It is well known that Chinese EFL learners face considerable challenges in speaking English. Affective factors such as learning motivation could be a reason for this issue as motivation plays a vital role in language acquisition. Regrettably, Chinese EFL students lack the motivation to prioritize and improve their speaking as speaking is often neglected at the national examination level. On the other hand, autonomous learning emerges as a highly officious way to address the issue of oral English instruction. However, research that incorporates learning motivation, autonomous learning, speaking performances, and incentive strategies is very limited. Thus, this paper attempts to narrow this research gap by proposing incorporating autonomous learning through incentive strategies to improve EFL learners’ learning motivation and speaking performances at a public university in China. Adopting an explanatory mixed-method research approach, the current study will use a quasi-experimental design with purposive sampling where two classes will serve as the experimental and control groups. The 14-week intervention will be implemented in the experimental group, while an in-situ approach will be implemented in the control group. A pretest and post-test data will be collected to check the participants’ changes in speaking performances, while a longitudinal survey will be demonstrated to the students to examine their motivation levels before and after the intervention. It is hoped that the study would provide insights into the role of learning motivation and effective teaching strategies to enhance EFL learners' speaking skills.

Authors:
Yang Yi, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia
Asmaa AlSaqqaf, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia

About the Presenter(s)
Ms Yi Yang is a University Doctoral Student at Universiti Malaysia Sabah in Malaysia

See this presentation on the full schedule – On Demand Schedule

Bookmark