英文摘要 |
Sustaining learners'motivation to keep learning has been a concern for over 60 years in education and second language acquisition (SLA). Most research focusing on Japanese university students has contributed lots of theoretical and practical developments. However, there is still very little research focusing on the motivations of non-traditional adults and those under 18-year-old to learn Chinese. This is true even though previous research findings have proved that age (as well as nationalities and Chinese language levels) is one of the key variables influencing learning. In order to find an effective treatment for sustainable Chinese language learning in Japan, the present study utilizes a survey method to analyze the types of Japanese learners'motivation to learn Chinese via exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The study also compares differences in motivation via multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The study reveales that Japanese learners'motivation to learn Chinese consists of eight common types: instrumental motivation (I.M.), personal orientation (P.O.), identified regulation (I.R.), Chinese cultural products (CCP), integrating into the Chinese community (ICC), external regulation (E.R.), social responsibility (S.R.), and Chinese for academic purposes (CAP). The results support several theories, distinct from Gardner and Lambert's theory of language learning motivation, including Boshier's motivational orientations of adult education participants, Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory of motivation, and Dörnyei et al.'s theory of motivational dynamics in language learning. The study also reveals that:(1) the I.M., E.R., and S.R. in children, adolescents, and traditional adults are significantly higher than that in non-traditional adults;(2) the P.O. in children is significantly higher than that in traditional and non-traditional adults;(3) the I.R. in traditional adults is significantly higher than that in children, adolescents, and non-traditional adults;(4) the CCP in non-traditional adults is significantly higher than that in children; (5) the ICC in traditional and non-traditional adults is significantly higher than that in children and adolescents, respectively; and(6) the CAP in children and adolescents is significantly higher than in non-traditional adults. Based on the above findings, the present study, combined with the perspective of self-relevance enhancing motivation, provided the model of self-relevant-content-based approaches to stimulate Japanese CFL learners to learn Chinese continually. The current study also contributes to further exploration on how differently-aged Japanese learners can have (and use) a higher motivation as the main drive to learn Chinese throughout their lifetime. |