Investigations of Engagement, and Positive and Negative Emotions in L2/ L3 for Japanese University Students

Author Information

Rieko Nishida, Osaka University, Japan
Maya McEown, Waseda University, Japan
Kristopher McEown, The University of Tokyo, Japan
James Ellinger, Nippon Medical School in Tokyo, Japan

Abstract

Engagement and positive and negative emotions in L2/L3 learning has recently attracted the attention of L2 researchers and practitioners in and outside Japan. In this regard, we will describe the overall tendencies of Japanese university students’ engagement, motivation, willingness to communicate and anxiety. We will also investigate how these factors in L2/L3 interrelate to each other. The study was conducted in the academic year of 2023, and students took an online version of the questionnaire. All students were required to study English as an L2 and also required to study German, Frech, Chinese, Russian, Spanish or Korean as an L3. The research questions were to identify the overall tendencies of engagement, motivation, willingness to communicate and anxiety in L2/L3 (RQ1), and to explore the inter-relationship between engagement, motivation, willingness to communicate and anxiety in L2/L3 in the Japanese context (RQ2). In comparing with L2 and L3, in L2 students showed higher engagement, motivation, and willingness to communicate and revealed lower anxiety than L3. Strong correlations were observed between L2 and L3 anxiety (.715), L3 behavioral engagement and L3 emotional engagement (.718), and also L3 emotional engagement and L3 cognitive engagement (.750). In addition, two models for L2 and L3 were calculated. In the L2 model, a strong path was observed from motivation to engagement (.82), and in the L3 model, a strong path was observed from engagement to willingness to communicate (.85). In this presentation, an overall summary of the present study will be discussed.

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• Category: Psychology and Education

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

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