Search

Despite the inherently meaningful nature of Chinese names, Chinese international students often adopt an English name, particularly when they pursue education in English-speaking countries. Most empirical research on name anglicisation has examined the psychological impact of name change among ethnolinguistic minorities, as well as their experiences with heritage name mispronunciations. Very few studies have looked into the reasons and purposes of adopting an English name. The present study utilises a mixed-methods survey to inquire into the functions and use of English names by Chinese international students in Canada (n = 180), with the goal of providing insight into their name choices, as well as the associated implications for their cross-cultural adaptation. The quantitative and qualitative results suggest that, aside from avoiding name-based discrimination, English names play several adaptive roles, such as facilitating the students' intercultural communication, host connectedness, and integration. Further, English names also provide a route for Chinese international students to stay connected with their heritage culture in a foreign language environment. The findings underscore the importance of respecting language minorities' name choices, whether in their native or the majority language, and call for societal efforts in building a welcoming environment that accepts diverse personal names originating from many different languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internalizing Western culture can facilitate English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners' motivation to learn and confidence to use English. However, the role of heritage cultural internalization and the interactive impact of Western and heritage cultural internalizations on English learning are unclear. We surveyed 172 EFL students from Macao and found that those who internalized Western culture to a greater extent indeed held more a positive view towards English learning and were more autonomous learners, which in turn predicted their confidence in using English. However, for those who internalized Western culture to a lesser extent, internalizing Chinese culture was also linked to positive attitudes and English use confidence. These findings suggest that a strong heritage cultural orientation is also important for EFL learners' English language development, especially among those do not embrace Western culture. This research suggests that language researchers and teachers should pay attention to learners' orientations towards not only the target culture but also their heritage culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large gender disparities in participation still exist across many university subjects and career fields, but few studies have examined factors that account for gender gaps in female-dominated disciplines. We examine one possible cause: threatened masculinity among men who hold traditional gender ideologies. Past research has linked endorsement of traditional gender ideologies to gender-stereotypical occupational choices, and threats to masculinity can lead men to distance themselves from femininity. After confirming that 1,672 undergraduates stereotyped language learning as feminine, we applied a masculinity threat manipulation to investigate 182 men's disinterest in studying foreign languages, a female-dominated university subject. Men with traditional masculinity ideologies reported less interest in foreign language study and less positive attitudes towards foreign languages following masculinity threat, compared to men whose masculinity was affirmed or who held less traditional masculinity beliefs. Traditional masculine gender roles may lead some men to avoid feminine-typed domains, such as foreign language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how priming an entity language theory (i.e., the belief that language intelligence is fixed) or an incremental language theory (i.e., the belief that language intelligence can be improved) can orient language learners' goals and, in turn, influence their reactions in failure situations and their intention to continue learning the language. University-level students in language courses ( N  = 150) were randomly assigned to two conditions, in which one or the other language mindset was primed. The results showed that in the incremental condition, learners more strongly endorsed learning goals regardless of their perceived language competence, and in turn reported more mastery-oriented responses in failure situations and stronger intention to continue learning the target language. In contrast, in the entity condition, learners who perceived themselves having strong language skills endorsed performance-approach goals and in turn reported more helpless-oriented responses and fear of failure. The implications for language learning inside and outside the classroom are discussed, including possible strategies that language educators can use to promote incremental theories to support their students' motivation and resilience in failure situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from Self-Determination Theory and diverse theories of language learning motivation, we present a framework that (1) represents a range of orientations that students may take towards learning German, and (2) explains how these orientations are connected to language learning engagement and diverse linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes. We maintain that students who invest in learning because it is meaningful to them personally (that is, those who have a self-determined orientation) are more likely to actively engage with the language academically and with its associated community, and in turn they are more likely to become communicatively and culturally competent. We further claim that a self-determined orientation can be fostered in a social environment that is responsive to learners' need to be active, competent agents who have mutually satisfying relationships with others. We conclude with some alternative avenues of study that would complement the research done to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The motivation of 145 learners of Chinese was examined in light of self-determination theory through a questionnaire survey. The results showed that the more learners felt they were learning Chinese because it was personally meaningful and fun, the more they engaged in the learning process. This orientation was promoted to the extent that learners felt a connection with the Chinese community and, particularly for heritage learners, a sense of personal control over the learning process. Relative to non-heritage learners, heritage learners more strongly indicated that they were learning Chinese because it was an integral aspect of their self-concept, but also because of feelings of obligation. There were few differences between heritage learners who spoke Chinese as a mother tongue and those who spoke English, which suggests that from the standpoint of social psychology, regardless of Chinese proficiency, subgroups of heritage language learners may be more alike than different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the motivation for learning French, the ethnic identities, and the decision to pursue post-secondary education in French of anglophone graduates of intensive French language programs in high school. Sixty-two graduates of either French immersion, Advanced Placement French, or the International Baccalaureate French program enrolled at an English-language post-secondary institution and 29 graduates of the same programs enrolled at a French-language facility completed a questionnaire including the Situated Ethnic Identity Scale (Noels, Saumure, Pino, Clément, & Maclntyre, 2006), the Language Learning Orientation Scale (Noels, Pelletier, Clément, & Vallerand, 2000), and a language use index. Results provided some evidence that students in the francophone institution were motivated to learn French for more self-determined reasons and that they also felt more strongly francophone and less strongly anglophone in some situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how two motivational substrates may be differentially important depending upon the learner's language background. Students registered in German classes (N = 99) completed a questionnaire that assessed (a) their intrinsic, extrinsic, integrative, and instrumental reasons for learning German; (b) their feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness; and (c) their engagement in language learning and intergroup contact variables. The results show that heritage language learners were more likely than non-heritage learners to learn German because it was an important aspect of their self-concept. Moreover, although intrinsic and self-determined extrinsic orientations fostered motivation both for heritage and non-heritage learners, aspects of contact with the German community also played a role in motivated learning, particularly for heritage language learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Replicates previous research on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for language learning in French Canadian students of English. Relations between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and the integrative orientation; Correlation of integrative orientation with the intrinsic orientation; Implications of the orientations for language learning outcomes.

Even though student mobility is increasingly frequent, the predominant direction is mainly from countries considered peripheral to those that have more economic and political representation (Altbach, 2004; OECD, 2015). This study investigated the reasons why students go to Brazil, the composition of their social networks, and their implications for learning Portuguese as a foreign language. This research had a mixed methods longitudinal design, in which 98 participants completed two questionnaires (i.e. in August and November 2016). A thematic analysis of the reasons that participants presented for going to Brazil resulted in three general "approaches": Actors, interested in idiosyncrasies of studying in Brazil; Observers, interested in having an experience abroad; and Riders, who had Brazil as a convenient choice. This classification not only predicted Portuguese language levels, but was related to participants' home countries, supporting an articulation of SA in terms of core-periphery relations (Wallerstein, 2004). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• ESL students' perceived competence, language anxiety, and contact avoidance interact in a vicious cycle. • Low-competence students are more likely to experience this vicious cycle. • A social interaction task, a randomized experiment, and a survey tested the hypothesized model. • Growth mindsets mitigate low-competence students' perceived rejection and contact avoidance. • Growth mindsets break this vicious cycle and contribute to ESL students' resilience. For migrant students enrolled in a postsecondary institution where the language of instruction is not their native language, experiencing anxiety using a new language can manifest in their daily social interactions, and lead them to avoid using the target language, thereby undercutting their academic and social adaptation. We propose that this vicious cycle of language anxiety and intercultural experiences is influenced by language mindsets (i.e., beliefs about the extent to which language learning ability is fixed versus malleable). We conducted three studies (N = 581), including a social interaction task, a double-blind randomized experiment, and a preregistered cross-sectional survey, to test the role of language mindsets on English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students' rejection sensitivity, perceived rejection, self- and experimenter-reported contact avoidance, willingness to interact with peers, and the amount of time in using English. We found that fixed (vs. growth) language mindsets were linked to negative perceptions of language-based rejection and self- and experimenter-reported contact avoidance. Importantly, growth language mindsets mitigated perceived language-based rejection and encouraged future communication among those with low (but not with high) perceived English competence. The findings highlight that growth mindsets contribute to the resilience of language minority students during their university experience, especially for those with low English competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]