Teachers’ self-disclosures and influences on students’ motivation: A relational perspective

2018

TESOL Quarterly

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Digital technologies are increasingly common in language learning. Online media creation provides scope for agency and spaces for identity construction, but empirically grounded conceptualizations of the influences on learners' motivation are lacking and the digital technology-second language motivation interface remains largely unexplored. Using a grounded theory ethnographic approach (Charmaz, 2006), and with the aim of developing a theoretical account of the emergence of motivation in online media creation, this study investigated a blog project in an English language classroom in Sweden. Engaging with multiple data sources, and using Ito and colleagues' (2010) theory of participation in media practices as an analytical framework, motivation is conceptualized as stemming from the desire to create a visually appealing and authentic artefact, from a perception of audience, and through the documentation of identities. Variations in motivational intensity between student groups could be traced to varying investments in digital media practices. Primarily, differences were between validation-seeking that was locally oriented and validation-seeking conditioned through actions within a genre of practice. These conceptualizations are of importance for English language teaching. In language-developing activities that involve online media creation, motivation can be enhanced when space for genre exploration is provided.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Online Media Creation and L2 Motivation: A Socially Situated Perspective

2018

TESOL Quarterly

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“…Through our work in the Motivational Teaching in Swedish Secondary English (MoTiSSE) project (see e.g. Henry & Thorsen, 2018a, 2018b, 2019; Henry, Sundqvist, & Thorsen, 2019), we came to understand how positive responses to learning could be traced to connections emanating from practices founded on ‘responsiveness’ (Lamb, 2017, p. 312). As well as connections forged in interpersonal interactions, the teachers we observed drew on knowledge and understanding of the young people in their classrooms in ways that enabled students to work with meaningful content, and with activities promoting social interaction, creativity, and self-expression.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivational connections in language classrooms: A research agenda

2020

Lang. Teach.

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With roots in social psychology, second language (L2) motivation has largely been investigated using self-report techniques. Studies drawing on observational data gathered in contexts where learning takes place are rare, and understandings of how motivation evolves in classroom interactions remain limited (Boo, Dörnyei, & Ryan, 2015). In a position paper in Language Teaching, Ushioda (2016) maps out an agenda for qualitative research examining motivation that emerges in language classrooms. With a focus on psycholinguistic processes, and with the aim of understanding how motivation ‘connects with specific aspects of second language acquisition [and] particular features of linguistic development’, Ushioda makes the case for researching L2 motivation ‘through a small lens’ (p. 564). Furthering this agenda, I make proposals for research with a relational focus where, through a somewhat wider lens, motivation and engagement generated through connections created by teachers in their classroom practice can be investigated. To frame these proposals, I use the concept of connective instruction (Martin & Dowson, 2009). Connective instruction holds that motivation and engagement increase when students can connect with the teacher as a person, with content that the teacher enables them to get involved with, and with the working methods that the teacher promotes.

“…In the observations carried out in the MoTiSSE project, teaching often centered around activities that provided students with opportunities for creativity and personal expression (Henry, 2019; Henry & Thorsen, 2018a, 2018b, 2019; Henry et al, 2018). Working with these activities, students would frequently demonstrate high levels of engagement, often for sustained periods of time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to teacher and student interviews, observations of 258 lessons were made. A description of the recruitment procedures, the main data set, and the ethical issues involved in the research is provided in Henry & Thorsen (2018, 2018b, 2019), and in the online Supplementary Material.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Language Teaching Research

Thorsén

2018

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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.