scholarly journals Sustaining International Students’ Learning of Chinese in China: Shifting Motivations among New Zealand Students during Study Abroad

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 6289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang (Frank) Gong ◽  
Mengyao Ma ◽  
Tien Ping Hsiang ◽  
Chuang Wang
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
International Students ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Educational Stakeholders ◽  
Language Learning Motivation ◽  
Chinese Language Learning ◽  
Motivation For Learning ◽  
Before And After

This paper reports on an inquiry that examined groups of New Zealand students’ motivational shifts related to learning Chinese before and after relocation to China. In the inquiry, we encouraged 15 participants to write reflective journals and conducted two rounds of interviews before and after their study abroad trip to China. The analysis revealed that most participants had their motivation enhanced by the trip, and expected to sustain their heightened motivation for learning Chinese in the future. The findings suggest that the participants’ motivational shifts happened during their period of study abroad in China, and were prompted by their new pedagogical environment and individual learning experiences. In other words, the motivational enhancement emerged from ongoing interactions between the participants’ L2 self-concepts (e.g., ideal L2 selves) and learning and sociocultural contexts in China. These findings offer fresh insights into the dynamic nature of Chinese language learning motivation and the role of formal and informal settings in the participants’ learning of Chinese. They imply that educational stakeholders need to provide authentic communication opportunities and resources to enhance international students’ motivation for the sustainable learning of Chinese.

scholarly journals Study-abroad, Language Proficiency and Learner Beliefs about Language Learning

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koichi Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Learner Beliefs ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Beliefs About Language Learning ◽  
Study Abroad Program

This article reports an empirical study of a 15-week study-abroad program for Japanese university students, examining changes in the students’ beliefs about language learning (measured by means of a questionnaire) and in their English proficiency (measured by means of the TOEFL). The results showed statistically significant changes in the students’ beliefs relating to analytic language learning, experiential language learning and self-efficacy/confidence during the study-abroad period. Statistically significant gains in proficiency are also reported. However, Pearson product moment correlations between the students’ responses to the Belief Questionnaire and their TOEFL scores both before and after the study-abroad period were weak and generally statistically non-significant. The results are discussed in relation to study-abroad programs and also to the role of learner beliefs in second language learning.

Study abroad and the SLA of variable structures: A look at the present perfect, the copula contrast, and the present progressive in Mexico and Spain

Probus ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Kanwit ◽  
Kimberly L. Geeslin ◽  
Stephen Fafulas
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Present Perfect ◽  
Immersion Programs ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Grammatical Structures

AbstractThe present study connects research on the L2 acquisition of variable structures to the ever-growing body of research on the role of study abroad in the language learning process. The data come from a group of 46 English-speaking learners of Spanish who participated in immersion programs in two distinct locations, Valencia, Spain and San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Simultaneously, we tested a group of native speakers from each region to create an appropriate target model for each learner group. Learners completed a written contextualized questionnaire at the beginning and end of their seven-week stay abroad. Our instrument examines three variable grammatical structures: (1) the copulas

scholarly journals The role of self-determined motivation and goals for study abroad in the adaptation of international students

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valery Chirkov ◽  
Maarten Vansteenkiste ◽  
Ran Tao ◽  
Martin Lynch
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Study Abroad

scholarly journals Absorbed Expectations About English Study of Adolescent Japanese Students: Insights to the Ought-to L2 Self

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Sampson
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Possible Selves ◽  
First Grade ◽  
L2 Motivational Self System ◽  
Language Learning Motivation ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Self System

Dörnyei’s (2009) L2 Motivational Self System draws the notion of possible selves into understanding language learning motivation. Whilst one element of this system involves language learners’ perceptions of expectations from significant others, research has revealed inconsistent conclusions as to the role of these influences on motivation. Moreover, little research has uncovered a picture of the qualities of such absorbed expectations. This paper presents part of a qualitative study into the contextualized motivation of one class group of first-grade Japanese kosen students. Emergent from data collected over one year, the results reveal that these students held detailed, often conflicting perceptions of expectations absorbed from various sources in their social environment. The results suggest that further research is necessary to explore the development of such perceived expectations with students and to investigate the impact on motivation of conflicting detail in expectations. Dörnyei (2009)のL2 Motivational Self Systemは、第2言語学習者の動機を理解するためにpossible self概念を用いている。 第2言語学習者が感じる「他人の期待」が動機付けになるというのがこのシステムの一部だが、その動機への影響に関して今までの研究結果は一貫性に欠けている。その上、第2言語学習者が感じる「他人の期待」の質に関する研究も少ない。本論は、ある工業高等専門学校１年の学生の動機を質的に調べる研究の一部である。1年間に収集したデータの分析により、学生が社会環境の様々な情報源から得た、詳細だが時には矛盾する期待を感じていたという結果が導き出された。第2言語学習者への「他人から感じる期待」を考察し、矛盾する期待が動機へ及ぼす影響について、更なる研究が必要とされる。

scholarly journals Competing priorities: Student perceptions of helps and hindrances to language acquisition during study abroad

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcie J. Pyper ◽  
Cynthia Slagter
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Competing Priorities

Multiple studies have investigated the effect of language contact on language proficiency, testing the assumption that the study abroad context means greater contact with the target language (L2).  Other studies have examined the context of L2 interactions, considering host families, contact with community members, and interactions with non-native-speaking peers. While these studies are helpful, larger scales studies are needed to determine how students are interacting with native and non-native speakers during study abroad.  The current study examines student perceptions of helps and hindrances to L2 gain during semester-long study abroad of more than 100 students studying Spanish in Spain, Honduras, and Peru. Participants completed surveys patterned after the Language Contact Profile of Freed, Dewey, Segalowitz, and Halter (2004) and took the Versant Language Test before and after their study abroad experience. They also participated in a post-program interview which was subsequently transcribed, encoded and analyzed.  Results suggest that students experience competing priorities in decisions governing L1 vs L2 use and that student intentionality is key to successful language learning.

scholarly journals The role of a linguistic club in the foreign language communicative competency development

2019 ◽  
pp. 178-182
Author(s):  
Anna A. Yegorova ◽  
Ol'ga V. Sergeyeva
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Competency Development ◽  
Creative Potential ◽  
Language Learning Motivation ◽  
Technical University ◽  
Methodological Principles ◽  
Different Levels

The article deals with the process of foreign language communicative competency development at a technical university within the work of the linguistic club "Intelligent" of Lenin Ivanovo State Power Engineering University. The pedagogic conditions and methodological principles are explained. It is proved that the structure and variation of the linguistic club activities promotes development of the key components of foreign language communicative competency: linguistic, verbal, sociolinguistic, sociocultural, strategic, discursive competences. It is concluded that the linguistic club is an important component of teaching a foreign language at a technical university as it gives the opportunity for improvement for students of different levels, contributes to students' raising foreign language learning motivation and creative potential realisation. During the preparation for the events students' professional and personal competences are also developed.

scholarly journals The Motivation of University Students of International Relations to Learn English

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-28
Author(s):  
Zarina Markova ◽  
Dessislava Yaneva
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
L2 Motivational Self System ◽  
Language Learning Motivation ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Motivational Profile ◽  
Ideal L2 Self

This article reports on the findings of a study investigating the motivation of Bulgarian undergraduates of International Relations to learn English as a second language (L2). First, we consider language learning motivation in the context of three influential theoretical developments in research on motivation. Then, we report on a small-scale survey aiming to define the motivational profile of students of International Relations through the lens of the L2 Motivational Self System. The analysis of the survey data reveals similarities with findings of previous research as regards the favourable attitude towards English language learning, the prominent role of the ideal L2 self in the motivational pattern, and some doubt over the relation between the ought-to L2 self and the intended learning effort. The study results also indicate relations between travel orientation and the ought-to L2 self, and between the two types of instrumental motivation which have not been reported in previous research. These motivation peculiarities are explained through the specifics of the surveyed group that refer to students’ aspirations and potential careers in international relations.

scholarly journals Everyday Life in the Ancient World: Four Re-Collections

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lynn Jenner
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Activity Theory ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
World War ◽  
The Past ◽  
Active Reading ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Before And After

<p>The thesis is made up of four separate but related texts recording the author’s investigations of loss, searches and re-constructions. Questions of ownership are also examined, with particular reference to objects of cultural and artistic significance. The Holocaust is a major focus, especially attitudes of the New Zealand government and New Zealanders themselves to the refugees who wished to settle here before and after World War II.  The thesis is a hybrid of critical and creative writing. The first three texts, “The autobiographical museum”, “History-making” and “Cairn”, are also hybrid in genre, containing found text, new prose and poems, discussion of other writers’ work and the author’s experiments in ‘active reading’. The fourth text is an Index which offers an alternative reading of the other three texts and helps the reader to locate material. While somewhat different from each other in form, all texts focus on the activity of gathering objects and information. All four texts are fragmented rather than complete.  Interviews with curators, education officers and CEOs in two Australian museums that have Holocaust exhibits provided information on the aims and processes of these exhibits. Meetings with six Holocaust survivors who act as volunteer guides in museums and reactions of visitors to the museums provided other perspectives on the work of the museums. The author also reports on visits to the Holocaust Gallery at the Auckland War Memorial Museum and the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand in Wellington.  Activity Theory, a cultural-historical model often applied to the analysis of learning and pedagogy, is used in the thesis as a metaphorical backdrop to the author’s own activity. The author’s focus on intentions, tools, processes, division of labour and financial pressures reflects the influence of Activity Theory as does the author’s willingness to let understanding take shape gradually through tentative conclusions, some of which are later overturned.  Over the period of the research, records of the past are recovered and re-examined in the present, as was intended. Individual and collective memory, including archival records, fiction and poetry are resources for these investigations. The author receives an object lesson in the power of the informal networking role of the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, as well as benefiting from its formal displays and materials.  During the research the author writes records of the present because it seems necessary to do so. By the time the research ends, these have become records of the past – an outcome which Emanuel Ringelblum would have predicted but was a surprise to the author.</p>

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