Self-Determination, Motivation, and the Learning of Chinese as a Heritage Language

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.La motivation de 145 apprenantes et apprenants du chinois a été examinée à la lumière de la théorie de l'autodétermination et au moyen d'un questionnaire d'enquête. Les résultats ont démontré que plus les apprenants avaient le sentiment d'apprendre le chinois parce que c'était important pour eux, personnellement, et parce qu'il y prenaient plaisir, plus ils participaient au processus d'apprentissage. Cette orientation était soutenue au point où les apprenants se sentaient liés à la communauté chinoise et, en particulier pour les personnes dont c'était la langue d'origine, un sentiment de maîtriser le processus d'apprentissage. Par opposition aux apprenants dont ce n'était pas la langue d'origine, ceux dont ce l'était ont indiqué plus nettement qu'ils apprenaient le chinois parce que celui-ci faisait partie intégrante de leur conception d'eux-mêmes, mais aussi à cause d'un sentiment d'obligation. Il y avait peu de différences entre les apprenants dont c'était la langue maternelle et ceux qui parlaient l'anglais, ce qui donne à penser que, du point de vue de la psychologie sociale, et peu importe la facilité avec laquelle ils s'expriment, des sous-groupes d'apprenants de langues d'origine se ressemblent davantage qu'ils ne diffèrent les uns des autres.

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