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An Empirical Study on Demotivating Factors of Non-English Majors in Colleges of Science and Engineering

Received: 21 March 2022     Accepted: 13 April 2022     Published: 20 April 2022
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Abstract

Motivation is widely seen as the main factor of second language learning process. The major goal of this study is to find demotivators that impede non-English major learners’ second language learning. This paper took non-English major undergraduates in Colleges of science and engineering as the experimental objects, and conducted a survey on 250 students by a combination of interviews and questionnaires. The study found 6 main factors that contribute to non-English majors’ English learning demotivation in Colleges of science and engineering: English learning ability, value, influence of important others, negative attitude towards second language learning, the mandatory nature of second language learning and influence of teaching content. In order to further study the changing trend of demotivators of non-English majors, learners of different grades were identified and analyzed. Learners of different phases can be divided into junior learners and senior learners on the basis of their grades. Freshmen and sophomores were classified into junior learners, and juniors and seniors were classified into senior learners. Generally, the results showed no significant difference between the two stage learners except for English learning ability and professional work and future expectations. Junior learners were more demotivated by English learning ability while senior learners were more affected by professional work and future expectations.

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 10, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20221002.19
Page(s) 125-131
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Demotivation, Demotivating Factors, Language Learning, Non-English Majors

References
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  • APA Style

    Yuan Qian, Dengpan Hu. (2022). An Empirical Study on Demotivating Factors of Non-English Majors in Colleges of Science and Engineering. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 10(2), 125-131. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20221002.19

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    ACS Style

    Yuan Qian; Dengpan Hu. An Empirical Study on Demotivating Factors of Non-English Majors in Colleges of Science and Engineering. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2022, 10(2), 125-131. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20221002.19

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    AMA Style

    Yuan Qian, Dengpan Hu. An Empirical Study on Demotivating Factors of Non-English Majors in Colleges of Science and Engineering. Int J Lang Linguist. 2022;10(2):125-131. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20221002.19

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20221002.19,
      author = {Yuan Qian and Dengpan Hu},
      title = {An Empirical Study on Demotivating Factors of Non-English Majors in Colleges of Science and Engineering},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {10},
      number = {2},
      pages = {125-131},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20221002.19},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20221002.19},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20221002.19},
      abstract = {Motivation is widely seen as the main factor of second language learning process. The major goal of this study is to find demotivators that impede non-English major learners’ second language learning. This paper took non-English major undergraduates in Colleges of science and engineering as the experimental objects, and conducted a survey on 250 students by a combination of interviews and questionnaires. The study found 6 main factors that contribute to non-English majors’ English learning demotivation in Colleges of science and engineering: English learning ability, value, influence of important others, negative attitude towards second language learning, the mandatory nature of second language learning and influence of teaching content. In order to further study the changing trend of demotivators of non-English majors, learners of different grades were identified and analyzed. Learners of different phases can be divided into junior learners and senior learners on the basis of their grades. Freshmen and sophomores were classified into junior learners, and juniors and seniors were classified into senior learners. Generally, the results showed no significant difference between the two stage learners except for English learning ability and professional work and future expectations. Junior learners were more demotivated by English learning ability while senior learners were more affected by professional work and future expectations.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    T1  - An Empirical Study on Demotivating Factors of Non-English Majors in Colleges of Science and Engineering
    AU  - Yuan Qian
    AU  - Dengpan Hu
    Y1  - 2022/04/20
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20221002.19
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20221002.19
    T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
    JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
    JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
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    EP  - 131
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-0221
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20221002.19
    AB  - Motivation is widely seen as the main factor of second language learning process. The major goal of this study is to find demotivators that impede non-English major learners’ second language learning. This paper took non-English major undergraduates in Colleges of science and engineering as the experimental objects, and conducted a survey on 250 students by a combination of interviews and questionnaires. The study found 6 main factors that contribute to non-English majors’ English learning demotivation in Colleges of science and engineering: English learning ability, value, influence of important others, negative attitude towards second language learning, the mandatory nature of second language learning and influence of teaching content. In order to further study the changing trend of demotivators of non-English majors, learners of different grades were identified and analyzed. Learners of different phases can be divided into junior learners and senior learners on the basis of their grades. Freshmen and sophomores were classified into junior learners, and juniors and seniors were classified into senior learners. Generally, the results showed no significant difference between the two stage learners except for English learning ability and professional work and future expectations. Junior learners were more demotivated by English learning ability while senior learners were more affected by professional work and future expectations.
    VL  - 10
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Author Information
  • School of Foreign Languages, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China

  • School of Foreign Languages, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China

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