Chinese English language learners' motivation change following L2 learning at home and in Australian ELICOS

Chinese English language learners' motivation change following L2 learning at home and in Australian ELICOS

International education is an important sector in the Australian education system and contributes to the economy and society (Department of Education, 2024a). ELICOS is an important component of Australia’s international education industry (Department of Education, Skills and Employment, 2024). Also, Chinese students contribute most to the Australian education export income (Department of Education, 2024b), which was the second largest cohort by nationality in ELICOS in 2023 (Department of Education, 2024c). However, there have been few studies focusing on the Chinese students in the ELICOS sector in Australia, especially on their English learning motivation, which can significantly influence language learning success (Dörnyei, 2005). To fill this research gap, the current study adopted a retrospective longitudinal mixed-methods design with a case study approach from the Complex Dynamic System Theory (CDST) perspective to investigate L2 learners’ motivational change in EFL and ESL contexts. Quantitative questionnaires and semistructured interviews were used. The results indicated that in the Chinese mainland context, most participants had promotion chronic regulatory focus. The preventionfocused participants expected to have higher English proficiency to meet their own and important others’ ideal hopes about the L2 attributes they would possess in the future and to meet the obligations that themselves and others expected. The most significant motivator was their Ought L2 Self/Own, which meant they were mainly motivated by their own obligations to study English language; in the Australian context, both the promotion and prevention regulatory focused learners were found to possess significant Ought L2 Self/Own, which meant the participants’ own duty to study English was significant regardless of whether they held the promotion or prevention chronic regulatory focus. As well, it was found that promotion chronic regulatory focus could also statistically significantly predict the Ideal L2 Self/Own, which meant promotion-focused learners themselves also would like to make progress in their English language study in Australia. While none of the L2 selfguides was the main motivator for them to study English in Australia in the present research, the participants’ Ought L2 Self/Own (English learning obligations) increased dramatically when they were learning English in Australian ELICOS compared with in China’s institutions.

File reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/author/creator.