Disaffection and agentic engagement: ‘Redesigning’ activities to enable authentic self-expression

Abstract

Demotivation (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011) and non-participation (Norton, 2001) characterize negative responses to classroom practice of a generally chronic nature. In this article, focus is directed to negativity that emerges within the context of a particular language developing activity, and which can be understood as a situated response to the activity’s demands. In conceptualizing negative responses at the activity level, disaffection – the negative face of engagement – is a construct of central importance. Drawing on data from a large-scale ethnographic project in secondary English classrooms in Sweden, in this exploratory case study disaffection (Skinner, 2016) is examined in the context of two language developing activities. Analyses reveal that disaffection can transform into active engagement, and that when called upon to perform an inauthentic identity, students can ‘redesign’ activities in ways that enable them to act authentically.

Motivational connections in language classrooms: A research agenda

“…In our work in the MoTiSSE project, we framed the use of popular culture in activity designs as an example of teachers' instructional perspective taking (Henry & Thorsen, 2019). While we saw an abundance of examples of explicit bridging between experiences in and beyond the classroom, other types of bridging also occurred.…”

“…Engagement, which is evidenced in constructive, focused, and enthusiastic working, can be understood as a consequence of motivation and the ‘visible manifestation’ of these driving forces (Skinner & Pitzer, 2012). In language classrooms, where motivation can derive as much from situated interactions as from longer-term goal-setting and the desire to achieve a future (idealized) state, engagement can usefully be understood as the behavioral outworkings of various and sometimes intersecting motivational sources (Henry & Thorsen, 2018c, 2019; Dörnyei, 2019; Mercer & Dörnyei, 2020).…”

Online Media Creation and L2 Motivation: A Socially Situated Perspective

“…However, there are two noticeable differences between the “Florida” group and the other three. First, in the other groups’ blogs, posts written by a particular member could sometimes involve positioning themselves in oppositional ways to the others, for example, by describing doing things separately (see also Henry & Thorsen, ). On occasion, a post could reflect a real‐life conflict or disagreement within the group, and a deliberate self‐distancing by the writer.…”

Weaving webs of connection: Empathy, perspective taking, and students’ motivation

“…In the open and inclusive environment in which interaction takes place, opportunities for negotiation, adaptation, play and resistance can increase experiences of autonomy; just as it is permissible to play with language and to recast the rhyme as a rap, so too is the choice of an alternative method of participation (clicking a pen) and the use of an unsanctioned resource (a phone). Not only do the teacher's responses to these renegotiations of the activity reveal a space for individual agency (see also Henry & Thorsen, 2018c), but as the penclicking example reveals, perspective taking also enables students' initiatives to be seamlessly incorporated into an intentionally permeable design.…”

“…To develop an understanding of the responsiveness theorized to be characteristic of successful motivators (Lamb, 2017), classrooms where relationships are positive, where students are motivated, and where teachers are aware of and interested in students' lives and experiences outside school provide suitable sites for research. Here we draw on data collected in a 9th grade class as part of the Motivational Teaching in Swedish Secondary English (MoTiSSE) project (Henry, 2018;Henry, Korp, Sundqvist, & Thorsen, 2018;Henry & Thorsen, 2018a, 2018b, 2018cHenry, Sundqvist, & Thorsen, 2019). Ethnographic research was conducted in the classrooms of 16 teachers identified from a randomly-drawn sample (N = 252) as being knowledgeable about and interested in students' out-of-school activities involving English, possessing a professional practice informed by these insights, and having students who were generally motivated.…”