A Study Of The Relationship Between Emotions And L2 Motivation Among Thai And Vietnamese Major Students

Though much research on the relationship between the second language(L2)motivation and emotions has been conducted in the past decades,a huge bulk of studies have overwhelmingly concentrated on negative emotions such as anxiety(Dewaele,2012;Gregersen & Mac Intyre,2014;Mac Intyre & Vincze,2017).Triggered by the introduction of Positive Psychology(PP)into second language acquisition(SLA),there have been a growing number of studies exploring L2 motivation and emotions from a positive perspective in recent years(Dewaele & Mac Intyre,2014;Deweale,et al.2018;Mac Intyre & Vincze,2017).Besides,an amount of research has shown that there is a close relationship between positive emotions and L2 motivation(Li,2020;Mac Intyre,et al.,2019;Mac Intyre & Vincze,2017).Many empirical studies take English learners as subjects,however,little is known about less-commonly taught language learners’(LCTLs)motivation and emotions in learning such as Thai and Vietnamese.Taking Gardner’s(1985)social-educational model,Clément’s(1980,1986)contextual model,and D?rnyei’s(2005)Second Language Motivational Self System(L2MSS)as theoretical frameworks,the current study aimed to address the gap by examining the correlations between positive emotions(amusement,awe,gratitude,hope,inspiration,interest,joy,serenity and pride),negative emotions(anger,shame,contempt,embarrassment,disgust,guilt,sadness,scare,stress and hate)and motivation of Thai and Vietnamese major students in their Thai and Vietnamese learning in the Chinese context.To this end,a quantitative method was adopted in this study.429 Thai and Vietnamese sophomores and juniors from seven universities in Yunnan province participated in the questionnaire.Among them,228 majored in Thai and 201 majored in Vietnamese.SPSS 22.0 was were used to analyze the collected quantitative data.The main findings of this study were as follows: 1)mean levels of emotions(2.85)and motivation(3.33)of Thai and Vietnamese majors in Yunnan province were at a medium level,and the mean level of positive emotions was higher than that of negative emotions;2)there was a significant positive correlation between positive emotions of Thai and Vietnamese majors and L2 motivation variables except learning anxiety,and a significant negative correlation between negative emotions and L2 motivation variables except learning anxiety;3)regarding the predication,the results showed that hope best predicted integrative orientation;joy best predicted the instrumental orientation and L2 competence;disgust best predicted anxiety;amusement best predicted L2 learning efforts,the ideal L2 self and the quality of contact;love best predicted the L2 ought-to-self;pride best predicted L2 confidence;inspiration best predicted the quantity of contact;interest best predicted acculturation.The findings of this study are conducive to a better understanding of the emotions and motivation of students majoring in LCTLs and provide enlightenment for the LCTLs learners learning and teaching.The thesis ends with the limitations of the study and suggestions for future research.