Welcome from PLL5!

Thank you for your interest in my research! On this page, you can find more information about this ongoing research I am conducting for my PhD with my supervisor Dr. Anssi Roiha, University of Jyväskylä.

Sara Jaaksola

I am a doctoral researcher at the University of Turku in Finland. My research interests are foreign language learning motivation and foreign language pedagogy, especially when it comes to Mandarin Chinese as a foreign or second language.

  • Doctoral researcher, University of Turku, Finland, 2023-
  • Master of Education, Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages, Sun Yat-Sen University, China, 2014-2016
  • Bachelor of Arts, Chinese language, Sun Yat-Sen University, China, 2011-2014

If you want to contact me during or after the conference, welcome to get in touch!

Updated conference abstract

What motivates students to learn Chinese? How and why motivation changes during a Chinese as a second language course

Language learning motivation is one of the key elements to successful foreign language learning, but the research focus has mainly been on learning Global English. In recent years, there has been a growing call for second language motivation research in Languages Other Than English (Al-Hoorie, 2017; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2021).

This ongoing study adopts a longitudinal qualitative approach in researching changes in motivation during a beginner Chinese language course. The aim of this study is to describe the possible changes in motivation during a 4-month-long course and the variables affecting these changes. This study aims to advance the teaching field of teaching Chinese as a second language and Chinese language teacher training. By understanding the learning motivation of students, we can design courses and lectures that promote motivation and thus help students succeed.

6 students and 1 teacher from a Finnish university participated in the study consisting of individual interviews, motigraphs, and learning diaries. Students were interviewed at the beginning and the end of their course, while writing learning diaries weekly throughout the semester. During the last interview, all students drew a single-line motigraph to visualize their learning motivation. The class teacher was interviewed once after the course, and in the analysis stage, these different types of data are being analyzed together to create a full picture of the complicated topic of second language learning motivation.

The preliminary results of this study are changes in motivation and when these changes usually happen, and also a collection of variables affecting language learning motivation on the language level, learner level, and learning situation level. The data collection was conducted during Autumn 2023 and analysis during Spring 2024. This is an ongoing research, estimated to be sent to publication at the end of 2024.

Future research

This research project is still ongoing and is estimated to be completed by the end of 2024. In my future research, I want to focus on the different factors that affect motivation the most, especially those factors that educationers or students themselves can control or affect. As a practitioner myself, I want to continue to find out how we can best motivate our students to learn Chinese and how can we support our students to motivate themselves.

Besides motivation, I am also interested in other topics related to learning or teaching Chinese. I look forward to collaborating with other researchers and scholars on these topics in the future.

References:

Al-Hoorie, Ali. (2022). Researching Language Learning Motivation: A Concise Guide. Bloomsbury.

Braun, Virginia & Clarke, Victoria (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3:2, 77-101. DOI: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Campbell, Elizabeth & Storch, Neomy. (2011). The changing face of motivation: A study of second language learners’ motivation over time. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics. 34. 166-192. DOI: 10.1075/aral.34.2.03cam. 

Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (2021). Teaching and researching motivation (3rd ed.). Harlow: Longman.

Sidaway, K. (2022). Exploring the motivation of women studying in a multilevel ESOL class in England. TESOL J. 2022;13:e615. https://doi.org/10.1002/ tesj.615