Affective Variables and Motivation as Predictors of Proficiency in English as a Foreign Language

Cocca, Michaela; Cocca, Armando

doi:10.7160/eriesj.2019.120302

Cited by 25 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…With these findings the current study contributes to the extant literature in three main ways. First, it further confirms the influence of instrumental and integrative motivations on second foreign language proficiency with empirical statistics, and thus expands and generalizes findings from the extant SLA literature [18,48,49]. While almost all previous studies focus on the relationship between motivation and L2 proficiency, this paper takes a step further to consider the acquisition of a third language other than the mother tongue and English, which contributes to the development of TLA.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Moreover, some scholars have discussed the correlation between motivation and FLE in language acquisition, and pointed out that students' enjoyment, together with greater motivation, are related to better performance in L2 [54]. In addition to the positive influence of both instrumental and integrative motivations on second foreign language proficiency [18,48,49], we could further conjecture that FLE partially mediates the focal relationships of interest. In other words, instrumental and integrative motivations improve second foreign language proficiency by strengthening learners' FLE in the learning process.…”

Section: The Mediating Role Of Foreign Language Enjoymentmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Previous studies have confirmed that both instrumental and integrative motivations positively influence SLA [18,48,49], but their effect has not been examined in the TLA context. The present study assumes that they work similarly in the acquisition of a second foreign language.…”

Section: Motivational Orientations and Second Foreign Language Proficmentioning

confidence: 93%

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Motivation and Second Foreign Language Proficiency: The Mediating Role of Foreign Language Enjoyment

2020

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Inadequate research attention has been paid to the learning of a third language. For this reason, this study explores senior English major students' learning of additional foreign languages in seven universities in Shaanxi Province, China. The study examines the relationship between the participants' motivation and language proficiency through a questionnaire, and the collected data are analyzed using hierarchical linear regression analysis. The results identify that the participants' instrumental and integrative motivations positively influence their second foreign language proficiency. Further analysis reveals that the connection between the participants' motivation and language proficiency is mediated by foreign language enjoyment. These findings form the basis of our suggestions for the sustainable learning and teaching of foreign languages in universities.Sustainability 2020, 12, 1302 2 of 13 the field of positive psychology have pointed out the importance of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) in language acquisition [22][23][24], more work is needed to elaborate the role of FLE in foreign language learning. Considering FLE's connection with mental activity, we assume in this paper that it mediates the relationship between motivation and foreign language proficiency, and we try to examine this mediating effect in the TLA context. Therefore, the present study uses survey data from seven universities in Shaanxi Province, China, to explore the process of second foreign language acquisition, examining and explicating the relationship between motivation and language proficiency as well as the mediating role of FLE on the focal relationship. Theoretically, this paper enriches our understanding of how motivation influences second foreign language proficiency, facilitates further interest in TLA in terms of individual differences, and highlights the importance of positive psychology in learning a second foreign language. Practically, it suggests important implications for the sustainability of second foreign language teaching and learning.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: The Mediating Role Of Foreign Language Enjoymentmentioning

confidence: 82%

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Motivation and Second Foreign Language Proficiency: The Mediating Role of Foreign Language Enjoyment

2020

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“…To investigate the multifaceted nature of motivation as a psychological construct, researchers in SLA typically create subdivided categories targeting different aspects of language learning motivation. The following categories have specifically been found to relate to L2 production and L2 achievement, and could therefore influence L2 learning via syntactic priming: intrinsic motivation (Cheng, Klinger, Fox, Doe, Jin & Wu, 2014;Kang, 2001;Noels, Clément & Pelletier, 2001;Wen, 1997), extrinsic motivation (Kang, 2001;Wen, 1997), motivational intensity (Cocca & Cocca, 2019;Gardner, 1985;Noels et al, 2001;Serafini, 2013) and task motivation or attitude towards the task (Dörnyei, 2002;Dörnyei & Kormos, 2000;Kormos & Dörnyei, 2004). Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation respectively reflect an inherent desire to learn a language for the affective rewards of engaging with learning activities (e.g.…”

Section: Individual Variation In Syntactic Primingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between- and within-group variation in first and second language syntactic priming

Coumel¹,

Ushioda²,

Messenger³

2020

Preprint

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We tested the predictions of the error-based implicit language learning model of syntactic priming in second (L2) and first (L1) language speakers. We compared L2 and L1 French speakers’ production of fronted/non-fronted temporal phrases and active/passive structures when primed with and without lexical overlap. We also measured the effect of attention and motivation on priming. Our findings are compatible with the general predictions of the model: we observed immediate and long-term priming, and lexical boost effects; individual differences in attention modulated priming strength. Moreover, the results suggest that priming with and without lexical overlap relies on different mechanisms. Nonetheless, some findings contradicted the model’s predictions: immediate abstract priming only arose for the fronting alternation; L2 speakers did not show consistently larger priming effects than L1 speakers; patterns of syntactic priming varied highly across syntactic alternations, even within individuals. Overall, the study highlights the importance of comparing priming of different structures within speakers.

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“…The learners' desired self-images and their actual learning experience could produce the motivation to learn a language. Despite the different conceptualizations of motivation in second language learning, it is generally accepted that motivation plays a critical role in second language acquisition (Cocca & Cocca, 2019;Dörnyei, 2005;Masgoret & Gardner, 2003;Shih & Change, 2018).…”

Section: Motivatonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anxiety in Chinese Language Learning: Relationship to Motivation, Attitude, and Achievement

Wang¹,

Du²

2020

EJREP

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Introduction. In the past decades, studies have been conducted to explore the role of anxiety in the learning of Western languages such as English, French, and Spanish. However, when it comes to the predictive relationship between anxiety, motivation, attitude, and Chinese achievement, the findings are inconclusive. This study aims to test a model of relationship among anxiety, motivation, integrativeness, attitude, and Chinese achievement. Method. Structural equation modeling was conducted on a sample of 223 international students enrolled in Chinese courses at a university in China. A total of 14 variables indicating anxiety, motivation, integrativeness, attitudes toward the learning situation, and Chinese achievement were included in the analysis. Results. Results indicated that students of Chinese experienced a moderate level of anxiety in Chinese learning. Anxiety had a direct and negative effect on Chinese achievement. Positive attitudes toward the learning situation had a positive effect on students' motivation to learn. However, in the current sample, integrativeness and motivation are not separable, instead they formed a general motivation construct that predicted students' course grades but not proficiency test grades. Discussion and Conclusion. The results of structural equational modeling generally confirmed Gardner's socio-educational model of second-language acquisition. Consistent with previous literature on second language anxiety, this study found a small negative effect of anxiety on achievement and a strong positive effect of attitudes toward the learning situation on motivation. In addition, motivation predicted Chinese achievement when it is measured by course grade. It is therefore appropriate to conclude that anxiety and motivation both contributed to the prediction of Chinese achievement when it was measured by course grade.

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Affective Variables and Motivation as Predictors of Proficiency in English as a Foreign Language

Cited by 25 publications

References 50 publications

Motivation and Second Foreign Language Proficiency: The Mediating Role of Foreign Language Enjoyment

Motivation and Second Foreign Language Proficiency: The Mediating Role of Foreign Language Enjoyment

Between- and within-group variation in first and second language syntactic priming

Anxiety in Chinese Language Learning: Relationship to Motivation, Attitude, and Achievement

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