L2 Selves and Motivations in Asian Contexts

Matthew T. Apple, Dexter Da Silva, Terry Fellner, Matthew T. Apple, Dexter Da Silva, Terry Fellner

• Publisher: Multilingual Matters
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781783096763
• Topic: Filología
• Subtopic: Psicolingüística

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.

1Language Learning Motivation in Asia: Selves within Systems

Terry Fellner, Matthew T. Apple and Dexter Da Silva

Why a Book on Language Learning Motivation in Asia?

During the past half-decade, there have been quite a number of published books concerning themes such as the interaction of cultural and personal identity and language learning motivation. For example, recent volumes have examined self concept (Csizér & Magid, 2014; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2009; Mercer & Williams, 2014; Taylor, 2013) and possible selves and dynamic systems (Dörnyei et al., 2015). However, to our knowledge, there is no book directly addressing motivation in Asian language learning contexts. While many language learning motivation books focus on learners in North America and Europe, the number of language learners, particularly English learners, in Asia dwarfs that of other regions. The two most populous countries in the world (China and India) are in Asia and are major players in the global economy. As Ushioda (2013) has pointed out, while the seemingly global motivation to learn languages, and particularly to learn English, is being driven by the forces of globalization, this perceived need to learn English for business and market expansion has both positive and negative impacts on issues of cultural and self-identity. The primacy of the English language is also evident in scientific fields of inquiry, where English by far dominates the publishing of social and natural scientific papers (Lillis & Curry, 2006).

Although language motivation is not isolated to any single second (L2) or foreign language, the study of language learning motivation is generally dominated by the study of English learning motivation. In the increasingly globalized world culture, English adds something other than pure study for learners: it expands access to other cultures and ways of thinking, it opens other study and job opportunities and it increases cultural and economic capital. One could therefore logically infer that the desire for employment, wealth or travel (or indeed all three) should be sufficient motivation for students in Asian contexts to learn English. Yet, the sheer amount of English language learning motivation research produced by Asian context-based scholars – particularly the growing subfield of ‘demotivation’ research (cf. Kikuchi, 2015) – would seem to belie that assumption.

Culturalizing Language Learning Motivation

This book, while focusing on Asia as a central powerhouse of the global economy, has another emphasis. Following the recent trend in educational psychology and motivational science, it takes a more situated approach to learning, emphasising the importance of the social and cultural contexts of learning. A stimulus to taking this approach was the success of our previous book of studies based in Japan (Apple et al., 2013), which convinced us of the need for a book like this. The feedback we received was not only very positive, but also pointed to similarities and differences between cultures found in similar research studies. This suggested a focus on one of the key issues in current psychological and educational research – how do we balance our recognition of the importance of the cultural context and situation with the need to extract generalisations considering the universal aspects of humans? Despite the wide variety of motivational theories within the field of educational psychology, a major drawback to educational motivation studies is its limited generalizability across the cultural milieu. The fact that most such studies take place in WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) countries raises the question of whether any of the existing theories of motivation apply in ‘non-WEIRD’ cultural contexts (Henrich et al., 2010).

However, when trying to define the non-WEIRD cultural context of ‘Asia’, an additional difficulty emerges. ‘Asia’ as a continent comprises some 30% of all total land area on the planet and well over 4 billion people. In no way could ‘Asia’ be construed as a single cultural context. ‘Asia’ is a geographical area, not a cultural area. Not only is the term ‘Asian context’ not accurate, the various ‘Asian contexts’ represented in the present book may not even resemble each other. Yet, in common parlance, researchers, teachers and learners alike have a tendency to compare ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ cultures and peoples. These are convenient labels but ultimately they are too simplistic and fail to capture the range of historical, educational, religious and philosophical differences both between and within cultures. Researchers would never attempt to argue that learners in Hungary, France and Greece behave the same way or have the same learning motivations for English. If language learning motivation is not the same across European countries, why should we expect learner culture within Asia to be representative of a single ‘Asian’ context?

Bearing all this in mind, the present volume presents studies from various foreign language learning contexts in Asian countries, in which multiple motivational theories, cultural identities and ‘selves’ may be at play. While the researchers investigate the cross-cultural validity of existing language learning motivation theories in Asian contexts, and compare motivations of Asian students of foreign languages across cultures, the reader should bear in mind that the countries and cultures represented in this book are not necessarily representative of ‘Asia’ as a whole, and that there may exist educational situations within the countries represented that are different to those examined in this volume. To start the book, we provide a quick summary of the research themes present in the studies followed by a short description of each chapter. Themes covered in this volume include whether L2 possible selves as a theoretical model of motivation can be applied to an Asian context, the role of teacher motivation and demotivation in non-European educational systems, cross-cultural differences in learner motivation among Asian cultures and language motivation and cultural identity. Individual chapters can of course be read independently of each other; however, taken collectively they represent both conflicting and yet complementary approaches to language learning motivation theory. While the purpose of this introductory chapter is not to give a general overview of motivational theories, we will touch upon what we regard as the main theories that have informed L2 motivational learning theories that L2 researchers and teachers have relied upon during the past few decades before proposing an old (new) approach to the use of theory in language motivation research.

Motivational Theories and Approaches

Motivational theories form what Pintrich (2003) termed ‘motivational science’, or a scientific framework of inquiry into what motivates students to learn. He posited three main themes to all forms of theory and inquiry into learning motivation (Pintrich, 2003: 668):

(1)Approach motivational studies from a scientific perspective; in other words, demand empirical evidence, whether qualitative or quantitative, as long as the data and the inferences drawn from them are well-reasoned.

(2)Use multidisciplinary approaches; in other words, theories, constructs and methods of data collection and analysis can be and should be informed by not only psychology, anthropology and sociology, but also linguistics, philosophy, neuroscience, biology, education and other fields of human inquiry.

(3)Favor use-inspired research; in other words, move away from research for research’s sake, and toward the utility and practical usefulness of the research in specific learning situations.

Theories of motivation purport to explain human behavior, i.e. why people decide to do certain things (choice), how much they are willing to do (effort) and for how long (duration). Some of the main theories borrowed from educational psychology and used by L2 researchers in the past include: expectancy-value theories (Atkinson, 1957), Social Cognitive (self-efficacy) Theory (Bandura, 1977), Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), Achievement Goal Theory (Ames, 1992; Pintrich, 2000), Self-Worth Theory (Covington, 2000), Attribution Theory (Weiner, 1985) and possible selves and Self-Discrepancy Theory (Higgins, 1987; Markus & Nurius, 1986).

One of the most influential L2 motivation theories, based partly on these previous existing motivational theories, has been the socio-educational model (Gardner, 1985; Gardner & Lambert, 1972). In this model, integrative motivation is composed of integrativeness, attitudes toward target culture and motivational intensity, and is further informed by language learning history, motivators and other motivational factors such as instrumental orientations.

A relatively new L2 motivational model, the L2 motivational self-system (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009), stems largely from the concepts of possible selves and Self-Discrepancy Theory. The model proposes that language learners are guided by visions of ‘second language selves’, one which attracts them toward becoming an idealized L2 user (ideal L2 self) and one which pushes them from societal obligation or a fear of failure (ought-to L2 self).

Finally, a new approach, Complex Dynamic Systems (CDS), is increasingly finding use as a term within the field of second language acquisition (SLA) to distinguish it from the mathematical concepts of Dynamic Systems Theory (Birkhoff, 1927) and Chaos Theory (Lorenz, 1963) from which it derived. CDS is used to describe the complicated interactional nature of language usage within a social system (Dörnyei et al., 2015).

L2 Selves and Motivations: A Summary

In this section, we briefly summarize the chapters in the book, arranged into four themes. The first major theme deals with motivation among younger learners at the primary and secondary level of education in China (Taiwan) and Korea. The second theme examines motivation among university-age learners in the Philippines, China (Hong Kong) and Japan. The third theme presents insights into teacher motivation in India, China and Indonesia. A fourth theme examines alternative views of what is meant by ‘selves’, ‘motivations’ and even ‘Asian’, which is discussed in two chapters that bracket the studies in the book and serve as bookends framing the discussion.

In the first bookend (Chapter 2), Gobel, Thang and Mori provide new insights into Attribution Theory, specifically the effect the dependent/interdependent self and the self-promoting/self-improvement bias has on student motivation within three Asian countries. The authors point out that specific assumptions of many predominant researchers on motivation often miss what actually occurs in some Asian contexts. Specifically, they highlight the influence of teachers on student motivation in teacher-centred classes, which are not only prevalent in Asia but also in many other developing nations’ educational contexts.

In Chapter 3, Chen and Huang provide us with our first look at L2 motivation among younger students. In a quantitative examination of Taiwanese junior high school students’ motivation, they find that the concept of ought-to L2 self rather than the ideal L2 self may have a greater effect on language learning motivation among younger Taiwanese students. This in itself may not be surprising as junior high school students are unlikely to have idealized first language (L1) selves let alone ideal L2 selves due to a lack of experience. However, Chen and Huang’s findings may illustrate the influence of Confucianism and Confucian ideals on some Asian cultures, where the individual self is subordinated to the sense of a community self.

Kim (Chapter 4) also examines younger students (elementary, junior high school and high school students in Korea) using CDS Theory and Sociocultural Theory (SCT) in an attempt to provide a more robust and descriptive picture of student motivation. He found that both CDS and SCT are useful as they are able to examine and explain fundamentally related but different aspects of motivation when examining the same data. Specifically, CDS adequately shows parental involvement and social pressure playing a key role in student L2 motivation while SCT illustrates that good learners start to view the external learning environment in a positive and supportive manner through the linking of short-term learning goals with initial motives. This view regarding the importance of social relations affecting younger learners’ L2 motivation is also discussed by Chen (Chapter 5), where the author examines motivation fluctuation among high school English learners in Taiwan. In Chen’s study, the role of significant others, namely teachers and parents, positively affects student motivation and also again illustrates the Confucian influence of the self as a part of a larger whole rather than separate and individual.

The next three chapters specifically focus on university students in Asian contexts. Lopez and Gonzales (Chapter 6) investigate Filipino university student motivati...