The Influence of Individual Differences of Chinese Learners of German on Their Choices of Internship

Abstract

This study aims to explore the influence of individual differences on the internship choices of Chinese undergraduate students in German major and to provide better career service suggestions targeting at foreign language students. This study has significant implications, considering the challenges that final-year undergraduate students in German are faced with and the limited number of previous studies which address these issues. The current study interviewed 23 third-year undergraduates majoring in German to investigate their internship choices and experience, as well as individual differences including language learning motivation, anxiety and character. Only four of them were engaged in German-related internships, eleven were engaged in internships that are not German-related, and eight had no internships yet. Fifteen of them believe that motivation can improve their academic performance. It can be seen that students with integrative motivation will be engaged in German-related internships. Twelve people believe that anxiety has a positive impact on German learning, and one third of whom believe that anxiety improves their German performance to a certain extent, which promotes them to be engaged in German-related internships. However, the influence of character on German learning is uncertain. The results revealed a direct influence of learning motivation on interviewees choice of German-related internships, indirect influence of learning anxiety, and no relationship between character and internship choices. This study has implications for better career support to German-major undergraduate students.