‘Maybe I can tell to you my story…’ : language learning motivation, identity and the needs of adult ESOL students in England

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Abstract

The majority of research into language learning motivation continues to favour a quantitative design, focusing on the experiences of children and young adults in the English as a Foreign Language classroom (Boo et al., 2016). This thesis, however, focuses on the motivation of adults who have chosen to enrol on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses in England at the intermediate level, from forced and voluntary migration backgrounds. The study combines a longitudinal perspective from students alongside cross-sectional views from teachers, providing an in-depth investigation into the factors that can affect language learning motivation in this context. Data were collected through the academic year 2020/21, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, in two stages: a longitudinal interview study incorporating responses to a survey and weekly text messages from student participants; and online interviews with ESOL teachers. A dialogic approach encouraged student involvement in the analysis, with narratives constructed across the academic year. The Douglas Fir Group’s transdisciplinary framework (2016) was used as a conceptional framework and Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), specifically the Organismic and Basic Psychological Needs sub-theories, was used as a theoretical framework. The findings suggest that increasing confidence when speaking English with local people and becoming self-sufficient are important motivational factors, along with regaining past identities. These have clear links to the need for relatedness (with locals and classmates), competence (feeling confident in their language abilities) and autonomy (becoming less reliant on others and taking control of their education). The impact of teachers and peers was important, as was the multicultural city where they lived and the opportunities they perceived to be open to them. This thesis challenges the notion that the ‘migrant’ experience is uniform across contexts and provides novel ways of collecting data remotely with an often hard to reach group.

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