Motivation and Its Effect on Language Achievement: Sustainable Development of Chinese Middle School Students’ Second Language Learning

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Summary
- This survey-based study examined different types of motivations for learning English among 1,036 middle school students in Beijing, China. The data were analyzed with factor analysis, which categorized 30 survey items into four different groups; that is, Intrinsic interest, Learning situation, Personal development, and Immediate achievement. Follow-up analysis with t-test shows that there was a gender difference in Intrinsic intest, Personal development, and Overall score, but not in Learning situation and Immediate achievement. The authors argue the prominent role of intrinsic motivations among middle school EFL learners in China and question the role of learning environment as language learning motivation.

Strengths
- The major strength of this study is its thorough literature review. The authors have successfully contextualized their study within the major framework of motivation research (Gardner, Dörnyei, Deci etc.) as well as other relevant studies on language learning motivation in the EFL environment.

- Another strength is its scale of the study. The sample size is fairly large (n=1,036) and the statistical significance seems robust. (but note that, while the sample is large, it may not have wide representation of different learning environments [see the weaknesses below]).

Weaknesses
- One major weakness of the study is its conclusion on the impact of COVID-19 on students' language learning motivation. The only relevance of COVID-19 in this study is that the data collection seemed to have taken place during the COVID-19 pandemic, but even the timing of data collection was not explicitly stated in the manuscript. Overall, the study was not designed to investigate the influence of COVID-19; for example, none of the survey items makes a reference to the pandemic and no data relevant to COVID-19 (such as the length of home quarantine etc) was entered into the factor analysis. I believe that its relevance to COVID-19 is very weak and the authors will have to modify their conclusion about the impact of COVID-19 in their study (the title must change at least).

- Another major weakness is generalizability of the study. As the authors pointed out in the limitation section (lines 656-659), the data were collected only in an urban area of Beijing and the sample did not have wide representation of learning environment. On this note, the authors's discussion on the role of Confucian culture on students' motivation is interesting, but I wonder how generalizable such findings are in the learning environment beyond Beijing. I believe such a limitation should be started more explicitly in the study title as well as in the manuscript (the word "China" was never used in the manuscript, which I find somewhat strange since the study exclusively focuses on Chinese middle school students).

See other minor comments below.

- Line 24: "academic motivation had a significantly negative impact" -- I don't see it anywhere in the data. How did it have "a significantly negative impact"?

- Lines 101-103: The sentence "In the particular context of the COVID-19 ... particularly significant." is not clear. I think it should be explained a little bit more so that the connection between the COVID-19 and middle school students' motivation becomes clear.

- Lines 127-128: I think this is an overstatement. The finding of You & Dörnyei (2016) was specifically about the gender difference in language learning motivation among Chinese students.

- Lines 161-163: The reference to the Confucian culture is very specific to China and other Asian countries.

- Lines 245-274: The "Materials and Methods" section should provide more information about how the data are related to students' COVID-19 experience. I assumed that the data were collected while all participants were in the home quarantine, but it was not stated anywhere in the manuscript (Also see the comment for Line 400).

- Lines 261-264: These sentences are not clear. What is this "pilot study"?

- Line 272: Typo "Confirmatory factor analysis" (not "factory")

- Line 371: How was the means of each factor computed? Since each factor consists of different number of items (e.g., Intrinsic has 6 items while Immediate has 3 items), shouldn't the number of sample sizes be different? If this is an average of averages, the SDs might be an artifact of the number of items.

- Lines 384-386: I don't understand this part at all. Why do the authors discuss "English achievement of ethnic university students" now? This must be some sort of copy & paste error.

- Line 400: What is the dependent variable of the multiple linear regression? In other words, how did the study measure "the English achievement of middle school students" (line 401)?

- Line 423: I believe Repeated-measure ANOVA is more appropriate analysis than a series of t-test.

- Line 440: Only "overseas studying" is represented in the survey items. "[S]ocial responsibility" and "information media" were simply not measured and we cannot conclude that "middle school students had no motives of social responsibility, ..., or information media."

- Lines 446-448: Same as above (Line 440)

- Pages 12-13: All discussion related to COVID-19 here are just speculation. There is no data to back up this discussion from the study.

- Lines 513-534: This discussion is specific to students in China. 

- Lines 581-582: The sentence "Beijing's favorable learning environment and adequate distribution of educational resources." should be explained more.

- Line 622: "overemphasized the ideal L2 self" -- is this a typo? Maybe it should be "underemphasized"?

Author Response

Cover Letter 1

Author's Reply to the Review Report (Reviewer 1)

Dear Madam/ Sir,

Thank you very much for reviewing the manuscript and your valuable time. Your advice is quite beneficial to us in enhancing the quality of the work. The point-by-point replies are as follows; you can also find them on the attachment and in the updated manuscript's "Track Changes" Word document.

Summary

- This survey-based study examined different types of motivations for learning English among 1,036 middle school students in Beijing, China. The data were analyzed with factor analysis, which categorized 30 survey items into four different groups; that is, Intrinsic interest, Learning situation, Personal development, and Immediate achievement. Follow-up analysis with t-test shows that there was a gender difference in Intrinsic intest, Personal development, and Overall score, but not in Learning situation and Immediate achievement. The authors argue the prominent role of intrinsic motivations among middle school EFL learners in China and question the role of learning environment as language learning motivation.

Strengths

- The major strength of this study is its thorough literature review. The authors have successfully contextualized their study within the major framework of motivation research (Gardner, Dörnyei, Deci etc.) as well as other relevant studies on language learning motivation in the EFL environment.

- Another strength is its scale of the study. The sample size is fairly large (n=1,036) and the statistical significance seems robust. (but note that, while the sample is large, it may not have wide representation of different learning environments [see the weaknesses below]).

Weaknesses

- One major weakness of the study is its conclusion on the impact of COVID-19 on students' language learning motivation. The only relevance of COVID-19 in this study is that the data collection seemed to have taken place during the COVID-19 pandemic, but even the timing of data collection was not explicitly stated in the manuscript. Overall, the study was not designed to investigate the influence of COVID-19; for example, none of the survey items makes a reference to the pandemic and no data relevant to COVID-19 (such as the length of home quarantine etc) was entered into the factor analysis. I believe that its relevance to COVID-19 is very weak and the authors will have to modify their conclusion about the impact of COVID-19 in their study (the title must change at least).

- Another major weakness is generalizability of the study. As the authors pointed out in the limitation section (lines 656-659), the data were collected only in an urban area of Beijing and the sample did not have wide representation of learning environment. On this note, the authors' discussion on the role of Confucian culture on students' motivation is interesting, but I wonder how generalizable such findings are in the learning environment beyond Beijing. I believe such a limitation should be started more explicitly in the study title as well as in the manuscript (the word "China" was never used in the manuscript, which I find somewhat strange since the study exclusively focuses on Chinese middle school students).

Reply: Thank you for your affirmation and suggestion, your advice is very helpful for us to improve the quality of our manuscript. We believe that the tile of the article should be changed, and we put Chinese in the title, please see the amended title:

Motivation and Its Effect on Language Achievement: Sustainable Development of Chinese Middle School Students' Second Language Learning

(Please refer to the revised version in the attachment.)

See other minor comments below.

 - Line 24: "academic motivation had a significantly negative impact" -- I don't see it anywhere in the data. How did it have "a significantly negative impact"?

Reply: Thank you for your careful reading and advice, in this point, the” academic motivation” should be “immediate achievement”, we have corrected it in the abstract.

 - Lines 101-103: The sentence "In the particular context of the COVID-19 ... particularly significant." is not clear. I think it should be explained a little bit more so that the connection between the COVID-19 and middle school students' motivation becomes clear.

Reply: We appreciate your kind words and agree that a more thorough explanation would be more precise and understandable.

        Gao, et al. [1] classified second language motivation into seven types through factor analysis, such as intrinsic interest, learning context, personal development, etc. Previous studies on the composition of motivation are numerous [2], however, the general research mainly explores the types of motivation, but not the inner structure. There is no shortage of research on the motivation of second language learners among English-speaking countries, but research on second language learners in non-English-speaking countries is rare [3]. The COVID-19 outbreak has put immense load on the world's school learning [4], in this particular context, second language learning is undergoing unprecedented challenges [5]. The influence of school closures has led to great changes in students’ motivation [6], and distance learning could produce geographic disparities in times of school lockdown [7]. As a result, research on the middle school students’ motivation in non-English-speaking countries seems particularly significant.

 - Lines 127-128: I think this is an overstatement. The finding of You & Dörnyei (2016) was specifically about the gender difference in language learning motivation among Chinese students.

Reply: We agree with your remarks and have made the necessary changes.

According to a prior study, female students were more motivated to learn than male pupils [8]. This claim was validated in a recent research by Jiao, et al. [9]. Female students exerted more effort than male students, which led to superior academic performance [10]. Compared to male students, female students demonstrated greater external motivation [11]. D’Lima, et al. [12] claimed that female students studied more diligently than male students and had more ambitious goals for individual growth. Girls were therefore more likely than boys to attain better accomplishment.

 - Lines 161-163: The reference to the Confucian culture is very specific to China and other Asian countries.

Reply: Thank you for your comments and validation.

 - Lines 245-274: The "Materials and Methods" section should provide more information about how the data are related to students' COVID-19 experience. I assumed that the data were collected while all participants were in the home quarantine, but it was not stated anywhere in the manuscript (Also see the comment for Line 400).

Reply: Yes, the data were collected while all participants were in the home quarantine, we should have stated it in the manuscript.

The research was conducted in Beijing in COVID-19 lockdown period. The participants all experienced at least two rounds of lockdown from the pandemic, and our data was collected during school closures. The data contains comprehensive items covering key issues such as gender, motivation, and second language performance.

 - Lines 261-264: These sentences are not clear. What is this "pilot study"?

Reply: “pilot study” refers to the trial run in small scale before the formal distribution of the questionnaire.

Before the formal survey, 140 students were chosen for a pilot study (trial run in small scale) utilizing the first questionnaire prior to the distribution of the questionnaires.

 - Line 272: Typo "Confirmatory factor analysis" (not "factory")

Reply: Thank you for your correction, this phrase should be "Confirmatory factor analysis".

 - Line 371: How was the means of each factor computed? Since each factor consists of different number of items (e.g., Intrinsic has 6 items while Immediate has 3 items), shouldn't the number of sample sizes be different? If this is an average of averages, the SDs might be an artifact of the number of items.

Reply: We derived four dimensions of motivation by EFA and CFA. The motivations of each dimension were recalculated variables, and the target variables were edited according to the means of the statistical functions. For the target variables, the dimensional means of each motivation were derived and then presented in a table.

(See the following changes in the text attachment.)

5.6.1. English Learning Motivation in Each Factor

Table 6 displayed the average findings for the overall scale and each motivational component for Middle school students’ English learning. We derived four dimensions of motivation by EFA and CFA. The motivations of each dimension were recalculated variables, and the target variables were edited according to the means of the statistical functions. For the target variables, the dimensional means of each motivation were derived and then presented in the table.

In comparison, the mean value of motivation for personal development was the highest (M = 3.6335), and the mean value of motivation for immediate achievement was the lowest (M = 2.9472), indicating that middle school students had the strongest motivation for personal development and the weakest for immediate achievement.

Table 6. Mean values of each factor and overall score.

 - Lines 384-386: I don't understand this part at all. Why do the authors discuss "English achievement of ethnic university students" now? This must be some sort of copy & paste error.

Reply: This is the copy and paste error. Thank you for your kind reminder, and we have corrected it and checked all the spellings through the whole text.

 - Line 400: What is the dependent variable of the multiple linear regression? In other words, how did the study measure "the English achievement of middle school students" (line 401)?

Reply: We agree with your advice that the independent and dependent variables should be clarified.

In this study, a multiple linear regression model was used for statistical analysis. The independent variables were intrinsic interest, learning situation, personal development, and immediate achievement, and the dependent variable was the student's academic achievement in English. The equation expression was as follows:

 - Line 423: I believe Repeated-measure ANOVA is more appropriate analysis than a series of t-test.

Reply: We really appreciate your suggestion, which will make our explanation more rigorous. Considering that repeated-measure ANOVA applies to multiple measurements of the variance at different times, the conditions of this study are temporarily not met, because this study is primarily based on the analysis at one time. Therefore, we attempted a one-way ANOVA.

5.6.2. Gender Differences in Students’ Motivation

According to the one-way ANOVA analysis, there was significant gender difference in the motivation of intrinsic interest, F(1,1034) = 13.695, p < 0.001. The gender effect of personal development was also significant, F(1,1034) = 4.089, p = 0.043,, and so was the overall score, F(1,1034) = 6.174, p = 0.013, as shown in Table 7. The results indicated that girls' intrinsic motivation (M = 3.59) was substantially greater than boys' (M = 3.36), girls' personal development motivation (M = 3.69) was considerably higher than boys' (M = 3.57), and girls' overall motivation (M = 3.37) was significantly higher than boys' (M = 3.28).

Table 7. Gender differences: one-way ANOVA results.

 - Line 440: Only "overseas studying" is represented in the survey items. "Social responsibility" and "information media" were simply not measured and we cannot conclude that "middle school students had no motives of social responsibility, ..., or information media."

- Lines 446-448: Same as above (Line 440)

Reply: We agree with you that there are a number of motivational aspects as “overseas studying”, "social responsibility", and "information media" that we haven’t measured, thus we have all deleted them from the article since there is no need to mention them in this study.

(See the following changes in the text attachment.)

Research Question 1: The Inherent Structure of Middle School Students’ English Learning Motivation

Compared with previous studies on the types and structure of English learning motivation, it was found that there were many overlaps between middle school students' English learning motivations and those of students with other levels. Compared with Gao, Zhao, Cheng and Zhou [1], students' English learning motivation was characterized by intrinsic interest, learning situation, personal development, and immediate achievement. Compared with a recent study on the structure of English learning motivation [9], they all had intrinsic interest, learning situation, and personal development motivation. in comparison, middle school students were found to possess immediate achievement motivation.

.

 - Pages 12-13: All discussion related to COVID-19 here are just speculation. There is no data to back up this discussion from the study.

Reply: Thank you for your serious advice and thorough research suggestions. As you can see in the attachment, we have changed and altered the content here.

The results were consistent with the recent study that girls possessed higher value in terms of intrinsic interest, personal development, and the overall motivation [9, 10]. . Boys are more likely than females to experience anxiety during school closure period [13]. As a result, girls might be more motivated to study than boys [14]. Reducing students' anxiety could be a helpful way to promote motivation in the future, generating positive emotions could assist boys boost their motivation to learn, and therefore promote sustainable development of second language learning.

 - Lines 513-534: This discussion is specific to students in China.

Reply: Thank you for your affirmation, we made some changes because this discussion could have global implications, not just for Asian countries.

The research verified the previous research results of personal development [1]. Based on the L2 motivational self system, personal development motivation reflected the ideal L2 self [15]. In this respect, middle school students' motive for learning English embodied a more useful instrument. The findings echoed the personal development motivation of the previous research [9]. It is in line with the idea that learning makes success, which means that through personal efforts, you can finally realize your dream [16].

Nevertheless, this study revealed that, among the four motivational types, the mean of intrinsic interest was lower than the mean of personal development. The result might have a negative impact on student engagement and performance. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdown has created a lot of uncertainty for students' distance learning, and this uncertainty has brought anxiety that diminishes their interest in learning [13, 17]. It is undeniable that middle school students still have to deal with the pressure of personal growth and exams in the near future [18]. The students' drive to learn is somewhat diminished by this decline in intrinsic interest [19]. Schools should therefore optimize the educational resources to support students' intrinsic interests, enhancing their motivation for learning and academic success. Simultaneously, schools should provide emergency distance learning training to teachers to improve their ability to deal with future unpredicted changes.

 - Lines 581-582: The sentence "Beijing's favorable learning environment and adequate distribution of educational resources." should be explained more.

Reply: We added some more explanations for this part. Please see the following attachment.

First and foremost, this may be attributed to Beijing's favorable learning environment and adequate distribution of educational resources [20]. Beijing is a typical Chinese educational hub with abundant academic materials [21]. The data implies that middle school students in Beijing are relatively satisfied with their English teachers, teaching materials, and curriculum. This demonstrates that the learning contexts of middle school students in Beijing do not differ significantly, and the key factors determining students' English learning achievement are not learning situation but intrinsic interest, personal development, and immediate achievement. As a result, the effect of learning situation motivation on pupils' English outcome was insignificant. Teachers and parents should target their teaching and intervention efforts at these motivational levels.

 - Line 622: "overemphasized the ideal L2 self" -- is this a typo? Maybe it should be "underemphasized"?

Reply: Yes, the word should be "underemphasized". Please see the following attachment.

This study has made three main contributions. First, the majority of the earlier motivational studies were carried out in English-speaking nations with European or American cultural backgrounds. Few research on motivation, nevertheless, have been undertaken in nations that do not use the English language [3]. This study provides a valuable reference for upcoming scholars throughout the world as it examines middle school pupils' motivation to learn a second language in a non-English-speaking nation. The second contribution is theoretical breakthrough. In the past, scholars have underemphasized the social psychology approach and underemphasized the ideal L2 self, particularly its integration and instrumental drive [9]. The theory is thoroughly investigated in this work, with a combination of the ideal L2 self, the ought-to L2 self, and the L2 learning experience under the L2 motivating self system [22]. The third innovation is to consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study examines the motivations of middle school students who study at home during the pandemic as well as the specific effects of the lockdown on their drive. This has enlightenments for the research of second language motivation and the sustainability of second language learning during an emergency.

1. Gao, Y.; Zhao, Y.; Cheng, Y.; Zhou, Y., Relationship Between English Learning Motivation Types and Self-Identity Changes Among Chinese Students. TESOL Quarterly 2007, 41, (1), 133-155.
2. Csizér, K.; Dörnyei, Z., The internal structure of language learning motivation and its relationship with language choice and learning effort. The modern language journal 2005, 89, (1), 19-36.
3. Isik, U.; Tahir, O. E.; Meeter, M.; Heymans, M. W.; Jansma, E. P.; Croiset, G.; Kusurkar, R. A., Factors Influencing Academic Motivation of Ethnic Minority Students: A Review. SAGE Open 2018, 8, (2), 2158244018785412.
4. Angrist, N.; Bergman, P.; Matsheng, M., Experimental evidence on learning using low-tech when school is out. Nature Human Behaviour 2022, 6, (7), 941-950.
5. Moser, K. M.; Wei, T.; Brenner, D., Remote teaching during COVID-19: Implications from a national survey of language educators. System 2021, 97, 102431.
6. Daniels, L. M.; Goegan, L. D.; Parker, P. C., The impact of COVID-19 triggered changes to instruction and assessment on university students’ self-reported motivation, engagement and perceptions. Social Psychology of Education 2021, 24, (1), 299-318.
7. Parolin, Z.; Lee, E. K., Large socio-economic, geographic and demographic disparities exist in exposure to school closures. Nature Human Behaviour 2021, 5, (4), 522-528.
8. Yang, J. C.; Quadir, B., Individual differences in an English learning achievement system: Gaming flow experience, gender differences and learning motivation. Technology, Pedagogy and Education 2018, 27, (3), 351-366.
9. Jiao, S.; Wang, J.; Ma, X.; You, Z.; Jiang, D., Motivation and Its Impact on Language Achievement: Sustainable Development of Ethnic Minority Students&rsquo; Second Language Learning. Sustainability 2022, 14, (13), 7898.
10. Oga-Baldwin, W. L. Q.; Nakata, Y., Engagement, gender, and motivation: A predictive model for Japanese young language learners. System 2017, 65, 151-163.
11. You, C.; Dörnyei, Z.; Csizér, K., Motivation, vision, and gender: A survey of learners of English in China. Language Learning 2016, 66, (1), 94-123.
12. D’Lima, G. M.; Winsler, A.; Kitsantas, A., Ethnic and Gender Differences in First-Year College Students’ Goal Orientation, Self-Efficacy, and Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation. The Journal of Educational Research 2014, 107, (5), 341-356.
13. Soysal, D.; Bani-Yaghoub, M.; Riggers-Piehl, T. A., Analysis of anxiety, motivation, and confidence of STEM students during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education 2022, 17, (2), em0684.
14. Campillo-Ferrer, J. M.; Miralles-Martínez, P., Effectiveness of the flipped classroom model on students’ self-reported motivation and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 2021, 8, (1), 1-9.
15. Dörnyei, Z., The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.: Mahwah: New Jersey,USA, 2005.
16. Hennebry, M.; Gao, X., Interactions between medium of instruction and language learning motivation. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 2021, 24, (7), 976-989.
17. Wang, K.; Goldenberg, A.; Dorison, C. A.; Miller, J. K.; Uusberg, A.; Lerner, J. S.; Gross, J. J.; Agesin, B. B.; Bernardo, M.; Campos, O., A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nature Human Behaviour 2021, 5, (8), 1089-1110.
18. Lu, Y.; Shi, X.; Zhong, S., Competitive experience and gender difference in risk preference, trust preference and academic performance: Evidence from Gaokao in China. Journal of comparative economics 2018, 46, (4), 1388-1410.
19. Gnambs, T.; Hanfstingl, B., The decline of academic motivation during adolescence: An accelerated longitudinal cohort analysis on the effect of psychological need satisfaction. Educational Psychology 2016, 36, (9), 1691-1705.
20. Liu, J.; Peng, P.; Luo, L., The Relation Between Family Socioeconomic Status and Academic Achievement in China: A Meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review 2020, 32, (1), 49-76.
21. Zou, W.; Li, J.; Shu, Z., Urban Quality of Life and Production Amenity in Chinese Cities. Sustainability 2022, 14, (4), 2434.
22. You, C. J.; Dörnyei, Z., Language learning motivation in China: Results of a large-scale stratified survey. Applied Linguistics 2016, 37, (4), 495-519.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This paper still needs a little bit work to be considered as a publication in this well-known and steemed journal:

- Theoretical framework need an improvement considering the COVD pandemia and its implications in education and also the uses of ICTS.

- Method must be deeper explained and what every point of the results section means.

- Conclusion section must be rewritten not summing up just concluding.

Author Response

Cover Letter 2

Author's Reply to the Review Report (Reviewer 2)

Dear Madam/ Sir,

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review our manuscript. Your thoughts are extremely useful and will assist us in improving the manuscript's quality. The following are the point-by-point replies. You can also locate them in the attachment and the amended manuscript in the "Track Changes" Word document.

1) Theoretical framework need an improvement considering the COVD pandemia and its implications in education and also the uses of ICTS.

Reply: We agree with your suggestions that the theoretical framework need an improvement considering the COVD and its implications in education should take the ICTs in to consideration. In accordance with your implications, we conduct the following paragraph.

Considering the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, this study collects data mainly during the time of school closures. Therefore, the theoretical framework is based on the premise of distance learning. The home environment has been served as the main context for students' online learning. As a result, the new classroom environment for second language learning needs to consider information technology and parental support. The lockdown and online learning during the epidemic tend to trigger gaps in academic achievement [1]. Therefore, in this particular context, the theoretical framework for second language learning needs to be reconsidered with a focus on the ought-to L2 self and the L2 learning experience. In this respect, we seek to combine the framework with the context of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on the L2 motivational self system [2], the purpose of this study is to investigate the internal structure of middle school students' English learning motivation, with a focus on the variations between boys and girls, as well as the motivational influence on second language accomplishment in the context of the lockdown.

2) Method must be deeper explained and what every point of the results section means

Reply: The deeper explanation in method and results is very helpful for our research design and explanation of our study. (Please see the following paragraphs)

4. Materials and Methods

4.1. Participants

In this study, we used random samples from four representative middle schools in Beijing with a large number of pupils. Samples of students from grades seven to nine were chosen at a 1:2 ratio, encompassing three grades. Participation in this study was entirely voluntary and anonymous. A total of 1100 questionnaires were issued, with 1036 receiving valid replies, 94.2 % of people responded. Table 1 shows the sample information.

These representatives came from four different districts, representing samples of middle schools in Beijing. The research was conducted in Beijing in COVID-19 lockdown period. The participants all experienced at least two rounds of lockdown from the pandemic, and our data was collected during school closures. The data contains comprehensive items covering key issues such as gender, motivation, and second language performance.

5. Results (In order to deeper explain every point of the results section, we add one paragraph as the overview of the research results at the beginning of the results.)

The results of the survey for middle school students include the internal structure of motivation, gender differences, and motivational impact on second language achievement. The internal structure was conducted through exploratory factor analysis and validated by confirmatory factor analysis. Four dimensions of L2 motivation were investigated. In addition, the variance between male and female students was tested through ANOVA. Moreover, the motivational impact on L2 achievement was conducted through multiple linear regression. Intrinsic interest and personal development motivation were found to have a significant positive effect on English achievement, whereas learning situation had no effect and immediate achievement had a significant negative effect.

3) Conclusion section must be rewritten not summing up just concluding.

Reply: Thank you for your suggestion, conclusion section was rewritten according to your implications.

7. Conclusions and Implications

To summarize, this study investigated four distinct forms of English learning motivation in Chinese middle schools, paying special attention to the variations between female and male students. The influence of motivation on English performance has been studied. Intrinsic interest and personal development motivation are considerably favorable influences on English success, but immediate achievement motivation is strongly detrimental. Furthermore, learning situation motivation has little effect on the result of English learning. The specifics of the impact of COVID-19 have been found and thoroughly examined.

This study has made three main contributions. First, the majority of the earlier motivational studies were carried out in English-speaking nations with European or American cultural backgrounds. Few research on motivation, nevertheless, have been undertaken in nations that do not use the English language [3]. This study provides a valuable reference for upcoming scholars throughout the world as it examines middle school pupils' motivation to learn a second language in a non-English-speaking nation. The second contribution is theoretical breakthrough. In the past, scholars have underemphasized the social psychology approach and underemphasized the ideal L2 self, particularly its integration and instrumental drive [4]. The theory is thoroughly investigated in this work, with a combination of the ideal L2 self, the ought-to L2 self, and the L2 learning experience under the L2 motivating self system [5]. The third innovation is to consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study examines the motivations of middle school students who study at home during the pandemic as well as the specific effects of the lockdown on their drive. This has enlightenments for the research of second language motivation and the sustainability of second language learning during an emergency.

Based on the above research findings, we draw the following implications: In the first place, students' enthusiasm for studying should be increased in order to internalize their drive to learn English. Intrinsic curiosity is a significant motivator for students’ learning [6]. As a result, in second language education, schools and teachers should focus on cultivating students' inner interests in order to improve their English learning outcomes. From the perspective of student sustainable development, teachers should effectively tailor the learning according to students' aptitudes. Efforts should be made to increase learners' positive attitudes toward their second language learning progress, as well as to create a pleasant second language learning atmosphere in which learners feel encouraged and motivated [7].

In the second place, teachers and parents should encourage different methods of evaluating students. Personal interactions between parents and students appear to have a significant effect on students' purposeful participation in the learning process [8]. In order to promote student learning outcomes during the lockdown period, schools should not stop at traditional exams to evaluate students. Family education and evaluation should be encouraged to be involved in the education of students. Multiple assessments could be used in schools, such as a mix of formative and summative assessments.

Last but not least, the ability of schools to deal with emergencies should be increased, as should students' ability to adjust to environmental changes. In the future, students' back to school learning and home learning may occur frequently. Schools should improve their capacity to handle crises and provide teachers distance training [9]. Simultaneously, communication between home and school should be improved, and guidance for home education should be enhanced so that the home may also serve as a favorable learning context for pupils. Since future learning contexts are uncertain, students should develop the awareness and ability to learn wherever they are. The capacity of pupils to adjust to contextual changes should be strengthened as well.

References

1. Goudeau, S.; Sanrey, C.; Stanczak, A.; Manstead, A.; Darnon, C., Why lockdown and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to increase the social class achievement gap. Nature Human Behaviour 2021, 5, (10), 1273-1281.
2. Dörnyei, Z.; Ushioda, E., Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Multilingual Matters Bristol: 2009; Vol. 36.
3. Isik, U.; Tahir, O. E.; Meeter, M.; Heymans, M. W.; Jansma, E. P.; Croiset, G.; Kusurkar, R. A., Factors Influencing Academic Motivation of Ethnic Minority Students: A Review. SAGE Open 2018, 8, (2), 2158244018785412.
4. Jiao, S.; Wang, J.; Ma, X.; You, Z.; Jiang, D., Motivation and Its Impact on Language Achievement: Sustainable Development of Ethnic Minority Students&rsquo; Second Language Learning. Sustainability 2022, 14, (13), 7898.
5. You, C. J.; Dörnyei, Z., Language learning motivation in China: Results of a large-scale stratified survey. Applied Linguistics 2016, 37, (4), 495-519.
6. Ryan, R. M.; Deci, E. L., Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Publications: 2017.
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

A very great job.

Good luck.

Author Response

Cover Letter 3

Author's Reply to the Review Report (Reviewer 3)

Dear Madam/ Sir,

We sincerely appreciate your help with the reviewing and support. Thank you for your valuable time. The point-by-point replies are included here. You can also find them on the attachment and in the updated manuscript's "Track Changes" Word document.

Reviewer’s advice: English language and style are fine/minor spell check required

Comments and Suggestions for Authors: A very great job. Good luck.

Reply: Thank you for your affirmation and recommendation, we agree with your advice and have checked the spelling of the words in the article, for instance, we have changed “factory” into “factor”, “academic motivation” into “immediate achievement”, ”According to recent study” into” According to a recent study”. These suggestions are very valuable.

Please refer to the revised version in the attachment.

All in all, we really appreciate your time and hard work. Have a wonderful day!

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Paper has improved its quality and now can be accepted for publication.