Identity, Motivation, and Multilingual Education in Asian Contexts (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Language Learning Journal, 2021
In accordance with the multilingual turn in SLA (May 2014), language education researchers are now directing more attention to the motivational dynamics associated with learning multiple languages, including the interrelationships between motivation and learners' sense of self. In contrast to research focused on language learners' psychological relationship to languages from the perspective of self-systems, this research instead takes a more identity-focused perspective that looks at motivation in light of learners' orientations towards ideological discourses associated with the languages they are learning. It draws on longitudinal qualitative interviews and supplementary data from a larger dataset of nineteen Chinese university students in Shanghai who are majoring in Japanese while continuing to study English, focusing on five cases in particular. The analysis highlights that the learners experienced a number of important identity-tensions as they attempted to reconcile ideological discourses on language with their own multi-layered identity positions and perspectives towards language learning. The discussion details the ways that learners mobilise their interpretive resources to evaluate instrumental and humanistic orientations towards language within macro-, meso-and micro-contexts and make agentive decisions that shape their motivational trajectories and multilingual identities.
System, 2008
This article reports the findings of a 2003 study involving 526 Hong Kong tertiary students, aiming to explore their motivation towards the learning of English, Putonghua and a chosen third language (French, German or Japanese). Based on Dö rnyei's and work [Dö rnyei, Z., Csizér, K., 2002. Some dynamics of language attitudes and motivation: results of a nationwide survey. Applied Linguistics 23 (4), 421-462] on varying motivation towards different foreign languages among Hungarian school children, this study used an amended version of their questionnaire to examine possible varying motivation among Hong Kong respondents. Follow-up focus group interviews were also conducted; however, this paper focuses on the quantitative phase of the study.
Diving into the depths of identity construction and motivation of a foreign language learner
2013
Moving away from the bilingual assumptions that have traditionally informed the study of language learners’ identity construction, this paper draws on cuttingedge SLA and sociolinguistic theories to explore the close relationship between identity and motivation in foreign language learning contexts. To this end, this paper presents some preliminary observations of a case study in progress involving a language learner who struggles to display his professional identity with the linguistic resources available to him. This, coupled with the social prestige acquired for learning a foreign language, acts as a motivating force for improving his language skills. Finally, adopting an emic perspective, the paper outlines some of the linguistic and socio-pragmatic areas the participant reports as problematic when displaying his professional self.
This study explores how theories of motivation and the attitude of second language learners come together to explain L2 learner identity construction in a target language. Through in-depth interviews with a L2 learner of Korean, this study shows that the participant’s experience of learning Korean is consistent with Gardner’s notion of integrativeness (2001). The interview data indicates that the kind of integrative motivation certainly contributes not only to negotiating sociopragmatic competence but also to shaping the learner’s personal identity as it is oriented toward the target culture. Moreover, the participant’s feelings about her own national culture appears to “be a powerful motivator…to reduce the discrepancy between the actual self and ideal self” (Dornyei et al., 2006, p. 145).
rEFLections, 2024
Current theories about learning a second language might not fully explain why people want to learn languages other than English (LOTE) in the context of globalization and multilingualism. This study adopted and adjusted Huang's (2021) motivational dimensions for LOTE learners, specifically focusing on those who learn LOTE as a third language (L3), as is common in Thailand. It aimed to explore the motivations of 167 Thai students in higher education when choosing to study Japanese, using a questionnaire and a focus group. The findings indicate that Culture/Community Interest and Instrumentality-Promotion significantly influence motivation. On the other hand, Instrumentality-Prevention and Intended Learning Effort are closely related and exhibit the least influence. The findings also showed that students' motivations change depending on their year of study. Third-and fourth-year students valued practical benefits the most, while second-year students were more interested in the culture and community of the target language. In addition, the research also examined students' perceptions of multilingual learning. This research helps educators, linguists, and policymakers understand why students want to study Japanese and to create effective teaching strategies tailored to students' interests.
Identity, Motivation and English Learning in a Japanese Context
World Journal of English Language, 2017
Founded upon motivation, identity and self theories, this qualitative case study explored the motivational self systemand identities of Japanese EFL learners and their influence on motivation and English language learning. Data wascollected through online surveys among 22 graduate and undergraduate university students. The survey resultsindicated high motivation, international orientation and positive attitudes toward English language learning. Thethematic analysis of students’ detailed responses to the open-ended questions showed a stronger instrumentalmotivation and lack of desire to join and identify with the English communities and culture. International orientationappeared to be a better measure of motivation as opposed to integrative motivation. Moreover, the learners hadinhibitory factors operating against English learning motivation and speaking practices such as anxiety and lowlinguistic self-confidence. Resistance to new cultural identities or identity conflicts resulted f...
Identity in foreign language learning and teaching: why
MEd in TESOL (University of Exeter) and over 17 years' teaching experience in Higher Education, EAP and EFL contexts in the UK and abroad. Her main research interests are identity and motivation in language learning and teaching. Vera Busse has a research position in the Department of Education of the Carl von Ossietzky University, Germany. Her main research interests are motivation and autonomy in language education. She holds a PhD in educational science from the University of Oxford, where she graduated with a thesis titled Foreign language learning motivation in higher education: a longitudinal study on motivational changes and their causes. She has more than 10 years' teaching experience in EFL and GFL.
Sustainble Multilingualism, 2021
This study examines the relationship between the participation of multilingual students in FAL (French as an additional language) classroom and language learners' identities associated with the related community of practice. Classroom participation, a key concept of the study, is defined as a verbal form of learners' investment in language learning, which can both enhance language learning and change the identity of language learners. The research was conducted in an international multilingual school in Croatia among eight 5 th grade multilingual and multicultural students learning French as an additional language. For data collection purposes, French language lessons and twelve video recordings with a total length of approx. 480 minutes were observed and taped. A qualitative analysis of the participation of each student was conducted with the regard to the power relations among members of the classroom. The analysis revealed that, from the chosen theoretical perspective where an additional language is seen both as a tool of power and a tool for power, the identity of language learners can be described as a dynamic combination of some of the following identity positions: a language learner in a position of power, a language learner in a higher position of power than others, a language learner in a reduced position of power but eager for a position of power, a language learner in a reduced position of power but not eager for a position of power. The results of this study are consistent with the main assumptions about the identity of language learners made by other socially oriented authors in SLA (Norton-Peirce, 1995; Pavlenko & Blackledge, 2004; Darvin & Norton, 2015), according to which language learners' identity is multiple, dynamic, discursively shaped and context-dependent.
Identities and languages: Two stories of multilingual development
Culture in Foreign Language Learning: Insights from Research and Implications for the Practice, 2015
In Australia many children grow up multilingually, as users of their family heritage language (in this study, Japanese) and the language of the majority community (English). Development in the heritage language plays an important role in the construction of the identity as these children become adolescents and into adulthood. A heritage language learner’s competencies, identification, choices and ideologies change and evolve over the course of a learner’s life, reflecting changing motivations, social networks and opportunities. This chapter reports a case-study observation of two young adults living in Australia, focusing specifically on how their languages, in particular Japanese, may shape their identity development. An observation of ‘story’ data collected through interviews shows the impact of their language learning experiences on their multi-faceted development of identity. It uncovers how the students need, and use, their Japanese in two key ways: to participate and interact with aspects of Japanese pop-culture, and to establish and maintain familial and social relationships. This study provides an observation of two examples of heritage learner development, and brings deeper understanding of needs, to relevant secondary and tertiary language learning provision. This chapter explores the factors shaping the construction of identity for two young people of Japanese families but growing up outside Japan. Specifically, we offer case studies of identity and language development for two young adults who have grown up in Sydney, Australia. The data collected from participants through in-depth interviews concerning their family backgrounds and the opportunities participants had to formally study Japanese, demonstrate the strong relationship between their Japanese language proficiency, particularly their Japanese literacy, and their sense of identification.