Beliefs，Anxiety，MotivationinEnglishLanguageLearningandItsPedagogicalImplicationforModuleAdvancementTeachingandTesting

【Abstract】It was realized that teaching methods were only exterior factors， and what to a large extent exerted determinative effect on the learners were their inner factors.Therefore， the focus of the foreign language teaching research shifted from “how to teach” to “how to learn” and from studying “teachers” to doing research on “students”.This article briefly indicates the significance of beliefs， anxiety and motivation in English learning.Thus， the author gets the implications for module advancement teaching and testing.

【Key words】beliefs； anxiety； motivation； module advancement； testing

1.Introduction

Language as a tool of communication is a view of a certain culture （Gao， 2003）， and also reflects in itself personal elements.Language learning belief is one of those factors， and are views or attitudes that the language learners hold towards language learning （Liu， 2003）.Anxiety， which reflects the “subjective feeling of tension， apprehension， nervousness， and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system” （Spielberger， 1983）， is also considered to be a key affective variable.Besides beliefs and anxiety， there is also an important learners factor， which has drawn great attention of researchers-motivation.Motivation is the reflection of the internal-driving forces， such as instinct， purpose， will and spiritual power， or a perfectly static psychological or affective state which is decided by stimulation and enforcement， or an aim.Motivation plays an important role in language learning.It belongs to learners personal factors and is the only changeable and controllable learners factor.

Researchers have studied language learners beliefs， anxiety and motivation as well as the relationship among them.Many researchers have proved that there are relationships between each two and even they three， and there are bunches of views concerning the literature of the three.However， there is scarcely a research mainly concerning beliefs， anxiety and motivation in a comprehensive view.

2.Language Learning Beliefs

The success of language learning lies in many factors， in which language learners factors play an important role.For example， different language learners use different strategies in their own learning process.However， the use of different strategies attributes to the different language learning beliefs the learners hold.Every student has his own language learning belief system， either implicitly or explicitly.Students in different environments and situations have different language learning beliefs.

Second language learners beliefs were the views and attitudes that the language learners hold towards language learning （Liu&Dai， 2003）.Wenden （1991） characterized learner beliefs as follows： （1） stability： As other long-time memory knowledge， language learning beliefs contribute to part of learners knowledge storage system.（2） Desirability： Learners may describe their language learning beliefs after careful recall or given some hint.（3） Fallibility： Not all the beliefs holding by the learners are correct.Some of the beliefs originate from their teachers， classmates and family members， but some may come from their former learning experience.（4） Interaction： Belief is one of the four interactive elements which influence the learning achievement， for example， it may influence the learners strategy choices.

3.Language Learning Anxiety

Anxiety， one of the most prominent and pervasive emotions， was defined as a feeling of uneasy suspense （Rachman， 1998）， and was a research focus in many disciplines such as psychology and education.“Anxiety is the subjective feeling of tension， apprehension， nervousness， and wont associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system” （Spiclberger， 1983）.Not only was it intuitive to many people that anxiety had been found to interfere with language learning， it was logical because anxiety had been found to interfere with many types of learning and had been one of the most highly examined variables in all of psychology and education.

4.Language Learning Motivation

Canadian psychologist Professor Gardner （1993） pointed out： “Motivation is the desire to learn a language and efforts to this end and an integration of holding a good manner on a kind of language learning.Motivation is an internal dynamics to promote students learning， as a non-intellectual factor， promote learning indirectly.”

According to Gardners theory， language learning motivation can be divided into two types： integrative motivation and instrumental motivation.Integrative motivation refers to learners have a genuine or particular interest of the target language community， hope to use the target language to communicate with community members， and reach the goal that to participate in or fully integrated into the target language societies finally.Instrumental motivation refers to the learner to learn a foreign language for a particular purpose， such as to pass the exam or to find a satisfactory job， or be able to read the target language countries new information and documentation.

5.Pedagogical Implication

The present research hopes to provide some pedagogical implications for module advancement teaching and testing.

First of all， it is necessary for English teachers to do some detailed survey on their owe students in order to know what learning beliefs they have， what about their anxiety， and what types of motivation they have.The teachers should adopt good teaching methods in English module advancement teaching and testing.They are also valuable if teachers want to take measures to eliminate students wrong learning beliefs， learning motivation or relieve some high-degree anxiety， and finally to enhance the English learning and teaching effect.

Secondly， if the students are always in a worried condition， their English study will be greatly influenced by failure of using strategies and setting improper motivation during module advancement teaching and testing.Taking this into consideration， teachers can help students from the following aspects：

（1） Developing comfortable class environment.The teacher should encourage and praise the students frequently rather than criticizing and punishing them.Moreover， teachers can design different learning tasks with different difficulty levels according to their English proficiency levels.In this way weaker students will have a feeling of success， thus increase their confidence in English study.

（2） Getting familiar with students interests and expectation during module advancement teaching and testing.Teachers should often communicate with the students in order to know their interests and the expectation toward module advancement teaching and testing， which helps to enhance the teaching efficiency and improve the students interests in English studies.

（3） Avoiding any bias toward any students.The teachers attitudes toward students will influence their English learning motivation.Therefore， multidimensional assessment criteria can be employed by considering the effort they make， their class behavior and so on.It is unacceptable to take score as the sole indicator of performance.

（4） Helping students to build correct beliefs and set up appropriate motivation in their English study based on module advancement teaching and testing.Especially for those students who have not done well in English， the teachers should help them to improve from the method or encourage them to make more effort rather than criticize them for their inability.

（5） Avoiding exerting too much pressure on the students.Teachers should not make a fuss about exams like CET-4 or CET-6.Instead， they should take measures to let the students attend such tests in a light-hearted mood and do it well as usual.

To sum up， for the purpose of enhancing students learning beliefs and motivation， and alleviating the language anxiety， it is necessary for language teachers as well as learners to pay more attention to effective factors like self-confidence， self-esteem and language attitudes.Language teachers should set appropriate and achievable goals for students so as to discourage students from attributing their failures to intelligence and aptitude， and thereby promote their sense of achievement， self-esteem and self-efficacy， which may finally lead to improved proficiency of module advancement teaching and testing.

References：

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[3]戴炜栋，王栋.一项关于英语专业学生语言学习观念的调查分析.外语世界，2002.

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[6]文秋芳，王海啸.学习者因素与大学英语四级考试成绩的关系.外语教学与研究，1996.

作者简介：

颜泓，女，（1960-），浙江永康人，硕士，武昌工学院外国语学院院长，副教授。研究方向：翻译理论与实践、跨文化交际、英语教育。