New Zealand primary school students’ motivation and strategy use for learning Chinese-as-a-foreign-language

Abstract

This study examined young learners’ motivation and strategy use for Chinese-as-a-foreign-language (L2 Chinese) learning in New Zealand. A total of 1157 primary school students from 29 primary schools were recruited for the study. The results revealed that primary school young learners’ overall motivation and strategy use for L2 Chinese learning was relatively inadequate. Furthermore, grade, ethnicity, and learning length were found to be significant joint factors differentiating young learners’ motivation and strategy use for L2 Chinese learning. Lastly, canonical correlation analysis was performed to measure the relationship between the two sets of variables, namely, motivation and strategy use. It was found that there was a strong canonical correlation between motivation and strategy use in L2 Chinese learning. Specifically, primary school young learners who were more driven by motivational visions, internal motives, and external motives would employ more metacognitive, cognitive, and compensation strategies but less social strategy in the process of L2 Chinese learning. The implications of these findings were discussed in terms of how to enhance young learners’ motivation and strategy use for L2 Chinese learning. Future research should delve further into L2 Chinese young learners’ motivation and strategy use by taking into account the limitations of this study.

Keywords:

• Motivation
• strategy use
• L2 Chinese learning
• primary school young learners
• New Zealand

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Peijian Paul Sun

Peijian Paul Sun (PhD, University of Auckland, New Zealand) is an associate professor from the Department of Linguistics at Zhejiang University in China. His research focuses on L2 learning and teaching, teacher education, and educational technology. His publications have appeared in various leading journals, including Computer Assisted Language Learning, TESOL Quarterly, System, and Language Teaching Research, among others. He also serves as a guest associate editor for Frontiers in Psychology. E-mail: [email protected]

Qing Yang

Qing Yang is an associate professor from the College of International Education, Minzu University of China. Her research focuses on L2 Chinese pedagogy, L2 Chinese international education, and L2 Chinese case methods. Her publication appears in Journal of Research on Education for Ethnic Mirorities, Journal of Southwest Minzu university, and Journal of Vocational Education, among others. E-mail: [email protected]

Xiaoming Hou

Xiaoming Hou (PhD, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China) is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Asian Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Williams College. His research interests broadly lie in second language acquisition and instruction. He has published in the peer-reviewed journals such as Applied Psycholinguistics, Language and Cognition and Teaching Chinese in the World. E-mail: [email protected]