略探台灣學生學習英語的主要動機

A View at the Motivation of the EFL Students in Taiwan

歐美國債淹腳目，美元洪災氾濫，西方經濟危機四伏，但是它的主要語言，英語，仍然維持全世界最流行、最重要的地位。近年來，台灣對於學習英語的研究推陳出新，大多著重在學習環境、學習方法、學習工具之專研，在探討學習障礙方面，尤其是在心理層次的障礙，則較少著墨。本文依據筆者從事國小英語教學至今十四年的親身經歷及其他英語教師之經驗，蒐羅當今各種相關文獻資料，尤其著重在學生學習英語之動機因素探討，並應用問卷調查之方式，試圖找出台灣學生最強烈的學習英語動機，祈能在台灣學生學習英語之需求、教師之教材使用及編寫、教師之教學方法及教師本身之人格特質等方面提供參考。

Just as the US dollar has retained an unshakable position in the world financial market even through world economical turbulence, English has never failed its dominant role as the most important language in the world. Because good English ability often guarantees a promising future for most students, learning English has never suffered for a lack of popularity in Taiwan. Contrary to many linguists’ viewpoints, most parents think that their children should begin learning English as early as possible. An increasing number of parents send their kids to after-school language institutes to learn English. Examining research relevant to learning English as a foreign language, and using a survey on the motivation of EFL students in Taiwan, this paper focuses on discovering the current motivators that can best arouse the desire of learning English for Taiwanese EFL students, and hopefully creates significant references in EFL learning, curricula, instructions, and even the teachers’ characteristics for both EFL learners and teachers attempting to make their English learning or teaching more effective.