Investigating the second language learning of multilingual Chinese learners: The relationship of age, gender, and language proficiency to intrinsic motivation

• Main Author: Villaverde, Allan Rey S.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2014
• Subjects: First and Second Language Acquisition
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/4617; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_masteral/article/11455/viewcontent/CDTG005560_P.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

In the discussions of Ryan and Deci (2000), it was postulated that humans, by nature, are proactive and self engaging. This inherent trait may be attributed to Intrinsic motivation which may explain mans propensity towards novelty, and challenges in all domains of life even in second language learning. Hence, voluminous amount of studies were done centralized on the construct of intrinsic motivation in relation to either facilitating or undermining second language learning. However, there have only been few researches done on motivation in L2 learning in the Philippine setting, moreover on the multilingual Chinese learners this country has. Thus, this paper attempted to do such. The paper focused on the intrinsic motivation factors that may be of help in identifying what specific L2 communicative skill these multilingual Chinese students are more motivated to learn and delved as to what variables (e.g. age, gender, and language proficiency) may be of significant relationship to IM given the participants nature and exposure to diverse cultures, and languages such as Filipino, Chinese, and English. The investigation involved 180 high school sophomore and senior students from Chiang Kai Shek College, Manila. These aforesaid student participants were asked to complete a 48 item IM questionnaire (Lucas, et. al., 2010). The findings of the study posited that students are intrinsically motivated in learning and using the L2 communicative skills of reading and speaking under IM subtypes of Accomplishment and Knowledge. Moreover, age and gender are found to have significant relationship to IM, whereas language proficiency seems to show otherwise. These may suggest that these multilingual learners intrinsic motivation stem from their early exposure to the target language, proliferation of Internet mediated tasks and western media, nature of L2 communicative skills, curricular activities, and prestige of the L2 being learned. This present study asserts that despite the number of languages operating in the student participants milieu with respect to their L1 and their heritage language, students will always be interested to learn English as their L2 or second language due to the array of benefits it may bring them in the future, considering the highly competitive environment they are in as influenced by their culture that pays premium on social esteem.