Motivation and Second Foreign Language Proficiency: The Mediating Role of Foreign Language Enjoyment

Zhang Zhang,Dai Dai,Wang Wang

doi:10.3390/su12041302

Abstract

Inadequate research attention has been paid to the learning of a third language. For this reason, this study explores senior English major students’ learning of additional foreign languages in seven universities in Shaanxi Province, China. The study examines the relationship between the participants’ motivation and language proficiency through a questionnaire, and the collected data are analyzed using hierarchical linear regression analysis. The results identify that the participants’ instrumental and integrative motivations positively influence their second foreign language proficiency. Further analysis reveals that the connection between the participants’ motivation and language proficiency is mediated by foreign language enjoyment. These findings form the basis of our suggestions for the sustainable learning and teaching of foreign languages in universities.

Highlights

Globalization has led to a significant increase in demand for high-level foreign language talent, especially multilingual talent [1,2,3], and institutions of higher education, as key players in language education, are duty-bound to support this [4]
While recent studies in the field of positive psychology have pointed out the importance of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) in language acquisition [22,23,24], more work is needed to elaborate the role of FLE in foreign language learning
Considering FLE’s connection with mental activity, we assume in this paper that it mediates the relationship between motivation and foreign language proficiency, and we try to examine this mediating effect in the third language acquisition (TLA) context

Summary

Introduction

Globalization has led to a significant increase in demand for high-level foreign language talent, especially multilingual talent [1,2,3], and institutions of higher education, as key players in language education, are duty-bound to support this [4]. In Chinese universities all English major students are required to learn a second foreign language While previous SLA studies have repeatedly examined and confirmed the influence of motivation on foreign language proficiency [17,18,19], the relationship between the two has not been examined in TLA contexts, despite the known motivation differences between SLA and TLA. This study tries to fill this gap by examining the effect of motivation on second foreign language proficiency in a TLA context. Considering FLE’s connection with mental activity, we assume in this paper that it mediates the relationship between motivation and foreign language proficiency, and we try to examine this mediating effect in the TLA context

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion