Section 1: Revised Motivation Case
Who is the learner?
Daniel Farmer (me) is a current online student getting an MA in Education at MSU. He has returned to school after 5 years since he completed his undergrad. He considers himself a lifelong learner and thinks learning is important. He has a growing list of things he intends to learn. Within the next year he hopes to start a family with his wife. His wife is Taiwanese, and they intend to raise their kid speaking multiple languages.
His Mandarin skills are limited to restaurant interactions and other “survival” language. While it has improved over the years (since he’s lived in Taiwan) now that he is leaving, he is concerned about losing progress and being severely limited in supporting his wife’s effort to teach their future child.
What does the learner’s motivation issue look like?
His motivation to study Mandarin has been primarily fueled by the opportunity to talk to more people and make life easier in Taiwan. That is now shifting as he thinks about parenthood, and maintaining a relationship with his mother-in-law, who will remain in Taiwan. He feels less motivated to do the rote tasks typical in Mandarin-learning environments, despite understanding the efficacy of those methods. These tasks include character writing repetition practice, studying tones, and vocabulary memorization. When he is in a class (which he occasionally picks up) he is curious about what is being taught and highly engaged, but isn’t able to use what happens in the classroom, making it easy to stop taking classes.
To date, he has only attended private one-on-one classes, both in-person and online. Those classes are typically structured around a textbook. Daniel is comfortable with the textbook format, but is not able to convert much of it to use. By 45 minutes in (to a typical one hour session) Daniel started to lose focus and would be more interested in a detail from a bigger picture lens (such as what a certain phrasing says about Taiwanese or culture) instead of the mechanics of the language which the teacher was trying to share. He has also not engaged much with actual characters, which typically require much more intensive studying, memorization, and repetition.
Further, he was quick to find a reason to cancel or reschedule class.
What is the learning task?
Currently, he is involved in no learning tasks. In the past it has been following a textbook chapter which shared a few new vocabulary words, a grammar concept, and reviewing a dialogue that involved the words and concept. This was done almost exclusively in pinyin (the roman phonetic spelling of characters). He took one-on-one classes at a school and at a different time he took one-on-one online classes during his lunch break. Taking classes at the school was less motivating because the teachers were more structured in their approach. The lessons were scaffolded in a way that did not always allow time for all of Daniel’s questions. The online classes were more conversational and flexible, so Daniel spoke more and used more of what happened in class out in the world. The tasks many people encourage for Mandarin learning involve studying characters and writing as well, but Daniel has yet to be willing to take that on.
He has textbooks that he isn’t opening and knows of classes he is not attending. The options for future learning tasks include finding a teacher, a conversation partner, and/or a self-study regimen. The motivation for a teacher and more formal classes is the accountability and efficiency of such a learning environment. The motivation for a conversation partner is to satisfy more of the social aspect of the language and learning to speak more naturally. The motivation to self-study is to have ultimate flexibility in maintaining other aspects of his lifestyle.
Other Comments
Daniel’s primary concern is if he does not find the proper motivation to actively engage in Mandarin now, as he transitions away from Taiwan, he will lose connection with his mother-in-law and will be unable to support his wife in incorporating her mother tongue in their future family together.
Section 2: Revised Motivational Assessment
Section A: The learner, the task, and the motivational problem
I am the learner in this case. I am a Masters student at MSU who has consistent motivation in school. Out of school, I enthusiastically learn things that I find fun to engage in. However, as an informal student of Mandarin, there is a clear motivation problem. I can share my interest in speaking Mandarin. Primarily, this has to do with honoring my wife’s heritage and connecting with her family. Despite the stated desire, I have not managed to stay in Mandarin classes for longer than 2 months. When in lessons, I found reasons to reschedule or cancel classes altogether. When learning activities involved rote memorization and repetition, I rushed through or otherwise attempted to avoid those activities. When outside of class, while living in Taiwan, I was eager to use the Mandarin I know, and could pick up new vocabulary in the context of everyday life. However, that enthusiasm rarely translated into the classroom. Further, I never built a practice of self-study.
Since submitting my Motivational Case, I have set the goal of learning to speak and write one new phrase a week. This week is the start of that endeavor, and I have sat down on 3 of the last seven days to practice. I have also begun to calculate what I can afford to spend on Mandarin lessons and found potential teachers.
Section B: Preconditions
Supportive environments
In the past, the criteria of a supportive environment has primarily been unmet. While my past Mandarin teachers were all lovely people dedicated to my education, the physical environment was never quite right. In my first attempt at Mandarin class, classes were held in tiny grey classrooms. In my second attempt, I took them online during my lunch break, where I was easily distracted by tests I needed to grade or interrupted by teachers needing to discuss something with me. Furthermore, the expectations were unclear, other than to learn more Mandarin. We did not set specific goals for my learning.
Appropriate challenges
This criteria is a challenging one in my case. While early classes were well-suited to my level as a beginner, later classes felt either too easy or too hard. After setting a specific actionable goal since the Motivation Case assignment, I feel able to create the right amount of challenge. I am quickly bored by beginner textbooks, and quickly confused by intermediate ones, so finding and creating challenges that match my particular level is critical.
Continuous monitoring
Continuous monitoring is the most challenging criteria of the seven. Tracking language progress in a non-academic setting is difficult. Standardized measures of Mandarin level are not well-aligned with what I want to be able to do with the language. In the past, tracking progress through textbooks did not accurately reflect how much I was able to communicate with people and any assessments did not provide useful information. This criteria needs continued thought and ideas to be effective.
Individual and collaborative goals
To date, I have never learned Mandarin in a group setting. It has always been just the teacher and me. This represents another area for improvement in my motivation, especially for this learning goal. Language is about collaboration and community, so including that in study will be necessary. I could benefit from a learning community. While this is not part of an immediate intervention, a second stage to my intervention will be to either join a conversation club or a group class. Further, the social aspect of this learning goal is already an important motivation factor and should be incorporated in the learning tasks.
Meaningful objectives
This is the criteria that is best met. While the goal setting has not been as specific or proximal as it ought to be, being able to communicate with my mother-in-law and include Mandarin in the home and family that my wife and I want to build together is meaningful. As self-determination theory recognizes, being able to relate to my wife’s family, and feel that I belong with them is a valuable motivation factor. I make a point to remember words that I might be able to say to my mother-in-law. She is the person with whom I attempt to speak in Mandarin with the most.
Teacher expertise
My previous teachers were unquestionably qualified to teach me Mandarin. They were all native speakers with degrees or certifications in Mandarin instruction. However, they taught a “textbook” Mandarin that did not always reflect the Mandarin spoken everyday in Taiwan. In that sense, there was slight misalignment and I had to relearn phrasing outside of the classroom to sound more natural.
Responsive instruction
As a student, especially given that my instruction was one-on-one, I ensured that my teachers were considering my specific curiosities and would ask to be indulged in certain tangential ideas.
Section C: Approaches
What approaches are used to motivate learning? How well are they working? Give supporting evidence.
Behavioral: carrot and stick
So far, behavioral approaches have not been implemented. I will not implement the stick, because I want to always love the language, maintain positive associations, and fear that it would create incentive to give up to avoid accepting punishment. I am learning Mandarin because I want to, and maintaining that spirit is important to my motivation.
As far as the carrot goes, I already indulge in delight whenever I want to so I would need to first withhold something to create any kind of extrinsic reward. This requires self-control I may not have, or involving a dedicated teacher who could implement a strategy for me.
Intrinsic motivation: interests, task value, and inherent enjoyment
Maximizing and utilizing intrinsic motivation is the crux of my approach. Applying Deci and Ryan’s work on self-determination theory to my motivation challenge offers critical insight. Being autonomous in my relationship with my mother-in-law is important to me. Additionally, being able to accomplish any task involving Mandarin without relying on my wife is something I value. Feeling competent in my ability to communicate is an important motivating factor. I am encouraged by moments of successfully expressing something new or understanding a conversation for which I was present. Relatedness comes into play heavily by virtue of having married into a Taiwanese family. I value being a member of that family and want to integrate as much as possible. Even though my wife and I have now moved to the US, I have a desire to relate to the East Asian community in Philadelphia, and Mandarin is a necessary component.
These factors are what I remind myself of whenever I have taken classes and whenever I sit down to study. Those reminders convince me to engage even when other factors are working against my motivation.
Cognitive: learning goals, beliefs, self-perceptions
While motivation to learn has not been a specific consideration in this case so far, as a learner I view myself as someone who can learn anything, is smart and adept,.and everything I do not know is simply something I have yet to learn. This is inherently a helpful viewpoint when approaching Mandarin. This belief, coupled with my desire to belong to my wife’s family, offer a strong foundation upon which I have set goals and developed a motivational strategy.
Section D: TARGET Analysis
Task:
The tasks associated with learning characters are generally not interesting. However, thanks to the feedback on my Motivational Case, I have a task that represents an appropriate challenge and I find interesting. I have begun learning what I need to in order to write a sweet, single-sentence note to my partner. Choosing to structure my learning around things I either want to say to my wife or to my mother-in-law has improved my motivation.
To address the boring tasks of memorization, I want to find online games geared toward younger students that might ease the lack of interest in rote memorization.
Authority:
At this juncture, I have complete authority over my learning and learning activities. Relying on books and online resources for expertise gives me the space to choose my engagement with the material. A limitation in being the only person involved in the learning process is I can miss options for learning activities by virtue of my singular perspective. While I have all the authority, I am limited in my perspective.
Recognition:
My partner is quick to recognize my improvement and I am not too shy to feel pride in my accomplishments. However, an element that would be helpful is a way to track my progress to be able to see improvement clearly. I have decided to incorporate an extrinsic reward for a mid-range goal to recognize my progress and add to my overall motivation.
Group:
There is not a group learning environment involved in this case. Joining group classes or conversation clubs will be a good step in encouraging further engagement and providing more opportunities for practice. In other learning environments, being in community has held me accountable and increased my motivation to engage in learning activities. It could do the same here, but would require working to find that community. It will become important to augment opportunities to speak and utilize the language as I grow my vocabulary and this will be the area on which to focus.
Evaluation:
As a self-study practitioner all recognition of progress is inherently individual. However, formal evaluation is missing in this case. Solving this would be best accomplished by joining a class that aligns with everyday, usable, Taiwanese Mandarin. Another important task in addressing evaluation is setting clear proximal goals that are meaningful to me.
Time:
Given the nature of my self-study, I am able to choose the moments I sit down to practice. Those moments are always when the energy is high and I feel most motivated to practice. It will be critical for me to consider when will be the best time to incorporate Mandarin practice once I build a routine in my new living situation.
Section E: Conclusions and Looking Ahead
Based on your analysis, what are the key ways in which the learner is motivated? How well do these work? Give supporting evidence.
Intrinsic motivation is the most powerful factor established in this case. The desire to communicate and connect with my mother-in-law has been great enough to periodically overcome disinterest in learning activities. The intrinsic motivation is what returns me to the drawing board of wanting to figure out how to learn Mandarin.
The most important factors moving forward are choosing the right learning tasks and setting learning goals. Since deciding to address this problem, I have found learning activities that are appealing in their own right. An interesting activity seems to be the right push to lead to engagement. I am quick to do something sweet, like figure out how to write “I love you” on an index card for my wife to find. However, understanding the TARGET model and the multiple factors of motivation as shown in Wentzel (2021), clear, proximal, meaningful goals will be instrumental in maintaining motivation over time.
What additional information would you want to collect to help you understand this learner and situation?
Additional information important to this case are alternative options to traditional Mandarin instruction. There must be teachers and tutors focused on Taiwanese Mandarin and culture. Similarly, there must be Mandarin teachers who focus on usability of the language. Being the learner in this case, there is no information about myself that I want to collect, however, I will need more information about my options for study.
Based on your analysis what kind of changes would you implement, if you could?
A critical change that would be helpful is a group element. Introducing other learners, or teachers, would deepen motivation. I would be motivated to engage with them, given the inherent element of relating in learning language. It would add an external motivation factor of accountability to the learning community. I would also gain more variety in my learning activities to ensure they remain interesting.
Section 3: Proposed Motivational Intervention
Description of Proposed Motivational Strategies
As my own learner, outside of a formal context, my motivational intervention has various parts to meet the TARGET model and maximize opportunity for increased motivation.
The motivational strategy I designed includes: learning phrases to write to my wife and mother-in-law, online memorization games, simple character writing worksheets, and successfully writing ten notes, rewarding myself with a trip to the movie theater.
Historically, the tasks have been one of the biggest barriers in my Mandarin education. Character study is rote and boring. To a certain extent, I need to maintain some of those rote tasks to be effective. However, they will be complemented with online memorization games using such websites as Quizlet. This changes some of the tasks to appeal to a competitive nature. While competition is not always an ideal motivator, as it can lead to social comparison, as the only learner, I am only competing to be better than myself. Furthermore, the characters I am memorizing and practicing are all chosen phrases and sentences that I can say or write to my wife or mother-in-law to express a chosen sentiment to them. Being able to write little notes and say sweet things to these two women in my life are tasks that are of high value to me.
Being outside of a formal learning environment gives me all of the authority. This offers significant drawbacks in other areas, however, all of the learning activities are catered directly to me. In the long term, this intervention should lead to a class or group study of some kind. It will be important that my goals and the goals of any teachers or peers are aligned with my own to ensure motivation in the realm of authority is maintained.
Recognition is one of the more challenging elements of the TARGET model to incorporate into a self-study practice. In this case, some of the recognition is outsourced to my partner and her mother, as I will receive praise from them whenever I write or share something meaningful to them. To build further incentive, for each completed note that I share, I will set aside one dollar toward a “Treat Myself” fund. This builds extrinsic motivation that complements the inherent intrinsic motivation in a self-study practice. Further, treating myself to a trip to the movie theater, which is a luxury I rarely afford myself, I am further incentivized to continue practicing.
Another challenging area for this particular case is grouping. I am managing my learning independently. There is no teacher nor are their peers at this point. There is an element of group accountability that would be valuable in this case. However, I have not found the right class for me. A part two of this motivational intervention will inevitably include either a small group class or other learning community (i.e. conversation club). This would also prove valuable to the effectiveness of my learning as I need to be able to use the language with real people.
Evaluation is a critical component of my intervention. By delivering notes to my wife, she either will or will not be able to read what I write. Without question, she will be quick to correct me if my strokes are not correct. In addition, to be able to track my progress, I will complement my note writing with simple worksheets that teach the most common 100 characters. My progress through these worksheets is a way to track and evaluate how much I am learning.
Dedicating appropriate time to my practice has been a challenge with my fluctuating schedule. However, I am finally settled into a home and decided to commit to a 10 minute character practice every morning. This serves as a chance to help wake me up, and eliminates the likelihood that other happenings in the day interfere with my study.
Rationale
The biggest barriers to my Mandarin education in the past was lack of meaningful activities and short goals. The activities were boring and the only “goal” was to be better at Mandarin. Now, my strategy brings meaning and emotional value to my learning. Focusing on the value of communicating with my family increases my motivation to study. Further, setting proximal goals that are specific creates an increased sense of achievability that motivates me to complete the tasks.
Expected Outcomes/Results
Over the course of the last ten days, I studied Mandarin for eight of them. When I sit down to practice, I am focused, and do not attempt to multitask. I wrote one note for my wife which further increased my confidence. I cannot foresee further barriers in my continued self study. However, I recognize a limitation in how much I can achieve without eventually finding or teacher or places to regularly practice with other people.