Do Residential Areas Matter? Exploring the Differences in Motivational Factors, Motivation, and Learning Behaviors Among Urban High School English Learners From Different Regions

It has long been researched on the differences in motivation profiles between English learners in urban and rural schools to promote educational equity. However, important stakeholders such as students in developing cities and rural-urban-migrant students have been overlooked. Additionally, the moderating roles of regional variables between motivation and behaviors are understudied. To address these gaps, we investigated 503 high school students from four cities in China through questionnaires. Drawing on self-determination theory, we explored the differences in English learning motivational factors, motivation, and behaviors between students in developed and underdeveloped cities, and between rural-urban-migrant students and local students within the same urban school. Furthermore, we examined the moderating roles of regional variables between motivation and behaviors. Independent-samples t -tests revealed that students in the underdeveloped city had significantly lower levels of emotion-related factors and English learning behaviors. Among students attending the same urban school, it was found that rural-urban-migrant students reported higher levels of negativity across all dimensions surveyed. Moreover, moderation analysis suggested the positive impact of motivation on English learning behaviors was weaker among rural-urban-migrant students. We discussed potential reasons for these results and provided implications for teachers, parents, and policymakers.