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This study draws on the model of language learning investment to explore China’s LOTE (Languages Other than English) students’ learning motivation. Data collected through in-depth interviews with 35 university students were analyzed in an inductive way. The findings show that: (1) the participants invested in learning LOTEs because they had enough affordances (resources applicable to LOTE learning) and/or perceived target language-related benefits (economic, cultural or social ones) from LOTE learning, even though most of our participants were initially involuntary applicants; (2) students were reluctant to invest in learning their target language(s) and merely strove to fulfil their program(s) when they were lacking affordances, perceiving few benefits, or even devalued by the in-context ideologies. These findings provide important implications for LOTE educators to motivate their students, and for policy makers to improve China’s LOTE education.

Recent years have witnessed a surge of interest in language planning in specific domains (e.g. business, courts, science, schools, communities, families, etc.). This paper reviews 356 articles on language planning in specific domains in four preeminent international journals and four leading Chinese journals to develop a portrayal of scholarly endeavors over the past 15 years. By a systematic analysis of domains, geographical distribution, and choice of methodology, this review identifies the global and local foci of studies published in international and Chinese journals. The findings suggest that approaches to language planning vary, as the Chinese literature tends to project a top-down model whereas international research mostly reflects a bottom-up perspective focusing on the role of individual agency. The findings highlight the integral role of language planning as one of the emerging fields in applied linguistics, and discusses future directions that Chinese research in language policy and planning could take to enable more interactions with international academia.