# Investigating the demotivation of Moroccan CFL learners from an alienation theory perspective

## TL;DR

This study explores why Moroccan students lose motivation to learn Chinese, using alienation theory to identify social and institutional factors.

## Contribution

The paper introduces alienation theory as a framework to understand demotivation in CFL learning among Moroccan students.

## Key findings

- High demotivation among Moroccan CFL learners is linked to social isolation and normlessness.
- Institutional pressures and sociocultural barriers significantly contribute to motivational attrition.
- Students with high demotivation experience the most severe effects across all alienation factors.

## Abstract

This study reports on the results of a multi-method investigation on second language (L2) demotivation among Moroccan Learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) learners from the perspective of Alienation Theory. A total of 97 Moroccan students with varied majors from a university in East China took part in a questionnaire survey. Then Semi-structured interviews were applied to collect the data. Through Pearson’s correlations, a multiple regression and a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) analysis approach, this study found that L2 demotivation prevailed among the participants, influenced by an array of social isolation or estrangement-mediated and normlessness-mediated factors among classic four alienators. Students at different L2 demotivation levels reacted to alienators differently. Students from the high demotivation group suffered most across all four demotivators, but such gaps appeared most substantially in social isolation or estrangement, followed by meaninglessness, and then powerlessness. No significant difference was found between average demotivators and low demotivators in powerlessness and meaninglessness. Qualitative findings contextualized these results, identifying institutional pressures and sociocultural barriers as key mechanisms driving motivational attrition. The study advances theoretical understanding of L2 demotivation in transnational educational contexts and provides actionable strategies for fostering inclusive CFL pedagogies.