This book investigates how learners' motivations and identities are constructed in the process of learning and using multiple languages in Asian contexts. It presents examples of multilingual contexts in different parts of Asia and illustrates various achievements and challenges associated with multilingual education. Drawing on recent theoretical developments regarding learners' motivations and identities in language learning-related research, this book uncovers learners' motivations that underlie their decisions of learning multiple languages in Asian contexts. Through empirical studies, the authors offer conceptual interpretations on emerging concepts such as dual-motivation system, motivation dynamics, motivational transformation episodes, and hierarchies of identities. In addition to being highly relevant to researchers of applied linguistics, this book is a valuable reference for every university and college library that serves a faculty or school of education.

This textbook takes a Complex Systems Theory approach to examine individual differences between learners and the potential impact of these variables on the process of acquiring a second language. The authors argue that individual variables cannot provide the complete picture, and that they must instead be understood as part of an interconnected and dynamic system of different factors in order to be useful in a language learning context. Written in an accessible style and suitable for final-year undergraduate and Masters-level students, the book includes clear definitions of key terms, discussion questions for classroom use, practical exercises and activities, and examples of real empirical studies that students and teachers can replicate in their own contexts. This textbook will be of interest to students taking TESOL and SLA courses and modules, as well as those on broader Applied Linguistics programmes.

This book investigates how learners' motivations and identities are constructed in the process of learning and using multiple languages in Asian contexts. It presents examples of multilingual contexts in different parts of Asia and illustrates various achievements and challenges associated with multilingual education. Drawing on recent theoretical developments regarding learners' motivations and identities in language learning-related research, this book uncovers learners' motivations that underlie their decisions of learning multiple languages in Asian contexts. Through empirical studies, the authors offer conceptual interpretations on emerging concepts such as dual-motivation system, motivation dynamics, motivational transformation episodes, and hierarchies of identities. In addition to being highly relevant to researchers of applied linguistics, this book is a valuable reference for every university and college library that serves a faculty or school of education.

This book fills an existing gap in language learning motivation research by examining the applications of current motivational theories and models from WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, developed) contexts to educational systems in Asian contexts. All chapters are focused on second language (L2) motivation as it applies to the EFL situation in Asian countries where English is a mandatory subject in school. Themes in the volume cover the use of possible L2 selves as a theoretical model of motivation, the role of teacher motivation and demotivation in non-European educational systems, study abroad, motivation among adolescents, cross-cultural differences in learner motivation among Asian cultures and the influence of native speakerism on language motivation and cultural identity. This book will appeal to ESL/EFL educators, postgraduate students, researchers and teacher-trainers both inside and outside Asian countries, who are interested in research on L2 motivation in general and within Asian contexts in particular.

Within foreign language education contexts across the globe, inadequate attention has been paid to documenting the dynamics of identity development, negotiation and management. This book looks at these dynamics in specific relation to otherness, in addition to attitudinal and behavioural overtones created through use of the term 'foreign' (despite its position as an integral marker in language acquisition discourse). This book argues that individual identities are multidimensional constructs that gravitate around a hub of intricate social networks of multimodal intergroup interaction. The chapters pursue a collective desire to move the notion of identity away from theoretical abstraction and toward the lived experiences of foreign language teachers and students. While the identities entangled with these interactions owe a significant measure of their existence to the immediate social context, they can also be actively developed by their holders. The collection of chapters within this book demonstrate how foreign language education environments (traditional and non-traditional) are ideal locations for the development of a sophisticated repertoire of discursive strategies used in the formulation, navigation, expression and management of social identities and multiple selves.

This book uses a narrative-oriented approach to shed light on the processes of identity construction and development among Japanese university students of English. The research highlights the instrumental agency of individuals in responding to and acting upon the social environment, and in developing, maintaining and/or reconstructing their identities as L2 users. The study offers unique insights into the role of experience, emotions, social and environmental affordances in shaping their personal orientations to English and self-perceptions as English learner-users. It also examines individuals’ responses to these factors and discusses fluctuations in their motivations. The additional value of this book lies in its detailed account of methodological procedures, challenges and ways to overcome obstacles encountered when undertaking qualitative longitudinal studies.

The book addresses issues related to the education of ethnic minority individuals in the multilingual Asian region. It features recent research and practices of scholars aiming to rethink educational policy and practice surrounding the education of ethnic minority students with a variety of language scenarios in Hong Kong and other Asian contexts. It documents how ethnicity and inequality are played out at policy, school, and individual levels, and how these affect the education of ethnic minorities in their host societies. Using a range of methods, from surveys to interviews and document analysis, this book describes the links between language, identity and educational inequality related to ethnic minorities in Asian contexts.

This book explores how complex systems theory can contribute to the understanding of classroom language learner motivation through an extended examination of one particular, situated research project. Working from the lived experience of the participants, the study describes how action research methods were used to explore the dynamic conditions operating in a foreign language classroom in Japan. The book draws attention to the highly personalised and individual, yet equally co-formed nature of classroom foreign language learning motivation and to the importance of agency and emotions in language learning. It presents an extended illustration of the applicability of complex systems theory for research design and process in SLA and its narrative approach shines light upon the evolving nature of research and role of the researcher. The study will be a valuable resource for practitioners, researchers and postgraduate students interested in classroom language teaching and learning, especially those with a focus on motivation among learners.

Directed motivational currents (DMCs) are goal-directed motivational surges in pursuit of a much-desired personal outcome. This book introduces the reader to cutting-edge theory and research in second language learner motivation and presents empirical research which investigates DMCs in the context of language learning. The studies explore the wider relevance of DMC theory from participants recruited worldwide, answering questions such as how many (and which) participants reported having experienced DMCs and what emerged as common triggers initiating such experiences. The studies also discuss the pedagogical implications of DMC theory, investigating whether it is possible to design and implement a project (specifically, a project ‘with DMC potential’) in such a way that it may be able to purposefully facilitate a group-DMC with learners in a second language classroom. The book’s accessible writing style makes it suitable for researchers and students who are interested in second language learning as well as for teachers and trainee teachers who are looking for classroom inspiration.

This handbook offers an authoritative, one-stop reference work for the dynamic and expanding field of language learning motivation. The 32 chapters have been specially commissioned from the field’s most influential researchers and writers. Together they present a compelling picture of the motivations people have for learning languages, the diverse ways we can research motivation, and the implications for promoting and sustaining learners’ motivation. The first section outlines the main theoretical approaches to language learning motivation; the next section presents ways in which motivation theory has been applied in practice; the third section showcases examples of motivation research in particular contexts and with particular types of language learners; and the final section describes the exciting directions that contemporary research is taking, promising important new insights for academics and practitioners alike.