Research On Chinese Learning Motivation Of Russian University Students In The Context Of COVID-19

The study of second language learning motivation began in the second half of the 20 th century,and soon became a hot topic in educational research circles.However,for a long time,most of the research on second language learning motivation has focused on the research of English learning motivation.In the past decade,scholars in the field have begun to emphasize the importance of studying motivation in languages other than English.At the same time,recently scholars faced a new question that is how social,political,economic and other events affect students’ motivation to learn foreign languages.Based on these two major trends in research,this paper conducts an in-depth study on the motivation of Russian university students to learn Chinese under the COVID-19 pandemic.The literature review traces the history of second language learning motivation research,and makes a review around Chinese learning motivation research and Russian learners’ Chinese learning motivation research.In order to explore the motivation of Russian university students to learn Chinese under the COVID-19 pandemic,a questionnaire was collected from 100 Russian university students.Data is analyzed by gender of the students and age of the students.And with the help of some hypotheses related to the COVID-19 pandemic,the possible impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on the motivation of Russian university students to learn Chinese is analyzed.According to the survey results,the following conclusions are drawn and corresponding countermeasures are put forward to stimulate and maintain the motivation of Russian university students to learn Chinese: 1)Under the COVID-19 pandemic,Russian university students have a strong motivation to learn Chinese.The data analysis shows that the integrational motivation of Russian university students is stronger than the instrumental motivation;2)There is no significant difference in motivation between different gender groups;3)There are obvious differences in the motivation of studying Chinese between Russian university students of different age,that is,the motivation to learn foreign languages declines with age;4)The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the interest and motivation of Russian university students to learn Chinese is very obvious,and this impact has individual characteristics.Finally,based on the conclusions corresponding measures to enhance the motivation to learn Chinese are proposed at the Chinese student level,teacher level and school management level.It is hoped that the results of this paper will not only draw scholars’ attention to the current situation with Russian students’ Chinese learning motivation,but also provide more reference value for future research on the influence of surrounding socio-political,economic and language phenomena on second language learning motivation.