Academic self-efficacy and class engagement across Chinese learning motivation profiles among international students in Zhejiang, China.

Abstract

Background: Learning motivation is a pivotal determinant of academic success in second language acquisition. However, prior research on the motivation of international students learning Chinese in China has mainly relied on traditional variable-centered methods, with little attention to a person-centered approach. This study identifies level-based latent profiles of Chinese learning motivation among international students in Zhejiang Province, China, examines learner characteristics as predictors of profile membership, and compares academic self-efficacy and class engagement across the identified profiles.

Methods: Using latent profile analysis, data from 648 international students were analyzed across six motivation subdimensions. Multinomial logistic regression examined learner characteristics associated with profile membership, while the modified BCH method compared academic self-efficacy and class engagement across profiles. Participants completed validated scales for Chinese learning motivation, academic self-efficacy, and class engagement.

Results: Three profiles emerged: moderate-motivation, moderate-high-motivation, and high-motivation. Male students showed lower odds of belonging to the higher distinct motivational profiles in this sample. Academic self-efficacy and class engagement scores were incrementally higher across the moderate-motivation, moderate-high-motivation, and high-motivation profiles. Study duration and proficiency showed no statistically detectable associations with profile membership.

Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that Chinese learning motivation in an immersion context coalesces into quantitatively distinct intensity tiers rather than divergent qualitative configurations. Students belonging to higher motivational intensity profiles exhibited systematically higher levels of academic self-efficacy and class engagement. These concurrent profile differences provide baseline empirical evidence for designing differentiated pedagogical support in international Chinese education.