Motivation and Learning Interface: How Regulatory Fit Affects Incidental Vocabulary Learning and Task Experience
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MOTIVATION AND LEARNING INTERFACE: HOW REGULATORY FIT AFFECTS INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING AND TASK EXPERIENCE By Mostafa Papi A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Second Language Studies - Doctor of Philosophy 2016 ABSTRACT MOTIVATION AND LEARNING INTERFACE: HOW REGULATORY FIT AFFECTS INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING AND TASK EXPERIENCE By Mostafa Papi According to the regulatory fit theory (Higgins, 2000), individuals with a promotion regulatory focus are more motivated when they approach gains while those with a prevention regulatory focus are more motivated when they avoid losses. The present study examined how the match or mismatch between the incentive structure of a task (gain-framed vs. loss-framed) would influence the learning experiences and outcomes of learners with different chronic regulatory foci (Higgins, 1997). One-hundred-eighty-nine ESL learners at a large U.S. university completed a vocabulary pre-test. A week later, they attended an experimental session in a computer lab, where they read a 675-word article about animal testing and wrote an argumentative essay on the topic. They were instructed that if they obtained or sustained 70 out of 100 points they would enter a drawing to win one of three $100 gift cards. The participants were randomly assigned to two conditions. In the gain-framed condition they started the task with zero points and had to gain 70 points to enter the drawing. Conversely, participants in the loss-framed condition started with 100 points but had to avoid losing more than 30 points in order qualify for the drawing. The participants also completed a vocabulary post-test, a regulatory focus questionnaire, and a task evaluation survey. The results of multiple regression analyses asymmetrically supported the predictions of the regulatory fit theory. Prevention focus individuals learned significantly more vocabulary in the loss-framed condition than in the gain- framed condition. However, promotion focus individuals’ learning did not vary across the framing conditions. Overall, promotion focus individuals learned significantly more vocabulary items and had more positive task experiences than prevention focus individuals. To my Father: You believed in me and gave me the courage to pursue big dreams. You were proud of me for what I was doing and always wished the best for me. I wish you were here to see that I made this happen. Thank you! To my Mother: I can never thank you enough for all you have done for me. You have always wanted the best for me and prayed for me when that was the only thing you could do. I hope this makes you proud. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am thankful to my dissertation committee for their constructive and insightful feedback over the course of this research project. More specifically, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my dissertation advisor Dr. Paula Winke who has been a great source of inspiration for me during my doctoral studies. I am genuinely thankful to Dr. Susan Gass, whose kind and generous support thoughout my doctoral studies gave me the confidence that I needed to keep moving forward. I would like to thank Dr. Charlene Polio, who was always there for me and never stopped believing in me. Special thanks to Dr. Joseph Cesario for joining my dissertation committee and providing me with helpful feedback on this work. It has been an absolute pleasure for me to have these amazing people on my committee. I would like to thank the English Language Center for granting me permission to collect data from their institute and to all the ESL instructors, and students from the English who participated in this project. I am grateful to also have had the support of many amazing friends during my doctoral studies at MSU especially Laurel Waller, Dominik Wolf, Kinsey Wethers, Jessee Durham, Dick Schmidt, Soléne Inceoglu, Hima Rawal, Karen Cheung, Seth Neely, and Robert Wiedmer. And last but not least, special thanks to every single member of my family for always being there for me. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................. ix KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 1 The Regulatory Focus Theory .............................................................................................................. 4 The Regulatory Fit Theory .................................................................................................................... 5 Regulatory Fit Theory and Learning ................................................................................................... 7 Regulatory Fit and Task Enjoyment .................................................................................................. 17 L2 Motivation ....................................................................................................................................... 19 The Integrative Motive .................................................................................................................... 19 Clément’s Model of Second Language Proficiency .................................................................... 24 The Self-Determination Theory ..................................................................................................... 31 The L2 Motivational Self System .................................................................................................. 37 Motivational Strategies .................................................................................................................... 48 Task Motivation ............................................................................................................................... 53 Motivation-Cognition Gap in Task-Based Language Learning ..................................................... 59 Incidental L2 Vocabulary Learning ................................................................................................... 62 Task-Induced Involvement ............................................................................................................. 63 Research Objectives & Questions ...................................................................................................... 65 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................. 67 METHOD ..................................................................................................................................... 67 Participants ............................................................................................................................................ 67 Procedures ............................................................................................................................................. 68 Regulatory Fit Induction...................................................................................................................... 70 Apparatus, Materials & Instruments .................................................................................................. 72 Questionnaires .................................................................................................................................. 72 Reading Comprehension Materials ................................................................................................ 73 L2 Vocabulary Pre-Test & Post-Tests ........................................................................................... 74 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 76 Outliers .............................................................................................................................................. 76 Reliability Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 77 Multiple Regression Analysis: Assumptions ................................................................................ 77 Multiple Regression Analysis ......................................................................................................... 78 CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................. 81 vi RESULTS ..................................................................................................................................... 81 Vocabulary Learning ........................................................................................................................... 81 Post-Task Evaluations.......................................................................................................................... 86 CHAPTER 4 ................................................................................................................................