The Role of Students' Attitudes and Motivation in Second ... - CALICO

Eiko Ushida 63
Table 2
Correlation Between Students’ Motivation Scores and Learning Behavior and
Learning Outcomes
Variable AMTB 1 AMTB 2
Learning behavior -.29 -.38
Attendance .08 .15
Homework submission .07 .12
Online chat (teacher) .58* .59*
Online chat (language assistant) .12 .31
Bulletin board (teacher) -.21 -.08
Email communication (teacher) .13 .26
Individual meeting (teacher)
Individual meeting (language assistant)
.23 .25
Learning outcomes
Module tests .39* .52**
Midterm grade .19 .19
Final exam .06 .22
Final grade -.01 .21
Oral skill
*p < .05. **p < .01.
.08 .17
A modest nonsignificant correlation was observed between students’ motivation
scores and attendance rate and between students’ motivation scores and teachers’
ratings of students’ email communication. The highest correlation was found between
students’ module test results and their motivation at the end of the semester
(r = .52, p < .01). Other significant correlations were found between students’
module test results and their motivation at the beginning of the semester (r = .39, p
< .05), and between LAs’ rating of students’ performance for online chat sessions
and students’ motivation at the beginning of the semester (r = .58, p < .05) and
also at the end of the semester (r = .59, p < .05). Interestingly, teachers’ ratings of
students’ performance for online chat sessions were not as highly correlated as the
LAs’ ratings.
Research Question 3
What factors affect students’ attitudes and motivation and thus, at least indirectly,
affect their success in the study and learning of French and Spanish in LOL
courses?
The qualitative data was gathered and described to illustrate the way in which