This study explores language learners' motivation from the perspective of vision, a concept that has specifically been identified as one of the next challenges for motivation research. Having conceptualized vision as a powerful motivational component of the language learning process, and focusing on the learner's individual perspective, we…

In language learner identity research, there is an underrepresentation of LOTE-as-L3 learners in instructed foreign language learning contexts. This study addresses this gap by exploring the multilingual identity profiles of Chinese high school LOTE-as-L3 learners in two school contexts and seeks to understand how the schools may influence…

Motivation to learn languages other than English (LOTEs) has been underrepresented in second language (L2) motivation research. This study investigated and compared the motivational profiles of first-year and second-year students majoring in Spanish, grounded on the proposition of bifurcating ideal and ought selves into "Own" and…

This study uses a Q methodology to track the changing motivational profiles of 15 Chinese university students simultaneously engaged in second-language (L2) English and third-language (L3) Spanish learning over 1.5 years. Guided by complex dynamic systems theory (CDST), the study aims to investigate the initial trigger that propelled the Chinese…

This study extends our understanding of Chinese university students' motivation to learn languages other than English (LOTEs) by adding a contextual dimension to the L2 Motivational Self System. The study drew on Higgins' ([1987]. "Self-discrepancy: A Theory Relating Self and Affect." "Psychological Review" 94: 319-340.)…

In this case study, we reflect on the process of carrying out a longitudinal study to investigate the dynamics of people's subjective views of themselves in relation to their learning and use of the target language during a study-abroad experience. We do so through our own first use of Q methodology. This narrative account takes the readers from…