Learning Chinese abroad: the role of language attitudes and motivation in the adaptation of international students in China

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to investigate the interrelationships of a number of affective variables related to studying Chinese as a second language (L2); to examine the relationships between affective variables in second language acquisition (SLA) and the indices of adaptation; and thirdly, to assess the changes over time in the attitudes and motivation of international students and their sociocultural and academic adaptation during their nine-month Chinese studies at a tertiary level. The results show that integrative motivation plays a very important positive role while language anxiety plays a very important negative role in both sociocultural adaptation and academic adaptation. Moreover, academic adaptation, long being ignored in the literature of crosscultural psychology and SLA, is found to be closely and positively related to sociocultural adaptation in this study. The conclusions are drawn accordingly in respect of longitudinal research design and the importance in relating language-related variables to the adaptation of L2 learners. Suggestions to host institutions and international students are also made in the paper.

Motivational Orientation in Foreign Language Learning: The Case of Filipino Foreign Language Learners

“…FL learners come to study FL with diverse background, interests, motivation and attitude. As Yu (2010) pointed out, learning a foreign language abroad is affected by the a number of affective variables including adaptation, attitudes and socio-cultural variables. He further argues that socio-cultural adaptation and academic adaptation are important factors in developing FL motivation and positive attitudes.…”

Chinese Language Complexities among International Students in China

“…Ashari and Munir (2015) also claim that the interference between native language and target language mainly happen because of the lack of students' knowledge about the target language complexities. However, with regard to teaching Chinese as a foreign language, research shows that Chinese has remained as the most under-studied as concerned with international students' language learning complexities (Yu, 2010). Yu also adds that very little research has investigated international students' academic adaptation to language attitudes and motivation.…”

International Muslim Students

“…In China, a lot of work has been done on the problems of international students from the perspectives of social, psychological, and academic issues. Previous studies on international students often focus on cross-cultural adaptation in an academic setting and language problems (Bebe, 2012;Yu, 2010). However, limited studies have focused on international Muslim students and the challenges that they face, such as cultural adjustment, language communication problems, lack of accommodation for religious practices, social integration, academic issues, problems in daily life, homesickness, etc.…”