A Study on the Motivation of Foreigners Learning Chinese

【Abstract】With the development of China and its rising status in the world， more and more foreign students come to China to learn Chinese. Research in Second Language Acquisition generally regards learning motivation as a key factor in second language learning. Because learning motivation is one of the key factors affecting language learning， it is of great significance to pay attention to stimulate and cultivate the students learning motivation.

【Key words】motivation； foreigners； second language acquisition

1. Research Background

As we all know， its a complex process to learn a foreign language because therere many factors which affect the process of foreigners Chinese learning. In second language learning， it is an undoubted question that the attitudes toward the second language and the motivation of language learners deeply influence the ability of language learning. The ultimate goal of this study is to find the characteristics in learning motivation of the foreign Chinese learners in the natural learning environment， in order to provide reference and recommendations for improving the quality of teaching.

Research in Second Language Acquisition generally regards learning motivation as a key factor in second language learning. However， motivation itself is dynamical. It is worth being further studied what role it plays， what constituents it has and how these factors interact with each other and finally affected leaning result. As a social motive， learning motivation is the objective requirements of society and education which reflect on students minds， and it is an important non-intellectual factor affecting learning， so the study on learning motivation can effectively promote the learners language.

This study aims to find the characteristics in learning motivation of the foreign Chinese learners. When more and more foreigners come to China to learn Chinese， we may want to have a full understanding of the reasons. This paper will adopt both quantitative and qualitative methods. It addresses the following research questions：

（1） What is the motivation of foreigners learning Chinese here？

（2） What are the performances of the foreigners motivation in the class and in their life？

（3） Does the motivation affect the foreigners learning behavior？

2. Literature Review

（1） Gardners theory of socio-psychology in second language learning

Research on motivation for foreign language learning was started in the 1950s by Canadian psychologists， Gardner and Lambert. They studied the second language learning of Canadian students in Grade Two. After multivariable analysis， they found attitude motivation and language ability correlated with proficiency in the second language. And based on this conclusion， they constructed theory of the social psychology of second language learning. Gardner and Lambert proposed a construct they called integrative motivation and instrument al motivation.

Gardners contribution of motivation theory covers three aspects： （a） motivation can be classified into two kinds， integrative motivation and instrumental motivation； （b） design AMTB （attitude/motivation test battery） according to motivation mode of foreign language learning； （c） construct an overall pattern based on academic motivation.

（2） Dornyeis three-leveled learning motivation model of foreign language learning

Dorneyis three-leveled learning motivation model has become a very influential theory. He thought motivation of foreign language learning should consist of three parts： language level， learner level and situational level. In Dornyeis model， motivation in situational level consists of course-specific motivational component， teacher-specific motivational component and learning community motivational component. Course-specific motivational component is relevant to courses， which includes learners inner interests in this course， the association between teaching and students individual need and goal， students expectation value of success in learning this course and students satisfaction degree of the effect of activity. Teacher-specific motivational component is relevant to teachers activity， character and teaching style， which includes the affiliative drive that students please teacher， authoritative type and the direct socialization of students learning motivation. Learning community motivational component is relevant to group dynamic that students belong to， which includes goal orientation， specification and award system and target structure of class-teaching （competitive， cooperative and individual style）

（3） Tremblay and Gardner's Expansion Model

Tremblay and Gardner thought that motivation should be a dynamic process. Variable is working in it. The present motivation model can be expanded through absorbing other motivation theories. Therefore， Tremblay and Gardner proposed an expansion model of motivational theory， which added the elements from Expectancy and Value Theory and Goal Theory to motivation and attitude and absorbed the contents from Cognitive Motivation Theory. This model succeeded to the linear relation of “language attitude-motivational behavior-study marks”， which added some variables to show the complex changes of motivation.

3. The Research Approach and Methods

Research approach：

In order to understand the process how motivation work on the foreign students and improve the teaching quality effectively， this paper takes method which combines the quantitative and qualitative analysis to focus on the motivation of Chinese learning of foreign students in Shandong University and confirm their motivation to learn Chinese.

（1） Questionnaire

More than 100 questionnaires are mainly to investigate the motivation of foreigners who learn Chinese. With their first impression， questionnaires also want to reflect students thoughts realistically. This investigation is made according to the students characteristic by using the method of random sampling.

The content of questionnaire I consists of two parts， which have 25 questions in total. The first part has 15 questions， mainly investigate the types of learning motivation of foreigners and the intensity of learning motivation. This investigation hoped to obtain a more comprehensive and effective conclusion of their learning motivation. There are 10 questions in the second part， which are designed according to Expected Value Theory. Questionnaire II is mainly about language attitude， it's designed according to the researching results of many scholars. There are 22 questions in total. Students results are the base of participating HSK. Because of different motivations， and they take different learning strategies. Their learning results can be testes form HSK.

（2） Interviewing

Considering that students levels are limited （they could not understand the meaning of those in questionnaires completely）， besides questionnaire method， I also take interviewing method to let students express their opinions as possible as they can.

（3） Participant observation

This investigation focuses on the dynamical change of students academic motivation. Firstly， we should establish rapport. We should get to know the members， visit the scene before study. This is important because we can be friends， or at least be accepted among the foreigners， in order to obtain quality data. Secondly， we should be in the field. It is important for us to connect or show a connection with the foreigners with an attempt to be a member among them. Thirdly， by recording observations and data， we can get the deep reasons for their learning Chinese. There are three steps： field notes， interviews and reflexivity journals. Fourthly， we need to analyze data. Because we have been familiar with them and got to know many reasons why they come to China to learn Chinese， we can organize data according to recurrent themes found in interviews or other types of qualitative data collection.

4. Limitations

Because of sampling and restrictions， there are some limitations of the study， which should be further discussed.

（1） Language learning is a complex process. Except for motivation， there are many other factors. How to perform a comprehension investigation and analysis on these variables scientifically and effectively to make the paper more objective is a further subject to be explored.

（2） The samples of this study are not enough. Because there are several campuses of Shandong University， which increases the difficulty in investigating. The understanding of some real situation is not accurate enough， which affected the accuracy of data. Statistics and result analysis await further promotion.

（3） The design of questionnaire is remained improved further. Because I have some addition and modification of the design of questionnaire， the research remains to be scientific.

（4） So far， I can just think out these simple and practical methods to study the motivation on the foreigners learning Chinese， I hope I can design more approaches to investigate their motivation in the future.

References：

[1]Dornyei，Z.“Motivation in second and foreign language learning”[J].Language Learning，1998.

[3]Gardner，R.C.The Attitude/Motivation Test Battery：Technical Report[R].University of Western Ontario.1985.

[4]Oxford R L 1990 Language Learning Strategies：what every teacher should know，Newsbury House.

[5]劉寧.美國大學生學習漢語動機和學習動機相關性的研究[D].遼寧師范大學.2010.

[6]侯創創.初級階段中亞留學生漢語學習動機研究[D].烏魯木齊：新疆師范大學.2008.

[7]王建勤.第二語言習得研究[M].商務印書館.2009.

作者簡介：李琳琳（1984.3-），女，山東德州人，漢族，經濟師。