ERIC Number: EJ1013079
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0026-7902
EISSN: N/A
Foreign Language Learning Motivation in Higher Education: A Longitudinal Study of Motivational Changes and Their Causes
Busse, Vera; Walter, Catherine
Modern Language Journal, v97 n2 p435-456 Sum 2013
This article reports on a study involving first-year modern foreign languages students enrolled in German degree courses at two major universities in the United Kingdom. It explores the experience of these students from a motivational angle. A longitudinal mixed-methods approach was employed in order to address the time- and context-sensitive nature of motivational attributes. The data suggest that despite students' increasing wish to become proficient in German, their effort to engage with language learning decreased over the course of the year. This change occurred in conjunction with decreasing levels of intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy beliefs. The relationships between motivational changes and contextual factors in higher education are discussed against the backdrop of students' transition experience from school to university. The article concludes by outlining pedagogical suggestions for how to counteract decreasing motivation of modern foreign languages students during their first year university studies. (Contains 5 notes, 1 figure, and 8 tables.)
Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Learning Motivation, Longitudinal Studies, German, Second Language Instruction, Mixed Methods Research, Self Determination, Self Efficacy, Interviews, Questionnaires, Correlation, Student Attitudes, Introductory Courses, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A