L2 university students’ motivational self system in English writing: a sociocultural inquiry
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Shulin Yu
Shulin Yu is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China. He obtained his PhD degree in Education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests include second language writing and second language education. His publications have appeared in
Assessing Writing ,Language Teaching Research ,Language Teaching, TESOL Quarterly ,Journal of Second Language Writing System, Studies in Higher Education, andTeaching in Higher Education. Lianjiang Jiang (Corresponding author) is Assistant professor at Department of English Language Education, The Education University of Hong Kong. He obtained his PhD degree in English language Education at the University of Hong Kong. His research interests include second language writing, digital multimodal composing, and new literacy studies. His publications have appeared in
TESOL Quarterly, Language Teaching Research, System, ELT Journal, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Journal of Second Language Writing, Teaching and Teacher Education, Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, and Discourse and Communication .
Abstract
Although there is no lack of studies on L2 motivation in applied linguistics, research on L2 writing motivation remains scanty. Drawing upon Dornyei’s L2-motivational-self-system and the notions of identity, this study analyzed 27 Chinese university-based students’ English writing learning experiences. Data were gathered through individual interviews and written reflections. The findings showed that the students’ experience of learning to write was not conducive to their formation of identity as a multilingual writer because their ideal L2 selves in EFL writing were influenced by the overall learning and testing cultures. The findings also reveal that the teachers, parents, and schools played little role in shaping the students’ ought-to selves due to the marginal status of EFL writing in both the nation-wide exams and the institutional curricula. Overall, the students’ investment in learning to write yielded mostly a “passive and mediocre test-oriented” writer identity, with the capital to construct customized writings for individual and professional communication remained unattainable. The findings call for attention to the prevalent native speaker ideology and the ideology that considers students’ L1 as problem.
About the authors
Shulin Yu is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China. He obtained his PhD degree in Education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests include second language writing and second language education. His publications have appeared in Assessing Writing, Language Teaching Research, Language Teaching, TESOL Quarterly, Journal of Second Language Writing System, Studies in Higher Education, and Teaching in Higher Education.
Lianjiang Jiang (Corresponding author) is Assistant professor at Department of English Language Education, The Education University of Hong Kong. He obtained his PhD degree in English language Education at the University of Hong Kong. His research interests include second language writing, digital multimodal composing, and new literacy studies. His publications have appeared in TESOL Quarterly, Language Teaching Research, System, ELT Journal, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Journal of Second Language Writing, Teaching and Teacher Education, Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, and Discourse and Communication.
Sample interview questions
Background information
How many years have you been learning English? How many years have you been writing in English?
Could you tell me your general views about English language and culture?
Could you tell me your general views about L2 writing?
How would you describe yourself as an L2 writer?
Ideal L2 self
To what extent will you use English as the medium of written communication in the future?
Are you motivated to learn L2 writing for the sake of professional and career development?
How do you envision yourself as an L2 writer in the future (e.g., competent, professional, accurate, productive, native-like, expressive, humorous, effortless … )?
How is the ideal L2 writer different from the actual L2 writer you are now?
Ought-to L2 self
Do you feel any external pressure to write in English? If so, could you elaborate on the external stress?
Will deficiency in L2 writing have any negative consequences on your learning and work (e.g., fail an exam, disappoint one’s parents, fail to finish a task … )?
What kind of L2 writer you are expected to become (expectations from parents, teachers, significant others, etc.)? What are the attributes?
How is the L2 writer you ought to become different from the L2 writer you envisioned yourself to be?
L2 writing experience
Could you tell me about your experience of writing in English (the experience of success or failure in the course of L2 writing)?
Could you describe your learning environment in terms of L2 writing? How are the curriculum, teachers and peer groups?
How do you feel about the learning environment (do you need to make additional efforts, do you feel secured, etc.)?
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Cross-linguistic influence on the use of L2 collocations: the case of Vietnamese learners
- Commodification or shared ownership? A case study of Chinese communities in the linguistic landscape of Bendigo
- Learner emotions, autonomy and trait emotional intelligence in ‘in-person’ versus emergency remote English foreign language teaching in Europe
- Isomorphism and language-specific devices in comprehension of Korean suffixal passive construction by Mandarin-speaking learners of Korean
- A longitudinal study at an English medium instruction university in Turkey: the interplay between English language improvement and academic success
- L2 university students’ motivational self system in English writing: a sociocultural inquiry
- Using PowerPoint slides as a resource for coordinating understanding during presentation consultations at an L2 speaking center
- Professional written voice “in flux”: the case of social work
- A mixed-methods study of English vocabulary for medical purposes: medical students’ needs, difficulties, and strategies
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Cross-linguistic influence on the use of L2 collocations: the case of Vietnamese learners
- Commodification or shared ownership? A case study of Chinese communities in the linguistic landscape of Bendigo
- Learner emotions, autonomy and trait emotional intelligence in ‘in-person’ versus emergency remote English foreign language teaching in Europe
- Isomorphism and language-specific devices in comprehension of Korean suffixal passive construction by Mandarin-speaking learners of Korean
- A longitudinal study at an English medium instruction university in Turkey: the interplay between English language improvement and academic success
- L2 university students’ motivational self system in English writing: a sociocultural inquiry
- Using PowerPoint slides as a resource for coordinating understanding during presentation consultations at an L2 speaking center
- Professional written voice “in flux”: the case of social work
- A mixed-methods study of English vocabulary for medical purposes: medical students’ needs, difficulties, and strategies
