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Background: It is generally accepted that learning engagement is predictive of better learning outcomes. Yet, there might be some underlying motives for students to engage in or disengage from learning. Aims: Grounded in self-determination theory, this study aimed to examine whether satisfaction of international students' innate needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness correlated positively with their engagement in learning and improvement of health literacy in China. Sample: Forty-three international undergraduates from a medical university in China participated in the study. Methods: Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to deal with data collected from surveys on health literacy, perceived need satisfaction and the need satisfaction intervention, and from observation log recording dynamic changes in the students' performance while implementing a need-satisfying scheme in Hygiene education. In addition, final examination scores of with/without-intervention parts were compared to unveil the effect of the intervention. Results: Perceived autonomy support motivated the participants to engage actively in learning; close relation to peers and teachers encouraged them to take on challenges; satisfying their need for competence enabled them to have better performance and academic achievements as well as an improvement on health literacy. Conclusions: The present study suggested that fulfillment of the students' basic needs contributes to their engagement in learning and improvement of health literacy.

To examine the role of learners' innate need satisfaction in their English foreign language (EFL) learning, a case study was conducted at a university in China. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed in the study. Data were collected via a pre-and post-assessment research design and by recording dynamic variability in student participants' (N=353) learning performance while implementing a need-satisfying intervention scheme for one academic year. Structural equation modelling (SEM) method was used to test the hypothesized model and the structural relationship. Outcomes of this study indicated 1) that satisfaction of learners' basic needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness strengthened their autonomous motivation and facilitated controlled motivation to move gradually to autonomous one; 2) that strengthened motivation contributed to positive learning performance and significant improvement in their English proficiency; 3) and interestingly, that the causal effect coefficients of the contribution paths changed erratically with the variation of learners' motivation and English proficiency level. The present study suggested that innate need satisfaction was basically related to EFL learning outcome, but that fulfillment of different psychological needs played varied roles in academic achievement. The interesting findings signified that cultural factors and instrumental motivation had a notable impact on causal effects of innate need satisfaction on EFL learning outcome.

Suggested Citation: Hu, P. (2017). The correlation between need satisfaction and learning motivation: A self-determination theory perspective. International Journal of Learning and Teaching. 9(1), 319-329.Received August 17, 2016; revised October 26, 2016; accepted January 8, 2017. Selection and peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Hafize Keser, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey. AbstractTo examine the relationship between need satisfaction and learning motivation, a survey was conducted in an engineering college in China. Collected data were processed and analyzed via SPSS software; then a confirmatory factor analysis was performed with SEM method. Outcomes of the research indicated that: 1) satisfaction of autonomy and relatedness contributed to autonomous motivation; 2) satisfaction of competence and relatedness helped shift controlled motivation to autonomous motivation; 3) unexpectedly, satisfaction of competence had negative effect on autonomous regulation, as did satisfaction of autonomy on controlled regulation. The outcomes imply that learners" psychological needs should be satisfied according to their pre-existing types of motivation, and that studies on motivation based on Self-determination Theory (SDT) should take cultural factors into consideration Keywords: SDT, basic psychological needs, self-determined motivation, correlation *ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: School of Humanities, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou Fujian 350118, P.R. China. E-mail address: p.hu@hull.ac.uk Hu, P. (2017). The correlation between need satisfaction and learning motivation: A self-determination theory perspective. International Journal of Learning and Teaching. 9(1), 319-329. 1. BackgroundIt is universally acknowledged that human needs are basically related to motivation. Maslow (1943) believes that human needs cover 5 levels: physiological needs, safety needs, love needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs. McClelland and Burnham (1976, 1995) points out that when basic needs for survival are met, human seek the needs for achievement, power and affiliation. Deci & Ryan"s (1985, 2000 self-determination theory (SDT) focuses on human psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, and maintains that satisfaction of the basic needs leads to better motivation, performance, and well-being, since the innate needs are essential "psychological nutriments" for human beings to develop and function well. SDT also emphasizes that social contexts supportive of satisfaction of the basic needs enhance self-determined motivation, and that the needs can be met through a variety of activities and approaches.Motivation is not only an aspiration of goal pursuit, but also the strong will and tireless efforts to achieve it (Kong, 2009). Motivation, playing a crucial role in foreign language education, has attracted researchers and educators to conduct research on it from different perspectives for nearly half a century. Gardner and Lambert (1972) identified integrative and instrumental motivation as the tw...

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