Welcome to Francis Academic Press

International Journal of New Developments in Engineering and Society, 2019, 3(5); doi: 10.25236/IJNDES.030505.

Attitudes and Motivation of Chinese Speakers in Relation to their English Proficiency

Author(s)

Fei Liu

Corresponding Author:
Fei Liu
Affiliation(s)

School of Foreign Studies, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Shaanxi, China

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between attitudes, motivation, and adult Chinese speakers’ English proficiency. It aims to find out what kinds of attitudes and motivation led to their success in English learning. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research designs was adopted. 39 adult Chinese speakers who had learned English in China and had already taken the IELTS test were randomly selected as subjects. A questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were adopted as the main instruments. The results indicate that it was people with positive attitudes toward British /learning English and possessed instrumental motivation achieved higher scores.

Keywords

Attitudes; Instrumental motivation; Integrative motivation

Cite This Paper

Fei Liu. Attitudes and Motivation of Chinese Speakers in Relation to their English Proficiency. International Journal of New Developments in Engineering and Society (2019) Vol.3, Issue 5: 40-52. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJNDES.030505.

References

[1] Brown, H.D.(2000)Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy, (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentic-Hall Regents. 
[2] Chihara,T,Oller,J(1978).Attitudes and attained proficiency in EFL: a sociolinguistic study of adult Japanese speaker.Language Learning, vol.28, pp55-68.
[3] Crook,G.,Schmidt,R(1991).Motivation: reporting the research agenda. Language Learning, vol. 41, pp465-512.
[4] Dornyei, Z(1994).Understanding L2 motivation: on which the challenge! Modern Language Journal, vol.78, pp515-523.
[5] Ellis, R(1994)The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[6] Ellis, R(1997).SLA Research and Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[7] Gardner, R.C(1979)Social psychological aspects of second language acquisition. In Giles, H. & St.Clair, R. (eds.). Language and Social Psychology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
[8] Gardner, R.C(1985).Social Psychology and Second Language Learning-The Role of Attitudes and Motivation. London: Edward Arnold.
[9] Gardner, R.C, Lambert, W.E(1959).Motivational variables in second language acquisition. Canadian Journal of Psychology, vol. 13, pp 266-272.
[10] Gardner. R.C, Lambert, W.E(1972).Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House Publisher.
[11] Gardner, R. C, MacIntyre, P. D(1991). An instrumental motivation in language study. Who says it isn’t effective? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, vol 13, pp 57-72.
[12] Hermann, G(1980). Attitudes and success in Children’s learning of English as a second language: The motivational versus the resultative hypothesis. English Language Teaching Journal, vol.34, pp247-254.
[13] Hudson, G(2000). Essential Introductory Linguistics. Blackwell Publishers.
[14] Lukmani, Y. M(1972). Motivation to learn and language proficiency. Language Learning, vol. 22, pp261-273.
[15] Norris-Holt, J(2001).Motivation as a contributing factor in second language acquisition. The Internet TESL Journal, vol. 7/6, June.
[16] <http://iteslj.org/Articles/Norris-Motivaion.html> [accessed on 5th, July 2018].
[17] Oller, J., Hudson, A. Liu, P(1977). Attitudes and attained proficiency in ESL: a sociolinguistic study of native speakers of Chinese in the United States. Language Learning, vol. 27, pp14-21.
[18] Oller, J. L., Baca, Vigil, V(1977)Attitudes and attained proficiency in ESL: a sociolinguistic study of Mexican-American in the southwest. TESOL Quarterly, vol.11,pp 173-181.
[19] Oxford, R, Shearin, J(1994). Language Learning Motivation: Expanding the  Theoretical Framework. The Modern Language Journal vol.78, pp12-28.
[20] Scherer, G.A.C., Wereimer, M(1964). A psycholinguistic experiment in foreign language learning. New York: McGraw 11.
[21] Skehan, P(1989). Individual Differences in Second Language Learning. London: Edward Arnold.
[22] Steinberg, D., Nagata, H, Aline, D(2001). Psycholinguistics-Language. Mind and World. Essex: Longman.
[23] Svanes, B(1988).Attitudes and cultural distance in second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, vol. 9, pp 357-371.
[24] Van Els(1984). Applied Linguistics and the Learning and Teaching of Foreign Languages. London: Edward Arnold.