Malaysian university students' mental images of Portuguesespeaking countries and their motivations to learn Portuguese
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2022
Abstract
This study investigated the mental images of Portuguese-speaking countries held by 91 students learning Portuguese in two large public universities in Malaysia. It also explored the factors that motivated them to learn Portuguese. This is the first such study to present findings on the mental images associated with Portuguese-speaking countries apart from Portugal and Brazil. The data analysis revealed that the students held a wide array of images of Portugal. The country was strongly associated in their minds with football, food, and the shared history of Malaysia and Portugal. The images of Portuguese-speaking countries, with the exception of Brazil, were less diverse and were at times erroneous. The students' main motivation for learning Portuguese was to broaden knowledge about Portuguese-speaking countries. The students were also interested in learning more foreign languages. The findings suggest that the images of the target language countries had some influence on the language learners' choice to learn Portuguese. The pedagogical implications of these findings are also discussed.
Keywords
Portuguese as a foreign language, Malaysian language learners, Mental images of Portuguese-speaking countries, Language learning motivation
Divisions
FLL
Funders
Research University Grant from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) GUP-2020-070
Publication Title
Moderna Sprak
Volume
116
Issue
2
Publisher
Institutionen for Moderna Sprak, Uppsala Universitet
Publisher Location
C/O BENGT HENNINGSSON, BOX 41, SE-425 02 HISINGS KARA, SWEDEN