A Critique of an Article

”There’s more to it”:

A qualitative study into the motivation of Australian
university students to learn German
Author: Gabriele Schmidt

Presented by: Ayu Pardede (1061031)

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 Basic information of the article
Title ”There’s more to it”: A qualitative study into the motivation of
Australian university students to learn German

Author Gabriele Schmidt

Title of Journal gfl-journal
Year of publication 2014
Issue No. 1
Citation suggested Schmidt, G. (2014). ”There’s more to it”: A qualitative study into the
motivation of Australian university students to learn German. gfl-
journal, No. 1, 20-44

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 Outline
A. Article’s content
Introduction
Theoretical Background
Research Design
Findings & Discussion
Conclusion, Implication & Suggestion
B. Critiques

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 Introduction
o Many students who learn language other than English even though it is not
required
o In 2012, the Australian government released a white paper on Australia in
the Asian Century. It is related to the need of Australia for more speakers of
Asian language
o The concern to European languages, like German is increasing
o Schmidt (2011):
• Investigated the motivation of 520 Australian university students
• Quantitative approach
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 The purpose of the study

• To investigate the motivation of Australian undergraduates to study

German
• To update, explain, complement and expand the findings of the first study

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 Theoretical Background
o The findings of Schmidt’s (2011) study:
• A general interest in the German language and culture paired with a joy
and appreciation of learning languages
• The wish to communicate in a German-speaking country while
working, studying and travelling
• German being considered as an important (business) language that
could bring important advantages

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 Theoretical Background
o Dornyei (2010):
• “Ideal L2 Self” as a motivation of L2 learners in learning L2
• “Ideal L2 Self” means that L2 learners “need more than that”.
They learn L2 as a part of their personal vision
• There was less evidence on it.
• The qualitative study needs to prove it.

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 Methodology

o Qualitative approach
o Explanatory design
E.g.: What did respondents mean when they stated that they were
“interested in German-speaking people and their culture”?

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 Participants
o Sixteen undergraduate students
o Twelve are beginners, four are in intermediate
o Similar backgrounds with the participants in
level
previous study
o One is international student, four had German
o Enrolled in various disciplines
heritage
o One student enrolled in Bachelor of
o Ten male and 6 female students
International Studies
o Studied at the University of Queensland
o The others studied German as an elective
o Self-selected
course

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 Data collection
o Conducted in the fourth and fifth week of the first semester in 2013
o Conducted on campus
o Lasted for about 30 minutes
o Audio-recorded
o Semi-structured interview
o Some of the questions were replicated from previous studies (Busse &
William, 2010; Ushioda, 1996)
o Conducted in English

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 Data analysis
o All interviews were transcribed verbatim
o Noticeable non-verbal (pauses, cut-offs, laughter, emphasis and sound-
stretching) were marked in transcripts
o The data analysis used a mixture of grounded theory methods
o After coding, the data was reduced to common themes expressing the
participants’ motivation to learn German
o MAXQDA (version 11) was used to manage and analyze the data

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Finding & Discussion

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 Findings
Motivational factors:
• A general interest in the German language and culture paired with a joy and
appreciation of learning languages
• The wish to communicate in a German-speaking country while working,
studying and travelling
• German being considered as an important (business) language that could bring
important advantages
• “Ideal L2 Self” (they learn L2 as a part of their personal vision).
• Preference for European languages over Asian languages

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 Discussion
The study confirmed that:
• For English native speakers, choosing to study other language, like
German is a conscious decision
• Students have a wide range of reasons to learn German
• Students expressed a high level of intrinsic motivation, positive attitude
towards German speakers and cultures
• “There’s more to it.”

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Conclusion, Implication &
Suggestion

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 Conclusion

The new data added:

• A deeper understanding about the motivation of Australian students
in learning German
• Students consider learning German as adding value to their primary
subjects

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 Implication

Personal growth is a strong element in students’ motivation.

Therefore, it should be reflected in the curriculum

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 Suggestion

Busse & Walter (2013) stated that intrinsic motivation decreased

with time. Therefore, it is suggested for future research to analyze
the dynamics of intrinsic motivation over time.

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Title

“There’s more to it”

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 Abstract
This article presents the findings of an interview study investigating the motivation of
Australian university students to learn German. The aim of the study was to update,
explain, complement and expand an earlier large-scale questionnaire survey on the same
subject. The new qualitative data indicates that there is often “more to it” than having a
general interest in German-speaking people and their culture, enjoying the learning
• Notwanting
process, too clearto travel to Germany, or seeing career advantages. While these
motivational factors that were established from the questionnaire data are still existent in
• It provides the purpose, the methodology, the findings, and implication,
the interview data, the new data suggests that personal growth (Ideal L2 Self) is a strong
however
element there motivation.
in students’ is no clearFurthermore,
overview about the participants
the new and there
data has revealed is no
that students
recommendations
consider learning German, stated.
and most likely a second language in general, as adding value
to their primary degree subjects. This appears to be a particular strong motive for learners
with English as their first language. The article concludes by discussing some of the
study’s implications for curriculum design, student recruitment and student retention.

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 Background of the study
Clearly identified

• Many students who learn language other than English

even though it is not required

• Learning German is increasing

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 The purpose of the study
Clearly identified

o To investigate the motivation of Australian undergraduates to

study German

o To update, explain, complement and expand the findings of the

first study

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The research question

Not mentioned

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The significance of the study

Not mentioned

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 Theoretical Background
• Clearly described
• Appropriate and related to the study
• It provides the findings of previous research and the phenomenon that will
be proven
(Slides 7 - 8)

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 Research design
• Methodology is clearly explained
• Participants is clearly described (their university, major, sex, proficiency
level, how they were chosen)
• Data collection procedure is clearly presented (the time, place, material,
how they were collected)
• Data analysis procedure is clearly stated (how they were transcribed,
coding methods, reducing, software used to manage and analyze)

(Slides 9- 13)

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 Findings and discussion

• Clearly explained
• Findings are stated appropriately
(Related to the research purpose and phenomenon that need to be
proven)

(slides 15-16)

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Conclusion, implication and suggestion

Stated clearly

(Slides 17-20)

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References & Appendixes

Provided

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Overall, the article is clearly presented. However, a confusing thing has
been found.

In introduction and in theoretical background parts, it is stated that this

study aims to expand previous study which already done in 2011 and used
questionnaire survey (quantitative approach). However, in research design
part, it is stated that the questionnaire survey was in 2005.

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