Gender Differences in Foreign Language Learning

1、gender differences in foreign language learninga thesis submittedto foreign language departmentof zhongyuan university of technologyin partial fulfillment of the requirementsfor the degree of bachelor of artsby student id number: 2003xxxxxxxx supervisor： 5, 2008四號黑體加粗居中，摘要以200-300字為宜。論 文 摘 要性別是第二語言習

2、得和外語學習中學習者差異的重要因素之一，因此，語言性別差異的研究已經越來越受到重視。該論文通過對七十二名以英語為外語的大學生的調查問卷進行分析，研究性別差異對英語學習者的學習動機，策略運用，以及學習觀念的影響，基于調查結果對英語教學提出建議。分析結果表明英語學習者在學習動機，策略運用，以及學習觀念方面的確存在不同程度的性別差異。該研究建議教師通過各種課堂活動激發(fā)學生對英語國家文化的興趣，針對男、女生性格差異，對其學習策略采取重點不同的培養(yǎng)和訓練，并通過相互溝通的方式鼓勵學生樹立積極的學習態(tài)度，拓展適合于自己的學習方法。此處空一行關鍵詞：性別差異；學習動機；策略運用；學習觀念小四號宋體加粗，關鍵

3、詞間以分號隔開。關鍵詞以3-5個為宜。i四號即14arial體加粗居中，字數為150-200。小四號times new roman體，1.5倍行距。abstractgender is one of the learner variables that may play an important role in second language acquisition and foreign language learning, so that research on gender differences related to language has attracted more and mor

4、e attention. this paper examines the self-reported study of 72 university students learning english as a foreign language in china, and focuses on the effects of gender differences on motivation, the use of language learning strategies and beliefs, and teaching implications are provided based on the

5、 result of the survey. the analysis reveals that gender differences do exist in motivation of learning language, the use of language learning strategies as well as beliefs about language learning. based on the result of the analysis, the study suggests that the teachers should try to arouse the inte

6、rests of the students learning the culture of english-speaking countries, carry out the strategy training according to the differences of the characters of male and female students, and through communication with the students encourage them to develop positive attitude towards their study and explor

7、e the methods suitable to their own characteristics.此處空一行key words: gender differences; motivation; learning strategies; learners beliefs小四號times new roman體加粗，關鍵詞間以分號隔開。iitable of contentspagesabstract (chinese) .abstract (english). table of contents. .1. introduction .1.1 1.1.1 .1.1.2 .1.2 1.2.1 .i

8、iiiii11.12. theoretical foundation.2.1 definition.2.1.1 2.2 learning strategies.2.2.1 3. project rationale. 3.1 3.1.1 .3.2 3.2.1 .referencesappendix.acknowledgements242526iii論文標題，14號arial體加粗，段后設為1行大標題，12號arial體加粗，段后設為1行gender differences in foreign language learning1. introduction小四號times new roman體

9、language is at the center of human life. language learning and language teaching are vital to the everyday lives of millions. all forms of language teaching could be greatly improved if we had a better understanding of the language learner and of the language learning process itself. in fact, many s

10、tudies on english learners have been conducted in china, which indeed provide teachers and researchers with a deep understanding of the actuality of english learning in this country. however, while individual differences have attracted more and more attention, the factors that contribute to the rela

11、tionship between gender and motivation, language learning strategies, and learners beliefs have not received adequate recognition.it is at the beginning of the 20th century that scholars started to pay attention to the relationship between gender and language. research on gender differences related

12、to language has focused on cognitive functions. for example, studies have been conducted on a variety of differences among young school children (robinson, 1996), college students (stumpf and stanley, 1996), and adults (halpern and wright, 1996) as well as subjects with affective or communicative di

13、sorder. and other studies are related to language production as in conversation and addressed gender differences in spoken and written language output. examples include mulac and lundell (1994) written discourse. in china, researches on gender language date back to the 1980s, which are mainly about

14、differences in men and women language forms. most scholars put the focus on language form as related to gender, either by introducing achievements made by researches abroad or by exploring gender and language according to their own experience. and later, some researchers brought the study of gender

15、and language to a 1broader scope. from then on, there was an obvious shift from examining language form to exploring communication strategies and speech style (e.g. xu lisheng, 2000). 大標題，四號即12號arial體加粗，段后設為1行（省略）2級節(jié)標題，10號arial體，加粗。2. theoretical foundations2.1 motivationthe important involvement of

16、 motivation in learning english as a foreign language has been established for some time. there can be little doubt that motivation is a powerful factor in foreign language learning: most studies investigating the effect of motivation have found a relatively strong correlation between motivation and

17、 language learning success, with many finding motivation to be the most significant predictor of achievement (e.g. oxford, 1993). motivation has also been found to affect the use of language learning strategies, with highly motivated students generally employing strategies more frequently than less

18、motivated students in many types of foreign language programs (ehrman and oxford, 1989).3級標題，小四號即12號times new roman加粗，段前設為一行2.1.1 definitions although motivation is a term frequently used in both educational and research contexts, there is little agreement as to the exact meaning of this concept. th

19、e term has a number of different interpretations, and it has come to be used in different ways by different people.a simple definition is provided by keller (1983) in current psychology: “motivation refers to the choices people make as to what experiences or goals they will approach or avoid, and th

20、e degree of effort they will exert in that respect” (crookes and schmidt, 1991: 481). this definition gives readers an initial idea about what motivation is. by this definition, motivation includes making choices and exerting efforts. 2kanfer (1992) developed the definition of motivation by indicati

21、ng that motivation refers to （省略）3新起一頁，四號即14號arial體加粗。加粗居中，段后設為1行五號times new roman體referencesbacon, s. m. & finneman, m. d. sex differences in self-reported beliefs about foreign language learning and authentic oral and written input. language learning. 1992, 4: 471-495.boyle, j.p. sex differences i

22、n listening vocabulary. language learning. 1985. 2: 273-284. brown, h.d. breaking the language barrier. intercultural press, inc. 1991.deci, e. l. & r. m. ryan. intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. new york: plenum. 1985.d. koehn. “the ethics of handwriting analysis in pre-employment screening.” the online journalof ethics 1.1 (1995). http:/condor//et