Comparison of English Learning Motivation and Strategies Between Elderly Students of Different Genders in Southern Taiwan

• Main Authors: Ren-feng Huang, 黃仁峰
• Other Authors: Ye-ling Chang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/01393367182626872582

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 95 === ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to compare English learning motivation and the use of English learning strategies between the male elderly students and the female elderly students in four elderly colleges in southern Taiwan. To illustrate, it attempts to examine whether the male elderly students hold different English learning motivation and use different learning strategies from the female elderly students in the process of English learning. Finally, some pedagogic suggestions for elderly EFL instruction are presented. To achieve the purposes, the researcher administered the questionnaire of this study to 142 students in four elderly colleges in southern Taiwan. The subjects comprise of 62 male elderly students and 80 female elderly students. The subject responses to the questions in a five-point scale on the questionnaire were calculated and analyzed quantitatively by an independent t-test and the Pearson Correlation. Moreover, the subject responses to three interview questions were discussed qualitatively. Based on the quantitative and qualitative data analyses, the main findings of this study are concluded as follows: 1. There is no significant difference between the male and the female students in overall English learning motivation. But, there is a significant difference in instrumental motivation. That is, genders did influence the students’ learning motivation to a limited degree. Significantly, the male students were more motivated by instrumental motivation to learn English than the female students did. 2. There is a significant difference between the male students and the female students in overall English learning strategies, which favors the female students. In addition, there are significant differences in the use of metacognitive and social and affective strategies between the male and the female students. To be specific, most of the female students employed more strategies than the male students in learning English in terms of (a) the planning strategy, (b) the selective attention strategy, (c) the self-monitoring strategy, (d) the self-evaluation strategy, (e) the repetition strategy, (f) the deduction strategy, (g) the questioning strategy, (h) the cooperation strategy, and (i) the self-talk strategy. 3. There is a significant correlation between gender and English learning strategies, and a significant correlation between English learning motivation and English learning strategies. That is, significantly the female students used overall leaning strategies more frequently than the male students. And, significantly the higher the motivation, the more frequently the strategies are used by both of the two gender groups, According to the above findings, it shows that English learning motivation and the use of English learning strategies are influential factors in English learning for the two gender groups. To help both groups have higher motivation and use of strategies more frequently, teachers should understand the differences of the male and female elderly students and then give them appropriate instruction and continuous encouragement.