Abstract

The aims of this study was to explore the phenomenon of demotivation in EFL learning by addressing the follow research questions: What factors cause sophomores’ demotivation in learning English? Are there differences in gender, discipline of studies, and English proficiency levels in leading students’ demotivation? 194 students (54 males and 140 females) who responded as a decreasing motivation in learning English were selected as the target samples for the subsequent investigation. Sakai and Ki-huchi’s (2009) Demotivation Survey was translated into Chinese by the researcher, 6 factors derived from the Principal Component Analyses were: (1) Lack of intrinsic motivation, (2) Lack of learning effect, (3) Inadequate school equipment, (4) Inappropriate teacher characteristics, (5) Inappropriate teaching materials, (6) Inappropriate curriculum highlights. The findings indicated that “Inappropriate curriculum high-lights” was the main de-motivating factor in learning English among college students in Taiwan. “Inappropriate teacher characteristics” revealed statistically significant differences in the variables of gender and discipline of studies. “Lack of learning effect” made an effect on students from different discipline of studies. Students in different English proficiency levels reported dramatically different in “Lack of intrinsic motivation” and “Inadequate school equipment.”