Developing Strategies for Motivating Australian Secondary Students to Learn Chinese

This case study, conducted by an Australian University, at a main-stream school in New South Wales, and a community language school in Victoria, focuses on developing effective strategies for teaching Chinese to native English-speaking secondary school students. With increasing importance of Asian language and literacy in Australian schools, particularly Chinese, it is crucial to address questions regarding student motivation and effective teaching practices. This study aims to understand how to promote non-Chinese heritage-background learners’ interest in the Chinese language. The research employed a mixed qualitative method, including classroom observations, in-depth interviews, and student focus groups. Three main findings emerged: intrinsic and extrinsic factors to motivation, the effectiveness of various pedagogies, and the relations between using effective pedagogies and maintaining motivation for learning Chinese. Practical recommendations for motivating secondary students to learn Chinese are proposed and discussed. The study fills a gap in understanding how to motivate monolingual English-speaking Australian secondary students to learn Chinese and has wide implications for teaching and learning Chinese across all levels of educational institutions. It also sheds light on the teaching and learning of various Languages Other Than English (LOTE) in Australia and other English-speaking countries.