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Abstract

Guided by the complex dynamic systems theory, the present study explored university students’ dynamic motivation to learn Chinese as a second language and its interaction with their learning experiences during a semester while studying in China. The study was conducted in a state-owned university in China and collected data at two time points of the fall semester 2020: 97 Chinese learning motivation questionnaires at each of the two time points and 15 interviews at time point 2. Analysis of the data revealed that the participants’ Chinese learning motivation increased significantly at time point 2 compared with that at time point 1. The study also found that the participants’ Chinese learning motivation was an ongoing process, constantly interwoven with the participants’ learning goals and learning experiences. These findings confirm the dynamic nature of Chinese language learning motivation and the role of learning experiences in the learning of Chinese as a second language. Based on these findings, implications about how to enhance and sustain international students’ Chinese learning motivation are discussed.

Keywords

dynamic systems theory Chinese learning motivation Chinese as a second language change in motivation learning experience

Introduction

Motivation has been widely considered to be one of the determining factors that influence the rate and success of second language (L2) learning (Dörnyei, 2009; Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Gardner’s (1985; Gardner & Lambert, 1972) socio-psychological model of L2 motivation not only distinguishes two fundamental concepts of motivation—integrative motivation and instrumental motivation but also offers “fertile ground in which subsequent research could grow” (Dörnyei, 2020, p. xxi). Countless research has been done to explore types, patterns, and roles of motivation in L2 learning (e.g., Gao & Zhou, 2009; Gardner & MacIntyre, 1991; Dong, Liu & Yang, 2022; Dong, Mohammed, et al., 2022; Liu, 2017, 2019; Liu & Li, 2018; Liu & Zhang, 2023; Piniel & Csizér, 2015; H. Yu et al., 2022). In addition to largely supporting the important role of integrative and instrumental motivation, these studies fuel more research on L2 motivation, which shows that L2 motivation changes from person to person and from situation to situation (Dörnyei, 2009; Waninge et al., 2014).

As the complex dynamic systems theory was introduced to second language acquisition (Larsen-Freeman, 1997), which claims that motivation is “…, an ever-changing one that emerges from the processes of interaction of many agents, internal and external, in the ever-changing complex world of the learner” (Ellis & Larsen-Freeman, 2006, p. 563), this interpretation of L2 motivation as a dynamic process echoes with the finding of empirical studies that L2 motivation is not only changeable over time but also shapes and is shaped by learners’ individual characteristics, learning experiences, and learning contexts (e.g., Chan et al., 2015; Gong et al., 2020a, 2020b; Hiver & Al-Hoorie, 2019; Liu & Dong, 2021; Liu & Li, 2018; Nitta & Baba, 2015). Coupled with the complex nature of language learning and the ongoing interaction of various variables during the process, there is a call for more research on the interaction between L2 motivation and the learning environment to better understand its dynamic nature. Moreover, as reviewed below, most current L2 motivation research targets learners of English as a L2, while not much research targets learners of other languages as a L2 (Csizér & Kormos, 2008; Ferraz et al., 2021; Wesely, 2009). Even less such research has been done on learners of Chinese as a L2 (Cai & Zhu, 2012; Gong et al., 2020b; Liu, 2017, 2020; Ruan et al., 2015).

During recent two decades, Chinese has become an increasingly important language taught and learned as a L2 in the world (Gong et al., 2020b; Liu & Zhang, 2023). With China’s rapid economic growth and increasing international influence in the world, especially in the Asia-Pacific area, more and more people are motivated to study Chinese and its culture in and outside China. For example, by the end of 2019, more than 5 million students from various countries/regions were registered in Chinese schools (http://www.moe.gov.cn). By the end of 2020, more than 20 million people from 180 countries/regions were learning Chinese as a L2 (http://www.moe.gov.cn/fbh/live/2021). Nevertheless, not adequate attention has been paid to these leaners’ motivation to study Chinese (Cai & Zhu, 2012; Gong et al., 2020b; Liu & Zhang, 2023).

For the reasons described above, the present study aimed to explore the dynamic of university students’ Chinese learning motivation and its interaction with their learning experiences while studying in China, hoping to offer new insights into the dynamic nature of L2 motivation and language learning.

Literature Review

According to the socio-psychological model of L2 motivation (Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Gardner, 1985), motivation is influenced by three variables: Integrativeness, attitudes toward the learning situation, and language anxiety and determines “how actively the individual works to acquire language material” (Gardner, 1985, p. 147). Motivation covers four components: “… a goal, effortful behavior, a desire to attain the goal and favorable attitudes toward the activity in question” (Gardner, 1985, p. 50). This model proposes two fundamental motivation concepts: Integrative motivation and instrumental motivation. L2 learners with integrative orientation are motivated to learn the language because of interest in the community’s language, people, and culture and aim to integrate into that community. Instrumental orientation emphasizes practical value and benefits of learning a L2 such as getting a good job or a high(er) salary.

Gardner’s work has been a historical milestone in research on L2 motivation (Dörnyei, 2020, p. xxi) and gained empirical support from studies in diverse contexts (e.g., Gardner, 1985, 2010, 2020; Gardner & MacIntyre, 1991; Liu, 2019; Liu & Li, 2018; Liu & Zhang, 2023; Tremblay, 2020). Gardner’s work has also inspired more theories on L2 motivation, including Dörnyei’s (2009) L2 motivational self system theory (L2MSS), which proposes three core components of L2 motivation: Ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experience. Ideal L2 self refers to an individual’s image of oneself as a proficient L2 speaker; ought-to L2 self involves the attributes a person ought to possess like various duties, obligations, and responsibilities to avoid possible negative outcomes; L2 learning experience concerns the learning environment, including the classroom atmosphere, teaching style, and curriculum (Dörnyei, 2009). With more work on L2 motivation which is often cross-sectional, researchers came to realize that motivation is a dynamic mental process that initiates and sustains an action (e.g., Dörnyei, 2014; H. Yu et al., 2022), especially after Larsen-Freeman (1997) introduced the complex dynamic systems theory to the area of second language acquisition. The theory is “a set of variables that mutually affect each other’s changes over time” (van Geert, 1994, p. 50). It provides a set of principles suitable for L2 motivation research, such as open system, self-organization, nonlinearity, adaptation, and context-dependence (Dörnyei et al., 2015; Larsen-Freeman, 2015). According to this theory, language learning is a dynamic process of multiple environments and multiple resources constantly interacting at different levels (de Bot et al., 2007). Motivation is a “continuous system that involves fluctuations from one state to another with constant interference from additional motives and other processes on an ongoing, evolving and iterative basis” (MacIntyre et al., 2015, p. 423). The environment is integral in affecting motivational changes (Larsen-Freeman, 2015). Then, motivational dynamics in L2 learning began to attract researchers’ attention around 2010 (e.g., Chan et al., 2015; Gao & Zhou, 2009; Hiver & Al-Hoorie, 2019; Liu & Dong, 2021; Liu & Li, 2018; Nitta & Baba, 2015; H. Yu et al., 2022). For example, Waninge et al. (2014) used the motometer as well as class observations and a survey to measure the motivational dynamics of four L2 learners over 2 weeks. The researchers observed noticeable changes in the participants’ motivation in language classes. However, learners’ overall motivation over the 2 weeks remained detectably stable. This finding indicated that steady phases of students’ behavior alternated with seemingly unstable responses. Piniel and Csizér (2015) used a mixed-method to explore the dynamic relationship of L2 writing motivation, anxiety, and self-efficacy over an academic term in Hungarian first-year English majors. The study revealed fluctuations in the participants’ levels of English learning motivation, anxiety and self-efficacy, which changed in different ways. The ideal L2 self and motivated learning behavior remained stable as the high demanding writing course proceeded, L2 learning experience, the ought-to L2 self and L2 writing anxiety showed significant nonlinear changes. Using questionnaires and interviews, Liu and Li (2018) examined changes in 184 Chinese university students’ motivation to learn German during a 16-week semester. The results showed that the participants became significantly more integratively motivated to learn German yet made significantly less effort to learn the language toward the end of the semester. Liu and Dong (2021) examined the interaction of expectancy-value beliefs and academic communication anxiety in 74 bilingual Chinese postgraduate students. The study revealed significant increase in expectancy over the semester and significant interaction between expectancy and academic communication anxiety.

In spite of numerous studies on L2 motivation, most target learners of English as a L2, while not many studies focus on learners of other languages as a L2 (Csizér & Kormos, 2008; Ferraz et al., 2021; Liu, 2017, 2020; Ruan et al., 2015; Wesely, 2009). It is the same with learners of Chinese as a L2 (Gong et al., 2020b). And most of such research examined the cross-sectional patterns of motivation in relation to learners’ individual factors and Chinese linguistic competence (Liu, 2017, 2020; Wen, 2018; B. Yu & Watkins, 2008). For example, Ruan et al.’s (2015) study of Danish beginning Chinese learners revealed that type of tasks, interactions, learner autonomy, and cultural elements could motivate the learners to study Chinese. Liu (2017) investigated the relationships between motivation, motivation intensity, use of Chinese outside of class, and self-rated competence in Chinese in 162 university students studying in China. She found that the participants’ integrative motivation, instrumental motivation, motivation intensity, and use of Chinese were significantly positively correlated with one another, and that use of Chinese and motivation intensity powerfully predicted the students’ self-rated competence in Chinese. Guided by Dörnyei’s (2009) L2MSS, Liu (2020) explored L2 motivation, demographic variables and Chinese proficiency among 83 university learners studying in a Chinese university. She found that the respondents had (great) motivation to study Chinese and that female respondents held significantly more favorable perceptions of their ideal selves than their male peers. The study also revealed that L2 motivation did not but length of stay in China and gender significantly positively predicted the respondents’ Chinese proficiency.

In recent years, researchers began to examine the dynamic of learners’ Chinese learning motivation (Cai & Zhu, 2012; Gong et al., 2020b). Cai and Zhu (2012) explored the impact of an online learning project on university students’ motivation to study Chinese in the United States. They found that the participants’ Chinese learning experiences changed significantly before and after the online project. Gong et al. (2020b) examined 15 New Zealand students’ motivational shifts related to learning Chinese before and after a 6-week Chinese-studying program in China via reflective journals and interviews. They found that most participants enhanced their motivation after moving to China and expected to sustain their heightened motivation for learning Chinese in the future. The study indicated that the students’ motivational enhancement emerged from ongoing interactions between the participants’ L2 self-concepts (e.g., ideal L2 selves) and learning and sociocultural contexts in China.

Even so, more studies are needed to explore the dynamic development of Chinese learning motivation in relation to learners’ learning experiences and contexts, given the increasing number of learners of Chinese as a L2 in the world and complexity of language learning (Cai & Zhu, 2012; Gong et al., 2020b; Wen, 2018). Hence, the present study sought to explore the dynamic of university students’ Chinese learning motivation and its interaction with their learning experiences while studying in China. And the following two research questions were formulated:

(1) How does the participants’ motivation to learn Chinese change during a semester while studying in China?

(2) How does the participants’ motivation to learn Chinese interact with their learning experiences while studying in China?

Research Design

Context

The study was conducted in a state-owned university in Beijing. Campus of the university housed not only students and staff, but also other kinds of people, including family members, babysitters, cleaners, and staff in different kinds of service industries like the post office, banks, shops, and groceries. Due to COVID-19, no gatherings of more than eight people were allowed on campus when the study was conducted, yet healthy people were free to go around in and outside campus, most often with masks.

Participants

A total of 97 international students (51 male and 42 female) studying in a Chinese university in Beijing participated in the present study. Studying for degrees, they were enrolled in different departments such as chemistry, engineering, international relations and management. They spoke different native languages, like Arabic, French, German, Russian, English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Chinese, with the majority speaking English (24/24.74%), Korean (17/17.53%), Japanese (10/10.31%), and Russian (6/6.19%). With an average age of 23.34 years (SD = 5.82), the participants self-rated their Chinese proficiency to be 2.75 (SD = 1.04) on the scale of 1 to 5. They reported having stayed in China for an average of 2.69 months (SD = 2.08) and used Chinese for about 2.49 hours (SD = 1.47) per day (including speaking, reading, writing, and listening to Chinese).

Meanwhile, 15 of the survey respondents, upon agreement, were randomly chosen for semi-structured interviews and were assured of the confidentiality and anonymity of the research. Details of the participants are presented in Table 1, which shows that most interviewees were intermediate learners of Chinese, at similar ages, majored in different areas, and came from different countries/regions. Having stayed in China for 1 to 24 months, three (Jiana, Yurou, and Duoling) interviewees had family business connections with China.

Table 1.

Interviewee Profiles (No. = 15).

Interviewee	Age	Home country	Gender	Major	Length of stay in China (month)	Chinese proficiency
Jieyu	20	Spain	Female	International Business	10	Intermediate
Roulie	23	France	Female	Chinese	12	Intermediate
Yurou	23	Cambodia	Female	International Business	24	Intermediate
Xiuyi	20	Thai	Female	Public health	8	Poor
Yuxin	21	Japan	Female	Chinese	14	Intermediate
Lingao	21	Cambodia	Male	Automatic engineering	13	Nativelike
Jesun	21	Australia	Male	Chinese	7	Good
Rowling	20	England	Male	Astro engineering	2	Intermediate
Duoling	20	Korea	Female	International relation	10	Intermediate
Youting	18	Korea	Male	English	1	Poor
Lisa	20	Chile	Female	Psychology	7	Intermediate
Jiana	19	Russian	Female	International Business	5	Intermediate
Chengjuan	18	Korean	Female	Hydraulic engineering	1	Intermediate
Meican	18	Korean	Female	English	1	Poor
Kerstin	23	Germany	Female	Mechanic engineering	12	Intermediate

Note. Many interviewees had Chinese names and all names are pseudonyms.

Instruments

The data in the present study were gathered via questionnaires and interviews at two different time points of a semester, as detailed below.

The Chinese Learning Motivation Questionnaire

As reviewed, researchers may use different instruments to examine L2 motivation and learners may have different motives to study a L2 in different contexts although the general patterns are similar. In case international students’ motivation to study Chinese might be different from that in the current literature, five international students from a Chinese language class were invited for a group interview. The taped interview was then transcribed and read through 3 times, which finally revealed fifteen specific reasons to study Chinese. The results were then compared with the questionnaire used in Hernández (2010) which aimed to measure students’ motivation to study the target language in the study-abroad context. The comparison showed high similarity in the reasons reported by the students in the two different study-abroad contexts. And the reasons fell into the integrative or instrumental category of L2 motivation, as described in Gardner (1985), for example, “I want to understand all the Chinese I see and hear” and “Chinese will make me a more qualified job candidate” (see Table 2). Consequently, the 15 reasons were developed into the 15-item Chinese Learning Motivation Questionnaire (CLMQ) and administered to international students twice, which achieved a reliability score of .951 at time point 1 and .886 at time point 2 in the present research.

Table 2.

Means, Standard Deviations, and t-Test Results of the CLMQ Items (N = 97).

CLMQ items	Time 1		Time 2		t-Test results
CLMQ items	M	SD	M	SD	t	p
1. I want to understand all the Chinese I see and hear.	3.86	1.26	4.43	0.91	−3.53**	.001
2. I want to use Chinese when I travel to a Chinese-speaking region.	3.67	1.25	4.28	1.04	−3.65**	.000
3. I want to be able to converse with Chinese speakers in my country.	3.64	1.27	4.08	1.13	−2.80**	.006
4. I am interested in Chinese culture.	3.75	1.14	3.84	1.21	−.490	.625
5. Chinese will be helpful in my future career.	3.66	1.35	4.60	0.69	−6.22**	.000
6. I want to be able to use Chinese with Chinese -speaking friends/acquaintances.	3.95	1.24	4.38	0.81	−2.77**	.007
7. I want to be able to speak more languages than just my mother tongue.	3.84	1.40	4.40	0.92	−3.34**	.001
8. I want to learn about another culture to understand the world better.	3.95	1.21	4.18	0.99	−1.39	.169
9. Chinese will make me a more qualified job candidate.	3.63	1.14	4.38	0.87	−5.19**	.000
10. Foreign language study is part of a well-rounded education.	3.92	1.20	4.32	0.85	−2.72**	.008
11. Chinese is an important language in the world.	3.77	1.18	4.49	0.72	−5.17**	.000
12. Knowledge of Chinese will give me an edge in competing with others.	3.59	1.17	4.33	1.01	−4.82**	.000
13. I want to be able to communicate with native speakers of Chinese.	3.79	1.43	4.59	0.69	−5.12**	.000
14. Being a person who knows Chinese is important to me.	3.58	1.36	4.12	0.94	−3.03**	.003
15. China is an important country in the world.	3.31	1.01	3.42	0.97	−.503	.628
Overall motivation to study Chinese	3.76	.99	4.32	0.59	−4.76**	.000

Note. ** = p ≤ .01.

All the CLMQ items were all placed on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strong Agree,” with values 1 to 5 assigned to each alternative. Thus, the higher the CLMQ score, the more motivated a respondent was to study Chinese.

Use of Chinese

The participants were asked to provide the average number of hours per day they were engaged in using Chinese, including listening to, speaking, reading, and writing in Chinese.

Self-Rated Proficiency in Chinese

The participants were asked to rate their own proficiency in Chinese on the scale of 1 (very poor) to 5 (excellent).

The Demographic Data Questionnaire

The demographic data questionnaire aimed to collect informants’ personal information such as age, gender, native language, length of stay in China, discipline, and year of study.

Semi-Structured Interview

The interviews focused on students’ experiences related to their learning of Chinese and the differences in their Chinese learning motivation during the semester while studying in China. The interview questions covered such issues as challenges in learning Chinese, Chinese learning motivation at the beginning and toward the end of the semester, learning experiences during the semester, and adaptation to the local life and culture. Example questions were: (a) Why do you study Chinese? (b) Is your current Chinese learning motivation similar to your previous motivation at the beginning of the semester? (c) Is there any change in your Chinese learning motivation during the semester? How? (d) Can you describe your learning experiences during the semester? (e) How do you think your learning experiences are related to your motivation to study Chinese?

Procedure

The study was approved by the Research Committee of the Department. Then, the survey and a consent form in both Chinese and English were distributed to international students who were physically in their dormitories on campus twice: the 3rd (Time 1) week when the students became familiar with the classroom/school environment and 13th (Time 2) week before students had to prepare for final-term examinations of the 16-week fall semester of 2020. The questionnaire and the consent form were completed in about 5 minutes. A total of 119 questionnaires at Time 1 and 103 at Time 2 were collected, among which a matching set of 97 were complete for further statistical analyses.

In 2 weeks after the second questionnaire, semi-structured interviews were held one-to-one in a quiet room of the researcher’s office building. The interview was mainly conducted in Chinese, with a mixture of English. Each interview lasted about 30 to 60 minutes and was audio-taped.

Data Analyses

SPSS 20 was used to run paired-samples t-tests to explore differences in CLMQ items between the two time points. Mplus 8.3 was applied to run cross-lagged analyses to see whether use of Chinese and length of stay in China predicted the participants’ Chinese learning motivation at the two time points.

All interviews were transcribed verbatim and double-checked for accuracy. To examine changes in the participants’ Chinese learning motivation and its interaction with their learning experiences, the present study analyzed the interview data according to themes (Richards, 2009). According to Richards (2009), themes could be a word, a phrase, an idea, a topic, or any unit of a text. For the sake of accuracy and reliability, all the interview transcripts were read through 2 times by the researcher and a research assistant respectively to identify and group themes, and build relations among the identified themes via axial coding. With an inter-rater reliability of .902, the final example themes were “reasons to study Chinese at Time 1,”“challenges in learning Chinese,”“resources to learn Chinese,”“changes in Chinese learning motivation,”“learning experiences,” and “reflections on the experiences.” Based on the themes, the interaction of L2 motivation and learning experiences was examined. Pseudonyms were used when citing the interviewees’ remarks in this paper.

Results

Motivational Changes During the Semester

Analyses of the interviewee data showed that the interviewees studied Chinese at Time 1 because of such reasons as being interested in the Chinese culture, being interested in languages, China being powerful, and Chinese being important in future career and personal development, similar to those presented in the Chinese Learning Motivation Questionnaire (CLMQ) (see Table 2). For example, Kerstin (Germany/female) studied Chinese because “China is getting important in the world and I want to learn more about China to get a better job,” Chengjuan (Korea/female) reported that “China is developing fast. If I study Chinese, it is better for my future or my job,” and Yuxin (Japan/female) commented that “… It is so difficult to learn Chinese. Knowing more Chinese characters means being more intellectual in my country.” Duoling (Korea/female) confided that “… I am very much interested in international relations, especially the relation between South Korea and North Korea. China is very influential on this issue.” Meanwhile, Jesun (Australia/male) and Rowling (England/male) remarked that one must go to China to improve Chinese and/or learn real Chinese.

As reported by the interviewees, their specific reasons to study Chinese remained similar but the intensity became higher at Time 2. Consistent with this, Table 2 shows that the respondents’ motivation to learn Chinese increased during the semester: Their score on each specific motivation increased at Time 2, and the increase was significant for all items except for interest in Chinese culture (item 4), learning another culture to understand the world better (item 8), and the importance of China in the world (item 15).

Meanwhile, all interviewees expressed that they would sustain or increase their motivation to study Chinese thereafter, since they were studying in China, as evidenced in the following remarks.

Example 1: “Yes, I am always motivated to study Chinese. And the motivation has become stronger since I came to China.” (Youting/Korea/female).

Example 2: “In each class of the first week, I was filled with Chinese. I couldn’t understand what my teacher was saying at all. At the end of each day, I went back to my dorm with my brain exploding with Chinese. I have to improve my Chinese to understand the teachers.” (Lisa/Chile/female).

Immersed in the target language of Chinese, the interviewees became more motivated to study Chinese in order to improve their Chinese proficiency, to know more about China and the Chinese culture, to better interact with the locals and compete with local students, as shown in the following excerpted remarks.

Example 3: “I have been in China for more than a year. I have found that there is always something for me to learn. And a lot to do and to see. All these drive me to improve my Chinese so that I can understand more.” (Yuxin/Japan/female).

Example 4: “The Chinese students are all studying hard. To be as good as they are, I have to study Chinese harder. I am to attend more activities like clubs, annual parties. I will study better if my Chinese is better ….” (Roulie/France/female).

Example 5: “China is big, and Chinese culture is so diverse. I want to go around China and know and understand more Chinese culture. So I have to study Chinese better. I read Chinese newspapers, watch Chinese TV programs, and talk to Chinese people whenever I can.” (Jieyu/Spain/female).

As implied in these remarks, the interviewees were motivated to study Chinese during the semester, and this motivation was often interwoven with their learning goals. For example, Jesun wanted to have “a deeper appreciation and knowledge of Beijing opera,” Yuxin was interested in “Chinese poems.” Hence, her learning motivation increased not only in terms of linguistic knowledge, but also of intercultural understanding. Jiana reported that higher Chinese proficiency and better understanding of Chinese culture would enable her to strengthen the relationship between her family and Chinese business partners and collaborate with them better.

This ongoing shaping of Chinese learning motivation was further supported by the cross-lagged analysis of longitudinal associations among Chinese learning motivation, length of stay in China and use of Chinese at the two time points (see Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Cross-lagged analysis of longitudinal associations between motivation, LOC, and UOC.

As seen from Figure 1 (post hoc statistical power 1–β = .90), of all the associations, two were statistically significant: Chinese learning motivation at Time 1 (M1) significantly positively predicted use of Chinese at Time 2 (UOC2) (β = .233, p < .05), and use of Chinese at Time 1 (UOC1) significantly positively predicted length of stay in China at Time 2 (LOS2).

Interplay of Chinese Learning Motivation and Learning Experiences

When asked about challenges in studying Chinese, many interviewees reported such difficulties as tone, pronunciation, accent, and large vocabulary, five considered it difficult to learn Chinese. Study pressure, cultural differences, meeting and making local friends, culture shock, language problem, speaking fluent Chinese, and understanding Chinese, and adapting to the local life and culture were commonly reported to be challenges while studying in China. These difficulties stood out especially during the first few months of their stay in Beijing. Largely related to language barrier, these difficulties, nevertheless, made the interviewees realize that their Chinese was insufficient for them to communicate well with the local people, as proved by the following excerpted remarks.

Example 6: “My first experience in the canteen made me realize that my Chinese is not good enough for me to communicate my ideas clearly to the local people in Chinese. Even with gestures and pictures, it took me a lot of time to get the food and beverage I wanted.” (Rowling/England/male).

Difficulties like this led many interviewees to be aware that their Chinese was unsatisfying. This motivated them to reflect on their learning of Chinese, think about their future use of Chinese, and seek more strategies to increase their Chinese proficiency. First of all, all interviewees aimed to have a good command of Chinese. For example, Lisa and Yuxin were determined to become fluent users of Chinese, and Jiana imagined herself speaking Chinese fluently with the local people. These remarks clearly demonstrated the participants’ imagined ideal L2 selves with high Chinese proficiency. Hence, the gap between the interviewees’ actual and ideal L2 selves motivated them to improve their Chinese, especially spoken Chinese, while studying in China. As they confided, all the interviewees were willing to use Chinese in various situations as much as possible both in and outside class and tried to make use of all resources available to learn Chinese. For example, 12 interviewees reported having actively made use of every opportunity to speak Chinese to the class, local people like grannies, cleaners, visitors, and shop assistants on campus, and others when they visited supermarkets, places of interest and restaurants outside the campus. On the way to places outside the campus, they were attentive to listen to different people speaking Chinese, and read advertisements and signs on streets. In their free time, they read newspapers and watched Chinese TV programs. For example, Yurou (Cambodia/female) often read Beijing Daily and People’s Daily and watched TV programs whenever she had time. They also visited famous places in Beijing like the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and went to bars to experience the local culture, alone or with one or two friends.

Example 7: “… I participated in many activities, like charity sales and annual parties. These activities improved my Chinese, deepened my understanding of China. Now I like China pretty much.” (Lingao/Cambodia/male).

Example 8: “The more I learn, the more I find Chinese is so interesting. The same pronunciation with different tones can be different words. Like ma (mama) and ma (horse). The same words with different accents can mean different. It is really fun to learn Chinese. The more I learn, the more I can understand and the better I can use it.” (Jesun/Australia/male).

Example 9: “I’ve been to Beijing Grand Theatre several times. I was so impressed by the facial makeup and rapid face-changing (bianlian/变脸) in Peking opera. I really want to learn it. If my Chinese is better, I can better know and understand it.” (Jesun/Australia/male).

Example10: “The Chinese students spend most of their time studying. Thus, it is often hard for me to find a local student to go outside for amusement with me. This is rather upsetting. But the teachers and courses are good. I learn a lot. And since they are engaged in study so much, I gradually spend more time on study as well.” (Roulie/France/female).

As implied in these remarks, with increasing use of Chinese and interactions with the local people, the interviewees not only became more instrumentally motivated to study Chinese and but further developed/enhanced integrative motivation to study the language. They became more interested in the Chinese language and desired to know more native-like expressions and different aspects of Chinese and Chinese culture such as Chinese accents and Peking opera. Just as Jieyu (Spain/female) reported, “… As I have more interactions with the local students and local people, my Chinese gets better and better. And my communication skills with the Chinese people get better as well. Now I can understand much of what my local peers say.” Xiuyi (Thai/female) remarked that “I often take initiative to talk to the local students and people. So I feel it natural for me to become a member of the community. This makes me proud of myself. This is not only good for my study but for my future career. I will have many more choices in the future job market, especially jobs related to China.”

Reading newspapers and watching TV programs helped them know what happened every day and what life was like in other parts of China, even though they could not travel around China as freely as there was no COVID-19. Visiting places in Beijing like parks, shops, and museums opened windows for them to see the past and present lives of the Chinese. These different learning experiences deepened their understanding of the Chinese culture. For example, Yuxin, Jesun, and Lingao reported that they finally understood the Chinese saying “不到长城非好汉A person is not a real man if he doesn’t climb the Great Wall” after having climbed to the Beacon Tower of the Great Wall. “Seeing the Great Wall, made up of stones and bricks, tall and winding in the mountains, I can’t help admiring the Chinese people. How did they make it when there was no technology? Standing on the top of the Great Wall and seeing far away, I understand why the Chinese cherish the Great Wall so much and what ‘不到长城非好汉’ means. It’s admiration, respect and encouragement” (Lingao/Cambodia/male). Having a better understanding of the Chinese culture, the interviewees found it easier to adapt to the local life and culture. This, in turn, “fuel my motivation to learn Chinese further” (Meican/Korea/female).

Knowing more about Chinese culture, the interviewees adapted to the local life and culture better, which in turn motivated them further to study Chinese. Thus, a beneficial circle formed.

Discussion

The present study explored university students’ motivation to study Chinese as a L2 and the interplay of their Chinese learning motivation and their learning experiences. Analyses of the data revealed that the participants’ Chinese learning motivation significantly increased during the semester, largely consistent with the finding in similar studies (Gong et al., 2020b; Hernández, 2010; Liu & Li, 2018; Nitta & Baba, 2015; Piniel & Csizér, 2015; Waninge et al., 2014; H. Yu et al., 2022). This was mainly attributed to the participants’ desire to improve their Chinese, to study better, to communicate with the local people better, and to know more about China and the Chinese culture while studying in China, as reported by the interviewees. Different from the finding in Hernández (2010) yet partially consistent with that in Gong et al. (2020b), the motivation in this study was primarily instrumental, as shown in Table 2 and the interviewees’ reports (e.g., Chinese helps their future career and makes them more competitive, etc.). For example, “… I went to a business meeting between Chinese and Korean entrepreneurs organized by the Korean Embassy this month. The people were in different industries. Many Koreans spoke good Chinese. I walked around, got to know some entrepreneurs, and acted as an interpreter for some entrepreneurs. Never had I realized so much that Korea and China had so many connections in different trades. To be serious, I began to consider my future career in those trades” (Meican/Korea/female). This experience expanded her perception of China into more areas, making her further realize the importance of Chinese and the opportunities to have jobs related to China in the future. This might be because all the participants were studying for degrees in different disciplines and Chinese was a tool to communicate with others, to know China better and to do better in their major study. Even so, they also further developed or enhanced integrative motivation to study Chinese (e.g., interest in Chinese culture and desire to communicate with people in Chinese, etc.), which was probably because they came to know China more as they stayed in China longer and their Chinese got better. Nevertheless, the findings might be different if the participants’ learning experiences were different, which justifies more research on L2 motivation.

In order to increase Chinese proficiency, the interviewees tried to make use of various resources, including newspapers, TV programs, classroom instruction, extracurricular activities, and the local community, as reported by many participants in other study-abroad contexts (Allen, 2010; Gong et al., 2020a, 2020b; Liu, 2017; Liu & Li, 2018). Though there were things that were different from their native cultures (e.g., the streets were often crowded), there were lots of things to do and to see (i.e., enjoying various kinds of food and visiting different places, etc.). Despite the restrictions and inconvenience imposed by COVID-19, the participants still had a lot to do on campus. Being immersed in the target language community, the interviewees improved their Chinese and better adapted themselves to the local life and culture. This, in turn, further drove them to study Chinese harder and interact with the local community more. During the process, they not only reshaped their perceptions of Chinese and Chinese culture but also intensified and diversified their Chinese learning motivation. They imagined themselves as fluent speakers/users of Chinese and taking China/Chinese-related jobs, they were further attracted by Chinese and the Chinese culture and more aware of the importance of China in the world, especially in the Asia-Pacific regions. All these clearly demonstrated their Chinese learning motivation was interwoven with their experiences and goals, lending support to the dynamic systems theory that motivation is an ongoing changing system (Larsen-Freeman, 1997; MacIntyre et al., 2015). If there had been no COVID-19, they might have experienced more and demonstrated varying changes in their Chinese learning motivation, indicating that context should be a focus of future research on L2 motivation.

In conclusion, partially similar to the finding in Gong et al. (2020b)Liu and Li (2018), most participants in this study displayed an instrumental orientation to learn Chinese upon arrival in China. As they further realized the importance of Chinese, this instrumental motivation was consolidated and enhanced by their learning goals and experiences as well as imagined selves with future careers related to China. As confided in interviews, several interviewees planned to establish or strengthen business connections with potential Chinese partners, for which fluent Chinese would be a necessary requirement or a big advantage (Gong et al., 2020b). Meanwhile, their integrative motivation was also developed or enhanced as they became more proficient in Chinese and knew more about China. All these clearly show that the participants’ motivation to learn Chinese was increasingly connected with their learning experiences and goals, as found in Gong et al. (2020b), Du and Jackson (2018), and Gao (2008). All these findings further confirm the complex dynamic systems theory, indicating that L2 motivation is self-determined, constantly reshaped by personal beliefs, learning goals, learning experiences, and the context (Chan et al., 2015; Ellis & Larsen-Freeman, 2006; Liu & Li, 2018; Gong et al., 2020a, 2020b; Larsen-Freeman, 2015; MacIntyre et al., 2015). Nevertheless, the situation may be different in different contexts in which the dynamic interaction of L2 motivation and the learning environment may demonstrate differing patterns, which will be the focus of future research. It is also important for language instructors to pay special attention to the dynamic of students’ L2 motivation during the process of learning the language in order to properly guide and sustain the motivation. Moreover, the findings of this research indicate that L2 motivation can be highly complex and dynamic, which may not be fully explained by one theory but be interpreted from differing perspectives.

Conclusion

Drawing on the complex dynamic systems theory, the present study explored university students’ Chinese learning motivation during a semester while studying in China. Analysis of the data revealed that the participants’ Chinese learning motivation increased significantly during the semester and that their motivation was an ongoing process, constantly interwoven with the participants’ learning goals and learning experiences.

Hence, it is important for teachers and host schools to help Chinese learners to adapt to the local life and culture and enhance and sustain their Chinese learning motivation (Gong et al., 2020a, 2020b). First, it is necessary for them to know students’ learning needs and goals. Since increasing Chinese proficiency is often the primary need for Chinese learners, it is necessary for host schools and teachers to provide resources and opportunities for authentic use of Chinese: Inform the learners of and encourage them to join various clubs, activities, and resources (e.g., library and online learning resources, etc.) available on and outside campus, regularly organize tours or parties for Chinese learners to interact with the local people and/or experience the local life and culture (Gong et al., 2020b, Gong et al., 2018; Fryer, 2019). During the process, teachers and host schools had better match the activities with students’ learning needs and goals. They can facilitate students’ engagement in the activities by briefly describing the activities with focus on their features, asking students to search for relevant information, and encouraging them to observe, think, and communicate with others about their ideas. Engaged in these activities, students can not only practice their Chinese and communication skills, but also know more about the local culture, which will help them better adapt to the local life and culture. During the process, students may have better images of their ideal Chinese L2 selves and see more clearly the gap between their actual and ideal Chinese L2 selves. These self-images and gaps may constantly monitor their learning goals and regulate their behavior thereafter (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2021; Larsen-Freeman, 2015; Markus & Nurius,1986; Piniel & Csizér, 2015), leading to fluctuations in their Chinese learning motivation. As discussed in Ryan and Deci (2020), people would become more self-determined and motivated in conducting particular behavior when the learning environment supports their fundamental psychological needs.

Meanwhile, in classrooms, teachers can integrate communicative teaching method into other methods and scaffold topics to help international students overcome various challenges and better adapt to the new culture (Gong et al., 2020a). Ruan et al. (2015) also advised teachers to consider international students’ affective factors and learning situation factors to boost students’ intrinsic motivation and to integrate cultural elements into tasks as an added value to motivate students. It is especially so at the beginning stage of foreign language learning.

The present study collected both quantitative and qualitative data and thus provided new insights into L2 learning motivation by further attesting to the belief that Chinese learning motivation is a dynamic process, shaped by the ongoing interaction between their learning goals and learning experiences in the study-abroad context (Du & Jackson, 2018; Gong et al., 2020b; Waninge et al., 2014; H. Yu et al., 2022). Even so, some limitations existed in the research. The first limitation was that the interviewees were interviewed only once at time point 2. If they had also been interviewed at time point 1, more information about the fluctuations in their Chinese learning motivation and its interaction with learning experiences would have been obtained, which would have resulted in better understanding of the dynamic nature of their Chinese learning motivation. Second, motivation is believed to affect L2 learning outcomes. Nevertheless, the present research did not measure the participants’ Chinese proficiency or explore its relationship with their Chinese learning motivation except that they were asked to self-rate their Chinese proficiency as their background information. This will be the focus of future research to examine how L2 proficiency and motivation affect each other during the ongoing process of learning the L2. In addition, the present study clearly pinpoints the importance of learning experiences and the study-abroad learning context in enhancing and sustaining L2 motivation. Thus, it is necessary to continue to research the roles of various learning contexts (i.e., formal and informal settings, study-abroad and at-home contexts) in enhancing and sustaining L2 learning motivation at different time scales (Gong et al., 2020b; Waninge et al., 2014; H. Yu et al., 2022). Coupled with the large number of Chinese learning population and complexity of language learning, more research on the dynamic of Chinese learning motivation is required. So is research on the motivation of learning other languages as a L2. For a better understanding of the dynamic changes of L2 motivation in relation to other variables, more large-scale longitudinal data and regular fieldwork on participants’ dispositions should be collected (Piniel & Csizér, 2015).

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by 2021 Top-Notch Students of Basic Disciplines Training Program 2.0 Project (No. 20222015).

ORCID iD

Meihua Liu

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

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University Students’ Dynamic Motivation to Learn Chinese as a Second Language

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Literature Review

Research Design

Context

Participants

Instruments

The Chinese Learning Motivation Questionnaire

Use of Chinese

Self-Rated Proficiency in Chinese

The Demographic Data Questionnaire

Semi-Structured Interview

Procedure

Data Analyses

Results

Motivational Changes During the Semester

Interplay of Chinese Learning Motivation and Learning Experiences

Discussion

Conclusion

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

ORCID iD

Data Availability Statement

References