Cross-cultural Videoconferencing And EFL Learner’s Motivation

This study explores the effect of videoconferencing on the EFL undergraduates’ intrinsic motivation (Gardner,1983; Deci&Ryan,1985,2002). It is a classroom-based investigation, carried out in the fall of2012, on culture-related issues, among learners of Capital Normal University, China and Waseda University, Japan, with English as the working language. The data was collected through a questionnaire (with71participants), interviews (3participants), field observations and transcription of the recorded discussion (6videoconference sessions). The field observation transcripts were used to verify the results of the questionnaire and interviews.The find ings revealed that videoconference beneficially enhanced learners’ motivation as predicted by Self-Determination Theory with three needs satisfied as the prerequisite: the need for autonomy (the extent learners were in control of the discussion topics), the need for relatedness (the extent to which a learner feels included in the interaction), and the need for competence (the extent to which a learner feels competent with respect to tasks and learning activities).