Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject Orientalism / Sinology - Chinese / China, grade: 1,3, University of Göttingen, language: English, abstract: There is a vast amount of studies that try to investigate why students learn a second language. In the following term paper, the author tries to give an overview about the different motivational theories, beginning with the socio-educational model by Gardner and its specification by Dörnyei and Csizer. In addition to that, the author also takes a look at motivational theories that include heritage learners. Although until now there is no data available about the percentage of heritage learners among German students that learn Chinese as a second language, taking a look at the number of Chinese people living in Germany, points into the direction of a growing number of heritage learners at German schools. Over the last seven years, 2007 to 2014, the number of Chinese people living in Germany has grown from 78,000 to 110,000, which means an increase of approximately 30%, in some areas in Eastern Germany, Chinese even now make up the largest number of people from a foreign country among the population. Although the number of children under 18 only amounts to roughly 8,500, it can be be assumed, that in the future, there will be a significant number of heritage learners in German schools. The author's term paper also takes a look at current empirical findings regarding motivation of learners, who learn Chinese as a second language and tries to evaluate possible implications for Chinese language classes. The basis for this is the best-practice approach for Chinese language classes by Andrea Valenzuela, which can be found in her book "Praktisches Handbuch für den Chinesischunterricht" (2011).