1.2 Significance and aim of the study 2

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 Structure of the research 3

2. Literature review 4

2.1 Definition of motivation 4

2.2 Relevant studies abroad and at home 6

2.2.1 Relevant studies abroad 6

2.2.2 Relevant studies at home 7

3. Methodology 8

3.1 Participants 8

3.2 Instruments 8

3.2.1 Questionnaire 8

3.2.2 Interview 9

4. Data analysis and discussion 10

4.1 Data analysis of the research 10

4.1.1 English learning condition 10

4.1.2 English study motivation 11

4.2 Discussion 12

4.2.1. Major types of motivations 12

4.2.2 Major findings 12

5. Conclusion 14

5.1. Summary of the study 14

5. 2 Pedagogical implication and tentative suggestions 14

5.3 Limitation and further research 16

References 17

Appendix A   Questionnaire for Students 19

1. Introduction

“Teachers contribute a great deal to students’ desires to learn and to take responsibility for their learning. They aren’t successful with every student, but with a positive approach to motivation, they can influence many” (Stipek, 1996). According to the psychology theories and ordinary teaching experience, students in Grade Seven have just entered a new stage of learning, they always do what their teachers tell them to do, and their intensity of learning motivation is generally high. In Grade Nine, most of the students’ learning motivation is for the entrance exam of senior middle school. Students who learn well aspire to go to key senior high school, and their motivation is already clear. However, students’ English learning methods in Grade Eight is forming. And their learning motivation is also entering a stable stage. Therefore, researcher thinks that the study is universal, representative and high reliability in Grade Eight. 

This research takes the students’ English learning motivation in Grade Eight as the research object. Based on questionnaire and interview, supported by foreign language learning motivation theories, the researcher tries to give some tentative suggestions for stimulating and cultivating students’ English learning motivation. 

1.1 Research background

English as a language has played an important role in communication all around the world. As time goes by, there is an increasing number of people attach importance to learn it in China. In schools, English is also considered as one of the major subjects. However, the real situation in China is that although we have spent a lot of time and energy on learning English, we cannot acclaim ourselves as successful language learners. Learning a foreign language is not easy, in fact, is a very complicated process during which many factors should be considered.