Katarzyna Korona
A study on motivation and adjustment of Mandarin language learning among European
students in Taiwan
Keywords: learning motivation, learning adjustment, Mandarin, European students,
Mandarin Chinese Education
In recent years, it has become a trend for European people to learn Mandarin language,
thats also one of the reasons why the amount of Europeans in Taiwan has been
continuously increasing. This research was undertaken to explore the current situation of
motivation and adjustment of Mandarin language learning among European students in
Taiwan. In order to achieve the goal of this study, method of questionnaire survey was
used, the instrument was “The questionnaire on motivation and adjustment of Mandarin
language learning among European students in Taiwan”. Respondents were the European
students taking Mandarin courses in Mandarin language centers during April 2013.
The questionnaire was administered to 2 Mandarin language centers per each area of
Taiwan (north, middle and south- a total of 6 centers), which attracted the largest amount
of European students in 2011: National Taiwan Normal University Mandarin Training
Center, Chinese Culture University Mandarin Learning Center, Sun Yat Sen University
Chinese Language Center, Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages Chinese Language
Center, Feng Chia University Chinese Language Center, Providence University Chinese
Language Education Center. 144 copies of the questionnaire were valid and the effective
response rate was 95%. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, one way ANOVA
and Pearson’s product-moment correlation were used to analyze the data.
The important findings were as follows:
1. 1. The European students in Taiwan appeared to be strongly motivated to learn