Language Learning Goal Contents Across Asian and Anglophone Contexts

Project Synopsis

Why do people learn other languages? Is it to build meaningful relationships, explore different cultures, pursue educational and career opportunities, or achieve personal growth?

The project The Structure of Language Learning: Goal Contents Across Asian and Anglophone Contexts explores the aspirations and motivations that shape people's language-learning experiences across different cultural settings.

Drawing on perspectives from educational psychology, language-learning motivation, and cross-cultural research, the project examines the types of goals learners pursue and how these goals may be understood and organized across Asian and Anglophone contexts.

Moving beyond the traditional question of how motivated learners are, this research focuses on what learners actually hope to achieve through language learning. It considers the potential roles of personal development, social relationships, cultural understanding, academic achievement, professional advancement, and broader life aspirations.

By examining similarities and differences across cultural contexts, the project seeks to deepen our understanding of the relationship between culture, human motivation, and language learning. It also contributes to the development of more culturally responsive approaches to understanding and supporting language learners.

Ultimately, the project aims to demonstrate that learning a language is about much more than acquiring vocabulary and grammar. It is also about the goals, values, relationships, and aspirations that give language learning meaning.

Research Team

Principal Investigator:

  • Kimberly Noels, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Alberta

International Collaborators:

  • Emiko Hirosawa, Waseda University
  • Yuka Kono, Waseda University
  • Meng Liu, Beijing Foreign Studies University and the University of Cambridge
  • Abigail Parrish, University of Sheffield
  • W. L. Quint Oga Baldwin, Waseda University
  • Kie Yamamoto, University of Tokyo