Junko Yamashita

The main objective of the present research is to develop questionnaire items in Japanese language learning for Indonesian university students. A total of 157 university students participated in the study and completed the questionnaire online. First, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted in order to investigate a structure of motivational factors, which extracted a six-factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis was then conducted through structural equation modeling and the validity of the six-factor model was examined. The Cronbach alpha coefficients were also calculated. The results of the two factor analyses provided a satisfactory reliability and validation of the questionnaire. Consequently, the extracted six-factor motivational structure was certified as an appropriate questionnaire battery to assess Japanese language learning motivation in Indonesia university students.

Demotivation can negatively influence the learner’s attitudes and behaviors, and result in negative learning outcomes. This paper investigates factors contributing to demotivation in learning Japanese as a foreign language in Indonesia, and the relationship between demotivating factors and present proficiencies. A seventeen-item questionnaire was completed by 157 Indonesian university students. As the result of exploratory factor analysis, questionnaire items consequently grouped to four categories: Course difficulty, Speaking anxiety, Devalued learning, and Boredom.The validity of the four-factor structure was verified by the confirmatory factor analysis method. In addition, two-way ANOVA was performed to investigate the relationship between demotivational factors and proficiency level. As a result, statistically significant differences were found between Low and High groups in all the factors, and between Middle and High groups in the factors expect for Devalued learning. In addition, the scores of Speaking anxiety and Boredom consistently scored the highest among the four factors. However, the degree of demotivation was decreased as the learners’ Japanese proficiency improved. Findings from this study indicated that teachers should strive to make classes not only less anxious but also more interesting. Moreover, teachers should scaffold learners, especially low proficient beginners to prevent or minimize their demotivation.

<p>Self-regulated learning strategies have been widely investigated in the field of educational psychology over a few decades. However, very few studies have attempted to clarify the characteristics of these strategies. Within the field of second language acquisition, it is necessary to investigate other factors which affect the use of these strategies in order to develop the effective language learning. This paper firstly aims to present a systematic review of previous studies, mainly focused on a taxonomy of self-regulated learning strategies used in both fields of educational psychology and second language acquisition. Next, it explores the factors such as motivation, satisfaction, and learning difficulty that is related to the learning continuity along with each phase in the cycle of self-regulated learning. By way of conclusion, the author suggests challenges and possibilities that allow language learners to successful learning achievement.</p>