A Study Of Learning Motivation Of Paying And Free-paying International Students Learning Chinese In China

Learning motivation is one of the most important affective factors in Chinese learning. It can directly influence the use of learning strategies, the efforts students made and the persistence of learning.Based on the second language teaching research at home and abroad, with reference to the research results in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, this study investigates and analyses the learning motivation of paying international students and free-paying international students. The ultimate goal of this research is to find out the traits of those two types of students and how the learning cost influences their Chinese learning motivations, in order to give reference and suggestions on better teaching and management of the two types of students.The investigation found that each type of students has their characteristic on learning motivation intensity, motivation types and the impact of learning cost on motivation. For the motivation intensity, both types of students show a relatively strong motivation without significant differences. For the learning motivation type, paying international students tend to instrumental motivation while free-paying international students tend to integrate motivation, which reveals the prominent differences between the two types of students. For the impact of learning cost which is mainly consisted of tuition and living expense, learning motivations of paying international students are influenced little by the change of tuition, however, their motivations are influenced strongly by the change of living expense.Accordingly, relevant suggestions for two types of students on Chinese teaching, organizing and management are given:teachers and administrators should carry on concrete analysis according to the specific circumstances of two types of students, and take different teaching methods, teaching organization form and management mode, in order to stimulate their learning motivation and improve their educational performance.