Wang Cong, Zhu Sida, Zhang Haijing
Department of Chinese Language Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Front Psychol. 2022 Nov 15;13:1020558. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1020558. eCollection 2022.
Motivational intensity is the effort learners make in language learning. It is an essential component and a direct measurement of L2 motivation. Few studies have distinguished motivational intensity from motivation and explored its role in learning English as a foreign language (EFL).
This study examined 208 university students from Hong Kong to investigate the factors that affect motivational intensity and explored the relationship between motivational intensity and learning motivation using structural equation modeling (SEM).
The students' motivational intensity was affected by personal factors (daily English-learning time and stage of English learning), family factors (monthly household income and parental attitudes), and school factors (English learning engagement and satisfaction). The differences in personal factors, school factors and monthly household income of family factors among different motivational intensity groups were significant whereas the difference in parental attitudes (family factors) between the high- and the low-motivational intensity groups was insignificant. As for the relationship between motivational intensity and motivation, motivational intensity indirectly affected students' intrinsic interest through their attitudes toward native English speakers (β = 0.16, = 0.041 < 0.05). The significant path coefficient from the learning situation to attitudes toward native speakers was negative ( < 0.05), indicating that attitudes toward native speakers decline even when the learning situation improves. This study enriched the theoretical study of motivation theory and provided teaching suggestions for improving EFL learning.
动机强度是学习者在语言学习中付出的努力。它是二语动机的一个重要组成部分，也是对二语动机的直接衡量。很少有研究将动机强度与动机区分开来，并探讨其在外语学习中的作用。
本研究调查了208名来自香港的大学生，以探究影响动机强度的因素，并使用结构方程模型（SEM）探讨动机强度与学习动机之间的关系。
学生的动机强度受到个人因素（每日英语学习时间和英语学习阶段）、家庭因素（家庭月收入和父母态度）和学校因素（英语学习参与度和满意度）的影响。不同动机强度组之间在个人因素、学校因素和家庭因素中的家庭月收入方面存在显著差异，而高动机强度组和低动机强度组之间在父母态度（家庭因素）方面的差异不显著。至于动机强度与动机之间的关系，动机强度通过学生对以英语为母语者的态度间接影响学生的内在兴趣（β = 0.16，p = 0.041 < 0.05）。从学习情境到对以英语为母语者态度的显著路径系数为负（p < 0.05），这表明即使学习情境改善，对以英语为母语者的态度也会下降。本研究丰富了动机理论的理论研究，并为提高外语学习提供了教学建议。
