Title: A Chaid Tree approach to motivation and academic performance in second language learning

Authors: Alfonso Abad Mancheño; Roberto Sánchez-Cabrero; Ana Cristina León Mejía

Addresses: Department of Modern Language Studies, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA ' Interfacultative Department of Evolutionary and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Teacher Training, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain ' Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Salamanca, Plaza Patio Escuelas, 37008 Salamanca, Spain

Abstract: The findings of a study on the importance of affective motivation in learning a second language are presented in this article (L2). The study included 171 US university students who studied Spanish, German, Italian, or Japanese as a second language. The Dörnyei motivating model was used to create an online questionnaire, and the Chaid Tree predictive model outlined the most important variables that influence the Motivation to continue studying a second language. The findings show that the variables 'projection of intended effort' and 'ideal self' is both positively and significantly connected to students' academic achievement and their intent to enrol in future foreign language programs. The deontic self, or ought-to-self, on the other hand, had no significant correlation with any of the other factors studied. There were no significant differences in gender in the cross-sectional analysis of age and gender, but there was a negative and significant link between age and academic achievement, as well as a positive and significant association between age and predicted effort.

Keywords: motivation; foreign language learning; ideal self; ought-to-self; age; gender.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2023.127949

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2023 Vol.33 No.1, pp.120 - 136

Received: 13 Oct 2021
Accepted: 11 Jan 2022
Published online: 22 Dec 2022 *

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