Nyamekye Ernest
Department of Arts Education, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
PLoS One. 2024 Jun 13;19(6):e0304390. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304390. eCollection 2024.
This study investigated the predictors of indigenous language learning from an empirical and theoretical perspective. A quantitative approach was employed to explore the issue using an extended version of Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior that incorporates linguistic insecurity in measuring students' language learning intentions. A total of 180 first-year undergraduate students in the Department of Arts Education and the Department of Ghanaian Languages and Linguistics participated in the study. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), measurement and structural models were evaluated. The results indicated that students' attitudes (behavioral beliefs), subjective norms, language learning efficacy, and students' sense of linguistic insecurity significantly predicted their intentions to study indigenous languages. The exogenous variables accounted for 47.8% of the variance in students' intentions to study indigenous languages in higher education. The strongest predictor of intention was subjective norms (β = 0.399; p<0.01), followed by students' sense of linguistic insecurity (β = -0.254; p<0.01), perceived language learning efficacy (β = 0.169; p = 0.013), and language attitude (β = 0.144; p = 0.045). These results underscore the need for concerned stakeholders to foster positive attitudes and address linguistic insecurity to enhance learners' development of positive behavioral intentions toward indigenous language learning.
本研究从实证和理论角度调查了本土语言学习的预测因素。采用定量方法，运用阿杰恩计划行为理论的扩展版本来探讨这一问题，该版本在测量学生的语言学习意图时纳入了语言不安全感。艺术教育系和加纳语言与语言学系的180名一年级本科生参与了这项研究。使用偏最小二乘结构方程模型（PLS-SEM）对测量模型和结构模型进行了评估。结果表明，学生的态度（行为信念）、主观规范、语言学习效能感以及学生的语言不安全感显著预测了他们学习本土语言的意图。外生变量解释了高等教育中学生学习本土语言意图方差的47.8%。意图的最强预测因素是主观规范（β = 0.399；p<0.01），其次是学生的语言不安全感（β = -0.254；p<0.01）、感知到的语言学习效能感（β = 0.169；p = 0.013）和语言态度（β = 0.144；p = 0.045）。这些结果强调了相关利益攸关方需要培养积极态度并解决语言不安全感问题，以增强学习者对本土语言学习的积极行为意图的发展。
