In today's globalized world, Chinese students are generally keen on learning English. That said, their main windows onto foreign cultures tend to be films, music, short videos, and social media platforms. The culture exposure which can shape Chinese students' English learning motivation is attracting attention. However, the specific mechanisms remain insufficiently explored. This study investigates three questions: whether foreign cultural exposure enhances learners' motivation, which types of cultural input are most influential, and how such resources might be integrated into classroom activities. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 37 university students from 13 provinces across China. The results show that instrumental motives such as future careers and graduate school admission motivate 73% of the participants, while the percentage of cultural interest is 54%. Beyond motivation, 81% of the participants suggested that they improve their listening and speaking skills, and more than three-quarters suggested that they are able to speak English more confidently in public places. These observations suggest several directions for integrating cultural materials into English language teaching at the tertiary level.
