Motivation for learning standard spoken English

Tan, P. L. A. (2007). Motivation for learning standard spoken English: A study of adolescent English language learners in Singapore (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from http://libris.nie.edu.sg/

Background

The author was interested in exploring the factors that motivate Singapore students to learn and use Standard Spoken English.

Aims

This study had two purposes. The study investigated the factors that influenced the learning and use of Standard Spoken English by students from Chinese-speaking and English-speaking home environments. The author was also interested to know how the factors interacted to influence the learning and use of Standard Spoken English by students from Chinese-speaking homes and if there were any differences between successful and less successful Chinese-speaking students.

Sample

Seventy students from several secondary schools and junior colleges (JC) participated in the study. They were from English-, and Chinese-speaking backgrounds.

Method

A questionnaire was used to measure their perceptions of and attitudes towards learning Standard Spoken English. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine students from Chinese-speaking backgrounds. The students first discussed their history of learning Standard Spoken English. They were then sorted into successful and less successful speakers of Standard Spoken English. The two groups were then interviewed to elicit the students’ perceptions about the processes involved in their learning of Standard Spoken English and their perception on its importance.

Findings

The findings showed that for both Chinese- and English-speaking students, English teachers were seen as the most important factor in creating interest, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. The Chinese-speaking students more strongly supported this, suggesting a stronger reliance on and higher degree of trust in the role of the English teacher. While English Language Activities was consistently ranked second by English-speaking students, it was not seen as important for the Chinese-speaking students. This avoidance of activities such as debating and drama might reflect self-consciousness and a lack of confidence.

Comparing successful and less successful Chinese-speaking students, the findings showed that, for the former, the positive influence from even just one factor from among the school environment, teachers and peers, could compensate for the inadequacies in other factors. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of each factor depended on the degree of contact; the greater the frequency of and the longer the period of influence, the more motivating the factor. The less successful speakers, despite their motivations, lacked positive factors and faced negative influence from all factors, which impeded their attempts to become successful speakers.

Implications

The author concluded that in order to help Chinese-speaking students acquire Standard Spoken English, schools should help the students build their confidence, and provide positive factors from which they can benefit.

Original article retrieved from NIE Digital Repository.