Association study between environmental factors and English listening learning motivation of left-behind students in Chinese vocational schools

This study focuses on finding correlation between English listening motivation and the aspect of a specific environment of left-behind students at Chinese vocational schools. This study employs both qualitative and quantitative methods and uses quantitative surveys(N=428) together with qualitative interviews(N=48) in order to find out the factors motivating the learners to acquire listening skills pertaining English language. The findings show that environmentally school support M=3.42, SD=0.86 has more negative impact on family support M=2.87, SD=1.03 comparison of students’ learning motivation. Teacher support is positively associated with both intrinsic (r=0.62, p<.01) as well as extrinsic motivational factors (r=0.56, p<.01). From the longitudinal analysis it is observed that there is a gradual increase in extrinsic motivation over the academic year whereas a moderate increase of intrinsic motivation factors is observed. The works sheds light on the centrality of emotion and peer support in the context of the observed relationship between teacher support and motivation levels in general. Such findings shed light on the interplay of motivational contexts in language learning among left-behind children and have concrete recommendations for vocational schools’ corrective measures.