Stereotypes and Language Learning Motivation: A Study of L2 Learners of Asian Languages

This book explores stereotypes that learners of six Asian languages— Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, Myanmar, Thai and Vietnamese—hold about the target language country, its cultures and people. Some of the findings, such as the language learners’ mental images of Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, are presented here for the first time. Recognizing that stereotypes, and attitudes embedded in them, have an impact on people’s actions and behavioural intentions, this book examines whether and how the country stereotypes held by the students influenced their motivation to learn the target language. Besides providing worthwhile insights into the content and structure of the country stereotypes and their relationship with language learning motivation, this book offers methodological and theoretical advancements. Drawing on intellectual heritage of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) the book highlights how the concepts of word meaning (znachenie slova) and word sense (smysl) could be fruitfully employed in studies on stereotypes that people learning a foreign language hold about a target language country. This book will appeal to all readers interested in stereotypes that people have about foreign countries and also to educators and researchers who study language learning motivation.

Table of Contents:
List of figures  List of tables  List of abbreviations  Introduction  1. Stereotypes as a research focus  2. Motivation, attitudes and stereotypes in l2 research: connecting the dots  3. A mixed-methods approach to link country stereotypes and l2 motivation  4. Findings on language learners’ country stereotypes and their relationships with l2 motivation  5. Wider implications and conclusions  Appendix 1. Questionnaire on country images and l2 motivation  Appendix 2. Findings on language learners’ country stereotypes  Appendix 3. Spss codes for the regression analysis  Glossary  Index

About the Author :
Larisa Nikitina, PhD, is Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya, Malaysia. Her research interests include psychological aspects involved in learning an additional language, approaches to the teaching of culture in the language classroom and quantitative methodologies in applied linguistics. She has published extensively on these topics.

Review :
'Nikitina offers fascinating insights into the interweaving nature of country stereotypes, motivation and language attitudes among learners of languages other than English. The applicability of the mixed methodology and findings surrounding Malaysian learners goes beyond this particular context to potentially guide researchers in wider contexts how to investigate this key field.' - John L Adamson, University of Niigata Prefecture, Japan