English Learning Motivation and Anxiety Regarding the Left-Behind Children in Rural China
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.vi33.26631Keywords:
Motivation, Anxiety, Left-behind Children, English Learning, Rural ChinaAbstract
This study addressed the affective factors in English learning of the Left-behind children (LBCs) in the seventh grade in rural China. Results indicated the difference between the non-LBCs and the LBCs in language achievement and motivation with statistical significance. Follow-up interviews revealed a lack of parental engagement, lower level of technological literacy, and test-taking and questions-answering anxiety contributed to the LBCs’ academic underperformance and lower motivation in English learning. Pedagogical implications are discussed regarding how to foster English learning motivation and enhance learner autonomy for LBCs and build communication among different stakeholders in education.
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References
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Liang, Z., & Chen, Y.P. (2007). The educational consequences of migration for children in China. Social Science Research, 36(1), 28-47.
Liu, X.H. (1989). An investigation on Chinese middle school students’ anxiety in their English learning (Unpublished master’s thesis). East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
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Scovel, T. (2004). Learning new languages: a guide to second language acquisition. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press.
Steinberg, L., Lamborn, S.D., Dornbusch, S.M., & Darling, N. (1992). Impact of parenting practices on adolescent achievement: Authoritative parenting, school involvement, and encouragement to succeed. Child Development, (63), 1266-1281.
Wang, S.T., & Mao, Y.Q. (2018). The effect of boarding on campus on left-behind children’s sense of school belonging and academic achievement: Chinese evidence from propensity score matching analysis. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 38(3), 1-16.
Wang, X.B., Bai Y., Zhang L.X., & Rozelle, S. (2017). Migration, schooling choice, and student outcomes in China. Population and Development Review, 43(4), 625-643.
Wen, Q.F. (1993). Advanced level English language learning in China: The relationship of modifiable learner variables to learning outcomes (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Wentzel, K.R. (1997). Student motivation in middle school: the role of perceived pedagogical caring. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(3), 411-419.
Xia, T. (2015). 农村留守儿童英语学习障碍的调查与研究——以安徽省怀宁县为例. (A survey of the challenges for left-behind children’s English learning: A case study of Huaining county in Anhui province). 基础教育研究 (Jichu Jiaoyu Yanjiu). (23), 42-43.
Yagi, Y. (1991). Motivation and attitudes toward foreign language learning among students in foreign language classes in an American university (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of San Francisco, San Francisco, U.S.A.
Yang, X.H. (2010). Intentional forgetting, anxiety, and EFL listening comprehension among Chinese college students. Learning and Individual Differences. 20(3), 177-187.
Ye, J.Z., & Murray, J.R. (2005). Left-behind Children in Rural China. Beijing, China: Social Sciences Academic Press. 99.
Young, D.J. (1991). Creating a low-anxiety classroom environment: what does language anxiety research suggest? The Modern Language Journal, 75(4), 426-439.
Zhao, Q., Yu, X., Wang, X., & Glauben, T. (2014). The impact of parental migration on children’s school performance in rural China. China Economic Review, 31(4), 43-54.
Zhou, C., Sylvia, S., Zhang, L., Luo, R., Yi, H., Liu, C., Shi, Y., Loyalka, P., Chu, J., Medina, A., & Rozelle, S. (2015). China’s left-behind children: impact of parental migration on health, nutrition, and educational outcomes. Health Affairs, 34(11), 1964-1971. [Changes and new features of left-behind children in rural places, experts proposing
a sound family policy], in China Women Daily, available from http://jxwx.jxnews.com.cn/system/2019/03/29/017438800.shtml
Zhou, Z.K., Sun X.J., Liu Y., & Zhou, D.M. (2005). 农村留守儿童心理发展与教育问题 (Psychological Development and Education Problems of Children Left in Rural Areas). 北京师范大学学报(社会科学版) [Journal of Beijing Normal University
(Social Sciences)], 187 (1):71-79.
Aida, Y. (1994). Examination of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope’s construct of foreign language anxiety: The case of students of Japanese. The Modern Language Journal, 78(2), 155-168.
Apelt, W., & Koernig, H. (1997). Affectivity in the teaching of foreign languages. European Education, 29(2), 29-46.
Bai, Y., Zhang, L.X., Liu, C.F., Shi, Y.J., Mo, D., & Rozelle, S. (2018). Effect of parental migration on the academic performance of left behind children in north western China. The Journal of Development Studies, 54(7), 1154-1170.
Bailey, P., Onwuegbuzie, A.J., & Daley, C.E. (2000). Correlates of anxiety at three stages of the foreign language learning process. Journal of Language & Social Psychology, 19(4), 474-491.
Bernaus, M., Moore, E., & Cordeiro, A. (2007). Affective factors influencing plurilingual students’ acquisition of Catalan in a Catalan-Spanish bilingual context. The Modern Language Journal, (91): 235-246.
Cook, V. (2000). Second Language Learning and Language Teaching, 1st ed., Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press.
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2000). The “What” and “Why” of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227-268.
Dörnyei, Z. (1998). Motivation in second and foreign language learning. Language Teaching, 31(3), 117-135.
Dörnyei, Z. (2000). Motivation in action: Towards a process-oriented conceptualization of student motivation. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70(4): 519-538.
Ellis, R. (1999). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
Fan, X.Z., & Guo, Q.Y. (2015). 农村留守儿童教育问题的回顾与反思(Review and Reflection on the Rural Left-behind Children Education Problem) [J]. 中国农业大学学报(社会科学版)(China Agricultural University Journal of Social Sciences Edition), 32(1):55-64. Available from https://doi.org/10.13240/j.cnki.caujsse.20150123.008
Gao, X.S. (2006). Strategies used by Chinese parents to support English language learning: voices of ‘elite’ university students. The RELC Journal, 37(3), 285-298. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688206071302
Gardner, R.C., & MacIntyre, P.D. (1991). An instrumental motivation in language study, who says it isn’t effective? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, (13), 57-72.
Gardner, R.C., & MacIntyre, P.D. (1993). On the measurement of affective variables in second language learning. Language learning, 43(2), 157-194.
Gonzalez-DeHass, A.R., Willems, P.P, & Doan, H.M. (2005). Examining the relationship between parental involvement and student motivation. Educational Psychology Review, 7(2),99-123.
Gottfried, A.E., Fleming, J.S., & Gottfried, A.W. (1994). The role of parental motivational practices in children’s academic intrinsic motivation and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(1), 1044-1103.
Horwitz, E.K. (2001). Language anxiety and achievement. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, (21), 112-126.
Horwitz, E.K., Horwitz, M.B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2): 125-132.
Li, L. Chen, Z.A., & Jiang Y.H. (2006). Strategies, styles and attribution. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.181.
Li, L., Wang, L. and Nie, J. (2017). Effect of parental migration on the academic performance of left-behind middle school students in Rural China. China & World Economy, 25(2), 45-59.
Liang, Z., & Chen, Y.P. (2007). The educational consequences of migration for children in China. Social Science Research, 36(1), 28-47.
Liu, X.H. (1989). An investigation on Chinese middle school students’ anxiety in their English learning (Unpublished master’s thesis). East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Lu, S.Z., & Lu, D.P. (2006). National report on universal education in China (November 2005). Chinese Education and Society, 39(6), 67-95.
MacWhinnie, S.G.B., & Mitchell C. (2017). English classroom reforms in Japan: a study of Japanese university EFL student anxiety and motivation. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 2:7.
Masgoret, A.M., & Gardner, R.C. (2003). Attitudes, motivation, and second language learning: a meta-analysis of studies conducted by Gardner and associates. Language Learning, 53(S1), 167-210.
McDonough, S. (2007). Motivation in ELT. ELT Journal: English Language Teachers Journal.61(4), 369-370.
Pearse Romera, C.R., & Ruiz Cecilia, R. (2019). A motivation case study of students learning English at a secondary school in Granada, Spain. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Educational Studies, 14(1), 31-45.
Scovel, T. (2004). Learning new languages: a guide to second language acquisition. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press.
Steinberg, L., Lamborn, S.D., Dornbusch, S.M., & Darling, N. (1992). Impact of parenting practices on adolescent achievement: Authoritative parenting, school involvement, and encouragement to succeed. Child Development, (63), 1266-1281.
Wang, S.T., & Mao, Y.Q. (2018). The effect of boarding on campus on left-behind children’s sense of school belonging and academic achievement: Chinese evidence from propensity score matching analysis. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 38(3), 1-16.
Wang, X.B., Bai Y., Zhang L.X., & Rozelle, S. (2017). Migration, schooling choice, and student outcomes in China. Population and Development Review, 43(4), 625-643.
Wen, Q.F. (1993). Advanced level English language learning in China: The relationship of modifiable learner variables to learning outcomes (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Wentzel, K.R. (1997). Student motivation in middle school: the role of perceived pedagogical caring. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(3), 411-419.
Xia, T. (2015). 农村留守儿童英语学习障碍的调查与研究——以安徽省怀宁县为例. (A survey of the challenges for left-behind children’s English learning: A case study of Huaining county in Anhui province). 基础教育研究 (Jichu Jiaoyu Yanjiu). (23), 42-43.
Yagi, Y. (1991). Motivation and attitudes toward foreign language learning among students in foreign language classes in an American university (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of San Francisco, San Francisco, U.S.A.
Yang, X.H. (2010). Intentional forgetting, anxiety, and EFL listening comprehension among Chinese college students. Learning and Individual Differences. 20(3), 177-187.
Ye, J.Z., & Murray, J.R. (2005). Left-behind Children in Rural China. Beijing, China: Social Sciences Academic Press. 99.
Young, D.J. (1991). Creating a low-anxiety classroom environment: what does language anxiety research suggest? The Modern Language Journal, 75(4), 426-439.
Zhao, Q., Yu, X., Wang, X., & Glauben, T. (2014). The impact of parental migration on children’s school performance in rural China. China Economic Review, 31(4), 43-54.
Zhou, C., Sylvia, S., Zhang, L., Luo, R., Yi, H., Liu, C., Shi, Y., Loyalka, P., Chu, J., Medina, A., & Rozelle, S. (2015). China’s left-behind children: impact of parental migration on health, nutrition, and educational outcomes. Health Affairs, 34(11), 1964-1971. [Changes and new features of left-behind children in rural places, experts proposing
a sound family policy], in China Women Daily, available from http://jxwx.jxnews.com.cn/system/2019/03/29/017438800.shtml
Zhou, Z.K., Sun X.J., Liu Y., & Zhou, D.M. (2005). 农村留守儿童心理发展与教育问题 (Psychological Development and Education Problems of Children Left in Rural Areas). 北京师范大学学报(社会科学版) [Journal of Beijing Normal University
(Social Sciences)], 187 (1):71-79.
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Published
2020-01-31
How to Cite
Wu, H., & Zhou, W. (2020). English Learning Motivation and Anxiety Regarding the Left-Behind Children in Rural China. Porta Linguarum An International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning, (33), 45–61. https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.vi33.26631
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