studies-on-teaching-of-literature-course-英语专业毕业论文设计

PAGEPAGE27PAGE1Chapter1IntroductionAristotleoncedefined“literature”as“abranchofartwhichimitatesnature”(1997:63),whichmeansliteratureisthebasicrepresentativeofhumanemotions,feelings,actions,andthoughts.AccordingtoCarterandLong(1991:3),itispossibletoclassifythesignificanceoflearningliteratureintothreegroupsnamely“linguistic”,“cultural”,and“individual”ones.Linguistically,literatureiscreatedfrombasicmaterialsoflinguisticstudy(Chapman1973:44),soitcanbeusedasaperfectmeanstoexemplifystructuresandvocabularyforEFL.Intermsofculture,literaryworksarereferredtoas“aresponsetothebackgroundinwhichitisactualized”andsaidtobe“identicalwithcivilization”(WellekandWarren1956:20).Forindividuals,Griffith(1987:1)believesthatteachingliterature“enlargestheuseofstudents’imaginationandimprovestheircreativity”.Inshort,literaturebearsgreatsignificanceinitself.ManyprofessorsofEFLattachconsiderableimportancetotheteachingofEnglishliterature.YinQiping’s(YinandChen2002)viewsinthisrespectcanbeusedtosupportourargument.Heagreesthatliteraturehasacrucialroletoplayincultivatingstudentstobemoreimaginativeandcreative,andthat“…anEnglishprogramthatdoesnotlooktothepastworksofliteratureinparticular,deprivesourstudentsoftheopportunitytoparticipateintheongoing,cross-culturalandlife-enrichingdialoguebetweenpastandpresent”(p.320).Fromtheseremarkswecanconcludethatliteraturecoursesareindispensableforforeignlanguagelearners.However,thepastfewyearshavewitnessedadifficulttimeformanyteachersofEnglishliteratureinChineseuniversities.YinQipingobservesthatthe“pragmatictrend”placesever-increasingpressureonbothliteratureteachersandEnglishmajors,asemployersoftengivepreferencetothosewhohavetaken“pragmaticcourses”,namely“EnglishforSpecificPurpose”(ESP)coursessuchasForeignTradeEnglish,EnglishforScienceandTechnology(YinandChen2002:320).Asaresult,theattitudeofdenialortheneglectofthevalueofliteratureprevailsamongEnglishmajors.SurveysshowthatmoreandmoreEnglishmajorsbegintothinkEnglishliteraturecoursesare“boringandimpractical”(YinandChen2002:321).Thus,theteachingofEnglishliteraturehasbecomeademandingjob,andifitisnothandledwell,fewstudentswouldbewillingtodevotetheirtimeandenergytolearningliterature.Inordertoarousestudents’interestinlearningliterature,somethingmustbedone.FutureEnglishteachersshouldunderstandthat“Englishismorethanmerelyinstrumental,theliteraturecourseneedstobemotivationalinitself”(Elliott1990:197).Butbeforefindingoutwhatneedstobedone,weshouldfirstofallunderstandwhatisgoingoninliteraturecourses.Arethereanyproblemsinthepresentliteraturecoursesthataffectstudents’motivation?Whatchangesshouldbemadetokeepstudentsmotivated?Thesequestionsareofvitalimportance.Therefore,asapotentialEnglishteacher,IdecidetocarryoutastudyonthemotivationofEnglishmajorsintheirliteraturecourselearning,analyzethemajorcausesbehindtheissue,andsuggestsomepossiblesolutionstotheproblems.

Chapter2LiteratureReviewLearnermotivationtheoriesItisdifficulttopreciselyconceptualizemotivationinforeignlanguagelearningfields,asdifferentresearchershavedifferentdefinitions.GardnerandLambert(1959)dividemotivationintotwobasictypes:integrativeandinstrumental.Byintegrativemotivationtheyreferto“learners’desiretolearnalanguageinordertointegratesuccessfullyintothetargetlanguagecommunity”.Whileinstrumentalmotivationincludes“theachievementofgoals,utilitarianpurposesforlearningsuchaspassingexams,financialrewards,furtheringacareerorgainingpromotion”(p.266-272).CurrentmotivationtheoriesemployawiderdistinctionfromGardner’sintegrative-instrumentalmotivation.InDornyei’staxonomy,motivationiscomprisedofthreelevels:thelanguagelevel,thelearnerlevelandthelearningsituationlevel.Atthelanguagelevel,motivation“coincideswithtraditionalconceptsofintegrativeandinstrumentalmotivation”;atthelearnerlevelmotivationinvolvesthe“influenceofvariousindividualtraitsoflanguagelearners,suchastheneedforachievementandself-confidence.”Thelearningsituationlevelisalsoinfluencedbyanumberof“intrinsicandextrinsicmotives”.Forexample,inregardtoextrinsicmotives,coursesarerelatedto“thesyllabus,theteachingmaterials,theteachingmethodandlearningtasks”.Intrinsicmotivesarerelatedtothe“characteristicsofthelearnergroup”(Dornyei1994:273-284).IagreewithChenChunjuthat“…learnermotivationisdynamicinnatureandcanvaryfrommomenttomomentdependingonthelearningcontext”(Chen2005:2).LearnerswholearnEnglishliterature,suchasmostEnglishmajorsinmydepartment,maynotuseliteratureforinstrumentalpurposes.Neitherdotheyintendtointegratethemselvesintoatargetculture.Theymaybeintrinsicallyorextrinsicallymotivatedormanyhaveamixtureofbothintrinsicandextrinsicmotives.Therefore,Dornyei’smotivationtheorywhichgoesbeyondintegrativeorinstrumentalclassificationisofmorerelevancetomyresearchingcontext.RelatedstudiesonteachingofliteratureSofar,agreatnumberofsurveyshavebeenconductedastotheattitudeofEnglishmajorstowardstheirliteraturecourses.MostresultsshowthatagoodnumberofEnglishmajorsholdanegativeattitudetowardstheirliteraturecourses.Forinstance,accordingtoaquestionnaireconductedbysamplingtenChineseinstitutionsofhighereducationin2000,about34percentoftheteachersofEnglishliteraturewerefoundbytheirstudentstoconduct“boring”classes(YinandChen2002:321).Thesurveyalsoshowsthatitismainlybecause“…theteachingtendedtobeintheformofamonologueratherthanadialogue.Mostteachersdoaskquestions,buttheirquestionsoftengounanswered,sotheyoftenenduptalkingonlytothemselves.”Theresultsofthissurveyreflectstudents’attitudestowardsliteraturecoursesandsomepossibleflawsintheteachingofliterature.Besides,currentstudieshavebeendevotedtotheexplorationofproblemsthatdemotivatestudentsintheirliteraturecourses.Thesestudiesseemtocentrearoundthreeproblems,namelythetextbook,teachingmethodologyandassessmentsystem.Somescholarsfindthatthetraditionalformofteachingliterature,includingteachers’explanationsaboutthebackgroundofthetimeinwhichtheworkisset,theauthor,thecontent,thewritingstyles,thecharacters,significanceoftheworkandthelike,shouldbeupdated.Thisisalsotrueinmydepartment.Manystudentstendtofallasleepinclasswhenteachersseemtobeexplainingeverythingtothemselves.TwoChinesescholarsnotethat“…theformula,whichisobviouslyagainstthementaldevelopmentofstudents,hasturnedouttoodullandobsoletetomotivatethem”(刘洊波、罗承宁2003:88).WangShalieisalsoagainstthetext-bookcenteredformula,sayingthattheformulahasturnedliteraturecoursetothetranslationofparagraphsoneafteranother(王莎烈1994:58).Inregardtothetextbookofliteraturecourses,WangShalie,inherearlystudyofliteratureteaching,highlightstheimportanceofselectingliterarytexts,statingthatitaffects“thecultivationofstudents’interestinliterature”andservesas“firststeptowardsthesuccessinliteraturecourses”(王莎烈1994:58).Anothertextbook-relatedfactor,mentionedseveraltimesbyDorothy(1989:79),isthatEnglishmajorsintheirthirdyearorfourthyeararestill“intheprocessoflanguagedevelopment”andmaynotbeproficientenoughtodigestfullywhatliteratureworksoffer.Theyaremostpossiblytobeturnedawayby“teachingaimedabovetheirinstructionallevel”.Moststudentsinmydepartmentalsohavehadsimilarexperience.Sometimes,theyarescaredbydifficulttexts,whichreducetheirinterestinlearningliterature.Intheexplanationofthisphenomenon,Yin(YinandChen2002:321)mentionsthatno“preparatorycourses”areofferedto“ironout”typicalobstaclesforChinesestudents.UnlikeintheWest,Englishmajorshavehad“considerableexposure”toWesternliteraturesbythetimetheyenteruniversity.ThismightbethecaseformanyEnglishmajors,asliteraturecoursescometothemallofasudden.Additionally,conventionaltestsinaliteraturecourseoftenleadtoplentyofpassivelearning,whichinvolvesplentyofmemorizingandreciting,paraphrasingandidentifyingthesourceofapassage.WhileCarterandLong(1990:215)proposethatconventionaltestsshouldbesupplementedbyotherformsthatdealwithmore“personalresponseandgeneralcomprehensiongainedinliteraturelearning”.Atpresent,usuallythereisonlyonetesttoassesshowwellstudentshavedoneintheirliteraturecourses.Inmydepartment,seldomarethestudentsmotivatedtoworkhardbyliteraturetestsofthiskind.Thepreviousstudiesontheteachingofliteraturenotonlyprovidemewithaclearsenseoftheresearchbackgroundformystudy,butalsogivemeenlightenmentsindecidingthefocusofmyresearch.ResearchquestionsforthisinterviewstudyBearingtheaboveproblemsinmind,Iwouldliketoconductapilotinterviewstudyinmydepartmenttofindouthowthestudentsperceivetheproblemsthataffecttheirmotivationinliteraturecoursesandcausesbehindtheissue.Herearemytwomajorresearchquestions:1.Howdostudentsperceivetheproblemsthataffecttheirmotivationinliteraturecourses?2.Ifthereareanyproblems,whataresomecausesbehindtheissue?

Chapter3ResearchMethodologyInterviewInthisresearch,interviewmethodisadoptedasithelpstocatchnotonlythefactualbutthein-depthmeaningofthephenomena.Foronething,themaintaskoftheresearchistodiscoverproblemsthataffectstudents’motivation.I,asaresearcher,havetoseekoutstudents’attitudes,viewsandbeliefsrelatedtoliteraturecourselearning.Itseemsthatthemostdirectwaytoachievethisgoalistouseaninterviewmethod.Foranother,throughconductinginterviews,Iwillhavetheopportunitytoaskfollow-upquestionsinordertogetin-depthinformationonthetopic.ParticipantsSixstudentsinmydepartmentparticipatedinmyinterviewstudy.Theywereselectedforthefollowingreasons.First,theyareallfourthgradeEnglishmajorswhohavetakenliteraturecourses,bothBritishliteratureandAmericanliterature,fornearlyoneandahalfyears,sotheyknowthecoursewell.Second,thesixparticipants(fivefemaleandonemale)wereknowntobeinterestedinreadingliteratureworksintheirfirstandsecondyearoncampus,soIbelievetheirpossiblenegativeattitudestotheliteraturecourseisnotinfluencedbytheirpossiblenegativepastexperienceinliteraturelearning.InterviewquestionsdesignInordertoanswermytworesearchquestions,twomajorinterviewquestionswereasked.Thefirstquestionwas“Howdoyouliketheliteraturecourses”.Thisquestionwastofindouttheinterviewee’sgeneralattitudestowardstheliteraturecoursesoastoidentifyproblemsthataffecttheirmotivation.Thesecondquestionwas“Whatproblemshaveaffectedyourmotivationinliteraturecourses”.Thisquestionwastofindoutwhytheliteraturecoursesdemotivatestudents.Accordingtosomepossibleproblemsraisedinthepreviousstudies,aseriesofsub-questions,relatedtothetextbook,theassessmentandthewayofteaching,werealsoaskedsoastogetdetailedresponsestothesecondquestion.Sub-questionsareasfollows:1)“Howdoyouliketheliteraturecoursetextbooksyouhavelearnt?”2)“Canyoudescribetheteacher’smajorwayofteachingtheliteraturecourse?Howdoyoulikeit?”3)“Doesthefinalexamofliteraturekeepyoumotivatedinlearningthecourse?”ProceduresofinterviewsSixstudentswereinvitedforinterviewsseparately.TheywereallowedtorespondtomyquestionseitherinChineseorinEnglishsolongastheycouldexpresswhattheyexactlymeant.Allthemainpointsintheiranswersweretakendowninthenotebook;sub-questionswereusedtohelpprobewhenevernecessary.DataProcessingAfterIgotthedatafromtheinterviews,IsortedoutwhatIhadtakendownandtriedtoclassifythemaccordingtotheemergingthemes.Asonewayofreducingthedata,Ifinallyputtogethersomeimportantexcerptsfrommyinterviewtranscriptionformylateranalysis(seeAppendix).

Chapter4ResultsandDiscussionResults:Student-reportedproblemdescriptionsAccordingtotheanswerstointerviewquestionone,wecanconcludethattheintervieweesallfindliteraturecoursesnotasinterestingastheyexpected.Enoughdataforresearchquestiononewereobtainedafteraskingtheintervieweesabouttheproblemsthataffecttheirmotivationinliteraturecourses.Theanswersareclassifiedandreportedunderthefollowingthreethemesontheteachingmethodology,textmaterialsandtheassessment.TextbookmaterialsFirstly,alltheintervieweescomplainedthatsometextsweretoodifficulttocomprehend,especiallytheexcerptswritteninoldEnglishandlongverses.Forinstance,participant2said,“Ithinksomeofthetextsarequitedifficult,especiallythosewritteninoldEnglish,forexample,Beowulf,TheCanterburyTalesbyChaucer,Shakespeare’sdramas.”Whenaskedwhytheyfindtheseworksdifficult,theylistseveralfactors.Forexample,participant4said,“Ourtimeissolimited,butwehavetoomuchtoread,boththesurveyandworks…therearetoomanyunfamiliarwords,sentencepatternsandconceptsrelatedtoculturalandhistoricalbackground,legends,andreligiousstories”.Participant2said,“Sentencesintheseworksoftenhavemanynotes.Sometimeseventheexplanationofonlyonewordisfullofmanybackgroundinformationandobscureallusions.”Secondly,intheanalysisoflearnerneeds,wefindthatstudentshavetheirownpreferenceastoliteraryworks.Excerptsfromnovelswithinterestingplotsareamongtheirfavourites.Forexample,participant3said,“Novelswithinterestingplotsaremyfavourites.”Participant6said,“Poems,ifnottoolong.”Theseanswersshowthatinterestingtextsmayserveasoneofthemotivationalfactors.Thirdly,theintervieweeswereunsatisfiedwithreadingexcerptsonly.Participant5answered,“…excerptslackthecontext,whichfrequentlypuzzlemeaboutwhatisgoingonintheexcerptsandwhatistheteachertalkingabout.Inthiscase,insteadofreadingon,Iwillgiveup”.Participant5suggests,inthecaseofnovels,usingmoviestofamiliarizestudentswiththewholework.Theseanswersshowthatstudentscannotfollowtheteachersinclasseventhougheverythingisexplained,becausestudentsarenotfamiliarwiththeselectedtextsatall.Theabovefindingstellusthefrustrationsofthestudentsconcerningtextbookmaterialsusedintheliteraturecourseandteacher’swayofhandlingthesematerials.TeachingmethodologyWhenaskedaboutteachingmethodologyadoptedinliteraturecoursesatpresent,fiveintervieweesoutofsixpointedoutthatitboredtheminclass,andthatitdidnotofferenoughhelpinthecomprehensionofatext.Forexample,participant1andparticipant4mentioned,“Idon’tthinkitagoodwayfortheteacherstotranslateonesentenceafteranother,whichmakesstudentspassiveinclass.Moreover,learningliterarytextsbytranslatingthemcannothelpusgrasptheessenceofthem,forexample,thewritingstyleoftheauthor.”Participant5said,“Astheteacheristranslatingthetext,Idonotusemybrain”.Moreover,theyfindthepreviewofthetextspointless.Participant4and5said,“whetherwepreviewornotdoesnotmakeanydifferencessincetheteacherwillexplaineverythinginclass”.However,participant4alsomentioned,“Occasionallyweareaskedtosearchbackgroundinformationofthetextandbringittotheclasstosharewithotherstudents.Inthatcase,weworkharderafterclassthanusual”.Theseanswersagreewiththepreviousfindingsabouttheflawsintheapplicationoftraditionalteachingmethodofliteraturecoursesandcoincidewiththepreviousfindingsthatmanyliteratureteachersarefoundtoconduct“boring”classes,andthatthemajorreasonisthattheteachingtendedtobeintheformofa“monologue”ratherthana“dialogue”(YinandChen2002:321).LiteraturetestsAlltheparticipantsmentionthatliteratureexamsattheendofeachtermcannotmakethemworkhard.Participant4answered,“Evenifwedonotworkhardintheliteraturecourse,westillcanpasstheexamwithoutdifficultybymemorizingthedefinitions,namesoftheauthors,andliterarycommentsdownloadedfromtheinternetjustbeforetheexams...IneverthinkofreviewingwhatIhavelearntunlesstheexamiscoming.”Itistruethat,duringliteraturelessons,studentshavealreadybeentoldabouttheimportantpointstobetestedandhowtotacklethem,sotheyonlyhavetomemorizethembeforeeachexam.Inthisway,creativeanswersarenotuseful.Testedinthisway,studentstakeexamsinalmostthesamewayastheyhaveinstantnoodles.Theyarenotfullymotivatedtostudyhardbythepresentassessmentofliteraturecoursessincethetestisnotafairreflectionoftheireffortdevotedtolearningliterature.Inaddition,theytendnottotrustthemselves.Whenrequiredtowritecomments,theyprefernottowritewhattheythinkabouttheworkbuttheinterpretationsoftheteacherorscholars.Whenparticipant4wasaskedwhyshedidnotwritecommentsherself,sheanswered,“Isupposecommentswrittenbyfamouscriticsarebetterthanmine,sothatIcouldgetahighmark.”Therefore,wecanseethatsuchtestsofliteraturenotonlykillstudents’creativity,but,moreimportantly,alsodiscouragethemfromrelyingontheirownjudgment.Discussion:CauseanalysisHYPERLINKAftergettingenoughdataaboutproblemsthatmayaffectstudents’motivationinlearningliterature,Iconductedacauseanalysisoftheseproblems,soastogetsomeinsightsofstudentsrelatedtomysecondresearchquestion.Mycauseanalysisarrivesatthefollowingthreeaspectsthatseemtohavedemotivatedstudentsintheirliteraturecourselearning.LackofculturalandpersonalrelevanceYinandChen(2002:321)pointoutthat“Ifastudentisnotconvincedoftheculturalrelevanceofwhatsheorheissupposedtoread,hardlyanyrealinterestcanbearoused”.Fromtheabovedata,wecanseethemajorcauseliesbehindthetextbookmaterialproblemisthatthematerialsarenotrelevanttothebackgroundknowledgeandpersonalinterestofthestudents.Studentsaredemotivatedinliteraturelearningbecausethesematerialsarenotcomprehensibleinput,astheyareusuallydetachedfromstudents’backgroundknowledge.Justasmentionedinthepreviousfindings,studentsareturnedawayby“teachingaimedabovetheirinstructionallevel”(Dorothy1989:79).ProfessorFualsoobservesthat“Ifthematerialscontaintoomanydifficultlanguagestructures,allusions,ordialectaluse,theywilloverwhelmthestudents,greatlydampeningtheirinterestinliteraturereadintheoriginal”(Fu,1998:4).Thestudents’negativeattitudetowardsmostofdifficultliterarytextscanalsobeconfirmedbytheviewthat“Textwhichisextremelydifficultoneitheralinguisticorculturallevelwillhavefewbenefits”(VincentandCarter1986:214).Forexample,severaltextsareexcerptsfromliteraryworkswritteninoldtimes.Usually,theseworksappearinourtextbookaccompaniedbymanylongnoteswhicharecloselyrelatedtotheculturalbackgroundofthework,andstudentscannotunderstandthetextuntiltheyreadallthenotes.Additionally,thesetextsoftencontaintoolargevocabularyandtoomanyunfamiliarsentencestructures,suchasdramasbyWilliamShakespeare.ItisestimatedthatinShakespeare’sworks“…nearly25,000Englishwordsareemployed,whicharefivetimesthewordsusedbyaverageEnglishmen.Moreover,becausetheworksarewrittenlongtimeago,theuseofboththevocabularyandsentencestructuresaremuchdifferentfromtoday”(王利民1999:228).Unfortunately,oldworkswhicharebeyondstudents’cognitiveandculturalknowledgeareusuallytaughtatthebeginningofliteraturecourses,soitiseasyforstudentstolosemotivationquiteearly.Secondly,sometextbookmaterialsarenotrelevanttostudents’personalinterest.Thefindingsimplythatstudentsaremotivatedbysomeworksonlybecauseofsomeinterestingplots.Soitisnaturalforstudentsnottohaveinterestinsomeliteraryworksthatdonothaveinterestingstories.Ourexperienceinreadingliteraryworkstellsusmostworksarequiteindividual.Theyareeitherrestrictedtothebackgroundinwhichtheauthorisbroughtup,orbasedontheauthor’spersonalexperience.However,asindividuals,studentsusuallycarelittleaboutwhatanotherindividualexperiences,thinksorfeels.JustasaprofessorofEnglishliteraturesays,“…theworksarelimitedintotheirsocialorpsychologicalcontextorautobiographicaltraitsofthecreators,whichmakestheliteraturecourses‘secondary’andalmost‘pointless’forthestudentsinEFLclasses”(TARAKÇIOĞLU2003:214).Inthesecases,teachersofliteratureshouldbeawareofthefactthatsomeworksmayborethestudentsnomatterhowfamoustheauthorsare.Therefore,itmaybereasonabletoinferthatdifferentformsofliteraryworksshouldbeapproachedinvariedways.Besides,thedatashowthatstudentsmightbedemotivatedbyliteraturecoursesbecausetheyarenotwellprepared.MostEnglishmajors,althoughhavingattendedreadingcoursesintheirfirstandsecondyear,donotbegintoreadEnglishliteratureintheoriginaluntiltheybecomethird-yearstudents.Sonowthefactisthattheycomedirectlytothelearningoforiginalworkswithnopreparatorycoursesofferedtoclearawaysuchtypicalobstaclesasvocabulary,culturaldifferencesandsoon.Asaresult,forChineselearners,itisnotunlikelythattheywouldmeetunpleasantchallengesatthebeginningoftheliteraturecourses.Theymightbedepressedbythoseunfamiliarliteraryterms,concepts,background,orcustomscontainedintheworkstobelearnt.LackofchanceforinteractionandcreativityTheinterviewresultsshowthattheteacher-centeredteachingmethodofliteraturecoursesusuallyleaveslittleroomoropportunityforinteractionandstudents’creativity,whichinturnleadstostudents’passiveanddependentattitudeinlearningliterature.Sofar,teachersofliteraturecoursesusuallyadoptGrammar-Translationmethodastheirmajormethodologywhichallowsforalmostnoexchangebetweenteachersandstudents.Teachersexplaineverythinginorrelatedtotheliteraryworks,aimingathavingstudentsacceptallthefacts.Songpointsout,“Withteacherstalkingtooconfidentlyandtoomuchinclass,studentsarenotmotivatedtochallengetheteacher,thustheatmosphereistooserioustofosterclassroominteraction”(宋军2003:146).Lackofinteractiononlycontributestostudents’passiveattitudeinpart.Whatisworse,studentshavelittlechancetoshowtheircreativity.Asstudentshaveaccesstomoreandmorenearlyperfectcriticismwrittenbyfamousscholars,thegoalsoflearningseemtobepredeterminedandrealizedinascientificallyaccurateway.Withstandardizedapproachestoliteraryworks,studentsaretaughttoreadandrespondcorrectly,whichkillstheircreativethinkingandposesintrusiontostudents’autonomyandindividuality.JustasRichterobserves,“…adifferentiatedunderstandingofrecommendedmaterialscanonlybeunderstoodasadisturbanceintheprogram,thusa‘mistake’”(Richter1975:26).Asaresult,studentsdarenotexpresswhattheyreallythinkaboutthetext,sotheywillnolongerbemotivatedintheliteraturecourselearning.LackofasenseofachievementMydatashowthatstudentsaredeeplyboredbythefacts-basedliteraturetests.Arealcausebehindtheproblemisthatthosetestsonlymeasureone’smemorizationskills,whichisverydemotivating.Itgiveslittleroomforstudentstoshowtheircreativityorhigher-orderthinking.Memorizingfactskillsone’sinteresttolearnmore.Asstudents’creativityisnothighlyvaluedinthosetests,studentscannotfeelasenseofachievementeveniftheycangetagoodmarkinthem.Ibelievestudentsaremorelikelytobemotivatediftheycangetastrongsenseofachievementbytakingliteraturetests.Thiscallsforurgentreformofthetestpaperdesignandimplementationforliteraturecourseteaching.

Chapter5ImplicationsandSuggestionsAlthoughtherearemanyobstaclesinmotivatingstudentsintheliteraturecourselearning,namelythetangledcontradictionsbetweensuchfactsastimelimitation,students’diverseinterests,lackofpreparatoryknowledgeandproblemssuchasthetextbookmaterials,theteachingmethods,theassessment,itiscertainlynotthecasethattheseproblemsarenotsolvable.Basedoncurrentmotivationtheoriesthatemphasizelearnertraits,thefollowingenlightenmentisobtainedafterthefullcauseanalysis.ImprovingteachingmethodsEngagingstudentsintheirliteraturecourselearningSincetheoreticalordescriptiveexplanationfromtheteachersisfarlessthanenough,studentsneedtofeelengagedinthelanguagepersonally,ratherthanfeeldetachedfromtheliteraryworktobelearnt.Thisisconfirmedbytheviewthat“Learnersaremostmotivated,mostopentolanguageinput,whentheiremotions,feelings,andattitudesaremostengaged”(Tomlinson1986:34).Itiscommonlyagreedthat“Literaturewillonlybemotivationallyeffectiveifstudentscangenuinelyengagewithitsthoughtsandemotionsandappreciateitsaestheticqualities”(Elliott1990:197).Inordertoengagethestudentsinliteraturelearning,alotoffocuseshavebeengivento“TheReader-ResponseApproach(RRA)”,whichisto“encouragelearnerstorespondtothetextandexpresstheirownideas,opinionsandfeelingsfreely.Themainconcernisnot‘whattheyunderstand’but‘howtheyfeel’”(Amer2003:68).AmongalltheactivitiesbasedonRRA,itisoftenbelievedthatdramaactivitiesandcreativewritingscanmakeliteraturecoursesmoremotivating.Organizingdram