Search

A foundation of second language motivational theory has been that motivation contributes to explaining variance in language learning proficiency; however, empirical findings have been mixed. This article presents an innovative approach to exploring L2 proficiency and motivations of teenage English language learners in Madrid, Spain (N = 1773). Participants completed a multiskill English language test, plus an eight-scale questionnaire operationalizing constructs from Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei, 2005). Data were analysed using Latent Variable Mixture Modeling, a person-centered profiling approach. Results indicated five distinct classes of students, characterized by differing motivation-proficiency profiles. The importance of this study is that the analysis does not assume a homogenous relationship between motivational traits and proficiency levels across the learner sample; whilst there is undoubtedly a connection between the two areas, it is not a straightforward correlation, explaining to some extent discrepancies in previous findings and laying groundwork for further, more nuanced, investigation.

Whilst CLIL research has flourished and showed some gains for CLIL learners, for example in motivation, there is little consensus about how it affects students from different social strata. The British Council 'English Impact' study (Shepherd and Ainsworth 2017, "English Impact." "An evaluation of English language capability." https://www.britishcouncil.es/sites/default/files/british-council-english-impact-report-madrid-web-opt.pdf) has recently uncovered that CLIL contributes to the levelling of SES (socio-economic status) differences between students and leads to high levels of motivation in all students. In this study, we aim to follow up on these findings by exploring the factors that account for the curbed impact of SES in bilingual schools. To this end, 138 teachers from bilingual and non-bilingual schools filled in the TALIS questionnaire (OECD, 2013, Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 Teacher Questionnaire. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/education/school/TALIS-2013-Teacher-questionnaire.pdf) and 20 teachers were interviewed. Whereas questionnaire data reveals few perceived differences between students from the two types of schools, interviewees did point to differences in characteristics of students from bilingual and non-bilingual schools and the type of parental support they receive. The findings point towards the creation of a learning environment in CLIL programmes that satisfies the need for autonomy, competence and relatedness as reasons behind increased levels of motivation and the reduced impact of students' SES on their performance.

Within the currently diverse UK higher education environment, one important aspect of learning is the development of intercultural competence. The study that informs this paper investigated the ways intercultural competence was perceived as being enhanced or inhibited through current language and educational practices at a university that positions itself as internationally engaged and globally recognised. The project employed a multiple-case study design, examining eight academic programmes drawn from four different broad disciplinary groupings: social sciences, science, engineering, and management. Data were collected through individual, focus group and stimulated recall interviews, the latter using class observation recordings as a stimulus. The study revealed the ways in which language was exploited by both staff and students to convey particular meanings within an intercultural context. It was found that language choices, register and style were perceived as contributing to the pragmatic impact of either reinforcing barriers to or promoting intercultural competence development.

Socio-economic status (SES) has been consistently shown to influence students' educational achievement, but to date, few studies have investigated the role of SES in language learning motivation. This study aims to examine to what extent two indicators of SES, school location and parents' education, affect motivation of Polish 15-year-olds to study English. The questionnaire, completed by 599 participants, was based on Motivational Systems Theory [Ford, M. 1992. "Motivating humans: goals, emotions, and personal agency beliefs." London: Sage Publications.] The results indicate that both school location and parents' education affect language learning motivation. Students from rural schools and those whose parents have a lower level of education tended to be less motivated than their peers from cities and those whose parents have higher levels of education. The differences concerned the goals the students adopted, their personal agency beliefs, emotional arousal processes, ideal L2 selves and self-regulation. This study highlights the need to raise teachers' awareness of the issue. From the methodological perspective, it stresses the necessity to ensure sample representativeness in terms of students' SES when conducting research on affective factors in language learning and calls for more research involving participants from lower SES backgrounds.

With the number of international postgraduate students in UK universities steadily increasing, there is great interest in understanding how institutions can more effectively meet these students' expectations and needs through programme-supported development of intercultural competence. This paper reports on a project that explored experiences and perceptions of the development of intercultural competence in a UK higher education context. Academic staff (N = 8) and international postgraduate students (N = 24), from a range of countries, were recruited for preliminary interviews (two staff from each of the four faculties), focus groups (students of these staff), and stimulated recall interviews (same staff). The project targeted tensions and issues occurring between the perspectives of participants. It focused on the performance and negotiation of identities in the 'third space' that emerged between participants using different cultural discourses. The findings suggest that, despite the inherent contradiction of comfort and the conflict of negotiation, efforts are made by both students and staff to create a 'comfortable' third space in which to negotiate learning. By this we mean an environment in which to negotiate learning where those present feel at ease with their own and others' cultural identities and differences. This raises significant implications for policies and practices regarding the development of intercultural competence. Specifically, the university needs to build a better understanding of how to create a 'sphere of interculturality' in which international postgraduate learning can take place.

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) research has thrived recently. Yet, while more and more is learnt about the impact of CLIL on motivation, proficiency, and content learning, few investigations examine how CLIL influences students of different socio-economic status (SES) and why. The recent large-scale English Impact study conducted in the Madrid region showed that CLIL has a potential to limit the influence of SES on students' language learning motivation and proficiency. Yet being solely quantitative, it did not probe into the reasons behind such a result. This mixed-methods study aims to uncover such reasons. 138 teachers from different schools in the Madrid region filled in the TALIS questionnaire (OECD 2013. TALIS Teacher Questionnaire. ) and further 20 teachers were interviewed. Whereas no significant differences between teachers from CLIL and non-CLIL schools were identified through the questionnaire, the interviews revealed that teachers from bilingual schools adapted their teaching methodology to best suit their students' needs, and were more willing to take risks than their counterparts in non-bilingual schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, most studies that explore the differences in motivation between content and language‐integrated learning (CLIL) and non‐CLIL learners have been mainly quantitative or have not controlled for differences in socio‐economic status (SES). While many researchers agree that CLIL learners tend to have greater motivation than non‐CLIL learners, there has been little explanation of the reasons behind this difference, perhaps partly because the field lacks studies from the perspective of CLIL students themselves. Based on the L2 motivational self‐system and the construct of self‐concept, this study employed a mixed‐methods approach to explore CLIL and non‐CLIL learners' current and future self‐visions. Fifteen‐year‐old learners in the Madrid region (n = 348) completed a questionnaire that considered their SES levels as well as experiences related to the scales of English self‐concept, academic self‐concept, and teacher expectations. The same learners were then invited to take part in focus groups in which researchers delved into the reasoning behind their motivation. Despite no significant difference in SES levels between CLIL and non‐CLIL learner groups, CLIL participants are found to display a slightly more positive self‐concept and more robust ideal L2 self‐visions, which may explain the perceived greater motivation among CLIL learners to study (in) English. Furthermore, the L2 ought‐to self is found to be a secondary, yet potentially positive force toward higher motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent interest in English Medium Instruction (EMI) has led to the flourishing of studies that examine motivation in EMI classrooms. Some of these studies tend to compare language learning motivation of students who are and are not enrolled in EMI programmes (see e.g. Doiz, Aintzane, David Lasagabaster & Juan Manuel Sierra. 2014. CLIL and motivation: The effect of individual and contextual variables. The Language Learning Journal 42(2). 209–224; Sylvén, Liss Kerstin & Amy S. Thompson. 2015. Language learning motivation and CLIL: Is there a connection? Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 3(1). 28–50), showing that EMI learners are typically more motivated than their peers in non-EMI contexts. This has led to the common perception that learners enrol in EMI primarily to improve their English. Yet, there is a dearth of comprehensive studies exploring learners' reasons behind their enrolment in EMI programmes and how these change throughout their studies. To address this gap, 247 university students from a range of universities across China filled in the questionnaire, which included scales pertaining to reasons for choosing an EMI programme. The data were analysed in SPSS. The results show that enhanced future job opportunities, opportunities for contact with an international community as well as potential gains in learning content and language specific vocabulary are the most strongly endorsed drivers that motivate EMI students to undertake their studies in English. They also tend to pursue their ideal visions of themselves as bilingual professionals and derive pleasure from EMI classes. To a lesser extent, students are motivated by what is expected of them and the actual pedagogy in the language classroom. Their motivation tends to stay stable over their years of study. However, the survey also revealed that not all students are equally motivated and resolved to continue with EMI studies. The findings highlight that, whereas students tend to be strongly motivated, there is a potential to improve the delivery of EMI courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mixed-method study presented in this paper investigates the changes in direct and indirect intercultural contact and language-learning attitudes and effort of international students in the United Kingdom. Seventy international learners of English were asked to fill in a questionnaire three times during one academic year in an international foundation program. An additional 10 students and two of their English language tutors were interviewed at the end of their study period. We analysed variations in language-learning motivation as well as in the frequency and type of contact the learners experienced at three distinct points of time during the international study programme. The results indicate that whereas written and media contact increased in frequency during the academic year, the participants engaged in less frequent spoken contact at the end of the period investigated. The qualitative and quantitative data show that contact experiences, socio-environmental factors and learner internal variables have a dynamic impact on each other and they together can play an important role in the language-learning experiences of international students.

Aims: This study explores how home language(s) are used in bilingual family members' daily digital or non-digital interactions to demonstrate their emotions and affections for each other. The study investigates linguistic features and situated-language use of home language(s) in emotional negotiations between family members. In addition, it explores how multimodalities and languages are mixed to contribute to the interactional dynamics underlying 'family talk' and how children and adults position themselves emotionally in moment-to-moment interaction of family life. Methodology: This study involves six families from two transnational communities (Chinese and Polish) and it employs an ethnographic research design for data collection. Data and analysis: Data sources include recordings of mealtime conversations, daily WhatsApp/WeChat texts, and digital-mediated family talk recorded by the families themselves. Affective repertoire is used as an analytical framework. Findings and conclusions: The following five key features are identified in online or offline family talks regarding expression of emotionality: emojis, terms of endearment, diminutives, declaration of love and situated emotive language use. Originality: Unlike recent studies of emotions in bi-multilingual families, this study does not rely on surveys, memoirs, or interviews. Few studies have investigated how family members present their emotional expression in their daily communications, what role home/heritage language(s) actually play in communicating their emotional needs, and how these emotional expressions are manifested in their lived experiences and socialisation practices. Significance and implications: The findings contribute to FLP literature by looking into how emotions are involved in the practices of family life and the construction of familyness. Emotions, as a key factor in FLP, are directly related to parents' perceptions of and investment in their heritage language. Although these perceptions are linked to the powerful societal languages that often represent educational possibilities, when it comes to emotional expressions, the primacy is given to the first language/heritage language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]