As English is the compulsory subject for Chinese primary school students, their English learning motivations have been gaining considerable concerns in the primary school. To a large extend, English learning motivation has great effect on students’ language learning and activities. Although much attention, time, effort, and many resources to teaching English have been devoted, many primary students are still not interested in learning. Thus, English teachers should give more encouragement to students and take students as center. English teachers should also carry out the humanistic theory in the teaching process, so as to put students in a harmonic and understanding environment. From this perspective, cultivating primary school students’ motivation has become one of the keys to make them have progress in English learning. Motivation is to inspire students to take action on the psychological motivation. So, what about the current primary school students’ motivation? How to cultivate their motivation? This paper will concern about humanistic theory, the types of motivation, and some strategies of cultivating the English learning motivation.

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Humanistic psychology thinks, motivation is the reason and power to participate in some activities. Many scholars abroad in terms of learning motivation strategies have carried out many studies. The motivation of students affects them to learn English better to a large extent. To cultivate students’ motivation for learning English is one of the main purposes of the primary school English teaching. Confucius once said: “Knowing it isn’t as good as liking it, and liking it isn’t as good as enjoying it.” This sentence emphasizes the important role in the interest in learning. Interest is always associated with pleasant feelings; people have a high degree of enthusiasm about things they are interested in, this enthusiasm can generate knowledge power. (Wang Yanjun, 2005: 89)

2.1 The Theory of Humanistic Learning

Humanism emphasizes person’s value and personality. The ideal education is “student centered” education; the purpose of education is to cultivate wisdom, unity of the all-round development of people. Humanism education thought, in relation to all aspects of the education of many factors, including a series of views about teaching is an important part of his education thoughts. 

Humanism came into being in the 1960s. In education, it does not claim objectively determine what knowledge teachers should teach. It claims that education should be from the basis of the subjective needs of students, help students to gain knowledge he likes and meaningful. Humanistic Psychologists like Maslow and Rogers, they have penetrating elaboration about learning theory. (Zhang Qingzong & Wu Xiyan, 2003: 42)

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, also known as the “hierarchy theory of needs”, is one of the theories of behavior science, proposed by American psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1943 in the “theory of human motivation” thesis. The theory will be pided into five kinds, like stairs from low to high, respectively according to the level of gradual ascending: physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, respect the needs, the need for self-actualization. Maslow’s personality health thought is applied to the practice of health education. It has formed the student-centered education thoughts and pay attention to the relationship between teachers and students. Maslow thought Man is the soul of the universe; education should be people-oriented. It should respect for each person’s independent personality, protect everyone’s self-esteem, and help everyone release their potential, develop inpiduality and realize their own value. (Wang Shaoyong & Xu Shaohua, 2008: 27) American psychologist Abraham Maslow (1968) emphasized, students are main bodies and masters in the teaching process. He advocated learning must rely on the heart, the teacher can’t force students to learn, and learning activities should be choices and decisions by the students themselves. Teacher’s task is to coaching, create a good learning environment, let the students choose and decide. (Maslow, 1968: 164)  从人本主义视角论小学生学习英语动机的培养(2):http://www.751com.cn/yingyu/lunwen_57162.html