Although boredom can be regarded as a ubiquitous emotion in most educational settings, including foreign and second language classrooms, and this condition can have a detrimental effect on the process of learning, it has to a large extent escaped the attention of second language acquisition researchers dealing with individual learner differences.…

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the portraits of graduates who have learned English as a foreign language on one hand, while maintaining Indonesian and local languages on the other. This study draws on poststructuralist notions of identity and language learning and uses a portraiture lens emphasising contexts and voice. This paper…

This study closely examined the motivational language selves of Chinese university students in the process of multilingual learning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve Japanese specialist majors. The qualitative data revealed the complex interplay between the participants' language selves and complicated contextual influences.…

Despite the significance of motivational regulation in the development of second language speaking skills, few studies have scrutinized its relationship with an emergent learning context. This study investigates how differently tertiary level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners exert autonomy and regulate motivation by proficiency levels…

In many theorizations of L2 motivation, the discrepancy between actual and possible L2 selves has been closely associated with motivation generation, and L2 selves are considered as highly interactive with the context. This article centres on the interplay between L2 self-discrepancy, motivation, and context by following two Chinese university…

Continuous assessment (CA) is believed to have great potential for improving learning in higher education. Students' beliefs about CA are a determining force for optimising CA's formative potential. This study explored 27 Chinese undergraduates' beliefs about CA functions in their college English course through individual semi-structured…

Although digital game-based vocabulary learning (DGBVL) has attracted considerable attention, factors attributing to the facilitative effects of DGBVL have not yet been satisfactorily understood. To this end, under the theoretical framework of flow theory, this study investigates the effects of flow experiences on Chinese…

Willingness to communicate (WTC) is the construct of a language learner's readiness to communicate with a specific person using the target language at a particular time (MacIntyre et al, 1998). This study aimed to investigate Chinese English learners' WTC in an international school in Thailand. The study used semi-structured interviews to identify…

Learning English in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) can be a challenging experience. Nevertheless, being proficient in English language guarantees better job opportunities in various fields and thus learners need to acquire an acceptable level of proficiency. Recognizing its significant role in the learners' academic and professional excellence,…

This article explores how Norwegian teenagers experienced the development of spoken fluency of English as a second language (L2) through varied and sensuous learning in an outdoor environment. The article is based on six semi-structured group interviews with 23 year-8 students (13-14 years old) in a lower secondary school in Norway. The interviews…

The journey of acquiring proficiency in a second and/or foreign language is lifelong for many learners. In the search for the best educational pedagogies, a study was conducted in which learners' motivations were categorised to analyse each driving effect over learning performance. A retrospective case study of 20 Chinese PhD students learning…

The study investigated intentions and motivating factors of using impoliteness in interlanguage complaints by English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Empirical data were elicited by means of oral discourse completion tasks and questionnaires from 42 Indonesian learners of English. Post-structured interviews were conducted to obtain the…

Foreign language-medium instruction at tertiary level is receiving great attention in our decade. Thus, this study examines the significance of the following psychological factors for Turkish students enrolled in tertiary education: (i) sense of achievement, (ii) motivation, and (iii) anxiety. In particular, it focuses on the perceptions of…

There have been widespread concerns over the decline of modern languages and waning interest in learning languages other than English (LOTEs) around the world, thought to be partly due to recent political events including Brexit and Trump's aggressive isolationism in the United States. By contrast, governments in Greater China have energetically…

There is a growing interest in research on Directed Motivational Currents (DMC) that describes highly robust motivational surges in second/foreign language learning (L2). However, little is known about the validity of DMC as a construct in the Turkish EFL context. Besides, despite the alleged pedagogical significance of the construct, it still…