Browsing by Subject "Chinese as a foreign language"

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    Construction of a Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) anxiety scale : towards a theoretical model of foreign language anxiety
    (2011-05) Luo, Han; Horwitz, Elaine Kolker, 1950-; Garza, Thomas J.; Wen, Xiaohong; Whittaker, Tiffany A.
    The main purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) Anxiety Scale based on a sound theoretical model of CFL Anxiety. Furthermore, the study attempted to discuss the influence of background variables on CFL Anxiety and the relationships between CFL Anxiety and other learning variables such as motivation, self-perceived language achievement, etc.. A total of 428 students studying Chinese in two U.S. universities participated in the study. Based on the results of item analysis, the researcher retained 16 items in the final CFL Anxiety Scale. EFA performed on responses to the 16 items from the 245 participants at the southwestern university yielded three factors: CFL Speaking Anxiety, Listening Anxiety, and Reading & Writing Anxiety. These results provided evidence for the construct validity of the CFL Anxiety Scale. Correlation analyses between the 16- item CFL Anxiety Scale and other related measures showed that the CFL Anxiety Scale had high convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity. The internal consistency reliabilities of the final 16-item CFL Anxiety Scale and its three subscales (i.e., Speaking, Listening, and Reading & Writing Anxiety scales) performed on responses from the 428 participants yielded Cronbach’s Alphas of .898, .837, .802, .and 875. ANOVA and MAVOVA analyses revealed that heritage-learning status and proficiency level had significant effects on CFL Anxiety, CFL Speaking Anxiety, Listening Anxiety, and Reading & Writing Anxiety. Heritage learners with Chinese language background were significantly less anxious than heritage learners without Chinese language background and non-heritage learners. Advanced learners experienced significantly lower levels of CFL Anxiety than elementary and intermediate learners. In addition, seven variables: age, perception of difficulty of Chinese, motivation in learning Chinese, self-perceived language learning abilities, self-perceived achievement in the Chinese class, self-expectations in the Chinese class, and perception of importance of Chinese were found to be significantly correlated with CFL Anxiety, and altogether explained 33.2%, 20.5%, 14.8%, and 33.1% of variances in CFL Anxiety, Speaking Anxiety, Listening Anxiety, and Reading & Writing Anxiety respectively.
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    Fangyan-speaking learners of Mandarin Chinese in U.S. universities : experiences of students with heritage backgrounds in Chinese languages other than Mandarin
    (2010-08) Hsiao, Jennifer Ching-hui; Horwitz, Elaine Kolker, 1950-; Schallert, Diane L.; Kelm, Orlando R.; Maloch, Anna E.; Teng, Wen-Hua
    With the rising importance of Mandarin Chinese since the 80s, researchers have paid more attention to the Mandarin learners of heritage backgrounds who can understand or speak Mandarin Chinese before entering Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) programs. However, the study of Fangyan-speaking learners of Mandarin Chinese has been long neglected and still remains scarce. This interview study was conducted with twelve Fangyan-speaking learners of Mandarin in U.S. universities with an aim of investigating the linguistic knowledge and ethno-cultural identities that Fangyan-speaking students bring to college-level CFL classrooms. Another focus of this study is to investigate the perception Fangyan-speaking students have about their linguistic abilities and what Fangyan-speaking students are perceived to be the expectations of their instructors and peers. This study was conducted in two CFL programs: a long-established dual-track program in a research university and a newly-established mixed track program in a teaching university. Both Fangyan-speaking students and their instructors were recruited for interviews and document data were collected from both students and their instructors. A modification of Krashen’s Input Hypothesis (1981) was employed in categorizing four types of Mandarin input, in which Cantonese pronunciation for reading purposes and media consumption were found to play important roles in Fangyan-speaking students’ Mandarin learning. Analysis of the data also revealed that Fangyan-speaking participants’ ethno-cultural identities may exhibit a nature of “hybridity” (Young, 1995) owing to their family immigration histories. Implications derived from the findings are offered for researchers, practitioners, and administrators of programs that serve tertiary CFL learners.