Language Learning Motivation and Its Role in Learner Complaint Production

He Yang and Xinxin Wu ()
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He Yang: College of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Xinxin Wu: School of Foreign Studies, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214126, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 17, 1-13

Abstract: While motivation plays an important role in language learning, few attempts have been made to explore its significance in second language (L2) pragmatics learning. The current study investigated whether and how language learning motivation affects L2 pragmatics production. A total of 60 adult Chinese learners of English participated in this study. Data were elicited from a motivation questionnaire and a discourse completion task (DCT). The results revealed that L2 learners with high motivation performed better in making complaints in the target language than learners with low motivation. Moreover, learners’ levels of pragmatic production correlated positively with their overall L2 motivation, as well as with four motivational subscales, namely, attitudes towards learning English, ideal L2 self, intended learning efforts, and attitudes towards the L2 community. Regression analysis showed that learners’ attitude towards learning English best predicted their production of the speech act of complaints. The findings of this study support the role motivational dispositions play in learners’ L2 pragmatic production. The study provides insight into the interaction of L2 motivation and pragmatics learning.

Keywords: L2 motivation; motivational levels; L2 pragmatics; pragmatic production; speech act of complaints (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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