台灣大學生語言學習動機之評量與研究

TAIWANESE COLLEGE STUDENTS' LANGUAGE LEARNING MOTIVATION AND ITS CAUSES AND EFFECTS

莊婷(Wei-ting Chuang)

指導教授 ： 徐憶萍

國立清華大學/人文社會學院/外國語文學系/碩士(2008年)

摘要

本研究著眼於台灣大學生的英語學習動機以及影響學習動機之因素，同時探討學習動機與選修英文課意願之間的關連性。此研究以大學生為對象，將動機強度、內在動機、外在動機、非自主動機與其他動機等項目之測量分為三個階段進行：第一階段共443名學生參與；第二階段93名；第三階段16名。
本研究第一及第二階段採用問卷方式收集資料，第三階段則是透過MSN與受訪者做個別訪談。分析步驟如下：首先，第一、二階段的原始資料經過彙整後，以敘述統計的方式呈現；其次，相關係數及變異數的分析用以探討各變因之間的關聯性及其差異之顯著性；第三階段的訪談結果則是以質化的方式加以處理。
研究結果發現大學生之動機強度、內在動機及外在動機皆隨年級增加而增強；其中，女學生的學習動機明顯高於男學生，而人文社會學院學生的學習動機亦較其他理工學院的學生來得強。整體而言，台灣大學生的英語學習動機大多受到課程內容以及授課老師的影響。另外，學生的外在動機普遍強於內在動機，而內在動機強的學生繼續選修英文課程的意願較高；然而，分析結果也反應出學生的想法往往和實際修課情形不符—雖然多數學生選修英文課程的意願頗高，但大多未付諸實行。
其次，本研究發現除了非自主動機之外，所有動機種類皆與動機強度成正相關，其中又以內在動機與動機強度之正相關係數為最高。根據訪談結果顯示，影響學生繼續修課之因素很多，內在動機強的學生乃出於自身對英文的興趣，而外在動機較強的學生之所以選課則是為了強迫自己學習英文。此外，社會壓力或重視英文能力的社會價值觀等外在因素皆會驅使動機強度極低的學生選修英文課程。由此可見外在動機對學習動機弱的學生之影響力。

關鍵字

語言學習動機 ； 大學生

並列摘要

The study aimed to probe learners’ English learning motivation among college-level EFL students in Taiwan, particularly focusing on their motivational intensity, different motive types and how well motivation affected students’ continuing in their English studies. The strength of each motivational type among students in different years or levels of study, between the two genders, as well as among the colleges was also investigated.
In this study, there were three phases of data collection. In the first phase, 443 students were invited to participate in the study. Instrument adopted was the 1st set of questionnaires. The 2nd phase of data collection involved 93 participants, and the 2nd set of questionnaires was thus administered. The 3rd phase of data collection was administered to see whether students would continue their English studies by taking additional English courses. A total of 16 participants were interviewed on line via MSN messenger. To analyze the data, except for the descriptive statistics that were presented, t-test, one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation were all employed to determine whether any significant relationships exist among the respondents regarding their background characteristics and to examine the connection among motivational intensity and different motive types.
Results showed that students’ motivational intensity as well as intrinsic and extrinsic motive went higher as students went to higher levels, and female students were reported to show stronger motivational intensity than male students. Furthermore, students in College of Humanities and Social Science got the strongest motivational intensity. With regard to Taiwanese college students’ motive types, it was found that in general, Taiwanese students were more extrinsically motivated relative to years of study, gender, and college. Regarding the relationship among motivational intensity and different motive types, motivational intensity is positively correlated with different motive types except for requirement motives. About students’ persistence in English studies, results showed that students with higher intrinsic motivation were more likely to take elective English courses. In addition, students’ willingness to take elective English courses did not correspond with the situation of students’ further English learning. Factors that may affect students’ language learning motivation were also discussed in this study. It was shown that the factors varied depending on students with different motive types. For the intrinsically motivated students, they took elective English courses because they like English. However, the extrinsically motivated ones or those with weak motivational intensity took the elective English course mostly for outward purposes.
It is suggested that teachers should try to increase students’ intrinsic motivation. Moreover, college students should incorporate innovative ways of teaching and provide interesting and up-to-date teaching materials which can arouse students’ attention. Most importantly, teachers should be aware of the individual difference among students and try their best to help the students. Furthermore, school should prove diverse and sufficient courses for students to choose from. It is hoped that the study can provide both teachers and researchers with a broader view about language learning motivation and help them better understand Taiwanese college students. Moreover, it can shed light on the most practical approaches and directions for English education in Taiwan.

並列關鍵字

language learning motivation ； college students

參考文獻

Chen, J. H. (1998). Taiwan's college students' metamotivation in learning English.

Liao, Y. F. (2000). A study of Taiwanese junior high school students' EFL learning

Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by Principles: An Interaction Approach to Language

Burke, W. M. (2004). Getting the buggers into languages: How to motivate students to speak, listen, read and write in a modern foreign language. Literacy, 38, 159-160.

Cambridge Dictionaries Online. (2007) http://dictionary.cambridge.org/