抄録
Motivation and attitudes have long been identified as crucial and central to language learning along with aptitude (Spolsky 1989). This paper reports on the results of self-report questionnaires that investigate affective factors and their effects on language learning. The purpose is to identify the elements that can lower or heighten students' positive engagement in English learning and to provide referential data for effective curriculum design. The participants are Japanese university students who are taking English as a compulsory subject in the general education department. The results have been analyzed to examine their effects on, and interactions with task types. The data indicates that the majority of the students had fairly strong intrinsic interest in improving their English. However, it was found that low test scores, incomprehensible input, monotonous activities, and anxiety factors such as classroom reporting might have been responsible for low levels of participation. Factors that caused the students to feel a heightened motivation for English study involved the situations in which they felt the immediate need for actual ‘international’ communication such as domestic encounters with foreigners, and travel abroad circumstances in which they recognized the shortcomings of their English language skills. The student generally reported a strong preference for the audio-visual medium with an emphasis on entertainment such as music, movies and TV programs.
