Abstract:English has become more and more important in the world, and as a result, studies of English learning and teaching have become an important field for researchers. Besides the learning progress, researchers also focus on learners’ individual differences which cover these cognitive, affective and biological characteristics, especially on the role of the affective factors such as motivation and attitude in foreign language learning. And motivations have been considered a key factor to successful language learning. Students with strong motivation can always achieve greater success. But what is motivation? What are the different factors that contribute to motivation? How do these factors influence motivation? To answer these questions, a survey was conducted to better identify the motivation types of junior high-school students and find out the effective ways to arouse their interest.
The study of motivation is very important in foreign language teaching. From the research of motivation, this thesis sum up four major findings: (1) Most of the students’ English learning motivation is extrinsic motivation and instrumental motivation. (2) Students lack of intrinsic motivation. (3) Integrative motivation motivates them to learn English. (4) Group motivation has a great influence in students. Moreover, the author put forward 3 stimulating ways: (1) Change from teacher-centeredness to learner-centeredness. (2) Creating extracurricular English learning environment. (3) Building an active atmosphere in class.
Key Words: motivation; English learning;senior high school students
摘要:英语在国际社会中变得越来越重要，英语的教育学也引起了相当多教师和科研人员的密切关注。他们对学习者的个体差异，特别是有关动机，态度等情感方面在外语学习中的作用进行了大量的研究。其中，动机被认为是影响学习者语言学习的关键性因素。具有强烈学习的内部动机学生总是能获得学习上较大的成功。但是，什么是动机，影响动机的因素有哪些？不同的动机对英语学习有什么不同的影响？为此，笔者进行了一次调查，以便进一步了解高中学生的学习动机类型，从而对症下药，找出激发其动机的有效方法。
动机研究在外语教学中十分重要，本文在研究过程中得到了四个主要的结论。（1）高中学生学习动机大部分为外部以及工具性动机。（2）学生们缺乏英语学习的内部动机。（3）融合性动机是推动学生们学习英语的主要动机。（4）群体性动机对学生的学习有着非常大的影响。并总结出三个激发学生动机的教学方法建议。分别为，（1）从以教师为中心的教学转换成以学生为中心的教学。（2）塑造课余的英语学习环境。（3）建立积极的课堂气氛。
关键词：学习动机；英语教学；高中学生
