Attitudes, motivation and learning strategies in students of third languages
Abstract
This study focused on exploring the degree of motivation, types of attitudes and use of learning strategies by A1 and B1 students of German, French, Italian, Japanese and Portuguese as third languages. The participants, whose first language is Spanish, and English is their second language, were 183 students at the Santo Tomas Teaching Centre of Foreign Languages (CENLEX-UST) of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), who answered a questionnaire based on the instruments MAALE (Minera, 2010) and SILL (Oxford, 1989). The results indicate that students have a high degree of motivation, especially intrinsic, and a very good attitude towards themselves as learners, and towards foreign languages. It was also found that they made ample use of cognitive, metacognitive, affective, and social learning strategies. The use of memorization and compensatory strategies was less frequent. The results show that the use of strategies is driven by the characteristics of the target language, previous language learning experiences, and learners’ competence. These results have implications regarding the specific teaching needs of third language learners with the aim of developing plurilingual abilities in the long run.
Downloads
References
Bui, G. y Teng, F. (2021). Exploring complexity in L2 and L3 motivational systems: a dynamic systems theory perspective. The Language Learning Journal, 49 (3), 302-317. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2019.1610032.
Chamot, A. U. (2001). The role of learning strategies in second language acquisition. En M.P. Breen (ed.), Learner contributions to language learning: New Directions in Research. Harlow: Longman.
Cenoz, J. y Hoffmann, C. (2003). Acquiring a third language: what role does bilingualism play? The International Journal of Bilingualism, 7 (1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1177/136700690300700101.
Cohen, A. D. (2011). Strategies in learning and using a second language. Routledge.
Consejo de Europa. (2001). Marco común europeo de referencia para las lenguas: aprendizaje, enseñanza, evaluación. Madrid: Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. Instituto Cervantes. https://cvc.cervantes.es/ensenanza/biblioteca_ele/marco/cvc_mer.pdf.
Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The L2 motivational self system. En: Z. Dörnyei y E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 9–42). Multilingual Matters.
Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning – the role of attitudes and motivation. Edward Arnold.
Gardner, R. C. y Lambert, W.. E. (1959). Motivational variables in second language acquisition. Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue Canadienne de Psychologie, 13 (4), 266–272. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED031968.
Gavriilidou, Z. y Mitits, L. (2016). Adaptation of the strategy inventory for language learning (SILL) for students aged 12-15 into Greek: Developing an adaptation protocol. Selected Papers of the 21st International Symposium on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics (ISTAL 21), 588-601. https://doi.org/10.26262/istal.v21i0.5256.
Gobierno de México. (2019). Modelo de aprendizaje. Centro de Lenguas Extranjeras Unidad Santo Tomás. https://www.ipn.mx/stomas.cenlex/aprendizaje/.
Haukås, Å. (2015). A comparison of L2 and L3 learners’ strategy use in school settings. The Canadian Modern Language Review/La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes, 71 (4), 383–405. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.2701.
Kemp, C. (2007). Strategic processing in grammar learning: do multilinguals use more strategies? International Journal of Multilingualism, 4 (4), 241-261. https://doi.org/10.2167/ijm099.0.
Lasagabaster, D., Doiz, A. y Sierra, J. M. (Eds.). (2014). Motivation and foreign language learning. From theory to practice. John Benjamins.
Macaro, E. (2001). Learning strategies in foreign and second language classrooms. Londres: Continuum.
Minera R., L. E. (2010). El cuestionario MAALE, técnica para recolección de datos de las variables afectivas motivación y actitudes en el aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera. RedELE. Revista Electrónica de Didáctica Español Lengua Extranjera, 7 (19). https://www.educacionyfp.gob.es/dctm/redele/Material-RedEle/Revista/2010_19/2010_redELE_19_03Minera.pdf?documentId=0901e72b80dd2779.
Oliveira, A. L. y Ançã, M. H. (2009). I speak five languages?: fostering plurilingual competence through language awareness. Language Awareness, 18 (3-4), 403-421. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658410903197355.
O’Malley, J. M. y Chamot, A. U. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge University Press.
Oxford, R. L. (1990). Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Oxford, R. L. (2017). Teaching and researching language learning strategies. Self-regulation in context. Routledge.
Pavlenko, A. (2005). Emotions and multilingualism. Cambridge University Press.
Psaltu-Joycey, A. y Kantaridou, Z. (2009). Plurilingualism, language learning strategy use and learning style preferences. International Journal of Multilingualism, 6 (4), 460-474. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790710903254620.
Rubin, J. (1975). What the “good language learner” can teach us. TESOL Quarterly, 9 (1), 41-51. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3586011.pdf.
Salas A., J. (2016). La influencia del bilingüismo en el aprendizaje de terceras lenguas. Revista de Lenguas Modernas, 24, 177-193. https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rlm/article/view/24608.
Saville-Troike, M. (2006). Introducing Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge University Press.
Tódor, E. y Dégi, Z. (2016. Language attitudes, language learning experiences and individual strategies what does school offer and what does it lack? Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica, 8 (2), 123–137. https://doi.org/10.1515/ausp-2016-0022.
Tseng, W., Dörnyei, Z. y Schmitt, N. (2006). A new approach to assessing strategic learning: The case of self-regulation in vocabulary acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 27 (1), pp. 78-102. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/ami046.
Copyright (c) 2023 Lilia E. Briones-Jurado
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
