Running Head: Motivation & Learning Methods of ESL Learners 2
Motivation and Learning Methods of Vietnamese Speaking ESL Learners
Peter Le
University of California, Irvine
Motivation and Learning Methods of Vietnamese Speaking ESL Learners
In the past twenty years, the second fastest growing group in America, after Latinos, are Asian immigrants (Frey, 2002). Many people moved to America in hopes of building a successfully future for their children. An important step building to that success includes learning English and provide a high level of education for their children so that they will have a secure job that will provide for the family (Pang and Appleton, 2004). However, if the motivation of immigrant parent’s is for their children to be well off in the future, why do some people choose to invest their time in the tedious process of learning English themselves? What is their motivation behind learning this new language, despite the stresses?
Although immigration occurs with the hopes of being successful, it has its costs. The amount of changes and requirements of a new country often lead to health problems. In a study done by Breslau et al. (2007), the mental health of Mexican immigrants was compared to a sample of residents in Mexico. The whole idea behind this study was to see if those who immigrated to the United States were more prone to mental disorders. The participants for this study were chosen through the World Health Organization’s World Mental Health Survey Initiative, which distributed in twenty-eight countries. This survey included the Mexican National Comorbidity Survey (M-NCS) and the National Comorbidity Survey, which was a replication, (NCS-R) for those that were taking it in the United States. The surveys asked questions about the age when they immigrated and assessed DSM-IV disorders. There was also an interviewing process that took place from February 2001 to April 2003. During those interviews, there was a high response rate of 70.9%. In addition, Mexican and Mexican-American ethnicity was sampled out for a total of 76 respondents.
From the data collected by Breslau et al. (2007), it shows a strong relationship between the onset of DSM-IV anxiety, mood disorders, and immigration. Also, if anxiety and mood disorder already existed before immigration, the disorders were more likely to continue and become worse. As most people can see, immigration has a significantly high amount of stress. This study not only shows how immigration causes stress, but also the potential effects of major health issue. However due to the small sample, the results cannot be generalized to the rest of the demographic. Although there was limitation in this study, there are hints from the results that indicate the major stresses of immigration.
One of the stresses that immigrants must deal with is learning a new language. If they do not know the language of the country they are living in, it would be hard for them to communicate with other peo...
