Motives for Studying German in Australia

Schmidt, Gabriele

doi:10.3726/978-3-653-01092-3

Cited by 2 publications

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“…The abovementioned questionnaire survey (Schmidt, 2011) was conducted in 2005 and received responses from 520 Australian university students learning German. To broaden the understanding of the findings, 16 interviews with university students of German were conducted in 2013.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The third factor reflects 'German being considered as an important (business) language that could bring professional advantages'. Schmidt's (2011) finding of three motivational factors reveals a more complex picture than Gardner's traditional dichotomy of integrative and instrumental motivation which has dominated research into language learning motivation for the last fifty years (see for example Gardner, 1985;Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Critique of Gardner's model includes the question whether the concept of integrative motivation, i.e.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the last 25 years, two comprehensive studies (Ammon, 1991;Schmidt, 2011) have investigated the reasons why Australian university students learn German. Ammon's and Schmidt's analyses focus on what Dörnyei and Ottó (1998, pp.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The new qualitative study presented in this article therefore aimed to expand the 2011 study by investigating whether concepts such as the Ideal L2 Self are also evident in the motivation of Australian university students to learn German. Ammon's (1991) and Schmidt's (2011) studies both stand in the tradition of quantitative research that has dominated research into language learning motivation since Gardner and Lambert's (1959) first publication. Since that publication, many studies have used questionnaires and scales to collect data about learners' motives and attitudes and have applied statistical measures when analysing the data.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Personal growth as a strong element in the motivation of Australian university students to learn German

Schmidt

2014

ARAL

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For the last ten years, language learning motivation research has focussed on how learners see knowledge of a language as part of their identity. This article presents the findings of a qualitative interview study that investigated whether personal growth is also a strong element in the motivation of Australian university students to learn German. After first outlining the theoretical framework in which the study is situated and describing the research design and method, the article will present the main findings and argue that personal growth as well as a desire to broaden one’s horizons are strong motives for Australian students of German. The article concludes by discussing the findings and their implications.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Personal growth as a strong element in the motivation of Australian university students to learn German

Schmidt

2014

ARAL

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The motivations and identity aspirations of university students of German: a case study in Australia

Amorati

2021

Language Learning in Higher Education

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In the English-dominated field of L2 motivation, there is a need for more research on learners of languages other than English. This is particularly important in English-speaking countries, where issues involving the recruitment and retention of language students are pressing. This study discusses the main qualitative findings of a study on the motivations and identity aspirations of university students of German in Australia. The findings obtained through a questionnaire (n = 86) are complemented by in-depth interviews conducted with a small sample of respondents (n = 5). The study shows that learners of German are instrumentally, integratively and intrinsically motivated and wish to shape identities as international professionals with unique linguistic skills (Exotenmotiv, see Riemer 2006), tourists and anti-tourists, bilingual speakers in a monolingual Anglophone context and educated individuals (Bildungs-Selbst, see Busse 2015). This research furthers our knowledge on this learner population in Australia and, more broadly, on Anglophone elective language learners, as well as students of German as a foreign language in other contexts. It also contributes to our understanding of the link between motivation and processes of identity creation and development.

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Motives for Studying German in Australia

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Personal growth as a strong element in the motivation of Australian university students to learn German

Personal growth as a strong element in the motivation of Australian university students to learn German

The motivations and identity aspirations of university students of German: a case study in Australia

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