Abstract
This study focuses on the motivation and demotivation of students of French at Australian universities.
Quantitative and qualitative data analysis was performed to identify which factors motivate and
demotivate 199 students who learn French at beginner level. Classical theories of motivation in second
language (L2) learning are integrated with more recent theories on the ‘L2 Motivational Self System’
(Dörnyei, 2005; 2009a; 2020a) and positive emotions (Dewaele, 2010; 2011). Factors and categories of
motivators and demotivators are structured in three levels of analysis – micro, meso and macro,
drawing upon Gruba and colleagues’ (2016) model. It is argued here that motivators and demotivators
belonging to different levels of analysis are closely interrelated. These concurrently influence students’
motivation as well as demotivation, but in different ways and stages. Pedagogical implications are listed
to shed light on French learners’ goals and expectations at tertiary level within the Australian sociocultural environment.
Keywords
L2 learning motivation; French learning motivation; three-level model; multilingualism; Australian universities. language learning
References
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2017). Data analysis of the 2016 Census. Online database. Al-Hoorie, A. H. (2017). Sixty years of language motivation research: Looking back and looking forward. SAGE Open, 7(1), 1-11.
- Amorati, R. (2019). A comparative study on the L2 motivations and desired L2 identities of university students of English, Italian and German studies. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
- Arnold, J. (2018, November). Affect in language learning: A map of the terrain. Paper presented at the conference: Language learning and emotions. Third international conference on language education and testing. University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
- Baldwin, J. J. (2019). Languages other than English in Australian higher education. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Abstract
References
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2017). Data analysis of the 2016 Census. Online database. Al-Hoorie, A. H. (2017). Sixty years of language motivation research: Looking back and looking forward. SAGE Open, 7(1), 1-11.
- Amorati, R. (2019). A comparative study on the L2 motivations and desired L2 identities of university students of English, Italian and German studies. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
- Arnold, J. (2018, November). Affect in language learning: A map of the terrain. Paper presented at the conference: Language learning and emotions. Third international conference on language education and testing. University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
- Baldwin, J. J. (2019). Languages other than English in Australian higher education. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | English As A Second Language |
| Journal Section | Research Article |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | December 30, 2020 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2020 Volume: 8 Issue: 4 |
