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How College Students' Motivation Is Related to their English Performance on Three Taiwanese Popular Tests


Affiliations
1 University of Kang Ning, Taiwan, Province of China
2 Shu Zen Junior College of Medicine and Management, Taiwan, Province of China
3 Kaomei Junior College of Healthcare and Management, Taiwan, Province of China
4 Aletheia University, Taiwan, Province of China
     

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This paper attempts to investigate the relationship between Taiwanese college student' motivation and their English performance on three Taiwanese popular tests, including College Entrance Exam (CEE), General English Proficiency Test (GEPT), and National English Test in Proficiency for All on the Web (NETPAW). Participants were 36 college freshmen in a private university in south Taiwan. In addition to their English scores from CEE (2011), all subjects took a similar test of GEPT and NETPAW in September the same year, and filled out a questionnaire dealing with their English learning motivation (Gardner, 1985). All available data were processed by SPSS for descriptive and predictive analyses. Findings showed that students’ English scores of CEE, GEPT and NETPAW were strongly correlated to one another, and their motivational intensity was predictable of their GEPT and NETPAW scores. The finding was expected to provide more understanding for English teachers to take student' individual differences into consideration when designing curriculum, instruction, evaluation, and to help develop favorable English learning behaviors, particularly, motivational intensity.

Keywords

Motivation, English Performance, CEE, GEPT, NETPAW.
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  • How College Students' Motivation Is Related to their English Performance on Three Taiwanese Popular Tests

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Authors

Mou-Tzu Yang
University of Kang Ning, Taiwan, Province of China
Yen-Ju Hou
Shu Zen Junior College of Medicine and Management, Taiwan, Province of China
Yi-An Hou
Kaomei Junior College of Healthcare and Management, Taiwan, Province of China
Hsueh-Yu Cheng
Aletheia University, Taiwan, Province of China

Abstract


This paper attempts to investigate the relationship between Taiwanese college student' motivation and their English performance on three Taiwanese popular tests, including College Entrance Exam (CEE), General English Proficiency Test (GEPT), and National English Test in Proficiency for All on the Web (NETPAW). Participants were 36 college freshmen in a private university in south Taiwan. In addition to their English scores from CEE (2011), all subjects took a similar test of GEPT and NETPAW in September the same year, and filled out a questionnaire dealing with their English learning motivation (Gardner, 1985). All available data were processed by SPSS for descriptive and predictive analyses. Findings showed that students’ English scores of CEE, GEPT and NETPAW were strongly correlated to one another, and their motivational intensity was predictable of their GEPT and NETPAW scores. The finding was expected to provide more understanding for English teachers to take student' individual differences into consideration when designing curriculum, instruction, evaluation, and to help develop favorable English learning behaviors, particularly, motivational intensity.

Keywords


Motivation, English Performance, CEE, GEPT, NETPAW.

References