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中學(xué)生英語學(xué)習(xí)興趣減退的原因分析 馬 少 林 (外國語學(xué)院 2013屆1班 學(xué)號(hào):2009091101 指導(dǎo)教師:曹寧) 摘 要: 隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)的發(fā)展和社會(huì)進(jìn)步,很多國家都在說英語, 講英語, 英語的重要性不言而喻。然而越來越多的中學(xué)生開始逐漸失去對英語學(xué)習(xí)的興趣。學(xué)習(xí)興趣的減退是一個(gè)漸進(jìn)的過程,有很多因素例如教師教學(xué)方法的不同、母語的影響以及自身的學(xué)習(xí)態(tài)度都會(huì)造成學(xué)生在英語學(xué)習(xí)上的不成功。此外，師生之間的關(guān)系對學(xué)生英語的學(xué)習(xí)也有很大影響,教師對學(xué)生的影響甚至能決定其英語學(xué)習(xí)的成功或者失敗。興趣對于英語學(xué)習(xí)是非常要的，它貫穿于與整個(gè)英語學(xué)習(xí)過程的始終。一旦學(xué)生的興趣被激發(fā)，他們會(huì)積極主動(dòng)地學(xué)習(xí)英語。論文主要概述了興趣在初中生英語學(xué)習(xí)過程中的重要性，并且分析了造成中學(xué)生英語學(xué)習(xí)興趣下降的原因以及與之相對應(yīng)的對策。 關(guān)鍵詞：初中英語；學(xué)習(xí)興趣；下降；原因分析；對策 On the Loss of English Learning Interest in Junior Middle School Students Ma Shaolin School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Longdong University Abstract: With the development of the society and economics, English learning becomes more and more important, but it is found that there exists a universal phenomenon that many junior middle school students lost interest in the process of their English learning. The causes of this problem are a complexity which involves teachers’ teaching methods, the effects of mother tongue and students’ learning attitudes towards English. Besides, the relationship between teachers and students is also significant. The interest plays an important role in English learning. Once the students’ interest is aroused, they will have the strong desire to learn. The thesis discusses the importance of interest and analyzes the factors that influence students’ interest, aiming to stress the importance of interest in English learning and suggest some ways which contribute help to the English teaching quality. Key words: English in junior high school; learning interest; loss; factors analysis; ways 1. Introduction With the development of society and economics, English becomes more and more important. English as a commonly-used language in the world plays an indispensable role in global communication. In China, not only teachers but also students have been aware of the significance of learning a foreign language. Many students are striving to learn English well to meet the practice requirement. But the reality is many students in China have begun to lose their interest in English learning after a not very long period of learning English. Einstein said, “Learning interest is the best teacher.” (Einstein, 1979:144). According to the psychological experiment (Chen Hong, 2006), when the people are interested in something, they will do it actively and initiatively. Her experiment shows that interest plays a crucial role in English learning. If the students learn with interest, they will be happy to learn, and enjoy learning. The interest plays an important role in English learning. Once the students’ interest is aroused, they will have the strong desire to learn. The reality is that the students in China, they are forced to recite grammatical rules so as to pass the exam, not to talk with others and thus learning interest lost. So the loss of students’ learning interest has a negative effect on English learning. The thesis discusses the importance of interest and analyzes the factors that influence students’ interest, aiming to stress the importance of interest in English learning and contribute help to the English teaching quality. 1.1 Research Background In recent years, a lot of Chinese researchers and teachers are interested in researching English teaching and learning. Most of them are being done on the study of motivation, learning strategies, testing and so on. These studies are concerned with students’ learning interest in junior middle school. In fact, interest is an indispensable factor in foreign language learning. In accordance with the English Curriculum Criteria set by the Ministry of Education, arousing and cultivating students’ interest in English learning is one of the primary tasks of English curriculum within the period of the compulsory education (English Curriculum Criteria 2011). Therefore, students’ learning interest should be initially taken into account in English teaching-learning process in junior middle school. Although there are many studies on the cultivation of learning interest, there are few researches on the loss of English learning interest in middle school students. So it is necessary to pay due attention to the effect of the loss of English learning interest in junior middle school students. 1.2 Research Significance In the learning process, English learning is complicated because it is not usually used in our daily life. It is influenced not only by the English language itself, but also by some other factors, learning interest being the most crucial one. As for the learning interest, we can date back to the Spring and Autumn Period. The great educator Confucius said like this: “the man knows it is not as good as the man who likes it; the man who likes it is not as good as the man who takes delight in it” (The Analects). Dewey is one of the most important and influential theorists in interest and motivation. He puts forward three basic characteristic of interest. It is an active state, propulsive state, and based on real objects. Interest is a necessary and efficient means to arouse the students’ learning motivation. The students’ motivation will be enhanced if they are interested in a certain subject (Dewey, 1913:112). Einstein (1979:144) also said, “The interest is the best teacher”. All those famous remarks pointed out the importance of learning interest, interest plays a crucial role in English learning. So it is essential to attend to the underlying reason of the loss of English learning interest in junior middle school students. 1.3 Structure of the Thesis This thesis is made up of six parts. The first part is the background, significance of writing this thesis besides its structure. The second part is mainly elaborating the importance of interest in English learning, with a brief review on English learning interest and the relevant theories concerning interest. The third part is the present English learning situation. The fourth part is the analysis on the loss of students’ English learning interest. The fifth part is to suggest some ways to develop the students’ interest of learning English. The six part is the conclusion. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Definition of Interest Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary (2009:1064) defines the word of “interest” as “the feeling that you have when you want to know or learn more about somebody or something”. Interest is defined as “a feeling that makes you want to pay attention to something or to find out more about it.” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2010:1023). Interest is a phenomenon that emerges from individual’s interaction with his or her environment; it refers to a feeling of wanting to know, learn, see, or take part in something (Hidi, 1992). Obviously, only when students find that English is interesting would they learn it voluntarily. Interest is that someone wants to learn or know about somebody or something unconsciously. Interest causes oneself to give his attention to something or to be concerned with something. It means that people like to do something that they are interested in. Interest is a kind of trend that a person chooses an object consciously and tries to know it. 2.2 Categories of Interest and Their Relationship Interest can be further divided into two kinds, direct interest and indirect interest (Burns & Anne，1999: 8). Direct interest is different from indirect interest in nature. For example, some students are aware of the importance of English learning and willing to learn this foreign language. The interest which formulates consciously is called direct interest. While other students are not interested in learning a foreign language in the beginning but with the time going on they come to show interest in learning English after being aware of the importance of learning a foreign language with the help of their teachers and parents. This kind of interest is indirect interest. Of course, these two kinds of interest can be transformed mutually. Direct interest can attract students’ attention, but it is very hard to preserve. The direct interest can be seen as the beginning of stable interest owing to its short duration. On the contrary, the indirect interest is aroused by the thing itself, and therefore it is also called potential interest. The indirect interest is the only interest that can be turned into stable interest. Therefore, English language teachers are responsible for developing students’ indirect interest into direct or stable interest. 2.3 Studies of Interest in English Learning 2.3.1 Brief Review of Studies on English Learning Interest Many psychologists and educators make the survey and conclude that learning interest plays a very important role in the students’ English learning. One of the earliest theories of interest was developed by Herbart at the beginning of the nineteenth century (Antia, 2003). People who acquired the great success in his career that is because all of them are interested in the career they are engaged in (Guo Benyu, 2006:191). 2.3.2 Brief Review of Studies Abroad In educational and psychological discussion of learning, the concept of interest plays a very important role. Einstein (1979) said: “Interest is the best teacher”. Interest as a phenomenon that emerges from an individual’s interaction with his environment, refers to a feeling of wanting to know, learn, see, or take part in something (Hidi, 1992). Schiefele (1992) makes a survey and concludes that individual’s learning interest is related to the achievements. Gardner (1995) has summarized in most of the components as being discussed in a model of motivation characteristics, in which interest in a foreign language is included. 2.3.3 Brief Review of Studies at Home Talking about the learning interest, we can trace back to the Spring and Autumn Period. Great educator Confucius said like this: “the man knows it is not as good as the man who likes it; the man who likes it is not as good as the man who takes delight in it” (The Analects). From Tao Xingzhi’s opinion (1985), he thinks that the students will do everything wholeheartedly when they are interested in it. It indicates that interest plays a very important part during the learning process. Pan Shu, a famous psychologist of our country, thinks (1982) that interest is the most realistic and active factor in learning motivation. Shen Jiliang (2008) investigates 278 junior high school students and concludes that the higher the level of students’ learning interest is, the better the students’ achievements will be. In recent China, the researches of interest in English learning began in 1980s and have aroused more researchers’ attention since 1990s, such as Li Zheng (1993), He Yaqin (2000), Wei Luqian (2001). Interest is a psychological tendency of people actively exploring something or engaging in a certain activity. It is always accompanied by a good emotional experience. When a student has interest in something, he will express particular concern about it and explore it bravely, he is also willing to engage in activities related (Zhao Liqin, 2010). It actively stimulates the students’ interest and facilitates the students’ English learning. 2.4 The Importance of Interest in English Learning The present criteria on curriculum of English for basic education is promulgated and put into practice to speed up students’ comprehensive and harmonious development. Teachers are required to arouse and develop the students’ interest in English learning. Interest has become an important position in the teaching practice. Edwards (2007) mentioned in Classroom Discipline and Management, “One way to maintain students’ attention is to use the introduction to a lesson to stimulate their interest and get them involved. Start the lesson with a highly motivating activity”. It is believed that this kind of warming-up exercise will arouse students’ leaning interest and enthusiasm of learning. In this circumstance, students pay close attention to their study, thus learning effect will be more efficient. 3. The Present English Learning Situation 3.1 Teachers’ Situation Traditional English Language Teaching in China is dominated by a teacher-centered, examination-oriented, grammar and vocabulary-based method. Knowledge of English transmits through a teacher who acts as “an authority, a knowledge-giver and moral example”; and little attention is paid to the training of the students’ interest (Cortazzi & Jin, 1996). The traditional method is mainly referred to as didactic. It is a kind of teaching method in which the main task of a teacher is to lecture and explain the linguistic knowledge, and the main task of students is to listen and take notes. They only accept the knowledge passively given by a teacher, instead of being active to use their brains to understand, remember and use the knowledge. Under such circumstances, students became experts in exams but had no real abilities in practice. 3.2 Students’ Situation During a lesson, most students just kept silent and acted as audience. They seldom speak English or raise their hands to answer the teacher’s questions voluntarily, and some even fall asleep. It seems that they are attaching little importance to their English lesson. The main reason for their non-participation is that some students have lost interest in learning English. 3.3 Some Existing Problems The topic about the loss of English learning interest has been the concern of many researchers, but it still has a long way to go. Although there are many studies on the cultivation of learning interest, few concerning on the loss of English learning interest in junior middle school students. Many years ago, some educators and psychologists have realized that learning interest plays a very important role during learning process. Professor Gao Yuxiang (2002) from Beijing Normal University investigates the relationship between age and interest, sexuality and interest, and so on, but it mainly aims at college students. So it is essential to focus on the loss of English learning interest in junior middle school students. 4. Underlying Reason of the Loss of Students’ Learning Interest 4.1 Improper Foreign Language Teaching Methods Traditionally, teachers let the students read after them, explain grammar rules, write the new words on the blackboard. And then ask them to dictate, assign the exercises. This method has its weaknesses. There is too much emphasis on rules and exceptions. Students learn the rules, but not the language. Because the students have to accept the endless exams and follow the teachers to memorize so many words, phrases, dialogues and grammatical rules, they are sure to lose interest in English learning. As we know, in junior middle school, English teaching hours are quite limited. It is far from being sufficient to accomplish teaching students these language skills required by the general syllabus if English teaching is only restricted to the classroom teaching. When the teacher teaches a large class, the classroom teaching often tends to be teacher-centered, so, students are given few or limited opportunities for practicing what they have learned in class. As a result, students are easy to forget the language knowledge learned in class, and they are not interested in English learning. Practical experience reveals that teaching effects are strikingly different between teaching in a native language environment and in a foreign language environment. Because in a native language environment students use the foreign language not only in classroom but also after class, they could combine theory with practice closely, while in a foreign language environment, students can only use the foreign language in class, but not after class, in this way, they lack the opportunities to use the foreign language, let alone apply the theory they learned in classroom outside the class. In China, students learn a foreign language in their native language environment (Chinese), and they have few opportunities to use the foreign language. As a result, the teacher should attach great importance to different kinds of teaching methods, so as to make up for the disadvantage of teaching a foreign language in a native language environment, and maximize opportunities for students to use a foreign language as much as possible in the process of classroom learning. 4.2 Negative Role of Mother Tongue in English Learning 4.2.1 Sound English and Chinese are two different language systems. Chinese is a tonal language. The meaning of Chinese depends not only on the phonemes which make up the words pronunciation, but also the pitch and contour used when pronouncing the word. So it mainly uses tone to distinguish the meaning of words. Therefore, students who have just started learning English always unconsciously use Chinese pronunciation to help them to learn English pronunciation. However, to the different pronunciations of the same sound in the two languages, the junior middle school students often mislead by these sounds easily. For example, the English vowel /i/ and Chinese yi sound alike, but their articulation skills are quite different. One example can make this point more clear. In English [v] is a voiced and a labiodental sound, but in Chinese, there is not. So they usually pronounce the sound [v] like the sound [w]. The negative impact of sound sometimes is so stubborn that the junior middle school learners are often influenced easily. 4.2.2 Grammar To the junior middle school students, it is not easy for them to learn English grammar well, because there are many different grammar structures between English and mother tongue. For example, there is no usage of definite article, plural forms of nouns, verbs and tense, etc. In verbs and tenses, it is more common for the students to make mistakes. Unlike English, Chinese expression of past tense relies on expressing aspect. For example, the aspect particle “l(fā)e” can be used after a verb or at the end of a sentence to imply that an action has been completed. Instead, the English verb “do” becomes “did” to express past tense. 4.2.3 Culture Different nationalities have different cultures including value concepts, thinking patterns which are reflected in their native language. To the junior middle school students, they do not understand the culture and habit of the English society in daily lives. For example, “Are you married?”, “How much can you earn in one month?”, “How old are you” ? These questions may arise the westerners’ misapprehension and they will feel disgusted by the police interrogation. They will consider these as bad tastes. For instance: ---Your English is very good. ---No, no, my English is very poor. This is common for the beginners to make such mistakes. Because in China, modesty is a kind of virtue, the answer just shows people’s modesty. But to the local English speaker, they feel confused. In English the native speaker only use “Thank you” to express their acceptance. 4.3 The Effects of Students’ Attitudes in English Learning In the book of Attitude Is Everything written by Keith Harrell (2004:190), the author proposed 10 Life-Changing Steps to Turning Attitude into Action. Harrell teaches readers techniques for maintaining a powerful positive attitude in order to get ahead in life. As for students, whether one can learn English better depends not only on the teachers who can tell you some ways or methods how to learn English well, but more importantly on personal attitudes toward English learning. For students studying at school, they should preview or go over their English texts before and after class to form the good habit of learning English. In class, students should answer the questions or retell the texts or paragraphs in English actively, which strengthen their interest in English learning. However, when students encounter some difficulties in English learning, students with good learning attitudes try their be