Attitude, Motivation and Achievement in EFL

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圈中學生學習英語動揖態度與成就之相關

ATIITUDE. MOTIVATION AND ACHIEVEMENT IN EFL

1.1 Introduction

The question of why some students attaingreater achievement than others under the same conditions has been puzzleJ over for many years. Many language teachers, applièd linguist尬， and psycholinguists have written many articles and books in answer to this query. Accordingly, a singnificant body 01' research literature has focused on the role of aptitude, attitude and motivation, personality characteristics and environmental variables in the second or 1'oreign language learning process. In addition, numerous explanations have been o1'1'ered to account for such variation in second or foreign language achievement. For example, Jakoborits (1970:98) attributes 33 percent of language achievement to aptitude, 20 percent to intelligence, 33 percent to perseverance or motivation and 14 percent to other 1'actors. lt is evident that both motivation and aptitude are equally important in the course of language learning.

Furthermore, Gardner and Lambert (1972: 132) contend that achievement in a second language relies not only on intellectual capacity and language aptitude but also on t he learner's attitudes toward representatives 01' the other ethnolinguistic group involved. The learner's motivation for language study would be determined by his attitudes. In other words, attitudinal variables are among the factors that contribute to the motivation to learn; the direction of causation is from attitudes toward learning and achievement.1

A major goal of such resean:h has been to investigate the relative influence of such affective variables (e.g. attitude, aptitude and motivation) on achievement in second language or foreign language learning (Gardner & Lambert 1972; Tucker et al. 1976; Oller et al. 1977a; Oller & Perkins 1978; Chihara et a1. 1978; Gardner 1981; Krashen Inl; 01ler 1981; Vilá Barreto 1983).

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Since . a significant proportion of research evidence indicates a relationship between the !earner's language achievement and his motivation and attitudes towards second or foreign language learning, it will be worthwhile to see whether Chinese second year junior high school students studying English as a foreign language2 have similar patterns of cor-relation between motivational and attitudinal variables and English achievement as ∞ m monly observed.

This study on motivation and attitudes is based on Gardner and Lambert's research (1972) on the theory of second !anguage learning which has been described as an attempt to define and analyze the major psychological and social factors determining success or failure in second language learning. According to Gardner and Lambert, the learner's motiva-tion to learn a new language is determined by his attitudes toward the other culture ethnic group and by his orientation toward learning that language.

They have postulated two types of orientation, namely "integrative" orientation and “instrumentat" orientation. If the major reason for studying the language is for its utilitarian value, such as getting a better job or passing entrance examinations, the motivation is said to be “instrumental", and “integrative" if the student has a desire to be integrated into the target language group or culture, to learn more about the native speakers and their ways of life or strongly wants to be∞ me a member of the speech community.

The stud y includes measures of motivational orientation, motivational intensity, and students' attitudes toward English learning tasks, foreign language learning and native English speakers. In additioo, other factors such as students' frequency of English usage and their parental encouragement are also studied to supplement and ∞ mplement informa-tion w hich may be useful for the English teachers in the Republic of China (ROC).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Although much of the research evidence has generally indicated that achievement in a second or foreign language is related to attitudinal and motivationa! variables, we stiU want to ascertain whether the resu!ts would be the same using Chinese junior high school students studying Eng1ish as a foreign language as our sample group.

The following questions are specifically addressed in this study.

(1) Are both instrumental and integrative orientation present ín junior high school English learners in the ROC?

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閩中學生學習英語動融融度與成就之相關

(2) Is there any significant correlation between students' affective variables and their English achievement一 -G.p.A.?3

(3) Do positive attitudes toward the English language, its speakers, and foreign la i1-guage learning serve as a support for motivational intensity?

(4) Is there any relationship between the attitudinal and motivational variables?

(5) Are there any differences between male and female, urban and rural students' motivation and attitudes toward learning English?

(6) Are

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English speaking" parents more supportive of their chi1dren's English language-learning task than those who speak little or no English?

1.3 Limitations of 曲eStudy

Limitations ∞ ncerning the present study are noted as follows:

(1) The concepts of attitude and motivation need more detai1ed clarification. The lack of more adequate definition of the ∞ ncepts under investigation might have been a major cause for the discrepancies in the results of ear1ier studies.

(2) The information avai1able here on the subjects' motivation and attitudes toward English is based on self-reported data. Therefore, the subjects may tend to answer the questions in terms of what seems to be a sociaUy acceptable response. These data might be affected by a number of factors as reported by Ol1er (1977: 180-3).

(3) Each subject's EFL achievement was determined by self-reported G.P.A. which was graded by different teachers.

(4) The questionnaires were administered by their own teachers. Certain disadvantages of the method of administration can not be ignored. For instance, the subjects might not be serious enough in answering the questions pertinent to their attitudes and motivation toward EngIish (L缸， 1984: 11). This study is valuable only to the extent that subjects' 片eportsare honest.

(5) The samp1ing of the subjects is restricted to 15 public junior high schools. Those students who are studying'in private schools or those who are distributed to special classes4 are not included in this study.

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J.4 Research Hypoth臼es

This study focuses on the relationship of motivation and sttitude to EFL achievement in the ROC where students' exposure to English is not plentiful enough. According to Gardner's model, it is assumed that the attitudes and beliefs held by the subjects are a reflection of those held by their parents and society in general. The hypothesis is that given a predominantly monolingualωcial environment, the learning of a foreign language, i.e. English, is encouraged or discouraged by the learner's specific attitudes and beliefs which serve as motívational support that eventually leads to achievement in foreign language learning. Therefore, it is hypothesized that some specific favorable attitudes toward (l) thè target language culture, (2) the learning of the target languag巴， and (3) foreign language will correlate positively with motivational orientation which in turn correlates positively with foreign language achievement measured as grade point average (G.P.A.).

Following are the stated research hypotheses:

(1) Students of English are not only integratively or instrumentally motivated; they are likely to exhibit some comb'ination of both motivational orientations that lead to "achievement.

(2) The significant ∞rrelation exists between students' motivational intensity and their English achievement.

(3) Positive attitudes toward the English långuage, its speakers, and foreign language learning serves as a support for motivational orientation (both integrative and instrumental).

(4) There is significant relationship between the attitudinal and motÏ\ational variables. (5) There are differences between male and female, urban and rural students' attitudes andmotivation toward English.

(6) English speaking parents are more supportive of their children's English learning tasks than those who speak little or no English.

2. THE FRAMEWORK

2. J General Background

Chomsky (1965: 30-35) proposed the existence of a language acquisition device in every child which allowed first-language acquisition as a biological function一 -an innate

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屆中學生學習英語動機艙度與成說之相輔

capacity shared by all human beings. Lambert (1972 :290-91) suggested that -children approach first-language learning with a basic desire to communicate with people in their environment and to become simi1ar to persons whom they value in that environment. These theories are far from ∞ nflicting and could be oonsidered rather as ∞mplementary to each other.

There views have been extended to second or foreign language learning and incor-porated into a social-psychological model (Gardner & Lambert, 1972: 12 一 13).

This model reflects the shift in theoretical orientation of many linguists, psychologists, and language teachers who now regard second or foreign language learning as a process similar to first-language acquisition (e.g., Cook, 1969, 1973; Ervin-Trip, 1974;Tuckeret al. 1976; McLaughlin, 1978). Acoordingly, Gardner & Lambert (1972 :3) proposed that success-ful language learners have to identify themselves with members of the target language ethnolingu 的tic community and be wi1ling to acquire at least some of the aspects of their behavior.

It follows that second or 1'oreign language learning should not be solely regarded as the result of an innate ability for acquiring a means 01、 communication ， nor as totally dependent on age or intelligence, nor as the result of carefully constructed methods of teaching or occasional informal learning. Second or foreign language learning should be approached primarily as a social-psychological phenomenon, rather than as a purely peda-gogical one (Gardner, 1979: 193).

Wallace Lambert was among the first to propose such a theory for second language learning. His formulation, in turn, served as ti1e basis for a number of subsequent research ef1'orts as mentioned earlier. In this theory, if an individual successfully acqu 叮es a second language, he will gradually adopt various aspects of the behavior which characterize members 01' another linguistic~cultural group. In addition, a language learner's attitudes toward the other group and his orientation toward language learning wil1 regulate or oontrol his motivat ion to learn the language.

This theory provides a feasible explanation for achievement differences among learners who have been exposed to the 油me teaching methods and environment. Moreover, it allows for a symbiotic interaction between social psychology and sociolinguistics in t he explanation 01' se∞ nd or foreign language pheno

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intelligen印， phonetic coding ability, or grammatical sensitivity (Carroll, 1977:3-4)? Or should it pay more attention to the role and effect of ωcio-affective variables such as attitude and motivation?

Brown (1980: 100-1) points out the relevance of the systematic study of the socio-affective domain in second language learning by arguing that

“

In recent years there has been an increasing awareness of the necessity in second language research and teaching to examine human personality in order to find solutions to perplexing problems".

2.2 Cognitive VS. Affective

Research has identified two basic factors as responsible for achievement differences in second language learning: namely, aptitude and motivation (Lambert et al. 1963; Feenstra 1967; Lambert & Gardner 1972; Gardner & Smythe 1974a, 1974b; Gardner 1980, 1981; Carroll 1981). Gardner (1973: 236-7) reports the following on a series of studies done in Canada,

The actual results of these studies indicate that in fact language aptitude is related to French achlevement and moreover that a complex of attitudinal-motivational variables are also related to French achievement. . . . These two clusters, or factors, are independent of each other and seem to involve different aspects of second language skills.

This seems to 詞y that though these two factors are associated with achievement in language learning, they do not correlate; that is, one cannot be used to make predictions about the other, and that a person with either strong aptitude or motivation can success-fully learn a second or foreign language.

2.3 Aptitude, Attitude & Motivation

Aptitude is innate, and relatively fixed, about which a teacher can do nothing (Lai 1977: 85), while attitude is relatively enduring organization of beliefs about an object or a situation, predisposing one to respond in some preferential manner (Rosenberg et al. 1960). An attitude is ‘relatively enduring' because it is learned. Because it is learned, it can

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園中學生學習英聶動機態度與成就之相關

be taught. Attitudes are situational and can therefore be generalized. Language teacher, c1ass, book, and homework are within the frame of reference of learning and within the situation of school. In short, attitude is acquired and can be cultivated or developed in the ∞urse of time.

Research suggests that whereas aptitude and motivation are independent of each other as mentioned above, attitudes and motivation are closely r是lated (Gardner 1981:103-4). Furthermore, motivation appears to derive from the attitudinal characteristics of the learner (Gardner 1973: 244). This concept of motivation has been expanded in more recent litera-ture to what is identified as “integrative motive" which links the effort and attitudes in-volved in the goal of learning a second language (Gardner & Smythe 1974a: 14-24, 1974b: 33-36; Gardner et a1. 1978: 181; Gardner 1981:105-10). Though this concept is more logical than empirical, it captures the close assoCÍation between certain attitudes and motiva-tion as related to second or foreign language learning. For purposes of the present study, attítudes are said to refer to beliefs and notions about the target language (i.e. English), while motivation refers to the amouil.t of effort the learner is willing to make in the learning task and hisfher reason for wanting to learn the language.

Several studies suggest that individuals with a high language aptitude are more success-ful in acquiring a second or foreign language than those with low linguistic abilities (Carrol 1973, 1977, 1981). Gardner & Smythe (l974b:38) also state that “language aptitude is somewhat of a static variable in that regardless of its determinants it is a relatively stable characteristic of the student. It can not be changed". While acknowledging that the question of whether language aptitude is or is not fixed or innate is sti1l in need of further research: Carrol (1981: 86) observes "what evidence 1 have suggests that language aptitude is relatively fixed over long periods of an individual's life span, and relatively hard to modify in any significant way." Thus, it would seem that even though a language teacher might not be able to significantly enhance a learner's aptitude, something could be done about his/her attitude and motivation so that the learner can succeed “when the talents he/she brings to the task are only moderate, or even minimal".

SimilarIy, individuals strongly motivated toward learning the target language and with favorable attitudes toward its speakers and their culture, tend to become more proficient and successful (Lambert et a1. 1963; Gardner & Lambert 1972). It seems that a learner with both a high aptitude and strong positive attitudes wi1l be likely to do well in language learning (Lambert 1972:293). However, it also seems that in certain social contexts people are able to master a second language no 訂latter what their aptitude might be as'suggested

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by Gardner and Lambert (1972 :2).

These well-known and often cited studies by Gardner and Lambert were done mostly in French Montreal. Results again indicate two independent factors as responsible for se-cond or foreign language learning achievement, i.e. aptitude and motivation. The data also suggest that attitude and motivation are closely interrelated and heavily dependent on the social environment. These variables are said to be significant predictors of achievement in language learning, at times "even surpassing aptitude in predictive strength". (Edwards 1980:481).

2.4 Integrative vs. Instrumental Motivation

Similar studies were also condicted in among other places, Maine and Louisiana, in an effort to further clarify the relationships between the so-called socio-affective variables and second language learning (Lambert 1972). These studies concluded that integratively motivated students were better achievers than those who were instrumentally motivated toward learning the second language.

Instrumental motivation was found in students who studied second or foreign language for utilitarian reasons such as furthering a career or fulfi1ling a college requirement, while integrative motívation was found in learners who wanted to integrate themselves into the target language community or to become one of the members of that group.

In recent yeaìs evidence which challenges those claims has begun to emerge. Lukmani (1972) demonstrated that among Marathi-speaking students of English (India), instrumental motivation was a better predictor of achievement. And Lai's study (1977) on college students studying English in Taiwan also suggested that successful learners of a foreign language were instrumentally oriented rather than integratively oriented.

Studies done by Liu (1973) and 01ler et a1. (l977b) with native speakers of Chinese in the United States and by Chihara and Oller (1978) with Japanese students of Eng1ish and Lai (1984) with Chinese senior high school students of Eng1ish in Taiwan also reported results that were not similar to those of Gardner and Lambert. These studies suggest that the relationship between affective factors and achievement is indeed more comPlex than was assumed in ear1ier studies and that some other factors such as individual personality charac-terisitcs or social context may be involved (Gardner 1981: 102-3).

The present study follows this framework as it seeks to further clarify and test some of

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閩中學生學習英語動機態度與成就之相關

the hypotheses discussed in 1.4.

3. METHODS AND PROCEDURES

3.1 Measurement Instrument

Gardner and Lambert developed a battery of measures which permits a fairly detailed analysis of the attitudinal and motivational characteristics of second language learners. This test battery has been adapted and modified to suit different subject-pupulations and settings which consequently led to the development of measures of known psychometric properties (Upshur et al., 1978).

In the present study, a five-part questionnaire adapted from the Foreign Language Attitude Questionnaire (Gardner & Lambert, 1972: 20-27, 147-58; Thompson, 1977: 44-49; Vi話， 1983:70-74; L缸， 1984: 128-29) was used to collect the data. Some of the items were carried over verbatim whi1e others were adapted to fit the particular cir-cumst-ances of Chinese students.5 Questions were of five types:

1. The personal and language backgrounds of the subjects: Items were designed to obtain information about the subject's personal background such as the local巴 of school, sex, age, the years of learning English before entering junior high school, G.P.A. in English and English oral proficiency. Further, the parents' Eng1ish oral proficiency and parental encouragement for the study of English are also included.

2. Orientation Inde叉: In this section, there were 8 alternative reasons typically given to identify the type of motivation of the learners. Subjects were asked to check one of five possible reactions to the reasons, ranging from strong disagreement to strong agreement indicating the extent to which they are applicable to the subject. Reason 1, 3, 5 and 7 are instrumentally worded, while 2, 4, 6 and 8 are integrative. This is to be ca1culated by subtracting the integrative scores from the instrumental scores of the learners. A high positive score on this measurement indicates an instrumental orientation toward learning English, while a negative score indicates an integrative orientation.

3. Motivation Index: It is used to indicate the motivational intensity of the learners toward the study of English in terms of their reported amount of effort put into classroom assignments, thê student's perception of the difficulty of the language, and hisjher e吋 oy ment of the course. It consists of nine positivelv (ltems 1-5) and negatively (ltems 6-9)

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worded statements about studying English rated on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) indlcating the extent to which they are app1icable. A high score represents the student's self-report of a high degree of effort made in learning EngIish.

4. Foreign Language and Culture AUitude Index: It indicates the learner's evaluative reactions toward foreign language learning, English culture, and English-speaking people.

Again, these are to be rated on a scale of 1 to 5 indicating the degree which represents the learner's attitudes. This index consists of a total of twenty statements. A high score indi-cates a positive affective predisposition toward learning English, its speakers and foreign language learning.

5. Frequency of English Usage Index: It is used to see how frequently subjects speak English to a 1ist of people and how often subjects practice language skills. In this part, 10 items were all forced-choice questions with three alternatives (i.e. never, sometimes, often) on a 3-point scale. Again a high score indicates frequent use of EngIish in their daily lives and frequent practice of language skills.

3.2 Subjects

Subjects for this study were 826 second year students studying in 15 different junior high schools in the ROC. 6 Students included in the investigation were assumed to have had the same experience in learning English as a foreign language. In general, they started learning English when they entered junior high schoo1.7 This is their second year of English. They had only three hours of English per week during the first year and four hours in the second year in junior high school. 8 The students' ages ranged from 12 to 17. Their mean age is 14.15.

Based on the accessibility of the schools, the students were investigated directly through the schools concerned. The number of pub1ic schools in the different localities that answered the questionnaire is as follows:

Taipei city Taipei county Taichung ∞ unty Taitung county ξJA 『 11 Hualien county Tainan county Kaohsiung county 2 -480 一

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園中學生學習英語動機態度與成就之相關

3.3 Collection of the Data

The data analyzed in this study were mostly gathered through mailed questionnaires,

except the questionnaires from the Affiliated High School of National Taiwan Normal University which were hand-delivered to the researcher's office. The subjects were tested on the nature of their attitude and motivation toward Eng1ish language and English learning.

3.4 Assessment of English Achievement

There were two basic measures of English achievement. One was the student's English G.P.A. which was expected to be an indication of the learner's knowledge of the language. This was self-reported based on the G.P.A. they received for the first year English ∞叮se. In addition, students were asked to rate their own Englísh oral proficiency. This rating would indicate the learnet's perception of their oral proficiency in English. It must be noted that self-perception of proficiency or achievement has been found to be a reliable measure of actual attainment (Gardner & Smythe, 1981: 519).

3.5 Procedur臼

1200 copies of questionnaire were sent out on Nov. 20, 1985 to the 15 junior high schools included in this study, and a11 were returned by Dec. 10, 1985. After discarding questionnaires with insufficient information for category identificatíon, 826 were processed by the computer.

The data analyzed ín the present study were gathered through questionnaires whích were distributed to the students during a regular c1ass session by their English teachers. Students took about 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire. In an effort to encourage honest responses, learners were advised that this was not part of their course evaluation, that their answers would not be discussed with their teachers, and that they were not to sign their names. At the same time, it was made c1ear that the results of their answers would not affect their grades. In additíon, the subjects were informed that the data from questionnaires would be used to improve the counselling and teaching procedures to be used in the future. (Chastain, 1975:55). Students were also urged to rate the items on the

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questionnaire in terms of their own opinions and not according to what is generally believed or expected by others (Vilá 1983:25-26).

3.6 Statistica1 Ana1ysis

The relationships between the subjects' EFL achievement and attitudinal and motiva-tional variables, as well as the attitudinal and motivational variables were determined by the computed result of the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. The correla-tion coefficients were considered significant if they had reached the .05 level.

The analyses were first done for the entire sample of 826 subjects and then separate analyses were done for each group of subjects classified by sex and location of school. The differences among different groups of subjects as to their motivational orientation, motivational intensity and attitudes toward English learning, its people and culture and frequent use of English were tested by t-tests in order to see whether the differences were significant. Finally, the cross-tabulations were app1ied to investigate parental encourage-ment and parents' English speaking proficiency.

4. FINDINGS AND RESULTS

According to the statistics of methods and procedures in Section 3, the following are the significant findings from the study of the junior high school students' motivation and attitudes toward learning English as a foreign language in the ROC.

(1) Students under study are found to be both integratively and instrumentally oriented in the English language-learning task. Overall, the students appear to be more instrumentally than integratively oriented.

(2) There is significant correlation between subjects' motivational intensity and their EngIish achievement--G.P.A. and oral proficiency.

(3) Overall, students expressed a strong desire to learn English. In addition, students who obtain higher grades have positive attitudes while those who obtain lower grades tend to have negative attitudes. Therefore, attitudes do correlate with achievement.

(4) There are significant correlations between attitudinal variables and motivational orientation.

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(5) Subjects' reported highest frequency of English usage is with their friends and English teachers. They do use English in their dai1y lives and they wi11 cóntinue to use it with the recognition that English is an internationallanguage. 9

(6) Among the four language ski11s, subjects were reported to use listening and speaking more frequent1y than reading and writing.

(7) Female students are more integratively oriented than male students, whi1e no significant difference was found between urban and rural subjects in their orientation toward learning English.

(8) In terms of motivational intensity, there was significant difference between male and female subjects, but there was no significant difference between urban and rural sub-jects.

(9) Female students generally showed more favorable attitudes toward the learning of English than male ones. The subjects from the urban areas also held more favorable and positive attitudes toward English than those from the rural areas.

(10) As for the frequency of Eng1ish usage and frequency of skill usage, subjects from urban areas use English more frequently than those from rural areas, and there was also significant difference between male & female subjects under study.

(11) Parents who speak English were perceived as more supportive of their chi1dren's English language learning.

5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

This study attempts to examine the relationships between socio-affective variables一-i.e., attitudes and motivation--and achievement in the learning of English as a foreign language among Chinese junior high school students in the ROC. The findings are more suggestive than conc1usive. They seem to support the hypothesis suggested by Gardner's model that positive attitudes towa7d learning English, and toward foreign language learning serve as motivational support which eventually leads to success in learning English.

Resu1ts also indicate that students in this sample are not solely integrative nor instru-mentally motivated. A combìnation of both orientations was found in most learners. In the ROC, actual contact and interaction with .native speakers of English and their cu1ture is not plentiful enough, so students tend to be more instrumentally oriented. This may in-dicate that though most students want to learn English with the purpose of meeting and

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making friends with English speakers, they do not want to-become a member of a native Enghsh speaking society, nor do they want to think and behave totally like them. That 話， the Chinese learner in the ROC does not want to become totally integrated into a native English speaking culture. In a context where the target languag巴 has a more social for political relevancy to the learners 一 -e. 白， the French language in Canada or the English language for a Mexícan coming to the United SL\tes一一 the desire to integrate ínto the target language group may be much stronger, but thls is not the case with junior high school students ín the ROC. Englísh is only learned and taught as a foreign language here, Chinese is still the normal medium of communication and instruction. Students desire to use English not as a means of entry into a reference group, but as a tool wíth which to understand native English-speaking people and some other utilitarian reasons (Lukmani 1972: 271 ).

Both integratíve and ìnstrumental motivations appear to be conducive to a high motivational intensity (í.e., effort). This effort, in turn, may be a significant factor leading to good grades. Thus, having a strong motivation to learn correlates positively with the learners' enjoyment of the ∞ ur妞， with theír perception that ít is a worthwhile experíence,

with preparation for English class in advance, and with willíngness to speak the language without embarrassment. All of these seem to help the learners in the present sample to succeed in learníng English.

The results showed that there is significant correlation between subjects' motivational intensity and their English achievement--G.P.A. This finding has ref1ected Gardner & Smythe's suggestion (1974 a: 20-31; 1974 b: 41-44) that the association between motiva-tion and success in learning a secondjforeign language is stronger at the intitial stages, especially for those juníor hígh school students in this sample under study.

Another variable to take inl J account in the explanation of results is the reliability of G.P.A. as an Índicator of achievement. It may well be that course grades are not

synony-mous with achievement as concluded by Chastain in an ear1ier study (1975: 59). That is, ∞ urse grades may not necessarily represent the student's level of proficiency in the target language. Thus, G.P.A. yields a narrow basis for comparing achievement differences. Data regarding correlation between m

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influence motivation, it may well be that thcy do so indirect1y (Gradner & Smythe 1981: 523-24). That 郎， good grades may be more likely to influence the learner's attitudes to-ward the learning task, or hisjher self-perception 01' proficiency. These attitudes may in

turn provide support for the learner's motivation which will also lead to perseverance and will promote learning.

The data also indicate that positive attitudes toward learning English and toward foreign language learning tend to corre1ate significantly with both integrativ巴 and instru國 menta1 reasons. Thus, attitudes may serve as motivational support as was hypothesized. In other words, in the initial stage of language 1earning, good grades might serve to encourage the students to persevere in their study of the language by influencing their attitudes which wou1d provide the motivational support (Arendt 1972: 199).

Regarding sex difference, a number 01' studies (e.g., Jones 1949 、 1950: Bart1ey 1970; Lai 1977; and Lai 1984) found that fema1es tend to score higher than ma1es in attitudina1-motivational measures and achievementjproficiency tests. lt was conclud 巳d that females performed better in language 1earning because in most cases they were predominantly integrative1y motivated. A1though the mean score of 1'ema1e subjects was higher, the differ-ence of t-value did not reach the level of significance.

It is possible that the results of earlier studies were a reflection of prevai1ing social stereotypes which regarded females as better language learners (rather than good at math) and which also influenced the females' interest and motivation to learn. It is also possible that 1'emales scored better than males in achievement measures because th巳y enjoyed lan-guage learning more than males which provided a strong motivation (Mueller & Miller 1970; 279-8; Mueller 1971: 290-1).

Subjects from the urban areas hold more 1'avorable attitudes toward English, and there1'ore they would like to make more e1'fort into English study than those from the rural areas. No wonder, subjects from urban areas have higher G.P.A. than .those from the rural areas. This result can be easily explained as pointed out by Lai (1984: 70) “Students 1'rom th巳 urban centers tend to manage well enougn with English but those from the rural areas are likely to be at a distinct disadvantage".

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teachers tend to use more oral aspects of language ski11 during English classes. We may attr.bute this to the merits of the new textbooks. The tenets of the textbooks stress the importance of four language skills. At the beginning stage, 1istening and speaking are em-phasized more.

We also found that no matter how subjects' parents were educated in English, they a11 encouraged their children to study English. The fact that English is being used as an inter-national language has been recognized not only by the subjects but also by their parents. In addition, those parents who speak Eng1ish tend to be more supportive of their children's English-learning tasks compared to those who have had little or no contact with English language learning.

The results obtained in this study do not completely parallel those obtained by Lai's study (1984) and some of the earlier studies. Disagreement in results cf earlier studies may be due to the lack of adequate and cohesive measures. It may be possible that the types of attitudinaljmotivational measures used in the questionnaires may not be sensitive enough to accurately identify the learner's feelings toward foreign language learning and the need for exerting caution in the interpretation of results. Similarly, this has also been pointed out by Johnson & Krug (1980:226). However, the results of this study indicate that relationships do exist between attempted measures of motivation, attitudes and G.P.A.

As research progresses, we will learn more about how attitudes and motivation so pro-foundly influence the learning of second or foreign language, and conversely, how the learning of a secondjforeign language significantly affects learners' attitudes (Snow with Shapira 1985: 13). F!"Om both directions should come a greater understanding of the pro-cesses underlying foreign language learning.

The best language teachers are those who can fu11y comprehend the great mass of personal and social factors, then by sensitive observations and exacting methods, construct a learning experience which will be consistent with and moving in the same direction as students' expectations. Only a careful consideration of the courses, will produce better motivated students and consequently better results (Beard & Senior 1980).

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NOTES

1. However, Muggleston (1977: 116) and many more researchers protest that the causal realtionship is reciprocal rather than unidirectional.

2. English is a required subject in junior high school. Chinese students begin learning English in the first year of hunior high school (i.e. the seventh grade in the United States). The researcher used second year junior high school students (i.e. the eighth graders) as a sample, because they were the most representative. The students of the first year usually tended to be very curious and highly motivated in learning a new language, while the students of the third year were under the pressure of entrance examinations. Moreover ，早ince 1984 the eighth graders were the first students to use new united English text books developed by National Institute for Compilation and Translation.

3. Junior high school students' academic reports (transcripts) have adopted the grade system instead of point system on percentage scale to indicate students' achievement since Academic Year 1985. There are five grade levels, i.e. Excel1ent (價， over 90), A

(甲， 80-89) ， B (乙， 70-79)， C (丙， 60-69) and D (丁， below 60).

4. There are some special c1asses in junior high schools in the ROC although most of the c1asses are divided according to normal distribution. For example, students who have a high IQ are put into a special c1ass. And some other students are grouped according to their special talents in music or arts.

5. Since the subj ects are only second year junior high school students, their English is not good enough to understand an English questionnaire, the questinnaires were al1 trans-lated into Chinese for ease of administration.

6. As this study focuses on general attitudes and orientations toward the learning of English, and not on specific estimates of population distributions, accidental sampling was used. When factors such as the division of the locale of school and sex were con-sidered, the sampling of subjects, however, was not random.

7. There are more an more students that began to study English before they entered the junior high school. ln urban areas such as Taipei city, about 9.6% of subjects had studied Eng1ish at least more than a year, while 6.4% of the subjects from rural areas studied Eng1ish before they entered junior high schools.

S. In order to maximize uniformity, those students who attend private schools were not -487 一

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included in the study. In most private schools, students study English more than six hours per week.

9. According to Smith (1 985: 三)‘ English is being used as an international language around the wor1d by people of different nations to communicate with one another: almost every nation on the gIobe as it interacts with its neighbors near and far in international trade‘ diplomacy, conferences and entertainment.

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圈中學生學習英語動機態度與成敵之相關

國中學生學習英語動機，怠皮

與成就之相關

文學院英語系

徐自美

本研究以國中二年級學生為對象，揉討學生學習英語的動機、態度與其成績之相關度。所用之工具為問卷(內含學生背景之調查、學習英吾吾之動機、對英語本身和說英 n吾系國家之人民典文化之態度，以及日常生活使用和練習英文之頓率等〉。

所用之統計方法包括皮爾遜積差相關( Pearson' s Product....moment Correla

t-ions) 、“ t .，值與交互列表( Cross Tabulation) 。收回之間卷以師大軍軍中心之

Prime -750 電算機分析。結果顯示，學生的英語成績與學習動機和態度有顯著的相關。女生學習英語的態度優於男生，都市學生比鄉下學生學習動機強。總而言之，在台灣，英語是一唾外國語言，學生接觸英譜的機會有限，在擬定英語教學的目標與方法時，一定要設法提高學生之學習動機，並培養學生正確的學習態度，以提高學生英語之成就感。