Resumen de Chinese students’ motivation for learning German and French in an intensive non-degree programme

Yu Chen, Dan Zhao, Shen Qi

• English

  This paper reports on a mixed method study that examined the motivation of 121 students in a 1-year intensive language course in German or French at a Chinese university. Drawing on Dörnyei’s (2009) theory of the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS), a survey was conducted to explore their motivation to learn German or French. Regression analyses revealed that learning experience and promotion-focused instrumentality were the predictors for the German learners’ intended learning effort, while ideal L2 self was the predictor for the French learners’ motivation. Furthermore, ought-to self, culture/community interest and prevention-focused instrumentality were excluded in both regression models. In addition, 17 participants’ qualitative data in the interviews suggested that most of them had lower expectations for the value of German or French than for the value of English in improving one’s employability. Instead, they were much more oriented to learn and appreciate the cultural values of these languages. The results provided insight into the complexity of motivation to learn Languages Other than English (LOTEs) in the university context in China, and suggested future direction for research on LOTE learning motivation

• 中文

  本研究以Dörnyei (2009) 的二语动机自我系统理论 (L2MSS) 为框架，采用混合研究法，调查了121名参加一年制德语或法语强化语言课程的中国大学生，探究他们学习德语或法语的动机。回归分析显示，德语学习动机的预测变量是学习体验和提升型工具动机，而理想二语自我则为法语学习的主要动机因素。应该二语自我、文化兴趣和预防型工具动机均未进入回归模型。17名参与者的访谈数据表明，大多数学生认为德语或法语在提升就业机会方面的作用不及英语；他们学习小语种，更是因为看重其文化价值。研究结果揭示了中国大学生学习小语种动机的复杂性，并提出了未来小语种学习动机的研究方向。