This study focuses on how beginner learners in a task-based teaching and learning (TBTL) environment perceive what is motivating to them in the process of learning Chinese as a foreign language at Aalborg University, Denmark. Drawing upon empirical data from surveys, group interviews and participant observation, this study explores which kinds of tasks are perceived as motivating from the students' perspective and which characteristics the learners associate with motivating tasks. The study indicates that it is important to consider the learners' affective factors and learning situation factors, which can boost learners' intrinsic motivation, when designing a task, especially at a beginning stage of foreign language learning, and to integrate cultural elements into tasks as an added value to motivate learners. Finally, this study identifies challenges and barriers related to TBTL that beginner-level students may find discouraging. It is suggested that motivating learners to continue learning the language and encouraging active participation may be more important than developing their linguistic accuracy and fluency in the given context.
This study explores learners' orientations, or goals, for learning Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) in a Danish university. Drawing upon empirical data from both pre-and post-course surveys and group interviews, this study examines in what aspects and to what extent these orientations change, and by what these changes are caused, in a university-wide CFL course using task-based teaching and learning (TBTL). The study identifies four orientations. Results indicate that the knowledge orientation plays a vital role in the learning process, while instrumental orientation appears to be the least important to students. Furthermore, the study indicates that all orientations have been enhanced by the end of the course, meaning the learners have developed clearer goals for further study in a TBTL environment. We also show that several external and internal factors, such as the motivating course design (especially the task-based learning method), the learners' increased self-efficacy, and student satisfaction, served to contribute to these positive changes in learners' orientations. It is suggested that a communicative approach (e.g. the TBTL method) can be used to promote positive orientation changes and enhance learner motivation. The study also discusses challenges encountered in helping beginners learn a foreign language via TBTL.
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