Wang, Zi (2022) Being and becoming : an ecological exploration of humanistic motivation in multilingual learning among Japanese language majors in China. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

In the field of language learning motivation research, there has been an ongoing shift from seeing learners as psychological systems towards viewing them as persons situated in contexts of various types and at different levels. In line with this shift, this study takes an ecological approach that stresses human subjectivity and agency and the multifaceted and multilayered contexts to investigate motivations of Japanese majors in China. The participants in this study are a less frequently studied group of learners in current motivation research biased towards learners of English. To explore the dynamicity and complexity of motivation, this study employs a longitudinal qualitative design. Three rounds of semi-structured interviews, with various elicitation tasks, were conducted over ten months and the participants were asked about their life and life plans, past and current language learning experiences, motivational trajectories, language choices and perceptions and so on. Monthly communication was maintained to get the participants’ real-time reflections on their motivations as supplementary data. Findings of the study highlight the prevalence of a humanistic focus in the participants’ language learning motivation, particularly emergent aspirations towards personal development and growth. The thesis develops a conception of humanistic motivation in terms of two interrelated subcomponents with different time orientations – motivation-as-being and motivation-as-becoming. A learner’s motivation-as-being is their motivation to understand and be who they are and is discussed in relation to their academic and aesthetic experiences. Their motivation-as-becoming is their motivation to become who they want to become and is discussed in relation to the intrapersonal, education/career and community domains. This thesis concludes with theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical implications of this study and its limitations and future directions.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education P Language and Literature > PL Languages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Japanese language -- Study and teaching -- Chinese speakers, Japanese language -- Study and teaching -- China, Chinese students -- Education (Higher) -- China, Japanese language -- Acquisition, Motivation in education -- Study and teaching -- China, Language and languages -- Study and teaching -- China, Longitudinal method, Qualitative research
Official Date:	January 2022
Dates:	Date Event January 2022 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for Applied Linguistics
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Ushioda, Ema ; McConachy, Troy
Extent:	301 leaves : illustrations, charts
Language:	eng

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