achieving our goals (Don Hamachek, 1989, p.262). In a word, motivation is an inner
