Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Open Access Theses Theses and Dissertations Spring 2015 Motivation of Chinese heritage language learners: From a bioecological perspective Nan Zhang Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses Part of the Reading and Language Commons Recommended Citation Zhang, Nan, "Motivation of Chinese heritage language learners: From a bioecological perspective" (2015). Open Access Theses. 637. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses/637 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. i MOTIVATION OF CHINESE HERITAGE LANGUAGE LEARNERS: FROM A BIOECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University by Nan Zhang In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts May 2015 Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Professor Wei Hong. She has been guiding and supporting me about this study from the very beginning. It is each discussion with her that moves the study forward. Without Professor Wei Hong, the work could not have been done. She is also my life mentor who advised me how to manage life and work efficiently. I would also like to thank Professors Alejandro Cuza and Mariko M. Wei for being my committee members. Professor Cuza inspired me to choose the topic for my thesis, and Professor Wei helped me to generate the literature review in her class. Both of them are tremendously generous to offer me constructive comments on this study which helped shaping my future work in this field as I plan to continue my PhD. Last but not least, I am deeply thankful to my fiancé Zezheng Li who is always there whether I am in good or bad moods and who nevertheless supports and loves me unconditionally. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................... 4 1.3 The study ................................................................................................................... 4 1.3.1 Purpose of the study ......................................................................................... 7 1.3.2 Theoretical framework ..................................................................................... 9 1.3.3 Research questions and hypotheses ............................................................... 11 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 14 2.1 Conceptualization of motivation ............................................................................. 14 2.2 Motivation in heritage language learning ................................................................ 17 2.3 Motivation in Chinese heritage learners .................................................................. 20 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY.................................................................................. 24 3.1 Participants .............................................................................................................. 24 3.2 Questionnaire .......................................................................................................... 25 3.3 Descriptions of variables ......................................................................................... 26 3.4 Instruments of analysis ............................................................................................ 29 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ........................................................... 30 4.1 Description of the participants ................................................................................ 30 4.2 Data analyses ........................................................................................................... 31 iv Page CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS ................................................ 44 5.1 Summary of the study ............................................................................................. 44 5.2 Findings ................................................................................................................... 45 5.3 Limitations .............................................................................................................. 50 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 52 APPENDIX………………………………………………………………………………64 v LIST OF TABLES Table .............................................................................................................................. Page Table 1 Summary of Simple Linear Regressions for All Variables ................................. 36 Table 2 Regressions of Self-Confidence and Proximal Interactions ................................ 38 Table 3 Regression of Competence and Proximal Interactions ........................................ 38 Table 4 Regression of Course-Specific and Proximal Interactions .................................. 39 Table 5 Regression of Friends and Proximal Interactions ................................................ 39 Table 6 Regression of Economy and Proximal Interactions ............................................. 40 Table 7 Regression of Online Social Network and Proximal Interactions ....................... 40 Table 8 Personal Attributes and Contextual Factors with and without Proximal Interactions ........................................................................................................................ 41 Table 9 Regressions for Proximal Interactions with and without Personal Attributes and Contextual Factors ............................................................................................................ 43 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure ............................................................................................................................. Page Figure 1 Variables examined in this study ........................................................................ 12 Figure 2 Types of language exposures .............................................................................. 31 vii ABSTRACT Zhang, Nan. M.A., Purdue University, May 2015. Motivation of Chinese heritage language learners: from a bioecological perspective. Major Professor: Wei Hong. The purpose of this study is to propose a new theoretical framework for researching variables of motivation for language learning. It will contribute to the discussion on the motivation of Chinese heritage learners by using a new model: the bioecological model. The elements of the bioecological model are process, person, context and time. The bioecological model draws on three schools of motivation for language learning: the psychological process, contextual factors, and dynamic interactions. This study will answer two questions: Are personal attributes, proximal interactions and contextual factors predictors of heritage language learners’ motivation? Among these factors, do proximal interactions mediate the predictive power of personal attributes and contextual factors? The study used online questionnaires for data collection. Twenty-three questionnaires were completed and subjected to data analysis. The results support the hypothesis that personal and contextual factors’ effect on motivation for heritage language learning could be mediated by proximal interactions. CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction Heritage language education has drawn much attention in the United States. In the US, heritage language speakers are defined as those who were raised in a family who speak a minority language other than English. Many heritage language speakers are bilingual in English and in their heritage language (Valdés, 2000a, 2000b). This definition assumes that heritage language speakers are exposed to their heritage language at home. The definitions offered by Fishman (2001) and Van Deusen-Scholl (2003) emphasize cultural heritage in a language community. Fishman describes heritage language learners as those who have particular family relevance to the target language. Van Deusen-Scholl defines heritage speakers as people who were raised with a strong cultural and family connection to their heritage language. Chinese heritage language learners have some distinctive characteristics. Most Chinese programs in the US teach Mandarin and Cantonese, but more students are interested in Mandarin which is the standardized language of Chinese and there are more Mandarin speakers than Cantonese speakers. As a generic term, “Chinese” encompasses the eight major dialects spoken in the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, in addition to other countries and regions of East Asia and South Asia. 2 Those dialects are grouped under Wu, Xiang,