cheng wcd 9
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139WHAMPOA - An Interdisciplinary Journal 54(2008) 139-146
A Study of ROCMA Freshmen Cadets Motivation on English
Learning
Wain-Chin Dana Chen
Department of Foreign Languages, ROC Military Academy
Abstract
It is believed that students with high motivation to learn a foreign language tend to
perform better than those with low motivation. This paper intends to investigate some
freshmen cadets orientations of motivation on English learning. The result showed that the
Linguistic self-confidence orientation got the highest score.Direct contact with L2 speakers
got the second highest score.Instrumentalorientation occupied the third place. Implications
for further research and teaching are also suggested.
Keywords: orientations of motivation, ROC military academy cadets
Introduction
The execution of English teaching in
Taiwan has been for a long period of time.
English is now one of the main and
compulsory subjects during the course
programs, starting from Grade 5 in the
elementary school and up to Freshmen
programs of college (some even with
prolonged English courses, for example, in
the ROC Military Academy). Many factors
affect students successful learning.Motivation is regarded as one of the most
important term to determine the successful
learning. It is believed that students with
higher motivation of learning foreign
languages tend to perform better than those
who have low motivation (Hsu & Chan
2005). Very few studies focused on the
orientations of motivation of militarystudents to learn English in Taiwan. This
study is going to investigate freshmen
cadets motivation towards English learning
in order to find out their main orientations of
motivation.
Literature Review
The first complete summary of L2
motivation research was first proposed by
Robert Gardner and Wallance Lambert in
1972. The most prominent part of Gardners
motivation theory is the integrative aspect,However, some researchers argued that
intergrativeness of Gardners theory might
be focused in Canadian context. The
integrative motivational orientation
discussed in this study refers to a positive
interpersonal/affective toward the L2 group
and the desire to interact with and even
become similar to valued members of thatL2 community (Drnyei 2003). Apart from
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Gardners theory, there are other
motivational orientations such as
self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan
1985, 2002), attribution theory (Weiner
1992), goal theories (Belmechri & Hummel
1998; McClelland 2000) and Schumanns
neuroresearch (Schumann 1998, 1999).
In this study, a broad societal
macro-perspective of Drnyei and Csizrs
research (2002) was adopted. There are 7
aspects of orientations of motivations. Those
orientations were illustrated as following
(Csizr and Drnyei 2005).Instrumentalityapplies to the beneficial
part of learning the second language. The
beneficial part may cover obtaining a better
job, or gaining more money from the
pragmatic benefits (Gardner 1985; Gardner
& MacIntyre 1991). In this part, the
researchers believe that instrumental
motivation can effectively motivatelanguage learners, especially when they
value the return on investment (Chen,
Warden and Chang 2005: 612).
Direct contact with L2 speakers
concerns attitudes of having direct contact
with L2 speakers and traveling to their
country.
Cultural interest (or indirect contact)
reflects appreciations of the cultural
products related to the particular L2 and
conveyed by the media such as TV programs,
films, pop music and magazines.
Vitality of L2 community concerns the
perceived importance and wealth of the L2
communities in question.
Milieurelates to the general perception
of the importance of foreign languages in
the learners immediate environment (e.g. in
the school context and in friends and
parents views).
Linguistic self-confidence reflects a
confident, anxiety-free belief that the
mastery of an L2 is well within the learners
means.
The following parts will cover the
research method, data collection and
analysis.
Method
In order to elicit cadets opinions, a
questionnaire was adopted for this purpose.It aims to find out the orientation of those
cadets motivation to learn English in
Taiwan. To obtain the data, this research
utilized statistical means of descriptive
statistics.
Subjects
The subjects joining this research camefrom ROC Military Academy and all
enrolled in the freshmen English course,
which is a compulsory course for cadets to
attend. In this study, there were 61 subjects
in total participating. Three classes consist
of 61 students. The teacher of the three
classes was the same one, who was also the
researcher herself.
Design of the study
This study aimed to find out the
orientations of those military cadets
motivation on the aspect of learning English.
The main instrument of this study was the
questionnaire adopted from Hsu and Chan
(2005). There were 21 statements in Hsu and
Chans study. Hsu and Chan modified the
original questionnaire of Drnyei and Csizr
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Wain-Chin Dana ChenA Study of ROCMA Freshmen Cadets Motivation on English Learning 141
(2002) and translated it in Chinese for better
comprehension. The writer of this study put
one more statement (statement 15) in so
there were 22 statements of the
questionnaire for this current study.
Data Collection and Analysis
The main instrument of this study was
the questionnaire. The questionnaire covers
freshmen cadets background information
and there were 22 statements in the
questionnaire (see the appendix). In this
study, cadets background information willnot be discussed. The questionnaires were
filled in class by the subjects themselves.
The students English teacher was present at
the administration (also the writer herself).
She offered explanation and assistance if
students had any enquiry about the
questionnaire. It took students about 15
minutes to finish their questionnaire.
Results and Discussion
In the questionnaires, there were 7
kinds of orientations of motivation
(integrativeness, instrumentality, direct
contact with L2 speakers, Cultural interest,
Vitality of L2 community, Milieu and
Linguistic Self-confidence). Each statement
has 4 options (strongly agree, agree,
disagree, and strongly disagree). If students
choose strongly agree, they got 4 points in
each statement. If students choose agree,
they got 3 points. The item of disagree
would be given 2 points and strongly
disagree option would be given 1 point.
The reliability of the questionnaire is
0.8848.
The researcher employed descriptive
statistics to analyze the data of the 7
orientations of motivation. The descriptive
statistics result was listed in Table 1.
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of
Motivation
Orientati
on of
Motivati
on
N Minimu
m
Maxim
um
Mean Std.
Deviati
on
Integrati
veness
61 1.50 4.00 2.9375 0.5808
Instrume
ntality
61 2.20 4.00 2.9875 0.3532
Direct
contact
with L2
speakers
61 2.00 4.00 3.0000 0.5616
Cultural
interest
61 1.00 4.00 2.8942 0.6359
Vitality
of L2
commun
ity
61 1.00 4.00 2.8148 0.5735
Milieu 61 1.00 4.00 2.6296 0.5683
Linguisti
c
Self-conf
idence
61 2.0075 4.00 3.0430 0.5548
From Table 1, the orientation oflinguistic self-confidence got the highest
score. The motivation of direct contact with
L2 speakers got the second highest score.
The third highest score was
instrumentality. The fourth was
integrativeness motivation. The fifth one
was cultural interest. The sixth was the
vitality of L2 community motivation and
the last was milieu.
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From the result, it is unexpected that
students score the highest on linguistic
self-confidence comparing to Hsu and
Chans study that instrumentality was the
first. This reflects that those cadets hold a
confident, anxiety-free belief that they can
master English well within their own means.
They also recognize the importance of
acquiring English proficiency. Moreover,
they would spend more time on learning
English if they got more free time. This
reflects that students might need to search
out some time from their tight daily schoolschedule for their own English learning.
Especially in the military learning
environment, this may sound difficult.
The second highest score was direct
contact with L2 speakers. This means that
the subjects were fond of meeting L2
speakers, being friends with L2 natives andtraveling to L2 countries.
The third highest score of those cadets
was on instrumental factor. In other words,
they acknowledge the benefits of obtaining
English proficiency. The recent applications
of promotion in the military units indicate
officers could get sooner promotion if they
pass the GEPT inter-mediate test or acquire
higher scores on related English proficiency
tests. In addition, higher English proficiency
also guarantees of getting easier access to
the chances of further trainings in the US,
which might relate to the second highest
score of direct contact with L2 speakers.
The fourth highest place was
integrativeness. That means those cadets
would take a general positive attitude toward
English (as a L2) and its culture. Moreover
they would like to communicate with and
might even want to become similar to the L2
speakers (Csizr and Drnyei 2005).
Cultural interest and Vitality of L2
community were rather similar on mean
score. The last one was milieu that cadets
did not show much agreement on statements
17-19.
Conclusion
In whole, the findings of this study
show a homogeneous aspect that thosefreshmen cadets hold a positive and
confident attitude toward learning English.
They believe they can learn English well in
their own way. It is also suggested with
higher input of direct contacts with L2
speakers and cultural aspects which can
attract higher motivation on learning English.
Therefore, some practical actions can bedone: for example, hiring more native
speakers of English teachers for the English
teaching environment or providing cadets
some traveling opportunities to L2 countries
during the winter/summer breaks. Those
might be urgently considered in the ROC
military academy.
Meanwhile, instrumental motivation
was highly valued. Those cadets understood
having a better English proficiency could
bring more pragmatic benefits for the future
life. However, the English learning
environment milieu was not so
emphasized by them. More research could
be done within this perspective. For now,
English teachers could encourage students to
learn English verbally or in a more practical
way. For example, if students pass English
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Wain-Chin Dana ChenA Study of ROCMA Freshmen Cadets Motivation on English Learning 143
proficiency tests, they could have a
early-day off under the approval.
The limit of this research is that the
study was conducted at a military academy
in southern Taiwan. The finding will not be
applicable to the orientations of other
students motivation on learning English in
Taiwan. However, this study provides a
general perspective towards the orientations
of some freshman cadets motivation on
English learning. Furthermore, In order to
enhance teaching and students motivation
on English learning, it is suggested thatmore research on different grades of cadets
or cadets with different levels of English
proficiency would be beneficial. For the
in-depth discussion, further interviews with
cadets or even with teachers toward the
motivational aspect of students English
learning will be recommended.
References
[1]Belmechri, F. & Hummel, K. (1998)
Orientations and Motivation in the
Acquisition of English as a Second
Language among High School Students
in Quebec City. Language Learning 48:
219-244.
[2]Chen, J. F., Warden, C. A. and Chang, H.
(2005) Motivators that Do not Motivate:
The Case of Chinese EFL Learners and
the Influence of Culture on Motivation.
TESOL Quarterly 39(4): 609-633.
[3]Csizr, K. and Drnyei, Z. (2005)
Language Learners Motivational
Profiles and Their Motivated Learning
Behavior Language Learning 55(4):
613-659.
[4]Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (1985)
Intrinsic Motivation and
Self-determination in Human Behavior.
New York: Plenum.
[5]Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (eds.) (2002)
Handbook of Self-determination.
Rochester, NY: University of Rochester
Press.
[6]Drnyei, Z. and Csizr, K. (2002) Some
Dynamics of Language Attitudes and
Motivation: Results of a Longitudinal
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Language Learning: Advances in Theory,
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[8] Gardner, R. C. (1985) Social Psychology
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[10] Gardner, R. C. & MacIntyre, P. D.
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of 5th Graders Motivation to Learn
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360-368.
[12]McClelland, N. (2000) Goal
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Differences in Foreign Language
Learning: Effects of Aptitude,
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[13]Schumann, J. H. (1998) The
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[14]Schumann, J. H. (1999) A
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Appendix:
1. I want to learn English because I likeforeign culture.
2. I want to learn English because I want tospeak English fluently.
3. I want to learn English because I mayneed it in later job.
4. I want to learn English because Englishis a kind of tool to make living.
5. I want to learn English because it is asubject of exam.
6. I want to learn English because it is partof being educated.
7. I want to learn English because I canmake friends with foreigners.
8. I want to learn English because I cancommunicate with foreigners.
9. I want to learn English because it will behelpful when traveling.
10.I want to learn English because Englishclass is interesting.
11.I want to learn English because I amcurious about English.
12.I want to learn English because I like towatch foreign movies, comics, or listen
to foreign music.
13.I want to learn English because manyproducts labels in English.
14.I want to learn English because I canpractice speaking English with friends.
15.I want to learn English because I want togo abroad for further studying.
16.I want to learn English because it is aninternational language.
17.I want to learn English because myfriends learn English, too.
18.I want to learn English because myparents wish me to learn.
19.I want to learn English because teachersencourage me to learn.
20.I want to learn English because I amconfident of learning English well.
21.I want to learn English because I think itis important to learn English.
22.If I have more time, I would like tospend more time learning English.
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80
80 linguistic self-confidence ()
instrumentality()
:
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