Gardner’s Motivation Theory in SLA Context in China.doc

2009—2010学年论文 Gardner’s Motivation Theory in SLA Context in China 姓名：赵海秀 学号：0801081030 指导老师：孙平华 教授 Gardner’s Motivation Theory in SLA Context in China This paper explores Gardners socio-educational model and the significance of motivation as a contributing factor in second language (L2) acquisition. Motivation is defined as the learners orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language. Motivation is divided into two basic types: integrative and instrumental. Integrative motivation is characterized by the learners positive attitudes towards the target language group and the desire to integrate into the target language community. Instrumental motivation underlies the goal to gain some social or economic reward through L2 achievement, thus referring to a more functional reason for language learning. Both forms of motivation are examined in light of research which has been undertaken to establish the correlation between the form of motivation and successful second language acquisition. Motivation in Chinese Foreign Language Learning context is then discussed and studies which have been conducted in the field investigated. Key Words: Motivation, Integrative and Instrumental, Context Instruction about Gardners Socio-Educational Model The work conducted by Gardner in the area of motivation was largely influenced by Mowrer (an American born psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Illinois), whose focus was on first language acquisition. Mowrer proposed that a childs success when learning a first language could be attributed to the desire to gain identity within the family unit and then the wider language community. Using this as the basis for research, Gardner went on to investigate motivation as an influencing factor in second language acquisition. Before examining the effect of motivation on second language learning it is first important to realize that it is one variable, which, combined with other factors, influences a learners