Comparative Study of Students' Motivation in Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to determine whether there was a significant difference in motivation for learning Chinese as a foreign language according to their private Chinese supplementary tutoring status and linguistic Background of Grades 10 and 11 students at a private school in Bangkok, Thailand. Research design, data and methodology: A convenience sample of 280 students were chosen to take the questionnaire of Grade 10 and 11 students at the targeted school during the academic year 2021-2022. For the data collection, the researcher adapted Gardner’s (2004) Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) for motivation for learning Chinese as a foreign language to measure participants scales. Results: The result from the one-way ANOVA test showed that there was a statistically significant difference in motivation for learning Chinese as a foreign language among Grade 10 students according to their linguistic background but none for Grade 11 students at a private school in Bangkok, Thailand. Conclusions: The overall level of the participants’ motivation level for learning Chinese as a foreign language according to their private Chinese supplementary tutoring status and linguistic background was interpreted as slightly high.