Factors affecting second language learning motivation of non-Chinese heritage learners

¶ … Second Language Learning Motivations of Non-Heritage Chinese Learners in University Credit Courses

The 21st century has been dubbed the "Century of Asia" with China leading the way. Moreover, the number of people who speak some form of Chinese all over the world is enormous, and many experts suggest that individuals who are bilingual and fluent in Chinese as a second language will be in big demand in the future. This demand is being fueled to some degree by the need for Chinese speakers in North America as well. For instance, over the course of the next 2 decades, the respective representation of minorities in Canada is projected to continue to increase so that, by the year 2016, it is estimated that visible minorities will likely comprise close to 20% of the adult population and 25% of children. In addition, within the population of visible minorities, the growth rate of specific groups is expected to differ, leading to increased diversification. In 1991, Chinese, Blacks, and Indo - Pakistanis accounted for the largest percentage of visible minorities in Canada (Esses & Gardner, 1996). According to Statistic Canada (2009), the Chinese heritage population in Ottawa is 30,760, about 3.8% of the total population of the city. This includes speakers of both Mandarin and Cantonese. In connection with China's fast growing economy and its greater role on the world stage, Chinese learning by non-Chinese-heritage learners is starting to attract more interest in the language market. In this environment, identifying opportunities for improving the delivery of Chinese language courses represents a timely and valuable enterprise. To this end, this study examines aspects of the Mandarin language learning students in University of Ottawa Chinese courses.

The study upon which this interim report-based has been designed to determine how motivation plays a role for non- heritage learners in this program in their effective acquisition of the Chinese language and an understanding of a centuries-old culture more. The students are from various backgrounds. Apart from students born in Canada, there are those who were from Vietnam, Peru, France, Laos, United States, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Germany, etc. Most of these students are bilingual (their family tongue is either English or French) or multilingual. Some students are able to speak three languages when they enter the program.

The students who have non-Chinese background are different from all other Chinese heritage language students on site. Heritage students are able to more or less use Mandarin or Cantonese in daily living contexts at minimal basic level, thanks to their family background. These non-Chinese heritage students should be specially taken care of because they are usually a group of multi-aged students from college age to senior age. The special features of this group in a classroom can afforded a unique opportunity of the researcher to look more closely at the various factors that may have influenced their varying levels of performance.

This report is composed of the following sections: (1) Introduction; (2) Statement of Research Questions; (3) Literature Review and Theoretical Framework (4) Research Methodology; (5) Results and Implications.

The introduction provides a brief overview of (a) the background of the research; (b) the research question; (c) and general information of research participants. The second section delivers a statement of the research questions that drive the entire project. In this section, there are statements pertaining to (a) what the researcher wants to argue; (b) the significance of the study; and (c) what motivated the researcher to pursue this study. The third section outlines the literature pertinent to the topic. Gaps in the literature will be highlighted in this section as a way to further argue for the significance of this study. Theoretical framework outlined the viewpoint from which the researcher has approached the study. In this section, the researcher relates theories of L2 teaching and learning (Stern, 1983, p.1) to heritage language teaching (Duff, 2008, p. 71) and international language instruction (Tavares, 2001, p. 199). These theories with be discussed with special reference to the motivational factors that affect L2 acquisition (Dornyei, 2001; Gliksman, Gardner, & Smythe, 1982. Gardner, R.C., & Lysynchuk, 1990). The next section goes over the research methodology employed for the study in which the researcher explains (a) the choice of qualitative case study methodology; (b) the potential difficulties and limitations of the proposed procedures; (c) and the procedures employed for data collection and analysis.

(2)

Statement of Research Question

The design the project is targeting at non-Chinese heritage learners who are interested in learning Mandarin in a university. For this research, the purpose is to explore the factors that affect the learning motivations in order to discuss the ways to effectively maintain learner's interests in staying in the program. The research questions that will be used to guide the proposed study are as follows:

A.

How do non-academic activities affect students' motivation of learning the language?

B.

How does peer-influence affect the learning motivation?

C.

What are other factors affect the learning motivation?

(3)

Literature Review and Theoretical Framework

L2 teaching and learning

The cultural landscape of Canada has changed in fundamental ways in recent years and current projections indicate that further changes can be expected in the future. In fact, over the next 20 years or so, the representation of visible minorities in Canada is expected to continue to rise so that, by the year 2016, it is estimated that so-called "visible minorities" will probably account for at least 20% of the adult population and a full quarter of the children of the Canadian population (Kelly, 1995). In addition, the respective growth rates for the different segments of the visible minority populations are projected to be significantly different, an outcome that is expected to result in additional cultural diversification in Canadian society (Esses & Gardner, 1996).

By 1991, Chinese, blacks, and Indo-Pakistanis represented the most populous segments of Canada's visible minorities; at this point, the West Asian and Arab segments who were living in Canada were projected to experience the fastest growth rates well into the 21st century while blacks and Indo-Pakistanis were projected to experience the slowest growth rates (Kelly, 1995). These trends are going to have some inevitable effects on Canada's demographic composition and will affect the demand for bilingual individuals in the future (Esses & Gardner, 1996). Therefore, many non-heritage Chinese language students in Canadian universities who are motivated to learn Chinese as a second language may be doing so based strictly on a desire to improve their career prospects. For example, Robinson (2005) reports that undergraduate students who pursue high-demand second language skills today will be able to find desirable employment opportunities where others will not in the future. According to Robinson, "Those who understand the needs of the work environment and prepare accordingly position themselves to be competitive in the marketplace. Learning a foreign language is absolutely another evolutionary step that must be achieved in order to remain competitive. People who speak multiple languages have employment advantages" (p. 72). This author cites the results of a recent study conducted by an online job search service that showed that out of almost 1,500 executives in the $100,000-plus job market range, fully 16% found that Chinese would be the most useful foreign language at the their jobs (Robinson, 2005).

Other non-heritage Chinese language students, though, may be motivated by other reasons which can affect how hard they will work to achieve academic success and whether they will go on to complete higher levels of proficiency. After all, learning Chinese as a second language is not one of the easier alternatives that are available to most university students and it is likely that the attrition rate for these students is higher than other second languages courses. As Jiang and Ramsey (2005) emphasize, "Chinese is a tonal language and smooth communication relies crucially on correct pronunciation of tones, which frequently poses difficulties for native English-speaking learners" (p. 48). Therefore, learning what motivates non-heritage Chinese second language learners can help educators improve their chances for success. To this end, the study of what motivates some people to pursue a second language was helped along by the work of researchers during the second half of the 20th century, who are discussed further below.

The introduction of motivational psychology to the study of second language education was fueled in large part by the work of two pioneers in the field, R.C. Gardner, who developed a motivational theory that is specific to second language learning and J.H. Schumann, who elaborated and expanded on Gardner's motivational theory to develop a model he called "acculturation." In this regard, Schumann (1978) believed that if the culture people want to live in is different from their native culture, they will inevitably encounter obstacles to their mastery of the mainstream language in use and the cultural contact needed for assimilation is reduced as a result. Clearly, the less comfortable people are with a new culture, the less likely they will be to actively seek out opportunities for interaction and they may fail to experience the types of day-to-day exchanges that help people become accustomed to new cultural settings (Schumann, 1978). The acculturation model developed by Schumann (1978) consists of a taxonomy of variables that were developed based on the concept that both social (group) and affective (individual) variables are the primary causative variables as shown in Table __ below. In this regard, the term "acculturation" is used to refer to the learner's positive identification with, and hence social and psychological integration with, the target language group. For instance, Schumann notes that, "[T]he learner will acquire the second language only to the degree that he acculturates" (1978, p. 29).

Table

Taxonomy of variables influencing second-language acquisition

Variable

Examples

Social Factors

Dominance; Nondominance; Subordination; Assimilation; Acculturation; Preservation; Enclosure; Cohesiveness; Size; Attitude; Intended Length of Residence in Target Language Area.

Affective Factors

Language Shock; Culture Shock; Motivation; Ego-permeability.

Personality Factors

Tolerance for Ambiguity; Sensitivity to Rejection; Introversion/Extroversion; Self-esteem.

Cognitive Factors

Cognitive Development; Cognitive Processes; Imitation; Analogy; Generalization; Rote memorization; Cognitive Style; Field Dependence; Category Width; Cognitive Interference; Monitoring.

Biological Factors

Lateralization; Transfer; Infrasystems.

Aptitude Factors

Modern Language Aptitude; IQ; Strephosymbolia.

Personal Factors

Nesting Patterns; Transition Anxiety; Reaction to Teaching Methods; Choice of Learning Strategies.

Input Factors

Frequency; Salience; Complexity; Type of Interlocutor.

Instructional Factors

Goals; Teacher; Method; Text; Duration; Intesity.

Source: Schumann (1986), p. 380

Sociologists such as Geert Hofstede have been studying the effects of cross-cultural differences between countries, and his analysis of cultural dimensions for Canada and China make it clear that there are some similarities in terms of the masculinity dimension but some rather significant differences between these two countries in terms of the other four dimensions as shown in Figure __ below (see Appendix a for complete descriptions of these five cultural dimensions).

Figure __. Comparison of Geert Hofstede's Five Cultural Dimensions for Canada and China

Key:

PDI:

Power Distance Index

IDV:

Individualism

MAS:

Masculinity

UAI:

Uncertainty Avoidance Index

LTO:

Long-Term Orientation

Source: Hofstede (2010) at http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php? culture1=14&culture2=18#compare

Clearly, there are some wide gaps between China and Canada in terms of cultural factors, but this does not necessarily mean that the adverse effects of acculturation will be as powerful in Canada as in other countries where multiculturalism is not as prominent or where the political and social environment is not as welcoming to different cultures. In Canada, at least, there is widespread acceptance and toleration for other cultures that may provide a great deal of incentive for non-heritage Chinese language learners to interact with heritage speakers as well as add to their chances of using their Chinese language skills in the workplace or in their personal lives. This point is made by Morrison (2009) who notes that, "A major factor in acculturation is also the host culture and its politics. In Canada, an integrationist perspective (simultaneously maintaining ethnic and civic identities) has become legislated into the multiculturalism policy" (p. 151).

One of the fundamental aspects of Gardner's research (1985) concerned what he termed "integrative motivation" (which parallels self-concept: external, above); this type of motivation can be summarized as being the desire to learn the target language based on positive feelings for the community to which that language belongs. According to Reynolds (1991), the notion of the integrative motive as originally proposed by Gardner and Lambert (1972) was viewed as being comprised of a spectrum of attitudes and motivation that affected an individual's desire to learn a second language. In this regard, three broad categories have been proposed as follows:

1. Integrativeness: This was viewed as involving attitudes toward the second language community as well as other groups. In the context of English Canadians learning French, the concept of integrativeness was assessed in terms of three measures: Attitudes toward French Canadians, Degree of Integrative Orientation, and Interest in Foreign Languages.

2. Attitudes toward the learning situation: This category involved attitudes toward the learning situation as measured in terms of Evaluation of the French Course and Evaluation of the French Teacher.

3. Motivation: The final component of the three categories concerned motivation. It was assessed in terms of the effort expended in learning French (Motivational Intensity), Desire to Learn French, and Attitudes toward Learning French. In this representation, integrativeness and attitudes toward the learning situation were viewed as determinants of motivation, while motivation was considered to be the major determinant of second language achievement. (Language aptitude was also seen as an important determinant, of course.) Other measures were considered during the earlier research as potential means of assessing these and/or other motivational aspects, but the preceding eight measures were the ones that ultimately became the central ones (Gardner, 1985).

As noted above, when combined with the interest one has towards language learning and integration into new communities in general and the desire to integrate into the specific community in question, integral motivation forms what Gardner called integrativeness. This, in turn, can be summarized as being one's general aptitude towards learning the target language in the new community in which you find yourself. Other factors do play a part, such as one's attitude toward specific and general learning situations, and factors paralleled to instrumental motivation (as also noted above), but they are all secondary to integral motivation.

Schumann's acculturation model (1978) was an early effort to identify the relevant factors that were involved in determining whether or not groups of learners, primarily ethnic minorities, have more of a propensity to learn the language of the majority population compared to others. From an educator's perspective, the first step involved in delivering second language instruction that would be effective is to determine what is motivating them to pursue a demanding course of instruction. According to Schumann (2004), "Any theory of second language requires the specification of a mechanism to account for the acquisition and development of second language (L2) knowledge and skills" (p. 1). To this end, Schumann expanded on previous research concerning the development of pidgin and interlanguage to develop two important concepts, (a) social distance and (b) psychological distance; these two concepts were used in an attempt to explain the internal barriers minority groups have that prevent their full integration, or acculturation, into dominant language and cultural communities. This viewpoint means that to the extent that the social and psychological distances are too great between the subordinate and dominant language and cultural groups will likely be the extent to which progress to full fluency in the L2 will not occur for members of the minority. The factors that Schumann identified as being mostly responsible for social distance and psychological distance are:

1. Attitudes toward social dominance / resistance;

2. Desires for assimilation / preservation;

3. Enclosure (isolation);

4. Cohesiveness of the minority group;

5. Size of the minority group; and,

6. Other individual factors such as intended length of residence.

The important point for the purposes of this analysis, though, is that, in contrast to the wider sociological viewpoints that are used to define and describe the concept of identity, the variables identified by Schumann concentrate on the obstacles to assimilation that result from minority groupings; however, the constraints caused by the dominant language and cultural groups are not considered in Schumann's acculturation model.

Although it has not been met with universal acceptance, Gardner and Schumann have still had a great deal of influence on second language education over the years. In fact, Ellis (1985) has described the acculturation model as being among the seven most significant second language acquisition theories and the concepts of motivation and acculturation have been frequently cited with regards to various theories concerning the so-called "good language learner" (Naimen, Frohlich, Stern & Todesco, 1978) and learner strategies (Oxford, 1990). Their work has also been important in SLE curriculum development (Brown, 2000). It is interesting to note that Gardner is still active academically and has just co-written a major 'meta-analysis' of his contribution to the field (Masgoret & Gardner, 2003). As noted above, not everyone is of a like mind when it comes to Gardner and Schumann's constructs about second language acquisition. For instance, Dornyei notes that Schumann's model has come under fire as of late, a development he terms an educational shift. This shift is due to the greater emphasis being placed on the educational application of acculturation. Likewise, Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) have also criticized Schumann for being unclear as to the importance attached to the various variables in his model. This factor, they contend, makes the model unusable for classroom teachers. Despite these criticisms, the acculturation and motivation concepts introduced and refined by Gardner and Schumann and others have played a key role in the debate over how to best achieve successful academic outcomes in second language classrooms. A recent study by Lynch (2008) notes that, "Since its inception some three decades ago, the field of heritage language teaching has generally been pitched within a politics of difference. Scholars have emphasized important differences between heritage language learners and second language (L2) learners, laying the groundwork for a line of research and advocacy that has rightly emphasized the need for separate classrooms for these two principal types of students" (p. 252). Not only is every student unique, though, so too is the learning environment in which these educational services are being delivered and these issues are discussed further below.

Heritage Language Teaching and International Language Instruction

Canada's experiences with heritage language instruction among its Chinese population can help inform educators concerning some of the similar constraints and challenges involved in teaching non-heritage Chinese students. Today, Canada is an increasingly multicultural nation that remains officially bilingual in both French and English (Skeldon & Gungwu, 1999). A number of unofficial languages, though, continue to be used in various parts of Canada, such as Toronto's Chinatown, where the population has not experienced very many interactions with the larger Canadian society; in these settings, there is little acculturation with the mainstream Canadian society and Chinese continues to be used on a day-to-day basis (Skeldon & Gungwu, 1999). In yet other cases, though, sustaining an unofficial language in a larger society has not been possible. According to Skeldon and Gungwu, "Some immigrant groups who saw themselves as political exiles, waiting to go home, made great efforts to maintain their language and made their children go to Saturday language schools, an effort which was seldom successful. The pressures against maintaining the ethnic tongue were too great" (1999, p. 37).

Some minority groups in Canada that have had a strong desire to remain culturally separate from the mainstream society and which have enough money to fund their own schools have focused on religious and cultural instruction to the exclusion of language instruction and heritage languages have tended to fade in significance and use as a result. In this regard, Skeldon and Gungwo emphasize that, "There was little perceived use in knowing a language not used in Canada, and often a sense that spending too much time on such a language might in fact impede social and economic advancement" (p. 37). During the 1970s, the national Canadian government implemented a policy concerning the need for bilingualism in English and French, especially for the country's civil servants, an initiative that was eventually added to the public schools. As a result, Skeldon and Gungwo advise that "[Bilingualism] soon trickled down to the school system, and parents, especially middle-class ones, began to see English/French bilingualism as a mark of status. In Toronto, private schools which taught entirely in French were popular, as were immersion classes in the regular school system. One university campus, Glendon College (York University) offered a whole francophone university program" (Skeldon & Gungwu, 1999, p. 37).

Not surprisingly, this effort to promote bilingualism in Canada has resulted in increasing calls for instruction in other non-official languages and many Canadian schools began implementing language programs that were termed "heritage-language instruction" (Skeldon & Gungwu, 1999, p. 37). According to Corson (1999), "Heritage language programs try to maintain the minority language to some extent, while still allowing quick transition to the dominant language if necessary through ESL classes" (p. 181). Although the concept was well received, the implementation and operation of these programs was far more complex than was originally expected by Canadian authorities (Skeldon & Gungwu, 1999).

Some of the issues that made the introduction of heritage-language programs complicated and controversial included the following:

1. Heritage languages could not supplant French in the school system and therefore had to be studied as a third language by students who were not even fully literate in English;

2. Heritage languages usually had to be studied outside the regular curriculum and therefore after school.

3. Finally, there was a question of what the target level for the heritage language would be, whether full literacy would be expected or some spoken competence only (Skeldon & Gungwu, 1999).

There have been some other problems involved with the delivery of heritage language instruction in Canada in recent years as well. Besides the basic issue of trying to incorporate heritage-language instruction in Canadian schools, Canadian Chinese parents and students were faced with the problem of deciding which spoken form of Chinese was most desirable. In this regard, Skeldon and Gungwu report that, "In the case of parents from Hong Kong or southern China, there had to be a choice, for the spoken language, between Mandarin and Cantonese. Cantonese, as the heritage language, would be the natural choice of most Canadian Chinese parents, but this choice clashed with the general assumption that Mandarin was the real Chinese and that children should be encouraged to study it" (p. 38).

In recent years, more heritage-language Canadian Chinese students have elected to pursue instruction in Cantonese, an indication of the growing popularity of this form of the Chinese language in the prosperous southern China area as well as in Hong Kong and the increasing importance to Canada's international commerce with these regions (Skeldon & Gungwu, 1999). In sum, Skeldon and Gungwu conclude that, "The evidence is not in yet about whether the heritage-language program works and whether children come out of it able to function fully in their mother tongue" (1999, p. 38). Further, some authorities suggest that heritage language immersion programs represent a more cost-effective approach that traditional heritage language instruction programs. In this regard, Corson advises, "The costs of providing bilingual education can also be a concern. In dealing with this, partial immersion programs, like those used in the prairie provinces of Canada, are less expensive and they seem more effective than heritage language programs" (p. 183).

Although the jury is still out on the effectiveness of one approach over another, the fact remains that there are an increasing number of Chinese-speaking Canadians today who are being provided with media broadcasts and entertainment in their native tongues. According to Skeldon and Gungwu, in Toronto alone, "There are Cantonese radio and television stations, two daily newspapers with wide circulations, one, Singtao Jih-pao (Xingdao Ribao), with Hong Kong connections, the other, Shihchieh Jih-pao (Shijie Ribao), with Taiwan connections" (p. 38). From a purely economic view, some forms of Chinese appear to be more valuable than others, with Cantonese being the language of commerce in the majority of the Chinese regions in Toronto, and growing numbers of companies are employing individuals just for their Cantonese-language skills; these organizations include the Toronto Metro-Police, a majority of the city's hospitals, the social agencies, the school boards, and the courts (Skeldon & Gungwu, 1999). According to these authors, "There are Chinese movie theaters, professional services of every kind, and even Chinese old peoples' homes. Cantonese is clearly the dominant form of Chinese in Toronto, though there are now significant Mandarin-speaking groups, immigrants from Taiwan and refugees from mainland China" (p. 38).

From a purely motivational perspective, both heritage- and non-heritage Chinese language learners in Canada would likely be highly interested in which form of Chinese was the lingua franca for modern Canadian business and international commerce, and would seek out programs that focused on this form of Chinese. The importance of this decision is highlighted by Skeldon and Gungwu who emphasize that even amongst the Chinese Canadians, the form of Chinese used is an basic part of business transactions and social exchanges: "The spoken form of Chinese is a divider within the Chinese group as a whole. There tends to be little social or economic connection between Cantonese and other Chinese from the mainland, Taiwan, or Southeast Asia, because they have no common spoken language. The one exception has been the post-June 4 democracy and human rights movement, which has brought together Chinese from every community" (p. 160).

The most recent Canadian census found that the percentage of residents who spoke Chinese as a mother tongue had increased by almost 60% compared to the previous census, and the number of Canadian Chinese who speak some form of Chinese as their mother-tongue speakers had reached almost a half million (Skeldon & Gungwu, 1999). In fact, Skeldon and Gungwu note that Chinese has become the second-largest non-official language group in Canada, with non-official mother-tongue speakers accounting for 13% of the Canadian population, suggesting that a majority of these speakers learned their mother tongue outside of Canada, a view that is consistent with the high levels of immigration for this segment of the Canadian population (Skeldon & Gungwu, 1999). As a result, the decision concerning whether to use a heritage language or immersion approach for second-language acquisition in Canadian universities remains controversial and complicated. As with any curricular offering, part of the problem involves resources and determining which approach would be more cost effective in achieving successful academic outcomes. Some educators believe that a heritage language approach is better because of the format that is used: "Teachers in heritage language programs are often themselves bilingual, bicultural, or both. Because heritage language courses are not conducted in English, they provide an excellent venue for observing student achievement, creativity, and potential in contexts not constrained by the medium of 'English only'" (Lynch, 2008, p. 50). As Castellano (2002) has observed, the use of the heritage language for instruction "allows for its continued development, with particular emphasis on improving reading and writing, while at the same time encouraging the student behaviors of risk-taking, elaboration, and complexity" (p. 125). While some authorities believe that an immersion approach is best suited for learning Chinese, others argue that a step-by-step approach is preferable. According to Kubler (2002), "The average lay person, if asked the best way to learn Chinese, would probably reply that one should go to China for a period of time and 'pick up' the language naturally. For beginning students, learning Chinese in China is actually not the most efficient way to proceed" (p. 96). As noted above, though, even these authorities suggest that immersion, especially in the home country, is the best -- and perhaps only -- viable approach to achieving a high degree of fluency in Chinese. According to Kubler, "After students have reached the intermediate stage, though, there is widespread agreement that the fastest and best way for them to continue their language studies is to spend a substantial period of time in a Chinese-speaking region in close contact with Chinese speakers. In fact, it is questionable whether a non-native can attain Superior- to Distinguished-level (SD) proficiency in Chinese any other way" (2002, p. 96).

The reasons cited by Kubler concerning why it is preferable for most non-heritage Chinese language learners to begin their study of Chinese in their native country include the following:

1. Instructors in the students' native country are usually more familiar with the challenges facing beginning learners;

2. Students there usually have a common native language and culture, making instruction more efficient;

3. If learners travel to China before they have attained basic proficiency in the language, they will initially be unable to take advantage of the main benefit of residence in China, i.e., interacting with the Chinese people in their language;

4. Students may pick up nonstandard pronunciation and usage; and,

5. Students will learn words and grammar in the order of perceived utility to them rather than in the order that makes the most sense pedagogically (Kubler, 2002, p. 96).

As noted above, though, at a certain point, some type of immersion is needed to promote continued improvement and growth in language skills. For instance, in the opinion of Dew (1994), "Intensive overseas study is essential for the attainment of high levels of Chinese language competence because that is the context in which (1) the student can devote full effort to language study; (2) the student can be exposed to the language in all of its varied uses, active and passive; and (3) maximum use can be made of the powers of reinforcement among the four skills" (pp. 40 -- 41).

If a university has enough students with the motivation and aptitude needed to succeed and the resources required to provide them with the Chinese language instruction they require, it is safe to say that almost any Chinese language could produce some good results in Canada or elsewhere; as Kubler (2002) points out, though, immersion in the Chinese culture remains an essential part of any long-term effort to achieve true fluency. According to Kubler, "In practice, it is nearly impossible to achieve this in a non-Chinese environment, especially in the case of the oral skills. Because of the vast cultural and linguistic differences between Chinese and English, the student needs the culture for support" (p. 96). As noted above and throughout the literature review, Chinese is one of the most difficult languages for native English speakers for a number of reasons, including the following:

1. Tones;

2. The enormous size of the vocabulary (due to the length and breadth of Chinese history and culture);

3. The great amount of linguistic and cultural variation across the Chinese speech area;

4. A paucity of linguistic and cultural cognates;

5. The large number of characters making up the writing system;

6. The complexity of the characters; and,

7. Lexical and grammatical differences between speech and writing (Kubler, 2002, p. 96).

Beyond having the motivation to learn Chinese for whatever reason, non-heritage Chinese language learners must also acquire a sufficient amount of proficiency to achieve higher levels of fluency. The results of empirical observations from Chinese language program directors and instructors indicates that some of the important qualifications for non-heritage Chinese language students seeking to achieve the SD level include the following:

1. Advanced proficiency in Chinese at a solid Speaking Level 3 / Reading Level 3 (S-3/R-3) or higher, with oral and written skills as evenly balanced as possible;

2. Evidence of strong language aptitude through prior successful, rapid learning of Chinese;

3. At least one year's residence in a Chinese-speaking region in daily contact with members of Chinese society;

4. Substantial knowledge of Chinese culture and society;

5. in-depth knowledge of the student's field of specialization;

6. Detailed understanding of the student's future job needs;

7. Strong motivation for continuing the study of Chinese;

8. Outgoing personality;

9. Single status (or dependents who also speak Chinese); and,

10. Youth (Kubler 2002).

Although none of the foregoing are absolutely essential to achieving success, Kubler (2002) suggests that the more of the criteria that non-heritage Chinese language learners satisfy, the greater their chances for success. These are valuable insights, but there are some recent trends that are affecting what types of program offerings are required in Canadian universities. The majority of the studies and feedback from educators concerning what works best in helping non-heritage Chinese language learners achieve fluency at the SD level have focused on teaching students who started their study of Chinese as adults (Kubler, 2002). According to Kubler, though, "In recent years, increasing numbers of 'heritage' speakers, i.e., Chinese-Americans who are native or semi-native speakers of Mandarin or other Chinese dialects, have been enrolling in university language classes" (p. 96). At first blush, this trend would appear to be a win-win situation for non-heritage Chinese language learners as well as their teachers because of the peer-mentoring opportunities that it presents; however, as Kubler points out, there are some downsides to this trend as well: While these students often bring considerable strengths to their studies, some of them -- having acquired all or most of what they know informally in a limited range of situations and registers -- may find it difficult to add to their existing linguistic inventory the higher-level, more formal vocabulary and grammar associated with SD-level proficiency" (p. 97). In addition, other non-native Chinese language speakers may have already acquired and used Chinese in various informal settings in Canada for many years and these adults may be especially challenging students in university-level Chinese language courses: "Such speakers may be quite confident of their ability to use Chinese; they think they are very fluent but typically produce many fossilized errors and are limited in precision of vocabulary and range of topics. In many cases, such speakers are at best S-2+, often with substantially lower reading and writing ability. These students are particularly difficult to bring to higher levels because they often feel their Chinese is perfectly adequate" (Kubler, 2002, p. 97)

Because all students seeking to achieve higher levels of proficiency in Chinese will be motivated by different factors, it is important for educators to take the steps necessary to accurately assess these motivational factors as well as the individual strengths and weaknesses that each student brings to the classroom in order to develop responsive curricular offerings (Kubler, 2002). With regards to the two types of nontraditional learners discussed above, Kubler recommends that educators must (a) convince the student that accuracy and precision do matter; (b) convince the student that educated Chinese do employ high-level, formal vocabulary and grammar on those occasions calling for them; (c) point out the student's errors and weaknesses; and (d) teach effective study skills (Kubler, 2002).

With regards to general international language instruction considerations, Ning (2001) emphasizes that a majority of the textbooks for Chinese as a foreign language currently on the market in North America continue to support instruction through vocabulary and grammar drills; typically, these approaches involve presenting students with textual Chinese in some form (i.e., a dialogue, narrative, report, or essay: in the lower levels these tend to be teacher-made concoctions tightly controlled in terms of how many vocabulary items are included; at the higher levels they may be extracts from the Chinese press). The textual Chinese is then supplemented with a vocabulary list, explanations of the grammar used and reinforcing drills (Ning, 2001). Moreover, Ning (2001) notes that this approach has become standard practice over the past 5 decades or so, based in large part on the difficulties that many non-heritage Chinese learners have with the Chinese language. In this regard, Ning reports that, "At least two generations of Chinese-language pedagogues since the Cold War have been nourished on this approach and continue to adhere to it, at the same time cautioning that Chinese is a very difficult language that is best tackled only by elite students with a long-term commitment to learning it" (p. 34). This point is also made by Husseinali (2006) who notes that, "Languages like Chinese are commonly perceived as difficult to learn by American learners, prompting many students not to study them or to drop classes if they do not do well from the beginning" (p. 395).

A study by Liu, Wang and Perfetti (2007) confirms that learning to read a second language in a new writing system presents complex challenges, but adult learners do not necessarily have to be "elite" to successfully acquire Chinese. In this regard, Liu et al. (2007) note that, "An English speaker learning to read Chinese must acquire knowledge of the visual forms of characters, knowledge of the mappings of these forms to meaning and pronunciation, and knowledge of the language itself. Research with college learners suggests that acquisition is fairly rapid. Students can discriminate novel legal characters from illegal ones within at least the first 4 months of classroom learning" (p. 471). Beyond this learning of form, it becomes a question of the acquisition of character representations that include orthographic, phonological, and semantic constituents that can be activated by the character form (Liu et al., 2007).

International language educators must also be open to change and asking for help from their peers is an important part of developing a truly effective second language program. For example, according to Leaver and Shekhtman (2002), "Any foreign language department of a college or university wishing to implement a comprehensive program for home-background speakers can benefit from interdepartmental collaboration" (p. 216). In addition, because many non-heritage Chinese language students will likely be interested in how they can use their newfound language skills to help them in their careers, making L2 classes relevant for adult learners is especially important. In this regard, Leaver and Shekhtman add that, "Offering an array of courses, such as Chinese for Lawyers, is always attractive for students who see the benefit of enhancing their knowledge of a language as they gain exposure to the content they will need in their future careers or intellectual development" (p. 216). In other cases, though, the curricular offerings might be more effective if they focus on other factors that might be important to adult non-heritage Chinese language learners. For example, Leaver and Shekhtman (2002) note that, "If the home-background-speaker population is not large enough and a school can only implement isolated courses for these students, these courses would generally have to be broad enough to attract all home-background speakers regardless of the career interests. In this case, the courses would most likely be language courses with an emphasis on culture" (p. 216).