Abstract: Reading is an indispensable and useful sociocultural skill in people’s life. In second language acquisition, reading is treated as a fundamental channel to obtain information and a tool to communicate with others. At the same time, motivation has a great influence upon middle school students’ grades. So the thesis aims to analyze how motivation influences middle school students’ English reading by investigating three classes in the middle school in the form of questionnaire. The questionnaire is made up of four main aspects: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, importance of reading and reading efficacy. The participants are required to choose the most accurate answers to the 33 questions. Based on the analysis of the collected data, it is concluded that motivation plays an important role in Chinese students’ English reading and there are various motivations affecting their English reading, such as the intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.

 Key words: English reading; motivation; middle school students; intrinsic motivation; extrinsic motivation

CONTENTS

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction1

2. Literature Review ..1

 2.1 Definition of Motivation

2.2 Classification of Motivation

2.2.1 Integrative and Instrumental Motivation

   2.2.2 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

   2.2.3 Resultative Motivation

2.3 The Basic Theories of Motivation

     2.3.1 Weiner’s Attribution Theory

2.3.2 Dornyei’s Three-Level Motivation Theory

2.3.3 Achievement Theory

2.4 The Relationship between Motivation and English Reading   

3. Research Method4

  3.1 Brief Introduction

  3.2 Details of the Study

     3.2.1 Research Questions and Hypothesis

     3.2.2 Instrument

     3.2.3 Samples

     3.2.4 Procedures

  3.3 Data Collection and Analyze 

4. Discussion.7

5. Conclusion8

Bibliography.9

Appendix10