Relationship Between English Learning Motivation Types and Self-Identity Change Among Chinese Students Authors: Gao Yi-Hong, Zhao Yuan, Cheng Ying, Zhao Yan Presenter: 陳玲玲 ID:

Focus on the change of learners’ self-identities in learning English, which parallels nonlinguistic outcomes and Lambert’s self- concept. To investigate English learning motivation types and self-identity changes among university students in China.

Self-identity: How the learner perceives him- or herself in terms of linguistic and cultural groups, that he or she belongs to, as well as the learner’s values, communication styles, abilities and worthiness.

Linguistic outcomes consist of target language proficiency Nonlinguistic outcomes consist of more general changes in the learner Two major types of motivation: instrumental and integrative Two sets of learning outcome: linguistic and nonlinguistic Gardner *Lambert’s model included self-concept in learning outcome.

Most studies focus on linguistic outcomes of learning, as indicated by proficiency test scores. Theses studies were concern with: * What kind of motivation led to higher proficiency achievement? *How motivation and other learner factors influenced learning achievement?

When a second language and culture have been acquired with little or no pressure to replace or reduce the first language Subtractive bilingualismAdditive bilingualism Nonlinguistic outcomes The native language and native culture identity are replaced by the target language and target cultural identity Both involve changes not only in language proficiency but also in cultural identity

In China, research has largely focused on linguistic outcomes of learning in terms of English proficiency Learners’ self-identity change only relevant in English as a second language(ESL) context where target-culture exposures are abundant; self-identity change is unimportant or irrelevant in English as a foreign language(EFL) contexts Research on linguistic outcomes is abundant and research on nonlinguistic outcome is limited.

Motivation has caught great research attention in China since the 1980s as a modifiable learner factor that influences the linguistic outcome of learning. Nonlinguistic outcomes: findings are limited yet worth noticing

Gao proposed the concept of productive bilingualism. With productive bilingualism, the command of the target language and that of the native language positively reinforce each other. 1. Deeper understanding and appreciation of the target culture goes hand in hand with deeper understanding and appreciation of the native culture. 2. Learner’s cognitive, affective, and behavioral competence are enhanced.

Studies focused on learning motivation in China have mostly followed the classical theory of Gardner and its expanded versions developed in Western contexts, without systematically examining their appropriateness for the EFL context in China.

The following issues remain to be addressed: * A systematic bottom-up study on Chinese learners’ motivation types is yet to be conducted. * Nonlinguistic outcomes in EFL contexts need to be explored. Factors like self-confidence may be an outcome or a result as well as a cause of successful bilingualism. * It’s necessary to examine the possible relationship between motivation types and self-identity change.

To correlate the two will provide teachers with a fuller picture of learners and the learning process and take pedagogical measures accordingly. The current study aimed to explore the relationship between English learning motivation types and self-identity change of Chinese university undergraduates.

Research questions: * Were there any relationships between Chinese university students’ English learning motivations and their self- identity changes? * What were they?

Two preliminary questions: * What were their motivations for learning English? Did they undergo self-identity changes after learning English? * Effects of demographic features were also examined to capture possible group variations in motivation types and self-identity changes.

Method Participants:2278 undergraduates at 30 universities from 29 provinces About 91% of the subjects were between 18 and 22 years old 63% started learning English between 13 and 15, 31% started learning English between 9 and 12. Large proportions of students from rural areas started late whereas larger proportions of students from urban areas started early Participants’ precollege English learning experience was limited to the classroom, on average 3 hours per week in elementary school and 5 hours per week in high school.

Method Instrument: a Chinese questionnaire included one section concerning motivation types and another pertaining to self-identity changes. Students could respond in any language. The motivation type section consisted of 30 statements based on several hundred anonymous answers to an open-ended question-”What drives you to learn English?” to explore possible types of motivation. The section on self-identity changes contained 6 categories, each with 4 items, which was based on existing bilingual theories.

The six categories of self-identity changes: 1. Self-confidence change: change in the perception of one’s own competence 2. Additive change: the existence of two sets of languages, behavioral patterns and values, each specified for particular contexts 3. Subtractive change: the native language and native cultural identity are replaced by the target language and target cultural identity

The six categories of self-identity changes: 4. Productive change: the command of the target language and that of the native language positively reinforce each other 5. Split change: the struggle between the languages and cultures gives rise to identity conflict 6. Zero change: absence of self-identity change

Procedure Five pilot studies were carried out in three universities in Beiging. Based on teachers’ and students’ feedback and reliability test results, some items were deleted or revised. The resulting version of the questionnaire was formally administrated between March and May, Altogether 2473 copies were issued and 2278 valid copied were collected, amounting to a valid return rate of 92.1%. Cronbach alpha was calculated, the reliability for the motivation types was 0.77 and that for the identity change section was 0.65.

Data analysis: * An exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the 30 motivation questions to explore motivation types. * Descripitive statistics of self-identity changes in various categories were calculated. * A canonical correlation analysis was carried out to examine the relationship between motivation types and self-identity changes.

Result and Discussion Motivation types: the factor analysis yielded 7 factors, which accounted for 54.54% of the total variation. * Intrinsic interest: appreciation or fondness of the target language and certain aspects of its culture * Immediate achievement: learning the target language to obtain satisfactory results in exams * Learning situation: learning English because of aspects of the learning environment, such as the quality of teaching, teaching materials, teachers and affiliation with the learning group

Result and Discussion * Going abroad: learning English to go abroad for various purposes, such as “finding better education or job opportunities”, “experiencing English- speaking cultures” and “immigration” * Social responsibility: learning the target language to combine “harmonizing the family” and “putting the country in order”, emphasizing individual’s responsibility to fulfill social expectations. This motivation type, based on Confucian tradition, was not found in existing literature and might be particular to Chinese or Asian contexts.

Result and Discussion * Individual development: learning English to increase one’s own ability and social status in future development, which could be as specific as finding a good job and as general as acquiring “a sense of achievement.” * Information medium: learning English to obtain information and learn other academic subjects

Result and Discussion Self-identity changes The full score of each type of self-identity change was 20, with 12 as the critical value between changed and unchanged states The most prominent self-identity change for the Chinese participants occurred in self-confidence The second highest score appeared under zero change. The cultural aspects of learner identity did undergo some changes, especially the productive and additive type.

Result and Discussion Relationship Between Motivation and Self-identity Changes: the canonical correlation analysis showed motivation types and self-identity changes were correlated through 4 pairs of significant canonical variables(p=.000) The canonical correlations between the 4 pairs were 0.681(X1-Y1), 0.367(X2-Y2), 0.317(X3-Y3), and 0.232(X4-Y4)

What do the Xs and Ys represent? XsYs X1:intrinsic interest motivation with a total effect of 0.86 Y1:productive change with a total effect of 0.883, a positive change-gaining a new self-identity without losing the old X2:individual development motivation with a total effect of Y2: the change in self-confidence (0.748) X3: immediate achievement(0.565), learning situation(0.61), going abroad(0.593) SHoRT- TERM motivation Y3:subtractive change (0.718)and split change(0.748), negative change- the learner’s native language and cultural identity suffered during the process X4:social responsibility motivation with a total effect of Y4: represented two opposite changes- split change and productive change X1-X4 represented 76.85% of the variance in the observed motivation type variables and accounted for 19.36% of the variance in the observed self-identity change variables. Y1-Y4 represented 64.37% of the variance in the observed self-identity change variables and explained 14.45% of the variance in the observed motivation variables

What relational patterns emerged ? X1-Y Long-term motivation— positive change The most important pair The stronger the students’ intrinsic interest, the more they underwent productive and additive changes X2-Y Individual development motivation—self-confidence change The motivation of individual development greatly influenced the learners’ self-confidence, but rarely affected their cultural values and communication style X3-Y Short-term motivation— negative changes The students who were driven by short-term targets and immediate situations also underwent some self- identity changes X4-Y Social responsibility motivation—polar change Learners driven by a native-culture oriented social responsibility might have two extreme kinds of self- identity changes

Result and Discussion Effects of demographic factors : * A MANOVA test showed university major and English proficiency had significant main effects on motivation types * English majors scored higher on intrinsic interest, social responsibility, individual development and information medium. * English proficiency had significant effects on intrinsic interest and immediate achievement. * Sex had no significant effects on motivation types

Result and Discussion * Another MANOVA test showed sex, major, and starting age had significant main effects on identity changes. * Female students scored higher on self- confidence, productive and additive changes. * Male students scored higher on subtractive, split and zero changes. * English majors scored lower on zero changes on higher on all the other change categories. * Starting age had effects on self-confidence, additive and split changes.

Result and Discussion University major and English proficiency influenced both motivation and self- identity changes. The more one learns, the more interested or motivated one becomes, and the more changes in self-identity. The more interested learners are, the more they learn, and the more they change.

Result and Discussion Compared with learning motivation, self- identity changes are more sensitive to such factors as sex and starting age. Female students displayed more positive changes. The result of this study seemed to favor early learning for more positive identity- change.

Conclusion There was a strong relationship between intrinsic interest on the one hand and the productive and additive changes on the other. Individual development motivation and self-confidence change were interrelated.

Conclusion Implications and suggestions: ** The nonlinguistic outcomes of English learning deserve much of EFL teachers’ attention because language learning can bring about identity changes to learners. * It calls for teachers’ attention to what is beyond teaching of language skills.

Conclusion Implications and suggestions: ** Productive bilingualism can serve as an educational objective. * Teachers may cultivate learners’ intrinsic interest and positive attitudes and beliefs associated with the target language and culture on the one hand and the native language and culture on the other. * A proper integration of the two will lead to productive changes.

Conclusion Implications and suggestions: ** Because individual development motivation influences self-confidence for EFL learners, teachers could build up students’ self- confidence in learning by helping students set up their goals in English study and incorporate them into their long-term career development.

Conclusion Implications and suggestions: ** Learners’ immediate, short-term interests such as getting high test scores should be carefully monitored and channeled to their long-term goals so as to avoid possible negative effect on learners’ identity changes.

Conclusion Limitations: * The reliability of the instrument measuring self-identity changes needs improvement. * In actual learning, students’ self-identity changes would be affected by many factors other than learning motivation, which were not taken consideration in this study.

Conclusion Limitation: * The data were also confined to China’s ELT context, and their implications for other contexts remain to be examined in future research.