Low Hiang Loon / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 12 No. 1 (2025) 82 Online version available in : http://arbitrer.fib.unand.ac.id | 2339-1162 (Print) | 2550-1011 (Online) | JURNAL ARBITRER Submission Track A B S T R A C T Received: July 24, 2024 Final Revision: January 23, 2025 Accepted: February 03, 2025 Available Online: March 25, 2025 Studying from home may cause problems for academic performance and psychological well-being, however, studying from home may bring advantages for “flexibility”, “study-life balance” and academic achievement. Hence, this paper investigated whether university students gained benefits by studying Mandarin (as a foreign language) from home based on the Theory of Needs of David McClelland. This theory has linked to the Need for Power (through Flexibility), the Need for Affiliation (through Study-Life Balance) and the Need for Achievement (through Learning Performance). The study employed a quantitative method, and the instrument used was a survey. The samples comprised of 326 students who enrolled in a Mandarin course at the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam and Puncak Alam, Selangor. The data was analysed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) for obtaining descriptive statistics such as mean scores, standard deviations and correlation. In terms of the Need for Power (through Flexibility), the results demonstrated that students very often had the power for saving on commuting expenses and focus on the study; while the results for the Need for Affiliation (through Study-Life Balance) revealed that students were able to save more time to handle tasks on hand, attend to family needs and enhanced family relationship. The results for the Need for Achievement (through Learning Performance) indicated that students very often had control over learning performance due to their Mandarin lecturers understood their challenges, provided more learning materials and monitored their progress. It is recommended that the motivation to study from home can be further explored. This study could be replicated to examine if the McClellan’s Needs Theory would meet the needs of other larger groups of students. Keywords Study from home, Needs theory, study-life balance, flexibility, learning performance Correspondence E-mail: hiangloon2004@yahoo.com Article Perception of Studying Mandarin from Home: An Analysis from McLelland’s Theory Low Hiang Loon1, Goh Chin Shuang2, Teh Hong Siok3, Tuan Sarifah Aini Syed Ahmad4 1-4Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Malaysia Under License of Creative Commons Attributioni-Non Commercial 4.0 International.DOI: https://doi.org/10.25077/ar.12.1.82-95.2025 I. INTRODUCTION Due to the Covid-19 attack in March 2020, Malaysia had switched the traditional face-to-face classroom instruction to studying from home for all educational institutions including universities and other institutions of higher education, in which it was a situation where there was a sudden change from “studying physically at campus” to “studying from home”, aiming to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Generally, it is believed that studying from home will cause several problems to students especially on the aspects of academic performance (Aileen Farida, 2022; Hastutiningtyas & Rosdiana, 2021), psychological well-being (Amin et al., 2023; Duan & Zhu, 2020; Zhang & Ma, 2020), infrastructure issues (Aileen Farida et al., 2021; Demuyakor, 2020) and issues of lack of technical skills in handling the technology devices that affects the effectiveness of students studying from home (Brilliannur et al., 2020; Khanna, & Prasad, 2020; Okyere et al., 2022). However, some research has also reported about the advantages of studying from home in terms of “study-life balance” because compared with studying on campus, the mode of studying from Low Hiang Loon / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 12 No. 1 (2025) 83 home has reduced the travelling time to a physical campus and solved the distance issues (Fidalgo et al., 2020; Nik Md Salleh et al., 2022). In this way, students do not only save on accommodation, transportation and other expenses, but also gain more time to handle the task at hand. At the beginning of implementing the mode of studying from home, students may get lost in adapting to the new learning environment when using online applications to study at home. In the later stages, most students slowly mastered the new learning methods through e-learning resources, digital meeting platforms and online learning systems (Santiago et al., 2022), and eventually most students were on the track to receive knowledge as usual and were able to maintain their academic performance. On top of that, studying from home also presents encouraging aspects such as flexibility in terms of convenience and more freedom. Students can study at anytime and anywhere (Manea, et al., 2021; Thamri, et al., 2022). With that, they can learn at their own pace and repeating learning is possible as a lot of visuals, article links, videos, and interactive exercises are provided (Huang et al., 2020; Yuhanna et al., 2020). According to McClelland (1965), Need for Achievement, Need for Affiliation and Need for Power are 3 important aspects needs to be achieved by people in life (Figure 1). The Need for Achievement refers to the ability to handle academic tasks and academic performance. This motivation extends to individuals’ ability to handle academic tasks and impacts their overall academic performance. In the context of studying from home, students with a high need for achievement are more inclined to set ambitious learning objectives and demonstrate persistent efforts to excel in their studies (Turabik & Baskan, 2015; Vero & Puka, 2017). The Need for Affiliation refers to “study-life balance” where one does not only do well for the study, but could pay greater attention to the family to enhance family relationships. McClelland defines the need of affiliation as the need to belong to a group. The core of the need for affiliation is the desire to establish a warm relationship with others including their family members, concerned with the establishment and maintenance of a sustainable and good interpersonal relation (Corpuz et al., 2022; Uduji & Ankeli, 2013; Vero & Puka, 2017). Last but not least, the Need for Power will be gained when one has the flexibility in one’s life. Studying from home has offered the great flexibility (Nik Md Salleh et al., 2022) that has given a positive impact on students’ learning as compared to traditional education (Santiago et al., 2021), especially on the aspects of remote learning, easy administration, accessibility and comfortability (Mukhtar et al., 2020). Based on the above motivating aspects, it is particularly important to investigate Malaysian university students’ perceptions on studying from home. This paper focused on investigating whether university Mandarin students in Malaysia had gained benefits from the mode of studying from home based on the theory of needs proposed by David McClelland (1965). Generally, this paper will analyse the advantages and disadvantages of studying from home based on the theory of needs proposed by David McClelland (1965). Specifically, this research will explore the perceptions of university Mandarin students in Malaysia on how flexibility, study life balance and academic performance were affected by the mode of studying Mandarin from home. Figure 1 Conceptual Framework of the Study: Theory of Needs and Factors for Studying from Home Low Hiang Loon / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 12 No. 1 (2025) 84 Many studies have been conducted to investigate the advantages and challenges of studying from home during the pandemic. The studies are described as follows. Kastaty and Prihatini (2022) investigated how Indonesian students learned Asian languages during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study showed that all 310 participants expressed interest in learning an Asian language during the pandemic. Of the respondents, 55% mentioned that online learning from home had motivated them to acquire a foreign language. Another reason for their motivation to participate in online classes was the user-friendly nature of online platforms, making the learning process more enjoyable and engaging. Additionally, studying from home allowed students to learn Asian languages at their own pace and with flexibility. The study also found that 86% of students reported that online platforms had improved their writing skills. Furthermore, most students mentioned that teachers used online platforms to provide clear instructions for completing tasks. The interview findings also indicated that students had enhanced their knowledge of vocabulary and pronunciation, including the correct intonation. Huang and Wang (2023) conducted a study on how to motivate students to engage in online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study selected a large sample of 14,935 postgraduate students from 31 universities in China. The research consisted of three scales that measured the participants’ perceptions of needs satisfaction, engagement, and academic achievement. The findings demonstrated that postgraduate students at Chinese universities benefited from increased autonomy in the online learning environment encouraged them to set learning goals, access learning resources, and employ learning strategies that facilitated the mastery of difficult skills, understanding complex ideas, and the use of deep learning strategies to achieve academic success. Students’ perceptions of relatedness satisfaction also contributed to increased participation in online learning activities with teachers and peers. In conclusion, students’ feelings of autonomy and competence, which stimulated behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement in online learning activities, were found to positively influence academic achievement. Mahyoob (2020) examined the challenges and obstacles of online learning faced by students studying from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 184 tertiary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in Saudi Arabia participated in the study. The findings revealed that the primary challenges of EFL online learning were related to technical issues, such as poor internet connectivity. Students also faced difficulties accessing learning platforms, such as using the Blackboard tool, downloading materials, and conducting online exams etc., due to unreliable internet connections. In addition, communication issues were prominent. Inefficient interaction with teachers and peers demotivated students studying from home. As a result, over 30% of students reported missing tasks, assignments, and communications with their teachers. The study found that less than 50% of students were satisfied with online learning from home. Aroonsrimarakot et. al. (2023) investigated the challenges of online learning and strategies to overcome challenges from the students’ perspectives. In this study, 465 students were purposively selected at two public universities in Thailand. The results revealed that the major challenges were students facing difficulty in understanding the context of the lesson, poor internet connection, difficulty in managing time, difficulty in taking online exams, poor quality of learning experience, low interest or motivation, difficulty in selecting the area to follow the online lesson at home, difficulty in completing work assignment or task, and distraction from the learning environment at home. Factor of distraction was caused by noise and poor learning environment at home; teachers’ incompetency was caused by technical, inadequate teaching skills, unstructured content, and lack of follow-up; technological limitation was caused by the quality of uploaded audio or video files, connectivity, technical problems, or data limitations. Remote learning or online distance learning (ODL), spurred by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, forcing higher education institutions in Malaysia to adapt their teaching methods to maintain high standards of education. Students had the transition from traditional face- to-face learning to online or remote learning. This significant shift in the mode of education prompted the current study to investigate the impact of studying Mandarin from home. Hence, this study Low Hiang Loon / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 12 No. 1 (2025) 85 they were studying Mandarin as one of the courses of the university. Therefore, the students who enrolled in a Mandarin course at the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam & Puncak Alam, Selangor were selected. Purposive sampling is applied when a sample requires certain criteria and is convenient to researchers (Andrade, 2020). However, the results obtained from this sampling cannot represent and be generalized to the population (Andrade, 2020). Table 1 shows the results for demographic profile of the respondents. The sample consisted of 326 fulltime university Mandarin students. The majority of the students (82.5%) were females and only 17.5 % of them were males. It is because the majority of students enrolled in all faculties every semester are females, reflecting the imbalance of gender ratio. Table 1 also demonstrates that the respondents were from nine Mandarin classes from three faculties namely, Faculty of Accountancy, Faculty of Computer Science and Faculty of Mass Communication. The number of students ranged from 32 to 40 students per class. Respondents of each faculty comprised students of Mandarin Level 1, 2 & 3, respectively. Besides, Table 1 shows that the students studied Mandarin from home at various states in Malaysia. Almost half of (40.5%) the sample were from Selangor while the rest were from other states with the percentages ranged from 0.3% to 8.9%. This is due to the location of UiTM campuses selected were in Selangor. Thus, the was conducted to investigate university Mandarin students’ perception of studying from home using the McClellan’s Theory. The investigation was conducted to answer the following research questions: 1. How do learners gain power when studying Mandarin from home? 2. How do learners gain affiliation when studying Mandarin from home? 3. How do learners gain achievement when studying Mandarin from home? 4. What is the relationship between the three factors in the Theory of Needs (McClelland, 1965) and studying from home experience for a Mandarin course? II. METHODS The study employed a quantitative method by using a survey. The survey was conducted by using a questionnaire developed by using Google Forms due to its convenience that missing data can be eliminated when all items in the questionnaire were set as required to be answered, and its link can easily be sent via any online platforms. In this study, the link was distributed via the class WhatsApp groups, and it was open for four weeks. The sample for this study was obtained through purposive sampling due to the sample had to fulfil the following criteria: (1) it was convenient to access, (2) it was studying from home, and (3) Table 1 Demographic Profile Gender Frequency Percent Male 57 17.5 Female 269 82.5 Total 326 100 Group Frequency Percent ACT1MA 40 12.3 CST1ME 33 10.1 MCT1MC 30 9.2 ACT2MA 34 10.4 CST2MA 32 9.8 MCT2MA 39 12.0 ACT3MA 40 12.3 CST3ME 40 12.3 MCT3MB 38 11.7 Total 326 100 State Frequency Percent Selangor 132 40.5 Melaka 9 2.8 Perak 21 6.4 Johor 29 8.9 Penang 13 4.0 Kedah 19 5.8 Pahang 11 3.4 Kelantan 28 8.6 Terengganu 3 0.9 Negeri Sembilan 10 3.1 Sabah 10 3.1 Sarawak 12 3.7 Kuala Lumpur 24 7.4 Putrajaya 4 1.2 Labuan 1 0.3 Total 326 100 Low Hiang Loon / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 12 No. 1 (2025) 86 majority of the students were from Selangor. The questionnaire for this study consisted of five sections (A, B, C, D and E) as shown in Table 2. 30 items in Section B, C, D and E were adapted from Abdullah, Rahmat, Zawawi, Khamsah and Anuarsham (2020) and constructed based on David McClelland’s motivation theory. Modifications were done to make it applicable for this study. Content validation of the items was conducted by an expert in the English as a second language teaching. The reliability of 30 items with Likert scales was evaluated by using the Cronbach’s Alpha test. The α value obtained was very good (N=30, α=.944). According to Ursachi et al. (2015), the α value that is 0.8 or greater is very good. Therefore, the items were reliable. The data for demographic profile was analysed for frequencies while the data for Sections B, C, D and E was analysed for mean scores and correlations. The interpretation of results for mean scores of five Likert scales for Sections B, C, D and E was based on Alston and Miller (2002) as shown in Table 3. III. RESULTS Flexibility to Gain Power This section presents the results to answer research question 1: “How do learners gain power when studying Mandarin from home?”. In the context of this study, the need for power refers to Flexibility. Table 2 Distribution of Items in the Survey Section Items Factors Number of Items Scale Reliability (α) A Demographic profile - 3 - - B Power Flexibility 9 Never (1), Rarely (2), Sometimes (3), Very Often (4) and Always (5). C Affiliation Study-Life Balance 10 .944D Achievements Learning Performance 10 E Overall - 1 Very Poor (1) Poor (2), Fair (3), Good (4) and Excellent (5) Total number of items 33 Table 3 Interpretation of Mean of the Five-Likert Scales Likert Scale Coding Five Likert Scales (Alston and Miller, 2002) Five Likert Scales in Sections B, C and D Five Likert Scales in Section E Mean of Likert Scale 1 Strongly Disagree Never Very Poor 1.0 - 1.49 2 Disagree Rarely Poor 1.5 - 2.49 3 Neutral Sometimes Fair 2.5 - 3.49 4 Agree Very Often Good 3.5 - 4.49 5 Strongly Agree Always Excellent 4.5 - 5.0 Table 4 Flexibility to Gain Power Items Mean Std. Deviation Interpretation FQ1 I take less time to complete my task when studying from home. 3.03 .965 Sometimes FQ2 I cherish not having to spend time commuting to university on daily basis. 3.34 1.103 Sometimes FQ3 I am able to save on commuting expenses while studying from home 4.22 .914 Very Often FQ4 I can immediately attend the class upon waking up every day while studying from home. 4.11 .950 Very Often FQ5 I am comfortable to do my study anytime. 3.85 1.017 Very Often FQ6 I can focus my study by managing my own schedule. 3.74 1.027 Very Often FQ7 I am able to enjoy a healthier lifestyle. 3.44 1.068 Sometimes FQ8 I face less stress doing some class work at home. 3.01 1.154 Sometimes FQ9 My productivity increases with less stress while studying from home 3.03 1.141 Sometimes Low Hiang Loon / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 12 No. 1 (2025) 87 Table 4 shows the results for flexibility to gain power. The results demonstrated that students very often had the power for five items: saving on commuting expenses while studying from home (M=4.22, SD=.914), immediately attending the class upon waking up every day while studying from home (SD=4.11, SD=.950), feeling comfortable to do their study anytime (M=3.85, SD=1.017), and focusing their study by managing their own schedule (M=3.74, SD=1.027). While the other four items, they sometimes had the power to take less time to complete their task when studying from home (M=3.03, SD=.965), cherish not having to spend time commuting to university on daily basis (M=3.34, SD=1.103), be able to enjoy a healthier lifestyle (M=3.44, SD=1.068), face less stress doing some class work at home (M=3.01, SD=1.154), and increase productivity with less stress while studying from home (M=3.03, SD=1.141). Study-Life Balance to Gain Affiliation This section presents the results to answer research question 2: How do learners gain affiliation when studying Mandarin from home? In the context of this study, the need for affiliation refers to study-life balance. Table 5 shows the results for study-life balance to gain affiliation. The results revealed that students very often had control for six items: assisting their family with household chores (M=3.66, SD=.972), improving their learning satisfaction for having a study space at home (M=3.67, SD=1.063), simultaneously attending to their family needs while studying from home (M=3.60, SD=1.032), not having to face traffic jams to and from university every day (M=4.19, SD=.998), not having to travel to university, therefore they were able to spend more time on the task at hand (M=3.89, SD=1.036), and take care of themselves better while studying from home (M=3.52, SD=1.078). For the other four items, students sometimes had control on managing their study responsibilities alongside their personal and family needs (M=3.37, SD=.948). The students also perceived that the flexibility of learning from home was ideal for them (M=3.42, SD=1.031), studying from home was more conducive than learning in a normal classroom (M=3.12, SD=1.136), and feeling healthy and having a better well-being when studying from home (M=3.31, SD=1.103). Learning Performance to gain Achievement This section presents the results to answer research question 3: “How do learners gain achievement when studying Mandarin from home?”. In the context of this study, the need for achievement refers to learning performance. Table 6 shows very encouraging results for learning performance. The results indicated that students very often had control over all the items due to their Mandarin lecturers understood their challenges while they studied from home (M=3.89, SD=1.012), had high trust in them when they studied from home (M=4.02, SD=.915), provided more learning materials when students studied from home (M=4.28, SD=.780), were Table 5 Study-Life Balance to Gain Affiliation Items Mean Std. Deviation Interpretation WLBQ1 I can manage my study responsibilities alongside my personal and family needs. 3.37 .948 Sometimes WLBQ2 I prefer flexibility for my study as I can assist my family with household chores. 3.66 .972 Very Often WLBQ3 The flexibility of studying from home is ideal for me. 3.42 1.031 Sometimes WLBQ4 I find having a study space at home helps improve my learning satisfaction. 3.67 1.063 Very Often WLBQ5 I find studying from home beneficial for me as I am able to simultaneously attend to my family needs. 3.60 1.032 Very Often WLBQ6 I find studying from home more conducive than learning in a normal classroom. 3.12 1.136 Sometimes WLBQ7 I do not have to face traffic jams to and from university every day. 4.19 .998 Very Often WLBQ8 I do not have to travel to university, therefore I am able to spend more time on the task at hand. 3.89 1.036 Very Often WLBQ9 I feel healthy and have a better well-being when studying from home. 3.31 1.103 Sometimes WLBQ10 I am able to take care of myself better while studying from home. 3.52 1.078 Very Often Low Hiang Loon / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 12 No. 1 (2025) 88 Table 6 Learning Performance to Gain Achievement Item Mean Std. Deviation Interpretation WPQ1 My Mandarin lecturers understand students’ challenges while students studying from home. 3.89 1.012 Very Often WPQ2 My Mandarin lecturers have high trust in students when students studying from home. 4.02 .915 Very Often WPQ3 My Mandarin lecturers provide more learning materials when students studying from home. 4.28 .780 Very Often WPQ4 My Mandarin lecturers are concerned with monitoring students’ progress when students studying from home. 4.22 .804 Very Often WPQ5 My Mandarin lecturers arrange additional quizzes and exercises when students studying from home. 4.30 .782 Very Often WPQ6 Studying from home improves my study progression. 3.52 .976 Very Often WPQ7 Studying from home improves my academic performance for Mandarin course. 3.59 .975 Very Often WPQ8 I have a comfortable space when I study from home. 3.87 1.031 Very Often WPQ9 My Mandarin lecturers conduct live teaching when students studying from home. 4.53 .747 Very Often WPQ10 I do self-directed learning when I study from home. 3.79 .936 Very Often Table 7 Means Score of Studying from Home Experience for a Mandarin Course N Mean Std. DeviationValid Missing Interpretation 326 0 3.68 .779 Good Table 8 Tests of Normality Factors in the Theory of Needs (McClelland, 1965) Kolmogorov-Smirnova Shapiro-Wilk Statistic df Sig. Statistic df Sig. Studying from home experience for a Mandarin course .255 326 <.001 .842 326 <.001 Need for Power (through Flexibility) .060 326 .006 .986 326 .003 Need for Affiliation (through Study-Life Balance) .070 326 <.001 .977 326 <.001 Need for Achievement (through Learning Performance) .061 326 .006 .972 326 <.001 a. Lilliefors Significance Correction concerned with monitoring their progress when they studied from home (M=4.22, SD=.804), arranged additional quizzes and exercises when students studied from home (M=4.30, SD=.782), and conducted live teaching when they studied from home (M=4.53, SD=.747). Moreover, they were very often able to control their learning due to studying from home improved their study progression (M=3.52, SD=.976), studying from home improved their academic performance for Mandarin course (M=3.59, SD=.975), they had a comfortable space when they studied from home (M=3.87, SD=1.031), and they did self-directed learning when they studied from home (M=3.79, SD=.936). The relationship between three factors in the Theory of Needs (McClelland, 1965) and studying from home experience for a Mandarin course Section E contains the item of “How was the studying from home experience for your Mandarin course?”. Table 7 shows that the score of the item (M=3.68, SD=0.779), indicating the students had good studying from home experience for a Mandarin course. The relationships between three factors in the Theory of Needs (McClelland, 1965) with studying from home experience for a Mandarin course were analysed using the Spearman rho Correlation Test because the data for all variables were not normal Low Hiang Loon / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 12 No. 1 (2025) 89 (p < 0.05) for both types of normality tests (the Kolmogorov-Smirnova Test and the Shapiro- Wilk Test) as shown in Table 8. Furthermore, the sampling was conducted through purposive sampling. The results of the Spearman’s Rho Correlations Tests between the variables are shown in Table 9. The strength of the correlations between the variables were interpreted based on these r values: very low (r≤0.20), low (0.20