| Summary: | The purpose of this study is to investigate the process of
student motivation construction. It explores the initial motivation of
students studying less commonly taught languages, specifically Chinese,
Japanese, and Russian, and how students' initial motivation
changes over time. By utilizing a qualitative approach, students' unmodified
views towards their motivation are analyzed in-depth. Data
were collected in the beginning of the fall term and in the beginning
of the winter term (four months later) through questionnaires and interviews.
The findings suggest that many students initially start to
study the target language because of their attraction towards an uncommon
language and the challenge that such languages hold. At the
second stage, however, the majority of the students expressed a development
of intrinsic motivation, i.e., enjoyment they obtained
through learning the target language. Based on the findings, the study
suggests how teachers and administrators can sustain students in less
commonly taught language programs.
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