The Discursive Construction of English Language Learners' Motivation in China: A Multi-Level Perspective

This dissertation, "The Discursive Construction of English Language Learners' Motivation in China: a Multi-level Perspective" by Mingyue, Gu, 谷明月, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: The Discursive Construction of English Language Learners' Motivation in China: A Multi-level Perspective Abstract of thesis entitled The Discursive Construction of English Language Learners' Motivation in China: A Multi-level Perspective Submitted by GU Mingyue for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Hong Kong in 2007 This thesis explores the discursive construction of motivation in the context of learning English as a second/foreign language (L2) in the People's Republic of China. The research focuses on four students from the English and Bioscience Departments of a comprehensive university. Examining the construction of the learners' motivation in multiple social dimensions, this thesis investigates the social, historical, linguistic and individualistic factors that combine to shape motivation. Participants in this two-year study joined in a dyadic interaction program in which they systematically interacted with speakers who had English as a first language (L1) for one academic year. The interaction provided a rich situated context in which to explore how language uses shaped and were shaped by motivation. This longitudinal qualitative study employed multiple research methods, adopting a number of approaches and techniques associated with critical ethnography. Questionnaires were administered to the participants every eight weeks during the first phase, which lasted one academic year, to assess various individual variables associated with motivation in the learning of English at different points of time. Qualitative interviews were conducted every four to five months during the entire investigation period to monitor fluctuations in the learners' motivation to study English. The dyadic interactions between English learners and English L1 speakers were audio- recorded on a fortnightly basis; five meetings of each dyad, with an interval of about eight weeks, were adopted for analysis. Every three weeks, at most, the informants made diary studies to record their feelings and thoughts regarding the interactions and other English-related occasions. The data analysis employed a critical discourse analysis framework and was also informed by sociocultural theory, the notion of communities of practice, and discourse theory. Motivation was found to be a process of emergence and change under the influence of social discourses, uniquely experienced by individual learners who had different historical backgrounds and material resources and who, as active agents, continued to establish new relationships with their surroundings, thus shaping and altering the learning context. Learners' motivation and identity were found to be constructed through their discursive strategies of establishing oppositions and differences. The result of the enquiry led to the development of a theoretical model that illustrates how learner motivation is discursively constructed through a complex process, involving learners' engagement with activities, imagination about the future, and alignment with social discourses, as well as interaction with English L1 speakers. The study culminates with a number of implications for motivation theory, research and practice, including an enhanced understanding of the relationship between motivation and interaction, and suggests directions for future research initiatives on motivation. Last, the study suggests strat