AN INQUI RYINTO A CADRE OF CHINESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' FERCE'PTIONS OP THEFEA'ruRESOF AUTONOMY
IN MO",l' IVAT IO N FO'R LEARNING DURING THEIR SENIOR HIGHSCHOOLING PERIOD
by Zhide Li, B.A.
A Theeia Submittedto theSchool of Gradua te Studiesin Pa r ti a l Fulfi l lmen t of the
Requ irement fo r the Degreeof Master of Education
Facul tyof Edu ca t i on Memo r i al Univers i ty of Newfo un dlan d
19 95
St.Jo hn's NewfOWldland.
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Abstract
In the people 'sRepublicof China, students in the univ e r s i t y - t r a c k senior hi g h schools are preparedfor the Nation wide EntranceExami n atio nfo r Higher Educa tion In sti tutions (NEEH) , wh i c h is held at theend of thr e e-ye ar senior highschoolin gpe riod. Owin g to the select ivena t ure of theNEEH,onlythose who semarks inthe NEEH are above cer tai nsc ore cont rol linesare elig ible for ad mi ssion into ahig h ereducat ional instit ut i o n. Th e purpose of th is study was toin vesti gat e a cadre of Chineseuniv e r sity stud ent s' pe r c ept ion s of the fe atu resof aut o nomyin mot ivationfor lea r n i ng in university-t r a c ksenior highschool s. The investigati on wasco nd u c t e daro u n d twomajo r res e a rch question s:1) wha t the stud ent sperceive d asth e fea t ures of th e i r lear ningbehavi ou r andemoti onalexperience with re s pe ctto th edeg r ees of autonomo usversus contro lled mo t ivat ionfor lea r n i n g ; and2) what the studentsperceiv e d as the featuresof the i r le a r n i ng environmen t withrespect tothat as beingautonomysupportiveversus controlling.
Th i sst u d y wasbased on the reflective in-depth inte r v i ews between interviewer andint e rviewe e contact. A se lf · reportquestionnairewithop en - e n ding questionswas developedand administered personallyas apreparatorystage of the inv e s t i g a t i o n to breakdown the major research questions into mo r e det a i l ed questions. The invest igation
i i
was de s i g nedand conducted inthethe o r e t i c a l frameworkof E. L. Deci and R.M. Ry a n's (l98Sa. 1981) Self-det. ermina tion Theory. Five graduatestudentsin an easternCanada universi typarticipated inth e investigation. The methodology of phenomenologic alap proachwa s employed in condu c t ing thein t erviews.ana l yzing the intervie wdata and pr e s e nt ing t.he ca s e s. Caseswerean a lyz ed and discussed in th e lightof the Sel f -det e r mina t ionTheory.
Findingsof thisst u dyinclu d e the following. (1)The learn i ng behav iourof theparticipant s du ringtheir seni or high years fe l l into th e degr":esof introject cd regulation andiden ti fiedregulationalong the continuumof in t e rna l izatio n and inte g r a t i on of anextrinsic regulat i o n fr om he t e r onomo u s con troltoautonomou s sel f-d et. erm i n at.ion.
Twoof five pa rtici p a n t sori ginall yap proachedlea rn ing wit h int r ins i c a llymotiva t e d at t i tud es; the y repor te d aome be ha v i oralfeat.u r e s suchas genuineinteres t. ,curios it.y, and spo n ta neity inlearn i ng, wh i c hwe r e rela te d to int. rins ic motiva t i on of lea r ni n g. {21Perc e p tions of emotiona l exp e ri e n c e werecongrue nt. wit.ht.he au tonomou s ver su s controlling le ar nin g beha viourof the ind ividu a l s. Tho s e whose learningbehaviour exemplifiedmorecontro ll e d featur es perceivedless posit.iveemotions th anthos e whose learni ng be h av i o ur exempli f i ed le ss con trolledfeat ures. (3) Learningenvironmen t inuniversity-trackse nio r high
iii
schoolswas perceive das controlling with the features: al the pee-e e t; goal of learning that all students should try to obtain good marks in theNEEH; b)academi c ranking asthe major feedbackform perceived as mainlycontroll ing, and c) peer competitions for promoting one's academic ra n k , which was perceivedas mainlycontrolling. The le a r n i n g environmen t at home/inthe family, infou r cases, was featured with parents' expectations and encouragement of obtaining high marks in the NEEH. In threecases, the form of feedbackat home wa s pa r en t s ' commentson academic marks and ranks wh i c href l e c t ed thei r sole concern wit h respect to their children's academic performan ce. Fourpar t i c i p a nt s perceived pres s ure of a differen t level fromhome of urging themto gain as high marksas the ycouldin theNEEH. One participantperceivedno parent involvementin her lear n ing.
iv
Acknowledgexnents
How well canone's words express one'sappreciation and gratitudeto otherpeople for their valuablehelp? I have no idea. In the case of completingthis study andthe sis , my pen fails me. I feel sincerelythankful tothose who have guided me, supported me,encouragedme, and assistedme in variousways before and during the whole proce ss.
I would liketo expressmyappreciat i on to my thesis committee:Dr.FrankCramm,my supervisor, has patiently advised and constantlysupported mywo r k; Dr. Timothy Seifert gave me inspirationsand strongguidelinesin constructing and developing this research project ; Dr. Royston Kelleher's sug gest ionsand directions haveequ i ppe d mewith courageand co nfidenceduringmy endeavourof wo rk i ng on this thesis.
I am particularlygrateful to Dr.George Hickman, my adv i s or , for his immens ehe lpandencou r agemen t duringmy Mas t er ' sprog r a m at Memori a l Universityof Newfoundla nd.
Gratitude also go estoth o s ewho assisted, cooperated, andparticipa t e d inconductingthis research. I am especiallyimpr e s s ed by theirent h u s i a s m and sin ce rit y which
they displayedand by whichthey contributed in one wayor another.
He art-feltthanksar e extended to my fellowgrad ua te students in the Faculty of Education, Memorial Un iversityof Ne wf ou nd land , Judith Skinner, Corin ne Ellsworth, Anth ea Dawe, ThomasGallant, Mar r i e Walsh, And yBy rd, MicheleCook, andmany, many oth e rpeopleI met inNewfou ndl a n d . Th e i r friendship, enc o urageme n t , and helpmade the completionof mygoalspossibl e.
Fi na l l y, I wis h tothan k my par e n t s in China . But for theirselflesssupport an d man y pers on a l sacrifi ces, this studyandthe si s co uldneve r havecome int o bein g.
vi
Ta b leof Co nt ents
Page
Abstrac t
Acknowl ed geme nts i iv
CHAPT E RS
I. INTRODUCTION .. ... .. . ... .... . .•. . . . ... .. . . . ... Ed ucatio nalbackground and purpose of the stud y Significance of thestud y .
Definition of terms .
II. RELATED LITERATURE REVIEW .
Self-determinationtheory .
Hi storicaland educat ionalcontextsof the present NationwideEntrance Exami nat i onfo r HigherEducation Institutions (MEEH) .. . . • • 15
Imperial civil serviceexamination system .. 15 The present NationwideEntrance Examina t ion for higher EducationInstitut i ons (NEEH) 17
Re lated researchliterature 21
The learningbehavior of and emotions experienced bythe studentsin examination - orientedor competitivelea r n i ng environmen t 21 The feaeuresof autonomysupportive versus co n t r ol l i ng learningenvironment at school 24 The featuresof autonomy supportive ve r s us co ntrol l i ng learning environmentat home 27
Summary. .. . .... . .. . 30
III.METHODOLOGY 33
Introduc tion , , , 33
Maj orresearchquestions and rationales 35
Data collect ion 38
Data ana lysis . .. 39
Samp le 44
Limitationsofthe study 44
16 46 47 sa
71 82 ..•. 94 IV. CASE ANALYSISAND DISCUSSJ:ON ..•• . • ••..
Introduction .
Case One:Liang .
Case Two;Yong .
Case Three:Juan .
Case Four: Wei .
Case Five: Kun .
vii
Discussion , Summary.
CONCL USIONSAND RECOMMENDATIONS Conc l usi o ns .
Recommendationsfor furtherresearc h,
Refe rences.. , , ' '
.. . .. . 105 ... 142 148 148 ...." 15 0
, ... , 15 2
Appendice s 160
A List ofsub-ques tion s andrelevant
ration alesfor major resear c hque s tions 161 B Listof quest ionsused in thein t ervi e ws 171
C SampleQue stio n na ire 174
o A sampleofwrtt-t.en guid e prepar e d tobracke t the investigato r 'spresuppositions duri ng
an intervie w.. , , 181
A sample of unitsof general mean i n gof on e
inter vie wquestion 183
A sampleof uni tsof rel ev an tmeaning ,. , 184 A sampleof clusters of unit s of
relevan tmea ning ' , 18 6
A sample of a common them eof
a groupof cl u s te r s 187
Sample letter to thepar ticipant s , 188
viii
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Education al ba ckgro und an d Du't"pOBeof the study
In the People 's Republi c ofChina.the se nio r high schools ca n be roughly divi ded intotwocc.tegori es: univers i ty-tra ck, andno n-u n i ve r s i ty -t ra ck. The latter includes te chni c a l and voca t iona l school s whilethos e in the forme r ca t e go r yare res ponsible for prov i di ng th e hi gh er edu cat ion ins t i t uti ons withca n di d ate s of good ac a d e mi c standings. Ana t i o nwi de general entrance examinat ionfor higher education institut i ons (NEEH) is conducted each year toselect the college /un i ve rsityfreshmenamon g the candidates. Afterthisselectio n, about 2 percen t of Ch i ne s e firs t graderscan eventually go to a hi g he r education ins t i tu tion(of regulareducationsystem ) (Noa h&
Eckste in , 198 9 ; Eckstein&Noah, 1993)
The ra t e of the studentswho can pass the NEEH is crucial to a un ive r sit y -t ra c k senior high school. It affects direc tlythe reputati on of such a sch ool , its finance, teacher/ staff, and student sources as well (Li n , 1$193). Itis onlyna t ura l that a university-track senior high school exerts its best effort to mainta inor increase the proportion of the studentswhom they canpromoteinto
te rt ia ryeducational institu tions. Under these
circumst a nc e s, thestuden tsare thro....n int o anexaminati on- orientedle a rni ngenviro nme n t; their :!.ea rn ing isinspiredby theex pect at ions of pas sing or doing ....ellin theNEEH.
Whilethereis litera t ure dealing withdiff erent aspe c t s of theNEEH, suc haspurposes and roles (Feuer&tFulton, 151 51 4, OTA, 1992) , organizat i onal poli cies (Br own, 19 511, Eckste in&
Noah, 19 93),sys te m and administration (Le wi n&Wang,15151 0;
Noah,"Eckstein ,15189 ; Zhou, 1988 ), techn iquesconcerning the preparati o n of theexaminat ion (Le wi n&.Wa ng, 19 90) , and the anxietyandpr e s s ure expe riencedby the students (Ecks t e in&Noa h , 1993;Lin, 1993; Noa h&Ec k s t ein, 19 89), little literature ha s beenfound pert ai ningto the stude nt s' percepti o nsof the features of autonomyin mo tiva t ion fo r le arni ng dur ing their yearsin aun i v e r sit y - trac ksen i or high school. The pres en t study is meanttoexplo r e this area with the speci ficpur-pos eof inves t i ga t i ng a ca d reof university Chi ne s e students' percep tio ns of the fe a t u resof aut o nomyof the ir ach ieveme nt moti vat ion ope r a ting during theuni ve rs i t y - tra c k senio r hi g h schoolingperi od inthe Peo p l e ' s Republic of China. The investigationwill be conductedaround two researchquestion s:
A.Wha t dothe st udent s perceiveasthe fea t u resof their lear n i ngbehaviou r and emoti onal experience withrespect to th ediff e ren t de gre e s of autonomous
ver s us contro l led motiva tio n fo r lear n i ng?
B.Wha t do th e st u d e n t s perc e iveas thefeat u r e s of th ei r learn i ngenvi r on men t withrespect to tha t as bei ngautonomy support iveversuscontrolling?
Significance ofth e study
1. The stud ywill pro vid e additi onal in fo r ma tion in the research areaofthe fea tu r e sof autonomy instudent s ' mo tivationfor learn ing in a un i v e r s ity - t r ac kreruorhigh school enviro nmen t ai mi ng at a selective exam i na tion at. the natLonaI level. OTA(1 9 92) reported that the primary purposeof entranceexaminat ions for hig he r educa t i onal in stit u tio n s in Europeanand Asiancountr ies is to "control the flow of young pe ople intoa limited number of pl ac e s an the educationalpyramid" (p . 13 S) , andthe s e examinationsare
"un d e r intense criticism"as they principal lyrelyon students te s t scoresfor "allocatingsc a r c e publiclyfunded postsecondary opportunities " (p.144). OTA further comme nt ed tha t i t wo uldbe "ironic" if theU. S. poli cymakers attemptedto adopt a selective examination sy s t e msim ila r to tho s e in EuropeanandAsia nco u n t r i e s. :Ievertheless, some peop levoiceddifferent opinionssu g g es ti ng re - cons iderationof a selective examinati on to dete mi ne th e elig ibilityto receive te r ti a r y leveleducat ion . Bi shop
(1990) assertedth a t th e r e should be "anab s o l uteor external standar dofachie ve ment inhi gh school sub jects"
for the studen tstobeadmi tted into selective coll eg e s (p .236), andthe lac kof su c h anexami nat i on is on eof the causes of theadolescent s' lac kof incen ti ve s in theU. S.
high schools. Crousean d Tr ashei m(1988) re p orte das pub li c opinionstha t a college· a dmi s siontesting programthat emph a si z ed achi evemen t wo u ld cr e at ein c en tives for bot h hi g h scbooj eand their students. Mu rphy (1993) debated ove r U.
S. school refo r m that nation a l aca demicstandard sanda national exami n a t i on sys t e m simi lar to tha t in Europe a n and As i an cou n t r ie s wou ld moti v a te gr eater dil igen c eamo ngboth the studentsand teache rs. po p h a m(1 :987 ) claimed that me as u re ment-d r i v en inst ru c tio n was themo st cost-effect ive wayof imp rov i::lg the quali tyof pub liceducatio nas external ex aminat i on scould guidethe directi onof curricul um an d iu s t r u c ti o n an dthu s facil i tate th e implement a tion of educat ionalgoals. I tis hopedthat the presen t st udy will be of some referencevalue pe r t a ining tothisres e arc h area.
2.The high e r education sy s t e m inChi n a is exper i encing some reform. However, th eNEEH wil lco n t i nu e and its nat u reof being co mp e t i t i v e and selectivewill re mai n unch an q e d (S EC, 1993) . Th i s study will pro videthe poli c yma k e rsandedu cators with some gra ss- roo t level informa t ion abo ut the practiceof thispolicyin the domain
of student motivation to learn.
De fin i t ionof thekey terms
TheNati onwideGeneral EntranceExamina t ionfor Hig h e r Education (NEEH) is a selectiveex aminationbasedon general sen i or high schoolcurri cu laheld for the appli cants under age 2S for learning in acol l eg e / univer si t ywhich is und e r the ju r i s d ic t i o n oftheSt a t e Education Commission , and whi c h belongsto the Genera l Highe r Edu cationsyste mof the People'sRepublic of China. Currently,the dateof the NEEH is setin earlyJul y each year, threedays in suc c e s sion .
unive r sity -t r a c k senio r hig h sc hool refers to a senior :lig h schoolwho s e majoracademicobje c tiveof sc ho o ling is to prepare its studentsfor the NEEH.
'Key ' senior highsc ho ol refersto a typ e of uni v e r s i t y-t r a c k sen i or high school in P. R.Ch i n a. Th i s type of school enjoysthe priorityof havingmore financial andmaterial resources . and that of selecti ng tea ch e r sand students of good academic standings,an dthu s can holdthe reputation of havingveryhi g hstu d e nt admissionratesto higher education institutions.
Motivation forlof le a r n i ng is "a psycho logical term that refers to in ternaland/orexternal factors tha t
activate or maintain anind i v i dua l' s beha viour" (Sha f r i t z , et al. 1988, p.303).
Extrinsicmotivation refers to the "mo t i va t i o n tha t comes from rewar-ds external to oneself; the desireto learn or accomplisha task due to somethingothe rthaninner satisfactionderived from thewo r th in e s s of the tas kitself"
(Shafritz, et al.1988, p.189J.
Intrinsic motivation refers tothe "mo t i v a t i on tha t comes fromthe potential for satis factionof a deeplyfe lt personalne ed ; the desire to lea rnoracc o mp l i s h a task bas edon internaldri v esand/or the sense of va l ue or wo r t hi ne s sof thetaskits el f " (Shaf ritz, et al. 1988, p.253).
Exa mination -orie nted mot ivatio n for/ofle a rning re f ers to the dynamic forc etha t a studentpos sesses inle a rn i ng activities fo r the pur po s e of promoting his/her performance in academictests or exa minations.
Examination-gri e nted learningenvironment re f ers toa learni ng enviro nment thatencourage sthe students to lear n topromote theirperf orma nce inacademic testsor examinations.
~ con notesan inner endors e me ntof one's ecc rcns , the sense thattheyemanatefrom onese lf and are one'sown. The more au t on omous thebe haviour, the mo r e it isendors ed by thewhole se l f andis experienced as acti o n
for which one is responsible [De c LI<Ryan, 19811p.10251.
~ in contrast toautonomy, refers to the motivation and related behaviour that occur in the condition of 'being controlled.' It is characterizedbygreater rigidity and the experience of having to do what one is doing. There is intention, but lacking isa true sense of choice IDeci,I<Ryan, 1987; p.102S).
CHAPTER TWO RELATED LITERATURE REVIEW
Se l f -d e t e rm i n a tion theory
The theoretical framework within which this studywa s conductedand cases were analyzed and discussed is self- determination theory (DeciI<Ryan, 1985a, 1985b,19 87, J.991, 1994) . This theory belongs to the school of ~ theories of motivation. Unlike the school of mechanistic theories, which tend to viewth e human organism as being basically passive,and human behaviour asa.result of passive organic reactionof internal drives or to the stimuli externalto human self, ~theories tend to view human organism as beingbasically active, andhuman behaviour as an expression of volition01' initiation of human self (Deci&Ryan, 1985a ) , While, however, the nature of organismor its intrinsicfunctioning"can be ei ther facilitatedor impeded by the social context" (ue c d , Eghrari, Pa tricki.Le o ne , 1994). This theor y approaches the concept of motivationfrom thr e e innate psychologicalneeds:
ccmpecence/er rectence , relatedness/affiliat ion, an d autonomy/ self-deter mi na t ion. Accord i ngly, De ci (1987),
Dec!&Ryan (1985a ; 1994) suggest that peopleall hope to
seeth at they are fu nctioni ng effec t i ve ly in a social milieu , they do so out oftheir own choice,and they are inherentlymotivated to act to satisfythe ir feeling s that they are related toothers within tha t mil ie u . In the domainof education, self-determinationtheoryis co n c e rn e d primarilywith pr o mot ing studen t s ' inter e st in learning, t.hei r valuing of education, andth ei rco nfide n c e in th e ir ownco mpe t e n c e and attr Lc utes inlearning tcecr , Vallerand, Pelletie r &Ryan, 1991). In theareaof studentmotivation for learning, this theory proposesthat the most positive motivation shoulddenonac ret; e the featurestha t are associated with the natureof auto nomy inmo t i v a tio n , relatedbehavioursand emotio ns . Tha t is , the behaviour should be"i n i ti a t e d and regulated through choice "by the learner' s self ; the learnerperceivesthe behaviouras an expression of his/herself (De c i& Ryan, 1987; p.l 024 ). In other words, with respectto the behaviou r of lear ning , for example, the learner initiates the behaviour out.of internal needs or genuine in te rest or desiretog.az-t.Lc Lp.a t.ein the learningact ivity itself. This typeofmo t ivationand relatedbehaviourpattern is supportedby the innate psychological need of autonomy/self-determination . By contrast, the least autonomousmo t i v a t i on fo r le a rn i n g is regulated by contingenciesexternalto an individual'sself. The learner' sbehaviou r is "pressuredor control ledbysome
10 in t e rpe r sonalor intr apsyc h icforc e" (De ci&.Ryan, ~994; p.4). Alearner sees externa lca us ality tohis/her lea r ning behaviou r. This type of mot ivat ionand re l atedbehaviour pattern isnot autonc..mousasitisnot init i a t e dor regulated thro u g hthe learner'sown cho ice;it is not an ex p r e s s i o n of thelearner ' s self.
sel f-determinatio ntheoryexplor es fur ther tha n thetwo typ i c al typesof motivationof intrinsi c-extrin sic dichotomy. I t presente the conce pt that anexterna l ly motivatedbehaviourmay fal l on any point along aco n tinu u m betweenthe two extremesof the mos tand the le a s t positive motiva tionand relatedbehaviourpat t e r n s. Thus,an ex t ernallymoti v a t edbehav iour is explai ned withtheconcep t tha t itmay beat any degree of bei ng self-det.e rmi nedve r sus
~(Dec ! • Rya n, 1~e5 a , 1~8Sb , 19 94;Rigby, ceei , Pa t rick '" Ryan . 1992). Dec i and Ryan (1 ~8 S a. J.9 BSb. 1986 . 19 8 7 , 1992a , 1~ 9 2b, 199 4)labelledone extreme as autonomous /self-detemined,th e ot her , heteron omous/ controlled. This continuumallows the studyof studentmotivationfor learni ng tolook into theproce s s e s of int ernalizationand in t e g ra t io n of anextri n s ic regulat i onunderly ingthe mot ivat e d behav i ou rwi t hregard to the different deg re es/ l eve l sof the expre s sionofabehav i our in te rms of freecho ice /t rueint e ntiona lity /aut o nomy. In thelight of this theory. a behaviou r initi atedby an individ u al's
11 intentionmay carry heteronomousfeatures , that is, it does not represent an individual'struechoice,when the intent ion is under the control /regulat ionexternal t.othis individual 's sens eof self.When anext ri nsicmoti v a tio n is internalized withid e nt i f i edvalues andin t e g r a te d into the coherentsens eofone'sself,theind i v i dua l ' s behaviour willcarrythe features of autonomy, thatis, itrepresents an individual'strue choice ;theind i v i d ual experiences a sense of internalcausality(De c!&:Ryan, 19 85 a, 19 85b, 1986,19 8 7,1994; Rigby, Deci , Patrick&Ryan, 1992 ).
Self-determi nationtheory elaborates on extrinsi c motivation development ally, exploring the qualityof differenttyp e sof extr insicregulations. Thetyp eof extrinsicregulationcl os e s t to theextreme of heteronomous control of motivation and related be haviour patternis , external reg u l atio n ' It refers to behaviourmotivatedand regulatedby externalcontingencies.For example, when learning,anindividual engages inth e activityof learning for an external rewardor avoidanceof a punishment.
, Introjected re gul a t i on' refers to the motivated behaviours based on the regulations taken in but notaccepted by an indiv idualinto his/herpersonal val u e andcoherentsenseof self. Such regulation pressures the individual to behave under strong emo t i o n s such as guilt or desire. For example, in learning. an individual studieshard to reach a goal like
12 everybody else is doing. If he fails to reach this goal. his senseof self/-worth/-esteem will be in jeopardy.
'Ycle pt; tiedregulation'occurs when an individual begins to take in and accept a regulation with theidentifiedvalue of th a t re g u l a t i o n . Theregulationhas beenint e gr ate d into one's sense of self to a greaterdegree than in the previous two cases; therefore, the individuals behaviourswi l lca:;ory more features of autonomy/self-determination. However, the behaviour of thisindividual is still extrinsically motivated as th eind i v i dua l hasid ent i f i ed the value underlying the activitybut the va l ue has not yetbeen integratedinto the individual 's coherent senseof self.
For example , in learning, a studentstudieshardfo r high marksin a col legeentrance examination. This student's learning behaviour is extrinsicallymotivate d aslea r ni n g is on lyinstrumentalfo r him/her to rea ch the goal of obtaining high marksin the examinat ion. Wha t th i s stu d en t re a lly valuesis the outcome upon the accomplishment of th e activity, not the learning activ ityitself. 'Integrated regulation'is the most self-determined/autonomou sform of extrinsicmotivation. The extrinsi cmotivationis in tegra tedinto one's cohe rentsenseof selfwith ident i f ied va lue,and co -exi s t s recipr oca lly with theindivid ual's othervalues, needs, and identi ties. Fo r example, in learning, anin d iv idual ha s a syste m of valuesand goa l s
13 that ir.'.tia t e s hi s / he r ge nui ne desi r eto learn, and the desireto become a goodathl e t eas we llwithout his/he r goa ls' interfering wi t h ea chother (Deci, Vallerand, Pelle tiers, Ryan, 1991; need &Ry a n,196 5 a , 1985b, 1986, 1994; Rig by , Deci , Patri ck&Ryan, 1992 ; Rya n , Connel lr- nect , 1985).
Events and conte x tsof anenvironme n t inwhi c h occura learner's ini tia tion , regu la t ion,and motiva tionbecome impor ta nt as they caneither facil i ta te or hi nderthe nature of aut onomy / self-determinationin motivationthat unde rl iesthelea rne r ' s lea rningbe haviours (Deci 198 7; nect, vall e rand, Pelletier&Ryan , 1991; nec t , Eghra ri, Pa t rick 6<Le o ne , 19 94 ; Decl &Ryan, 198 5 a. 19 8 5b,198 6, 1967, 1994; Rigby,Deci, Patrick& Rya n , 1992; Ryan, Conne l l .lieDeci , 19 8 5 1. As the conte x tua l fac tors ina le arning environmen t may bepe r c eived asbei ng bas ically auton omy suppor tive ve r sus cont rolling, the natu reof a le a rn ing environme n t maydemonstrate the fea ture s of that asbe i ng auto nomysu p po rt ive versus cont rol l ing, wh i ch indicatesthe funct ioning signif icanceof anenvi ronme n t {Deci , Nezle k&
Shein man , 1961; Deci & Rya n , 1960, 1965a , 1987 , 1994; Rya n, Conn ell &Oe d . 19 85 1. Anenvir o nment influence sa learne r 'sexperience, intention,motivation,and behaviour by bo thspe c ifi c events such astas k-contingent rewards
(Rya n, Mims &Koe s tner , 1963) , or fe e db ack (Bog giano &
14 Barre t t, 1985).and interpersonal or social contextssuchas mother-childbehaviour pattern tnec t,Schwartz, Sh e i nma n&
Ryan, 19 81; De ci, Driver, Ha t c hk i s s,Robins&Wils o n , 1993;
Grolnick, Ryan & Dec!, 1991) ,or ego-involvement (Ry a n, 19 8 2l. The events and the contexts inwh i c h the events oc c u r are cons i de r e d basicallyautonomy supportive when they providefree choice, optimal challenge, feedbackwi t h in f ormati o na l nature, feelingswithhighself-efficacy accompaniedby truetask choice, andautonomy-supportive cl i ma t e s in a le arning envi ronment . These eventssupportor en h a n ce intrins icmotivation and other self-determined/ auto nomouslearningbehaviours . On theother hand, events arecons i d e r e d basically controllingwhichpr e s s ure people to perform in specific ways . These eventsundermine intrinsicmotivationand other se Lf-det ermdned/ autonomous le arn i ng behaviours. Material re wa r ds , deadlines, imposed go a l s, feedback with controllingnature, and the climat esin a learning environmentwith controllingstyles mayfunction as controlling contextual fa c t ors (De c i &Ryan, 1987, 1994; Ryan. Con nell&ue c t, 1985 ).
The fe a t ur e s of autonomyin motivation for learning can be. identi fied withexte r nal behaviourindicatorsand emoti onsexperienced byan indi v i d ual inhi s /he r lea rning. Behavioral indicators and emoti o n al experie nceassociated with an autonomous/self -d et e r mined learni ngbehaviour
15 patternincludeinterest , enjoyment. curios i t y, explo r a tion, spontane i ty, creat ivity , and other positiveemotiona l tone;
whereastho s e associated with a heteronomous/controlled lea rningbehaviour pa tte r ninc lude pressure , anxiety, lac k of interest or enjoyment ,and othernegative emoti o nal tone
(De c ! &Ryan,1985a,19 8 5b , 1986, 19 87, 1992a, 1992b, 1994).
Historicaland educational contexts of thA presen!:
Nationwide Entrange Ex amina t i o n forHigher Educati on <NEER)
A.Imperialcivil eeevfceexamina tionsystem
The firsthi g h e r educationinstitutionin China dates back to Han Dynas ty tr-, 14 0 - 136B.C.). Tose l e ctyo u ng bureaucrats loyal to him, the Emperor Han WuD1 setup an ImperialCo l l e g e and had the outstand ingyounger scholars in the countrycometo the college and learn Confucian doctrinestogethe r. Examinations were conductedafter a period of schoolingand were usedtose l e c t, among the scholars, t.he newofficials of the empire. InTangDynasty
(r. 618 - 906 A.D.) , the nationwideexaminationsystem became an open competitionto people, limitedtoyoung males. who aspired toobtain a po sit i onofgovernment official. This system was s e e n as be i ng fair as participants competed with eachother bygoing th ro ughthe same series of exami nations: -nany preliminaryand Iccaf-
16 le ve l exams. and finally the Imperial Examination in the cap i t a l (Br o wn199 1 : Feuer&Fulton ; Kuo19 83)OT A 1992;
Zhou1986)
The present NationwideEntranceExa mi n a t i on for Higher Education (NEEH) no longer serves the purposeof directl y selectingofficials. acvever, some featuresof the NE:EH have rootsof more tha n twothousandyears deepin the imperialcivilserviceexaminationsystem.
1. The hi ghly comp e t i t i ve and selectivenature ofthe NEE:Hhasro o t s in ancient imp e ri a l examination system (Bro wn 1991j Lin 1993; SEC 1993;zbcu 19881 . 2. The uniformityof the NEEH is similarto that of the
Imperial Examinations (Brown 1991 ; Feuer &Fulton, 1994; Lin 1993; No a h& Ecks t e i n , 198 9 ;OTA1992; SEC 1993/ Zhou 1988) .
3. The decisivecriterion is the participa nts' perfo rmancein the examination(Lin 1993; Fe ue r « Ful ton,199 4; OTA1992i Zhou 1988).
4. The psychologicalpressure ca u s edby the
expec tationsof success was intenseand overwhe lming duri ngthe proc essof prepa ringfor the Imp e r i al Exami n a tions and theNEEH (Ec ks t e i n &Noah 1993 ; Kwong 1983; Lin19 93 ; No ah& Eckstein, 1989;Niu 1992) .
5. The motivat i onof ll!arn i ng isexamination -or iented
17 (Eckstein&Noah 199);Lin 1993; Zhou 1988).
B. The!Presen t Na t i o nwide Entrance Ex amina t ion for Highe r Educa t.ion(NE EH)
The present NEEHsystemin thePeople'sRepublic of Chinaha s a history aslon g as that of the Republic,whi ch wa s foundedin1949 . It wasonce abolished during the Cultura l Revolut ion (1966 -1 976 ). It was thencriticized as being discriminating against the childrenof working class origins (L i n , 19 93). Thus, to "e l imi n a t e status distinctions" (OTA,1992), during the cultural Revol ut ion, these l e c t i on systemof prospective students to higher education ins t i tuti o n s fo l lowed a four-steppr oc e d u re : 1) the applicants apply; 2)the masses re comme nd; 3) the leadership concerned approves,and 4) the college / university revie ws(Lewin&Wa ng, 1990). Th e provincial educ a t ionalbureaual locateda quotaof pl acesto factories, rural communes, and army units; thestudents we r e selected on thebasi s of fami lyclassoriginand pol i t ica l activism . No proper admin istrativeor legal system existed to supervise this select ionprocedu re (Le wi n " Wang, 1990).
The competitiv e NEEHresume d in 19 77; th e criteria of selectingnewstudent s for collegesanduniversitiesswung back to thepez-f'or man c e inthis crucia l examination.
The na t ure of theNEEHisofficiallydec idedas being
ia
"selec tive" bythe highestauthority orga ni z at io nof educationof the country (SEC, 1993; p.l02). It is al so decided thatthe highereducation in s t itu t i o ns shouldenrol the newst udentsaccording to th eprin c i ple that the
"c a ndi d a t e s shall bearrangedfrom thehighest sc o r eto the lowe s t score inaccordance with theirrespective to t a l sco res inthe collegeI univers ityentrance examination "
(SEC, 19 9 3 ; p. 103) . Da t acite d byHayhoe (19 9 3) from Ed u ca t i o n a l Statjsticsye arboq k of Chi na volumes1988an d 1.2.2Q. shows tha t theenrolmen t ofcollege I unive rsity freshmen in 1988was66 9, 7 31 (p . 2 94) , ac c o u nt i n g forar o u nd a quarter of the total number of candidatescompeting in the NE:EH. OTA(1992). No a h and Eck s t e i n (1 98 9) reporte dsimilar data. Enrolment in1989wa s less , at 597,114 (Ha y hoe , 1993;
p. 294). The report of Husen et a1 (1 9 94 ) give s a clue about theen rolment in 1990. Ac c ording to thei rrepo rt, in 1990, there were 16,000 senior high schoolsintheregular edu c at ion systemwi t h 7.17million students, and 1,075 regular higher educationin s t itut ions with2.1 5mi ll ion students. considering thattheavera ge schoolingtime in senior high lev el is threeye ars, and ina university it is four years, the averag eenrolm e ntof senior highschool graduates into hig her ed u c at i o n insti tu t ions can thu s be estimate darou nd 22.6%. Whe nwe subs t ra c t thepe rce n t a ge of self ·fund andcontrac t .Jt u d e ntsfrom thi s pe r c e nt a ge, th e
19 regularenr o l me n t would be much less. For in s t a n c e , the self-fund students accounted 6.3 \of the total enrolment in 1988, 4.3\in1989, 2.8 \ in1990; contractstudents accounted 9.4\in 1988, 8.4 \ in 1989, and B.8\ in 1990
(Ha y ho e, 1993). Ecksteinand Noah (1 99 3 ) also reported that in the regulareducationsystem in China, around cnevtnird of pr-Lmer-y pupils attendju n i o r high school, one-fifth of these students can go to a seniorhighschool, "ofwhom fewer than 10 percent willbe successful in gaining a universityplace" (p. 5 3). Most senior high school graduates comp e t e in the NEEH for the placesother than thosefor self-fundor contract studentsif the y 1) want to secure a jo b allocated by the government upon graduation, or2) do not have enough money to fund themselves, or 3)do not have access to a contract between a universityand an enterprise.
Besides, the students most seek aftercomprehensive universities, which numberforty~threeand account for1\' of the total (Brown, 1991). Students' bias in choosinga collegeI university ma ke s their competitionmore severe.
Much like the students competing to do betterthan others in the NEEH, the un.i ve r ait y-xr ack seniorhighschools compete witheach other to promote their studentsinto universities. The rate of the students whom they can promotein t o higher educational institutions is contingent to the reputationof these schools (Lin, 1993; Niu, 1992) .
20 This competitio nissupport e dandacceleratedbyon emora tr ack i ngsys temencour a gedby the government : the univers i ty· trac k. seniorhig hschoolsare divided into two categor i es: thekeyschool and ord ina ry schoo l. Despite any good int e nt ionsfor runningakeyschool or a •fast' cl ass inanordinaryschool, the fact is that the purpose of the i r existe nce is"e xampreppingR (Ni u, 1992 ; p.87). The sch o ols brushaside the sylla b i; theircurricu lum solel yaims at the NEEH(Li n, 1993; N~.u , 1992). The teachersteach onlythe exa mi n abl e content, so me schoolsaddcl a s s hoursan d load thestudentswi t h piles of homework, and thest.udents often schedul e theirti mewitho utstop from6: 30avm, to 10:30 p.r.. (Ni u. 1992 1 . A child'spreparationforthe NEEH starts actua llyatanea rlie r age. Tobe admi t tedintoa key senior hi ghschool, thechild sho u l d fir s t try toget in t o a keyelementary, then ake y ju nio r high, than a keysenior hig hschool (Eckst e in&No ah, 1993; Kwong, 198 3).
Giventhe good int e nti onof the NEEHbei ng -tofeed only thebes t studentstothe col l e g e s and univ ers i t i e s·
(Br own, 1991 1p.4SBI, thesi g n if icanc eof a person's background of higher educationha s gone fu r t her than merely thevalue of personal growt h. The Chi n e s e pa r e nts often attachsuch great impo rt anc eandhonor to theirchildren's attendinga highereducationinstitu tionthat someparents -t o l d their childre nnotto returnhome ifthey failedto
21 gain admission toco l l e g e " (Niu, 19 92 ; p.8? ) .
Re l a te d r •• •archliteratur e
The related research literatu rereviewed consistsof thre e sections: A) the literature about the learning behaviour of and emotionsexperiencedby the studentsin an examination-orientedor compe ti tive lea r ni ng environment ;B) the featuresof au tonomysupportiveversuscont r o ll i ng learningenvironment at school, andC) the features of autonomysupportive versus control linglearning environment at home.
A. The learning behaviourof and emotions experienced by the students in an examination-oriented orII.competitive learningenvironment
The learn ingenvironmentina unive rsity-tracksenior high school inCh i na is characterizedas being examinat.ion- oriented (Cai, 1994.; Eckstein&Noah, 199 3 ; Lin, 1993; Zhou, 1988). The studentsare preparedfor the NEEH atthe end of seconda rylevel education, whi c his an -Lntenaeco mp et it i o n"
andcas t.s pr e ssur e s on students -t h a t are every bitas severeasin Japa n" (Noah&Eckstein, 1989; p.22 l.
Ames (1 984.) found that studentswi t h a competitive goa l structu re co mpa r e their pe r form a nce rela t i vetothat of
22 others, andte nd to become ego-involvedin learning. They also tend to attribute success and failure to their abil ity . Nicholls (1984a; 1984b)held a similaropinionthatwhet". a student harbours an ego-orientation , he/sheisint ere s t e d in pe r f o r ming better thanothers and Lnt.ended to prove that hi s /he r ability is superiorto others. Johnson and Johnson f198S) assertedtha t in a competitivesocial context an individualcanwin "only if the other participantscanno t attain theirgoals" (p. 2 Sl), and "t he more competitive students' atti tudes are, themor etheyseethemselvesas beingex t r i n s i c al l y motivated" (p.261). Covingtondid a se ri esof re s e arc h studiesinre g a r d tothe featuresof student behaviourand academicgoal pursuit in a competitive learning contex t. Onthe basis of anextensivereviewof relatedlit e r a t u r e, Covington (1992) concludedthat in competitionswh e r e rewa rds ar e scarce, and onl y a few can win, "su c ce s s becomes all the more convincing as evi denceof high ability " (p.13). He termedthe behav iourpatter nof students as being"oppos i t io nal interaction , "which is characterized by "di s c ou r a g i ng andobst r u ct ing others' efforts to achieve" (p.2SS). In anoth erstudyHarrisan d Covington (199 3 ) fo u n d that evenwh en the students.competed ag a i n s t apre s et stand a rd/norm , in s t e a d of competing agains t eachother direct l y, the students stillcaredabout onl y the resu l t of succ essor fai l ur e rath erthan the ac ti vity
2J itself. Thedesire to re a c h the standard/normand to avoid the perceptionof lowability triggeredthe goalof learning; tha t is. learningserves as an instrumen t , suc cess or avoidance of failure is the goal. Th eir findingis supportedbySeifert (in press) .
The NEEH is a typicalpresetno r m-b a sed competition.
Though studentsdo not competewith each other fa c etoface, theycompeteagainst a set norm. The rewardsare comparative lyscarce, about 25 percent ca nwi n. Additionally,the students arewell aware that their perfo rmancein the NEEHiscrucial tothe i r fu tu re and th is further promotes their desire to performwell in the NEEH.
In Ta iw a n , a similarexamination is adminis teredeach yearto servethesame purp o s e as the NEEHdoes. It is the JointColleg eEn tranceExamination (JCEEI. KUo, president of National Taiwan No rm a l univers ity,wh i l e praising the functionofthe JCEEsystemin termsof servingas "an hones t proc e dur e throu g h whicha man wi th humbl e social backgrou ndcanachieve succes sandac q ui r e hissocialgoal"
(1 9 83 , p.3), also re p o r t e d that th e JCEEha s placed a heavy psych o l og i ca l bu rde nonthe studentssuchas "pe rma ne nt te n s i on, ac hi e vem e n t motives ming ledwith chronic anxiety, overwhe lmingpr es s u reof theexp e cta tio n byfam i lymember-e,M
aswe l l asela tion of su ccessand, for most students, the despairof fa ilu r e (p.3). Inle a r ni ng , students are
24 obvio usly "mo r eint e r e ste d inexaminat ionpreparations th an insu bs ta n tiv ele arnin g andpe rson a l growt h " (p.ll). Che n (19 9 3 ) fu r t he r repo rtedthat insenior highle v e l,sub jec t matters tobe examined inthe JCEE rece ive muc h more atten t ion inlea rni ng , and 70 percen t of the students que st i onedin herstud y said tha t the singlere a son for st udy i ng inasenio r highscho o l is togetgood scores in
th eJCEE (p , 9).
B. The featuresof autonomy supp ortiveversus controlling learningenvironmentatsch o ol
A learningenvironmentcouldbe perceivedas autonomy suppo rt ive vers u s controlling by the learnersand thus mo ti v a t e d the ir learning accordingly toe c t &Ryan, Haa ) . The features of autonomy supportive versus co n t r ol l i ng le a rn i ng environment at schoolare representedby the fea t uresof specifi ccontextual factors, interpersonal, int r a pe r s o na l, or socialcontexts (De c i 6<Ryan, 1985a; 1986, 198 7 ; Ryan, Conne ll6<Deci,1985). The most important feature of autonomy auppczt.vve environment is the extent to which an individual experiencestrue choicewh e n he/she makes a decision (Deci, Nezlek&Sheinman, 1981; Ryan, Conne ll&oeej, 1985; St iller&Ryan, 1992). The concept. of choiceis not lett ingthe learners dowha t ever the ylike ; rat her , it means "providing in for ma t i o n and guidancetohe l p
25 devel op andchannela child'sgro wingcapacityand abunda nt en e r gy "(Ryan , Connell& Decd, 1985; p. 2 21. Wher: a lear ner has true cho ice in learning, he/sheexp e r i e n c e s that he/she causes the learning to occu r and the causali tyis not controlledbyanyext e rna l factors. In this case, the lea rn erperc e i ve s interna l locus of causali t y. The concept of inte r n a l- e x terna l causal i t y di stinctionisno t the boun d a rycreate dby on e 's skin; th e li ne of demarcatio nis one's sense of self (Deci &Rya n , 1985a, p.IlU. Nex t importanttothe perceptionof int ernal lo c u s of causalit y is the perce ption ofcompet e nc e. Alea r ner ' s perc ep tionof compete nce (to control futu r e perfo rmanc eoutcomes) is he avil yaffectedby thena tur e of fe ed back andthewa y s of administeringit (Deci&.Ryan , 1985a; 198 5b; 1986; 1987 ; 1994; Rya n ,Connell &Dec i , 1985).
Fi ndi ngs from othe r stud i es suppor t these op i nions.
Ryan, Koest ne r, and De ci (199 1) studied the effe ctof posi ti ve feedback andno feedback on tas kpers i s t e nc e based on thesubjects' free- cho ice. They found tha t positi ve feedb ac ktende d to en hance int ri nsic motiva t ionof the subj ectswith t.ask-oz-Ientat Lon . Theyalsorep ort e d other studies per t ai n ing tothe effe ct s of auton omysuppo rt ive environmentonthe subject s'behav iou r pat te rn. nec t , Eghrari, Pat r ick. andLeone (1991) found tha t when subjects internalizedexternal regulat i on s underauton omy support ive
26 circ ums t a nc e s, there were strongpositive corre lations between their behaviour pattern and perceived choice, and positiveemotional experiencesuch as interest and enjoyment. On the contrary, when the internalization happenedunder a controllingcircumstances, the correlations tended to be negative. Pelletier (1 98 9) found that subjec t.a whohad worked in autonomy supportive context scored significantlyhigher on items related to working for pleasure or fun,andscored significantlylower on items re l a t e d tofrustration and working to prove something than the subjectswho had worked in a controllingcontext. This finding suggests that an autonomy supportiveenvironment tends to enhance self-determinationand facilitatethe process of becomi ng task-invol ved . Incon trast , when people work in controlling context,they tend to become motivated in a less self-determinedway, and feel that they are pressured to behave in a certain way for a purpose not initiatedor internalized into one's self.
Kuo (1983) reportedthat the JCEE in Taiwan has a
"powerful effect" on thele a r n i ng environment in high school, even in primary schools. The students"are conditioned to viewschooling as truly relevant onlywhenit helps them to climb up the education ladder and to be eaccees rut in the next level of entrance examination." The high schools confined thecJuc a t. Lc ne L processonly towards
27 the single pur poseof preparingthe students for the JCEE (p.6). Che n (19 93) sha re d thesameopinion. Fu rth er more, on the basi sof a related li te r atu r erevi ew and herown study, sh e rep ortedtha t the sign ificance ofthe comp e titio n inth e JeES went beyond the op p o r tu nit y of recei ving a tertiary leve l edu cation; failurewou l d pl ac eon a student
"aninde liblestamp of infe r i o r intellectual status " (p.4S).
The seni or hi g h school stude n t s li ved in an environment full of press ures of highexpecta tions of gettinggood sc ores in theJe SE from their parents, relati v e s . ceacbeec , and the ms e l v es . Almos t all of them reported be ing unhappy.
Th e y saw their learning an dsc h ool life "t obe full of anxiety, pa ins , bur de n s, andpressure~ {p.511.
C. Th e featuresof auton omy supportiveversuscontrolling learn i ngenvironment at home
The environmental events, inte rpersona l or social contextsthat carr ythe auto nomy supportive versus controlling featurescan alsobe found at home. Re s e a rc he r s found tha t anautonomysupportiveparen tingstyle is cha r a c t e ri z e dby providingtruecho ice s, taking into consideratio n thechild ' s perspecti ve upon ma ki n g a decision, andin f o r ma t i v e feedback andadministeringit in anau t o n omy su pp o r t i v e way. A controllingparenting styl e is characterized by not providingth e childwi tha true
2'
choice for his/herle a r n ing , and administering feedbackina con t r o l l i n g way. They may use performance-contingencies , such as rewards, puni s hments , and pressure to confinethe ch i l d to behave towards a certain standard or goal (De c i &
Ryan, 1994 ;De c i, Schwartz, Sheinman&Ryan, 19 8 1) . Stiller and Ryan (1 9 92) examined the relations between studen ts' percept ions of parents' involvement and autonomy support and student's motivation . They found that parents' involvementand autonomy support has positive impact on al students' positiveaffect toward school, b) us e of positive copingstrategies,especiallythos e coping withacademic fai lure, c) st u d e n t s ' perceptions of con t ro lof academic outcomes , and d) students' perceptions of reasons for performingvarious academic behavfoura. Deci, Driver, Hatchkiss, Robbins, and Wilson (1 9 93) conducteda laboratory experiment exploringthe relations of mother' s controlling vocalizationsto children's intrinsic motivation. These researchersfound tr.at the controlling context created by mother is ne g a t i v e l y correlated to the child'sfree-choice behavi ourand interest/likingfor the task. Grolnick, Ryan, and Deci (1991) examinedthe relations among children's perceptions of their parents' autonomy support, thei r motivation for learning, and their academic performance.
They found that children'sperceptions of maternal autonomy support were positivelycorrelated wi t h three student
29 motivat ionvariables; theywe r e : pereetve d competence, pe r c eive d controlof performance outcomes, and perceived au t on o myin learning. Children'sperceptions of paternal autonomy supportwere posi tivelycorrelated wi t h two student motivationvari ables; they were:perceived comp e t e n c e, and pe rc e i v e d autonomyin learning. On the whole, adults' attitudes towardschildren's behaviour impliedorientations of autonomyversus control andth u sinfl u e n c e d chi ld r e n' S behaviour consequently(De c !, Schwar t z,Sheinman&Ryan, 19 81 ).
Below is a literaturereviewco n c e r n ing the featuresof parentingstyl esin a socia l context that co n f i nes the students tole a r n for gaininggood scores in a national levelexamina tion. Kuo (~983) andChen (1993) mentioned that parents' highex pecta tionsof the childrento ge t high scoresin the JCES (in Taiwan) causedpsychological pressure on the students. Li n (19 9 3 ) . Eck s t ein and Noah(1 9 93) mentionedsimilarexpect.a t.Lona from parentsand
psychologicalpressureexperiencedbythe studentsstriving for highscoresin the NEEH. Niu (1992) said that inChina some parents told their chi ldren "not to return home if they failedto gai nadmiss ion to col l e ge- (p.e ., ) .
30
Self-determination theory views human behaviour as an expression of one's volition, while a behaviour can either be facilitated or impeded by environmental factors. Instead of merely discussing human motivation around the intrinsic- extrinsic dichotomy, this theory looks at externally regulated motivation developmentally. Anexternally regulated motivation can fall in any degreeI level of the internalization and integration of an external regulation along the continuum of autonomy versus heteronomy.
The present NEEH is perceived as a highly cor-',e t i t i v e and selective examination. It has roots in the imperial civil service examination system and now i t influences the students' learning in a university-track senior high school.
The students compete to become the state-quota freshmen in the colleges / universities. The schools concerned compete to promote as many students as possible into higher educational institutions.
Related researchli t era t u r e review reveals that a competitive or examination oriented learning environment tends to direct the goal of learning towards the outcome of learning activities, namely, success or avoidance of failure, and thus turns learning into an instrument to reach the goal. The literature review also reveals that as only
31 about a quarter of the applicants can win in the NEEH, the seniorhighstudents generallyfeel pressure to obtain good marks in the NEEH, as their performance in the NEEH is crucial to their entire future.
From the pe repectLve of self-determination theory, the most salient feature of autonomousbehaviour is perceived true choice, which occurs when a person perceives an internal locus of causality. The environment in which a behaviour occurs may demonstrate features of autonomy supportive versus controlling. Anautonomy supportive environment supports or facilitatesautonomous aspects of a behaviour; a controlling environment controlsor undermines autonomous aspects of a behaviour in one way or another. Features of autonomy in regard to learning behaviour and features of an autonomy euppcrntve environment can be identified with a learner's behavioral and emotional indicators. Autonomous learning behaviour is characterized with spontaneity, interest, willingnessto meet optimal challenges, enjoyment, explorae.ion, and other positive emotional tone. Controlled learning behaviour is featured with pressure, having to behave in a certain way, anxiety, lack of interest, and other negative emotional tone.
With the impact of the NEEH on the institutional behaviour of a university-track senior high school, the learning behaviour and emotions of the scudents and the
32 environment in which the learningbehaviou r andemot i o n s occurcarry thefe a t u r e s as s oc i a t e d with the impa ct of the NEEH. The s e features may signifythe natureofautono my versuscontro lle d / controlling atany degreeI level. The featu r e sof autonomousve rsus contro ll e d lea rningbeha viour and emotionalexperience can be ex a minedth ro',l gh the pe r c ept i o ns of the stude n t s. The con textua l fa cto rs regardingt.he fea t ure s of autonomy supporti veve rsus controlli ng functional significanceof a lear ni ng enviro nme nt can be examinedthro ug h the percept ion sof the students. This studyexp l oredthefe a turesofautonomyin re gardto the learning behaviou r andemotio ns ofthe student s,and the fe a t u r e s of auto n omy supporti ve vers us controlling of theirle ar n i ng env iro n me n t throug h stu dents' perce pt ions.
33
CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY
In trgd u c t ion
The purposeof this studywa s to inves t igate a cad reof univers itychinesestuden t s ' perceptions of the features of autonomyin thei rach ievement mo ti v a t ion operating during the senior high sch o ol ingperiod . The process of inve s c i ga t i onco nc e r n s an attempt toob t ai n knowledgeof undez-at.anddnqa and insightof an individual st u d en t' s specificperceptionsfr om his / her own per s pe c t ive. The questionsto be askedcanno teffecti vely be struct ured in t o multiple -choice fo rma t . A qualitative researchmethod ology appears tobe more appropr iate. In th i s study. aself - reportquestionnaire with open-ending questionsand in-depth in t e r v i ewswere utilized. Open-endi ngquestionsbroke down the research questionsinto moredetailedqu~dt ionsand thus helpedtoelicit more detailedre s p o ns e s relevant to the research questions and served as preparatorystage forthe interviews. An in-depth interviewis appropria tefor a study about some phenomena of students' motivationwhena multiple-choice format re se a r c h methodologycannotobt a i n raw datapractically (Ga y , 1992 ).
34 A phenomenological pers p e c t i v e was appliedin the de v elopmentof the questionnaire and interviewquestion-lis t dur i ng the processof conductingthe interviews and pre senting the cases. Perception is a topic whi c h basica lly concerns the phenome nological metho d (Alex a n de r , 197 0 ). Kohak (197 8 ) ex plained HUBs erl ' s pe rs p ect iveof phenomeno logyas "a study of experience" (p.39).
Phenomenologyclaims thatexpe r i enc eis the cnl ygiven reality ; it perceives the wo rld as experi ence and phenomenon. Alex a nder (1970 ) statedthat phen o meno l ogy aims at the descriptionof experience or "phenomenaof consc i o us n e ss ." It un ders t a nd s theexpe rie n c eor "phe no me n a of consciousness " as being types of proje c t (per ceptu al, cogn i t i ve, emotional, eec.] of the subjec t, accompa n iedby appropriate behavioralpa t te r ns , bywhi chthesu b jec t supplie s the world withhis/he runi qu e sen ses and meanings. Phenomenology emp hasi zes that the sel f is th e sou r c eof meaning sand value s wh ich , in eurn, areund er the con e rolof the environment , projects , decisionsof the subject, wh o se existence is unavoid a bly rel a t e d to th e worldaround hi m/he r in oneway or ano the r (p.3) . As a re sea rc h appro a ch , phenomenolog yisbuilt upo n the ba s i c tool of •seeingand graspingcl e a r l y ' ; it pr op os estofo cus onjus t a specif i c piece of ex perien ce, "toseeand gra spit afre sh " (Koh ak , p.132). Thepheno menole-g ica l researchmethodis
35 essent ially de script i ve . and res tra i n e dtot.he descript ion and categorizat ionof the varioussense-giving in si ght s or t.ypes of pr oj ec t withi nan indi vidual ' sin n e r world uni ty (Alex a n d e r , 1970). A ph enomenologicalmethod appea r ed suit a b l e forthis study.
Majo r res e archquestionsand rati o nales
This studyloo k e d at. two major researchquest i ons: A.What didth e studen ts pe r ce i v e as the featuresof
their learning behav iourand emotionalexperience withrespect to the different degrees of autonomy versus hetero nomy inmo t iv a tio nfo r learning?
B.What did the students perceive as the features of their le a r ning environmentwith respect t.othat as being autonomy supportiveand controlling?
Below are rationales to back up these two major research questions:
1.To investigatethe featuresof autonomyina learner's motivatio nfor lea::.-ning, it isnotenough to simplyla be l his/her le a r ni ng behaviouras beingmotivated or amotivated, norto distinguishbetweenthat as being intrins ically and extrinsicallymotivated. A learner's learning behaviour may fallinto any degree between the
36 extremesof being au tono mousan d heteronomous. Extremely autonomousbehavioursare seen and relevant emotionsare experience dwhen a le a rne r harbours typical intrinsic mo tivati on or self-determinedextrins icmo t i v at i o n . These motivat.i ons forle a rni ng ar e desi rableas they are posi tivel yrelated to high qua litylearning . Ext:.remely heteronomousbehavioursareperceived and relevant emotions are experiencedwhena learneris typicallyunde r the control of overtexternalcontingencies. Astudy to investigat e thefeatures of a learner's learningbehaviour shouldexamine hi s / h e r behavio ur that may occur in any degree betweenthe two ext.remes,instead of examining only the features that demonstratemerely the two extreme motivations.
:2. Learningenvironmentmeans the socialcontext in whi c ha le a r n e r learns. I tis particularly relatedto the differenttypes of ext ri nsicregulations (i n the la r ge r domain of 'extr insicmotivation') . Unless a lear neris typi callymotivated int ri n sic a l ly , his/her motivation for learn i ng is under th e influenceof contextua l fac torssuch as fe edba c k and rewards. Different typ e s of learning environmentcast differenttypesof impac t on a le a r ner's motivation for le a r n i ng, and di ffere n t learnersmay interpretan externaleventin diffe rentwa y s. An environment is typically autonomy support ive when it
37 encourages the fe a t ur e s of autonomousle a rn ing behaviours , whereas that of controlling regulates or controlsa le a r n e r ' s behaviourwith external contingenc ies. The featuresof ale a r ni ng environmentmay portraythe nature of that environmentas being autonomy supportiveversus controlling. Astudy to in v e s tig ate aca d r e of university Chinesestudents' perceptionof thefeaturesof autonomyin thei r achievemen t mot i vationoperatingduring the senior highschoolingper i od in thePeople's Republic of China shouldinvestigate the features of autonomysupportive versus controllingof thelearningenvironment inwhic h these studentshad theirsenior hi g h schooling for the purp o s e of gaining a fulle r pictureand an under s tandingof the 'why s ' or 'haws' of the existenceof the featuresof autonomy in thei rmotivatio n for learning.
3.Byputting forwardQue s t i onA, the investigator expected to obtain data concerningale a r ne r' s perceptions of the fea tur esof autonomy in his/her le a rn i n g beh avio ur and emot i o n a l experi ence.
4. ByputtingforwardQuestion B, thein v e st iga t o r expect ed to obtain dataconc e r n i n g the featuresof autonomy supportive versuscontrollingof the learningenvironmen t in whi ch particUl arfeatures of autonomyan emotions ina le arn er' s learningbehaviour once existed.)
For ea c h researchquestion, a set of sub-questionswere
38 developedto breakdownthe major researchquestion int osub- sections for moredetailed informat ion relevantto the purpose of th i s study (s ee AppendixAforth e lis t of sub- qu e stionsand re l evan t rational esfor the s e two re s earch questions).
Data collection
Beforedat a col lection,a letter wa s senttoth e pa rtici p ants far thei rconsent to pa r t icipate in thisst udy
(s e e App endix I fora samplelet t e rto the studen t s). The questionnaire wa sadmi ni stered pe r so na l l y. A perso na l ly administ e re dquest i onna i r e has someof the sa mead va nt ages as those of an int erv i ew, suchasthe oppor t u n ityof pro vi di ng anindi vidual wi thne ce s sa ry explana tion s (Gay , 199 2 ) (see Appendix Cfor asa mpl eof thequestio nnaire). In t e r viewswere cond ucted by wayof direct in tervi e wer - in t ervie weecon tact af terusingtheprepa r atory question n ai r e forthepurpos eof obt a i n ing further in form a tionand cl a r i fic a t ionof the answers tothe questionsin theque s t ionnaire (s e e Appendix Bfor thelist of questions putfor t hin interviews ). Oneofthe advantages of in-d e p thin t e rvie wing is toenablethesu b j ec ts, when theyare encouragedtorefle ct bac kin time, tofocuson sp ecif ictimepo i nts and re trie v e dee p fe el ingsass ociated with their thenpers o nal ex perie nce (Mostyn, 1978 ) . To
39 conduct suchan interview , inaddicien to the listof ques t i ons inth e interview, a writtenguide was prepared according tothe answers that emergedindifferentca s e s . The verba l responseswere recordedon audiota p e s. The interviewertook notes of theint e r v i ewe e s ' non-verbal re s p o ns es. The tapes were transcr ibed .
Dataanll.1yo h
This study investigatedpeople'8pe r c e pti o n sof the fea t ur esofau to n o my in mot ivaticnforlear nin g. It was a study of phenomena . A phenome nol og i calapproa chwas appropr iate for analyzingthe data on theba s i s of whichthe cases werepresented. The process of da taanalysis followed the major steps presentedin Some gu idplinesfor the phenomenological analysis of interviewdataby Hycner (1 98 5 ) •
The following major steps in the procedureof phe no menolo gi cal data analysiswer eused.
Tr ans c r ip tio n
The interviewtapes were transcr ibed . This inc l ud ed thelite r al statements and significant non-verbal responses . Together, theyprovided the basis of un it eof genera l meaning .
40
The significanceof thi s processwas to suspend as muc h asposs i bl e the presuppositions or interpretat ions that. the in ve s t i g a to r migh t attributeto thephenomenawhich emerge during thein v es t i g a tion. I thelps the investigatorto approach "the phenom enon as a phe nomenon " (Keen, 1975, p. 38 ); theinvestigatot' wasthusable tolisten forthe meaninga framthe events as a whole with an at titudeof openness to the responses of the participanes. A separate lis t of theinve stigator'spresuppositions to the interview questionswas preparedbe fo r e conducting th e int e rvi ews and usedas a reminder for the invest igatorduringth e interview
(see Append ix0 for a sample of writtenguideprepared to bracket theinves tigator'spreassumptions duringan interview).
Lis t eni n gtotheint.ervi e w fgr a sense as a whgle Th i s step included listeningto the interview tapes and reading thetr ans c r i p t s a number of times for the purpose of developingan understandingof the context fr om whichwere extractedspecific units of meaning. Special attentionwas paid to the para- linguisticlevelsof communication ,that is, the intona tions, the emphases, the pauses,etc.
Delineating units of general meaning
This step involved a "very rigorous process of going over every word, phrase, eeneence .paragraph and noted
significant non-verbal communicationin the tr a ns c r i p t" in orde r to elicit the meanings in the responses (Hyc n e r, 1985 , p.282 ). By this process , theinv estiga tor wantedtocapt u r e the essence of the meaning buriedina word, phrase.
sentence. paragraph and significantnon-verbal communicati on. Hycner (19 8 5) described tht.oprocessas being a condensat ionof the verbal and non-verbalresponses.
Th e resul tis called auni t ofgeneral meaning,which expresses a uniqueand coherent meaning in thecontext (see Appendix E for a sampleof units of general meaning of one inte rv i e w question).
Delineatinguni t s of meaning relevant to the res ea rch
~
At th i s step the investigatorbeganto address the research ques t i o ns tothe data. The actualprocedure involvedaddressingthe research questions totheunitsof general meaning. A uni tof gene ralmeaningwa s no tedas a un i t of re l eva n t meaning ifit appeared to respond toor cla r ify the research question(s). Aun it of general meaning was not in c l ud e d in theunits of releva ntmea ningi fit did not appear tore s pond to or clari fy the research question(s). To achievereliability, the procedure also inv o lv e d the useof another "j Udg e "(a graduate student who was well informedwith the da t a analysis steps and proceduresof this study) to verify a unitof general
42 mean ingas whet hez-or not i t should be incl uded into the un i t sof relevan t mean i n g. Th iswas especially ne c es s a ry whe n a casewas uncert a i nor ambi g uo us. After the un i t sof releva nt meaningwereobtai ne d, a furtherst ep was taken to elimina te the redundant un i tswhosemeaningcan be expressed inother un i ts (s e e Appendix F fora samp leof unitsof relevantmeaning ).
Clusteri n gunitsQf rel eva n t meaning
Thiswas the step when thein v e s t i g a t o r tr i e d to determinei fanyof the unitsof relevantmeaning naturally cl u ste r e d toge the r . A clusterconsistedof several discrete unitsof re levan t meaningunder some common theme or
As theproc essreliesheavilyon the judgement of the inve stigator , the investigator shouldguardagainst personalpresupposi ti onswhen analyzing the data. Another graduate studentwas involv e d for judgementwhen ambigu ity or unc e r t a int y emerged (s e e AppendixG for a sample of clus terof unitsof relevant meaning) .
Determiningthemes fromcl u s t e r s af meaning At this st a g e , the inve stigato rexamined all the clustersof meaning todetermineif there was somecommon theme or essenceof these clusters. Tb.is common theme or essence was also that of the portion of the transcript from whichthese clustersweredeveloped (s e e Appendix H for a sampleof aco mmo n theme of a group ofcl u s ter s) .
43 Ret ur ntothe parti cipant wi ththeth e me s
The purpo se of thisstepwasa "validityche ck "
(Hyn c e r, 198 5 ,p.291). The investigato r re tu rne d toth e researchpa r t i c i p a n t s withthe themesderivedfromthe inte r v i e w andenqaqedin a dialogueaboutthefin d i ngs obtainedso far. When a par t icipantshowed thein ten tion of modifying or adding furt herinformation for clar i f ica tio n, a second interviewwas cond u c t e d. focusing on theiss ues and areas not covered inthe first interview.
Id e nti fyi n g general and unique themes farall the
~
At this stage, the investigator began tolookfor t.he themescommo n to mostor allth e int ervie ws as wellas the ind i v i d u a l variations . Thisprocedurerequired, as Hyncer (1 98 5) re l ated , a phenomenologicalviewpoint toelici t the themes common to most or al l in terviewsas wellas recognize the unique themes existing in differe ntcases. The firs t step wasto note if there were themes commonto al lor most of the interviews. If there were, the s ethe mes were cl us t e r e dto g e t h e r as indica tors ofa generalth e me. Th e second stepwa s to noteifthe r e wereuni q u eor minor themes; theyre p re s e n t e d individualvariat i ons .
ContftXtuiI]iu tigD of themes
After the general andunique or minor the me s were noted, they were put back into the overallcontexts from
44 whi ch these themes emerged. Th e s e themeswere reported des c r ibedwithin their co n t e xt s .
Compos itesummary
Acompo s itesummary ofall the interv iews helpedto ca ptu r e the essence ofcnephenomena beinginvest i gated . In this study, it described the general perceptionsand emo t i onsexperienced by al l the participantsas wellas significantunique ormin orperceptions indiffere ntcases.
Five gr a dua t e st udent s fromthe Peop le'sRe p u b lic of China study ing in a un iversity in easternCanada parti cipat edin thisstudy. The genderratio ofmale and female was40\ :60\.respective ly. sincethe NEEH stopped in1966and re s t ar t e d in 1977, the participants were those who attendedaun i v e r s i t y - tra c k seniorhigh school inthe People's Republicof Chinaafter the year 1977.
Limitations of the study
1. The samplegroup we r e th eChi ne s e studentsstudying in a university in easternCanada, which li mitedthe ge ne r a li z ati on of the fi nding s to other ethnic grou psand geographicareas.
2. Thestudywas ba s e don the ref lec t i on of the features of mot ivat ionforle a rn i ng of th e sample group in theirseniorhighsc h oolingpe r i od. It may not apply to different schoolingperiods of the samplegroup.
3. As the raw data,depended on the exactneea and accuracy of the reflections ofthe samp l e group at the time point of engaging in the interview ,the findings may not be generalized tothe reflection s done at other time points.
4. As the sample group were alloncewinners inthe competition of the NEEH. they may haveun d e r estimatedthe psychologicalpressure or me ntal stress during the preparatory periodforth e NEEH.
or interpret the featuresof their learning behaviourand the features of being aut onomy support iveversus cont rol lingof their lea:cning environmentconcerned from a high-achiever's perspective.
