Cultural Factors in High School Student Motivation to Study Less Commonly Taught Languages (original) (raw)

2013, Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages

Learning less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) such as Japanese can be challenging for American students. Due to the difficulty of learning LCTLs, more effort is required of the learners to become proficient as compared to European languages. Motivation contributes to the learners' academic success. In the socio-cultural perspective, the learners' cultural background mediates their cognitive process. This study examines the motivational differences and similarities among two culturally diverse groups of high school learners of Japanese: Asians excluding Japanese-Americans and non-Asians. One hundred forty two students completed a survey. Factor analysis yielded six factors: integrative motivation, instrumental motivation, intrinsic motivation (doing activities for enjoyment), self-efficacy (a belief in one's ability to succeed), goal specificity, and goal strategy. The motivational differences were confirmed in intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy. Implications of the...