Motivation and Language Learning with Students of Chinese

The present study investigates the motivational factors of students who are from Asian and Asian-American backgrounds and learn Chinese at the university level in the United States. Seventy-seven students at the beginning and intermediate levels of proficiency participated in the study. The data were collected through a survey method. Factor analysis, regression procedures, t-tests, and correlation coefficients were used to address the research questions. The results o f the study indicate that intrinsic interest in Chinese culture and the desire to understand one’s own cultural heritage are the initial motivation for students to start learning the Chinese language. Expectations of learning task and effort keep students continuing their Chinese at the intermediate level. In addition, motivational factors correlate significantly with desired learning outcomes from the expectancy theory. Based upon the findings, recommendations are made to enhance students’ motivation, expectancy, and selfefficacy in learning. In recent years, a nationwide interest in the Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs) has emerged in the United States. According to the statistics of the Modem Language Association (Brod 1988; MLA 1991), languages with the highest enrollment growth rates in the United States at the college level are Japanese and Chinese. For example, Chinese language enrollment expanded 72 percent between 1980 and 1990. This increase in Chinese enrollment comes largely from students with an Asian background. Students whose ethnic backgrounds are Asian and Asian-American usually comprise an overwhelming number of the student body in Chinese language classes at universities in the United States. The present study investigates the motivational factors associated with the learning of Chinese by students from Asian and Asian-American backgrounds. Gardner and Lambert (1959) are the early scholars who laid the foundation of the theory of second language (L2) learning motivation. In studying the relationship between attiXiaohong Wen (Ph.D., University of Kansas) is Assistant Professor of Chinese a t the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. tudehotivation and the achievement of an L2 learner, they identified two motivational orientations: integrative and instrumental. “The orientation is integrative if the student wishes to learn more about the other cultural community because he is interested in it in an open-minded way to the point of eventually being accepted as a member of that other group” (Gardner and Lambert 1972; 3). An instrumentally oriented student hopes to derive a special benefit, such as career-based opportunities, from knowing the foreign language. He or she has little interest in the target language and culture. Gardner’s early studies showed that integrative motivation was more powerful than instrumental motivation because the L2 learner’s ultimate goal was not only to attain language competence but also to achieve “psychological integration” with the target culture. In their later studies, however, Gardner and MacIntyre (1991) found that instrumental motivation was also an effective factor in L2 learning and integrative motivation may not necessarily be superior to instrumental motivation. Those who are inte gratively motivated, however, are probably more successful at an advanced language Foreign Language Annals, 30, No. 2, 1997 FOREtGN LANGUAGE A ” A L S 4 U M M E R 1997 level than those who are not, mainly because psychological integration sustains interest in learning the language longer (Gardner 1985; Dornyei 1990). Although the work of Gardner and Lambert laid a strong foundation for the theory of L2 learning motivation (1959, 1972, 1974), and was supported by subsequent studies (Laine 1984; Gardner 1985; Svanes 1987), some studies found insignificant or even conflicting r e sults with those of Gardner and his associates (Lukmani 1972; Pierson, Fu, and Lee 1980; Oller 1981). Clement and Kruidenier (1983), for example, suggested that certain motivation factors are contextspecific, and may not be discovered and analyzed by using the integrative-instrumental approach. In other words, the integrative-instrumental approach has certain limitations on the learning context. Recently, researchers such as Crookes and Schmidt (1991) and Oxford and Shearin (1994) have called for extending the current notion of L2 learning motivation and adding integrative motivation theories of general psychology. It is important to explore the motivation structures in a broad approach on the one hand, and to be contextspecific on the other. In the context of Chinese language learning, a student’s expectation of both the learning task involved and the outcome are important factors. This is mainly because the task involved in learning Chinese is quite different from that of learning European languages. The present study incorporates expectancy-value theories in investigating the motivation of Chinese language learning. Expectancy-value theories were originally proposed by Lewin (1951), Vroom (1964), and others (Mitchell and Nebeker 1973). Vroom postulated that any action could potentially lead to a wide range of outcomes. The effort exerted toward any particular action is determined by the valence (i.e., relative attractive ness) of outcomes and the expectation that the action would lead to the desired outcomes. Valence is defined as an “affective orientation toward particular outcomes” by Vroom (1964, 14). Lewin (1951) referred to it as the psychological value of a particular goal. Expectancy is defined as “effort that will lead to successful performance” (Oxford and Shearin 1994, 21). The extent to which a person values the outcomes, the probability of achieving the outcomes, and those effortful behaviors that lead to perceived success constitute a n important motivation. In other words, a person has an idea about the possible consequences of an act and, therefore, makes conscious choices leading to potential consequences according to the probability of achieving the desired outcome. To apply expectancy models to language learning, it is assumed that valence of learning outcomes, expectancies of learning ability, and probability of obtaining the outcomes greatly influence the motivation of students. Motivation and Less Commonly Taught Languages One problem with LCTLs, such as Chinese and Japanese, at universities in the United States is the low retention rate of students. For example, it is reported that the attrition rate among students who take Japanese is sometimes estimated as high as 80 percent (Mills, Samuels, and Sherwood 1987). Samimy and Tabuse (1992) reported that learning less commonly taught languages can produce strong negative affective reactions from the students which hinder their learning motivation. The high difficulty level of the learning task may be one factor that decreases motivation for learning the Chinese language. For instance, students may not be clearly aware of the level of difficulty of Chinese when they begin their language study. According to data of the U.S. Foreign Service Institute, it takes Englishspeaking Americans at least three times longer to learn Chinese than to learn French or Spanish. This is mainly because the Chinese orthographic system is difficult, and learning it may create a major affective and motivational barrier. If students are not psychologically prepared for the demands of the language, they may become frustrated at the beginning of their learning. Further, in the process of learning Chinese and Japanese, the expectations of students toward the learning task and effort required often may