First Language or MotivationWhich Has Decisive Influence on the Success of Second Language Acquisition獲獎科研報告

FirstLanguageorMotivation，WhichHasDecisiveInfluenceontheSuccessofSecondLanguageAcquisition獲獎科研報告TheEffectofFirstLanguageonSecond

FirstLanguageandSecondLanguage

Firstlanguagereferstothelanguagethatisacquiredsinceonesearlychildhood，itisalsocalledmothertongueornativelanguage（Sinha，Banerjee，Sinha，&Shastri，2009）.AccordingtoLantolf&Poehner（2008），thelearningofsecondlanguageisquitedifferentfromL1insomeaspects.L1isusuallyacquirednaturallyandfreelyandlearningoftenstartsfrominfancy.However，L2islearnedinaclassroomenvironmentwhichiscontrolledandinthiscircumstancethemainsourcesofstudyaretextbooksandteachers.Furthermore，learninginasecondlanguagecontextisgoalcentered，theintentionofaL2learnerisstrongerthanL1learner.Generally，peoplestudythesecondlanguageforemployment，educationorotherpurposes（Derakhshan&Karimi，2015）.WhendiscussingtheissueaboutwhethertoteachL2throughtheuseofL1，languageteachersoftenholddifferentopinions，someofthemthinkexplainingsomedifficultproblemsthroughfirstlanguagecanmakestudentseasiertounderstand，butothersthinkthatL1isabiginterferenceforthestudyofL2andforbidthespeakingofitinclasses（Channa，Gilhooly，Lynn，Manan，&Soomro，2017）.

InterferencefromFirstLanguage

Almostallthepreviousresearchersshowthatonesfirstlanguageinterferessecondlanguageacquisition.ItotallyagreedwiththatandbelievedmosterrorsofL2learnerswereresultedfromtheirL1.TheresultsfromNassaji（2013）onthetransferofL1inL2writingindicatedthatwhenlearnerswriteinL2，theirwritingwasreallyaffectedbytheirmothertongue.AnotherresearchaboutconsonantclusterbyFatemi，SobhaniandAbolhassan（2012）showedthatwhenthestructurewasdifferentinL1andL2，learnerswouldfeeldifficulttopronouncebecauseoftheunacquaintedphonologicalrule.WhetheralearnerspeaksorwritesinL2，theyalwayshavetorelyonthestructureoftheirL1.Therefore，thedifferencesofstructuresinL1andL2decidethattheinterferenceisunavoidable.

Beardsmore（1982）statesthatinthelearningprocessofsecondlanguage，themaindifficultiesareinphonology，vocabularyandgrammar，allofwhichcouldbeaffectedbythehabitsofL1andthenerrorsproduce.Theerrorscanbegroupedintothreetypes，namelydevelopmentalerror，ambiguouserroraswellasuniqueerror.AmongthemdevelopmentalerrorpresentsthemistakethatisunrelatedtoL1，ambiguouserrorsincludethedevelopmentalerroranderrorsfrominterference.Thelastoneisuniqueerror，itisneitherdevelopmentalerrornorinterferenceerrorandactuallyitistheoutcomeofhabitsinfirstlanguageanditshouldnotbebroughtintothestudyofsecondlanguage（Dualy，Burt，&Krashen，1982）.Whenspeakingforeignlanguages，L2learnersareoftenrequiredtotransfertheiroriginalculture，meaningandform.Therefore，duringtheprocedureoftransforming，habitsofL1arealsounavoidablytransferredanderrorsoccur（Beebe&Seliger，2006）.Beardsmore（1982）alsomentionsthattheproblemslearnersencounteredaboutvocabulary，grammarandphonologyarecausedbythetransferringofhabitsinL1.

Interferenceisinevitable，however，IhavefoundthatthedegreeofitisdifferentandtheextentdependsonthesimilaritybetweenL1andL2.Hayati（1998）explainsthatthemoredifferencesbetweenthetwolanguages，themoreinterferencewouldproduceanditwillbemoredifficultforthelearnertostudyasecondlanguage.Inthesameway，themoresimilaritiesthetwolanguagesshare，theinterferencewouldbelessanditwillbemoresimpleforlearners.Forexample，EnglishandFrenchbelongtothesamelanguagefamily，theIndo-Europeanlanguages，naturallywhoseL1isEnglishwouldfinditiseasiertolearnFrenchthantostudyotherslikeChinese.SoitisnotalwaysthelargesthurdleinL2learningandinfactithelpsstudytosomeextent.

RoleofFirstLanguageinSecondLanguage

ManypeoplerefusetousetheirnativelanguagewhentheylearnsecondlanguageinordertoavoidtheinterferenceofL1.Itisalsoreflectedintheclass，someL2teachersrestrictandevenforbidthespeakingofL1intheirclasses，Instead，theyencouragestudentstocommunicatewiththetargetlanguageasfrequentlyaspossiblesincethatcanincreasetheproficiencyoftheL2.Ellisproposedatheorycalled“negativetransfer”，itsignifiesthatinSLA，languagetransferiscommonandbeforelearnersstartthelearningofanotherlanguage，theyfullydependontheirL1forcommunicationswithothersforalongtime.Thereforethestructureandhabitsaredeep-rootedandwillbebroughtintothestudyofanotherlanguage.However，itisnotsayingthatthebenefitsofL1canbetotallyignored.

Duringthehistoryofsecondlanguageteachingandlearning，thedevelopmentofmotivationcanbedividedintothreeperiods（D?rnyei&Ushioda，2011），namelysocialpsychologicalphase，cognitive-situatedphaseaswellasprocess-directedphase.Thestageofsocialpsychologicalstartedfrom1959andendedin1990.AccordingtothestudyofGardner（2010）inbilingualcontext，motivationisacomplexconcept，hestatesthatmotivationhelpspeopletosetupandreachtheiraimandinthecontextofsecondlanguagelearning，themotivationoflearnerhavetobeunderstoodbyknowingthesocialcultureofL2community.Histheoryaboutmotivationsignifiesthattheconnectionbetweenonesmotivationandobjectiveisclose，motivationaffectsgoalandviceversa.Andthentwocommonlyusedconceptsinthetheoryofmotivationwereputforwardbytheauthor，oneisintegrativeorientation，theotheroneisinstrumentalorientation.TheformermeanstheleanerstudywithanactiveattitudetowardsthecommunityofthesecondlanguageandthelaterreferstostudyL2forsomeclearpurpose.IthastobementionedthattheoreticalresearchersbyGardnercanbeconsideredtobethefoundationsofotherstudiesinmotivation.

Thenextstageiscognitive-situatedphasewhichbegananddevelopedduring1990s.

Inthisperiod，theresearchemphasizeshadbeenbroughtbacktotheareaofpsychology，therequirementsofbothlearnersandteachersaswellastheclassroomcontextweresupposedtobemoreimportantthanthesocialcontext.D?rnyei（1994）putforwardthreelevelsofmotivationinthisperiod，thefirstislanguagelevel，itconfirmstheimportanceoflanguageandcommunity，thesecondisleanerlevel，itincludesthepersonalityandcognitiveprogressoflearners.Thelastistheleveloflearningsituation，course，groupandteacherarethemostimportantlevelsintheclass.

Thestudiesofmotivationisthisstagehadbecomemorespecific.

Process-orientedstageisthelastoneandthestudiesonthelearningmotivationinL2mainlyfocusonthreeaspects.ThefirstisthetermofmotivationduringengagementproposedbyWilliamsandBurden，itreferstoallthefeelingsandbehaviorsintheprocedureofL2learning.Thenthesecondisthetheoryaboutthetemporarymotivationofstudents，whichemphasizesthemotivationinthelearningexperiencesofL2learnersandthethirdisthetheorycamefromD?rnyeiandOttoaboutactionstageandmotivationalstage.Inactionperiod，aimsaretransferredtoachievementswhileinmotivationalperiod，motivationdrivespre-actional（thebuiltoftheaim），actional（toattendclasses）andpost-actional（externalfeedback）（D?rnyei&Ushioda，2011）.Thisperiodclearlyshowsamorespecialinterestinlanguagelearnersandtheirspecificcircumstances.

ItiswellknownthatalearnerwhoissuccessfulinthestudyofL2mustbeamotivatedlearner.MotivationcanberegardedasthebestpredictorofSLA.Iwilldiscusstheimportanceandpositiveeffectsofmotivationfromtwoperspectives，oneismotivationinlearningprocessandanotherismotivationinlearningoutcomes.

TheEffectofMotivationonLearningProcess

Motivationdeterminesthereasonwhywelearnaforeignlanguage，towhatdegreeweshouldworkhardduringlearningprocessandwhatkindofresultswewillobtain.L2learnerswithhighmotivationcantakepartinclassroomactivitiesactivelywhilelowermotivatedstudentsperformpassivelyinlanguagelearningclassroom.

Duringthelearningprogress，learnersmayholddifferentlearningmotivation.Fromsocialpsychologicalperspective，Gardnerputforwardmajortypesoforientations，theintegrativeorientationandtheinstrumentalorientation.Motivationwhichisintegrative-centeredisrelatedtointerestsforcultureandlanguagelearning，whereaslearnerswithinstrumental-centeredmotivationconcernspracticabilityinthestudyofL2.Moreover，motivationcouldalsobeclassifiedintoextrinsicmotivationaswellasintrinsicmotivationbasedonthetheoryofself-determination（Deci&Ryan，2000）.Extrinsicmotivationdriverslearnerstostudyforawardswhileintrinsicmotivation，ithasandhavelittletodowiththelanguageitself.WhileintrinsicmotivationiscloselyassociatedwiththeneedsofL2learnersthemselves，suchastherequirementforstudyaboard，thedesiretoacquiremoreemploymentopportunitiesormerelypersonalinterestinlanguagelearning（Lepper，Henderlong，&Iyengar，2005）.AccordingtomyforeignlanguageclassroomobservationexperienceinasecondaryschoolinChina，studentsintheclassroomusuallypresenteddifferentexpressions.Thereweresomestudentswhoalwaysperformedactivelyfromthebeginningtotheendoftheclass，theyvolunteeredtoparticipateinactivitiessuchasroleplayandtheywouldliketotakeadvantageofeverychancetopracticeEnglishsoastomakethemselvesbeproficientinthelanguageassoonaspossible.ThesestudentsweremotivatedbyintrinsicmotivationandtheylearnedL2languagefortheircuriosity，interestsandpleasure.Therewerealsosomestudentswhoperformedactivelybecausetheteacherhadtoldthemthatsomeprizesandscoreswouldbeobtainedaftertheclassiftheycouldtakeanactivepartintheclasswhichdrovesomelearnerstocompeteagainstotherstoanswerquestionsaskedbytheteacherinordertogetsomeprizesandthesestudentsweredefinitelystudyoutofexternalmotivation.L2learnerswithextinctmotivationactuallystudyinaparticipateinclassroomactivitiespassively.Onthecontrary，studentsdrovebyintrinsicmotivationfulfilltasksinspontaneityandmucheasiertoacquiresuccessinL2learning.

TheEffectofMotivationonLearningOutcomes

AccordingtoTianMao（2008），theeffectofmotivationonstudyachievementisusuallyreflectedthroughlearningefficiencyandlearningstrategy.L2learnerswhohavestrongermotivationwillautonomouslysearchforeffectivelearningstrategiesaspossiblyastheycanandcertainlytheycanstudymoreefficiently.Thatiswhylearnerswithhighermotivationcanmasteralanguagebetterinashortertime.Lepper，HenderlongandIyngar（2005）haveconductedaresearchtoprovethatmotivationisassociatedwithachievementoutcomes.Theresultsshowedthattherelationbetweenclassroombehaviorsandinternalmotivationisactive，buttherelationbetweenexternalmotivationandperformanceinclasseswasnegative.Inaword，motivationaffectoutcomesandsometimesresultsreactonmotivation.

ThePredictorofSuccess

Consequently，Ibelievemotivationisanoriginalandprimitiveforceofachievingsomething，itcandecidethesuccessorfailureandifapersonisunwillingtodosomethingatthebeginning，heorshedefinitelycannotbesuccessful.Itismotivationthatpredictthesuccessofdoingsomething，nomatterinemploymentoreducation.

Withtheeffectofmotivationinmymind，studentsmotivationintheclassshouldbewelldevelopedandalanguageteacherisalsosupposedtohelplearnerssetupclearlearningobjectivesandinspiretheirinterestsinlanguagestudy.

Conclusion

Toconclude，therearealotoffactorsthataffectthelearningofsecondlanguageacquisition，includingmotivation，learnersfirstlanguage，ageaswellaspersonality.However，theeffectofeachisdifferentandeventhoughonesfirstlanguagecanbeinterferedinsomeaspects，wecannotjustsaythatitdeterminesthesuccessofL2learning.SimilarlymostofthemistakesmadeinL2cannotbeblamedtoL1，becauseL1reallyhavemanypositiveeffectsinSLAandwhoaregoodatfirstlanguageoftenshowtalentsinstudythesecond.ItismotivationthatplaysadecisiveinfluenceinSLA，aclearandstrongmotivationcaninspirestudentspotentialtostudyandincreasetheirlearningefficiencyandeffectivenessandtheinternalmotivationhavemorepositiverole.Sincewhenapersonhasstrongdesiretodosomethingfromtheinside，heorshewilltrytheirbesttofindmethodsandapproachestoreachthegoal.Ifmotivationcouldbeutilizedappropriatelybyteachers，theworkofeducationinsecondlanguagewouldbemucheasierandlikewiseandL2learnerswouldalsofinditmucheasiertolearninarelaxandeffectivewayandatthesametimeenjoythepleasureinsecondlanguagelearning.

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