Chaolian Tu

Chunchun Han

This study examines the attribution in Chinese non-English major students' English learning. Attribution theory is a psychological theory involving with the perception of inference and explanation of one's own behavior and that of others. It has drawn much attention in English language learning and teaching. Using a mixed methods approach, this study explored the attribution tendency of non-English majors at a science and engineering university in China and explored the correlation between attribution factors and students' English proficiency. The results indicate that the attribution of the non-English major students at that university is positive on the whole as they are inclined to attribute success or failure to internal and controllable factors. However, negative attribution still occupies a relatively large proportion in their overall attribution tendencies. Further, there are attribution differences across gender. Boys tend to make external uncontrollable attribution, whereas girls have the tendency of making internal controllable attribution. Finally, among the eight attribution factors, learning interest is the most significant factor influencing students' English learning performance. Implications for English learning are discussed in this paper.

Bin Chen

Yingying Chen

This study investigated Chinese college non-English major students' English reading extracurricular activities. College non-English major students' in-class reading time is limited, and extracurricular English reading should be an important complement for their English reading. The present study investigated the situation of non-English majors' extracurricular English reading activities by randomly selecting 130 college non-English major students at a Chinese university as participants. The results indicate that 18.7% of the participants are interested in extracurricular English reading; more than half of them do not have various reading purposes; 84.55% of them spend less than one hour in extracurricular English reading per day; more than half of them do not have reading strategies; more than 50% of them agree that extracurricular English reading has improved their English ability. Important implications are discussed.

Zhi Yang

Chaolian Tu

Qimiao Mao

This empirical study investigates the impact of anxiety on Chinese higher vocational students' learning. With the popularization of higher education, higher vocational students account for a larger part of college students in China. However, most of the students are poor in English and lack of interests in learning English, and their learning achievement and outcomes are usually low. This study investigated the current situation of higher vocational students' anxiety and the correlation between anxiety and their achievement in English learning. The results show that many students experience anxiety in the process of English learning, and there are no significant differences between male and female students. Further, there exist negative correlations between communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, test anxiety and students' performance on the Practical English Test for Colleges (PET). Although anxiety has a negative effect on English learning, it can be reduced to a proper extent by taking some effective measures. Suggestions for helping students to reduce anxiety in learning English are provided.