Article published In:
Journal of English-Medium InstructionVol. 2:1 (2023) ► pp.79–100
Motivation and investment
Exploring the choice of English-medium instruction for mid-degree undergraduates in Catalonia
The purpose of the present study is to offer insights into how Spanish undergraduates, who were mid-way through an English-medium programme at a university in Catalonia, articulate their past decision to study an academic subject in English. Economics students (34 in total) completed an oral elicitation task and the monologues yielded were analysed using thematic analysis. Three dominant themes emerged: (1) The right fit for me; (2) To practise my English; and (3) English comes with benefits. Each of these themes is presented as a composite description of the students’ ideas about their past choice from the temporal position of the here-and-now, and explored through distinct but complementary social psychological and sociological lenses. The present study finds threads running through the students’ narratives of a near effortlessness to choose to learn in this way, as well as an understanding of the capital value of English. For some, their sole stated motive was to develop and preserve this linguistic asset.
Keywords: investment theory, L2 self, linguistic capital, narrative identity, EMI in Spain
Article outline
- Introduction
- Motivation and investment
- The L2 self and the L2MSS
- Identity and the investment model
- Motivation and investment in an EMI context
- Method
- Aim and guiding question
- Study context and participants
- Data collection: Instruments and procedure
- Analysis
- Findings and discussion
- Dominant themes
- The right fit for me (“Aligners”)
- To practise my English (“Learners”)
- English comes with benefits (“Valuers”)
- The past in the present
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.
For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].
References
Atkinson, D.
(2010) Extended, embodied cognition and second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics,
31
(5), 599–622. 
Bandura, A.
(1977) Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review,
84
(2), 191–215.
Block, D.
(2000) Problematizing interview data: Voices in the mind’s machine? TESOL Quarterly,
34
(4), 757–763.
(2021) Emergent STEM lecturer identities: The shaping effects of EMI in action in an internationalised and Englishised HE context. Language Teaching,
54
1, 388–406.
Bourdieu, P.
(1987) What makes a social class? On the theoretical and practical existence of groups. Berkeley Journal of Sociology,
32
1, 1–17.
(1991) Language and symbolic power. Harvard University Press.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V.
(2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology,
3
(2), 77–101.
(2013) Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. Sage.
Chen, Y. L. E., & Kraklow, D.
(2015) Taiwanese college students’ motivation and engagement for English learning in the context of internationalization at home: A comparison of students in EMI and non-EMI programs. Journal of Studies in International Education,
19
(1), 46–64.
Codó, E.
(2022) The dilemmas of experimental CLIL in Catalonia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development,
43
(4), 341–357.
Council of Europe
(2001) Common European Framework of Reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge University Press.
Darvin, R., & Norton, B.
(2015) Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics,
35
1, 36–56.
(2021) Investment and motivation in language learning: What’s the difference? Language Teaching. Advance online publication.
Dewaele, J.-M., & MacIntyre, P. D.
(2014) The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching,
4
(2), 237–274.
Doiz, A., & Lasagabaster, D.
(2018) Teachers’ and students’ Second Language Motivational Self System in English-Medium Instruction: A qualitative approach. TESOL Quarterly,
52
(3), 657–679.
Dörnyei, Z.
(2005) The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Lawrence Erlbaum.
(2009) The L2 Motivational Self System. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 9–42). Multilingual Matters.
(2014) Future self-guides and vision. In K. Csizér & M. Magid (Eds.), The impact of self-concept on language learning (pp. 7–18). Multilingual Matters.
(2017) Conceptualizing learner characteristics in a complex, dynamic world. In L. Ortega & Z. Han (Eds.), Complexity theory and language development: In celebration of Diane Larsen-Freeman. (pp. 79–96). John Benjamins.
(2019) Towards a better understanding of the L2 learning experience, the Cinderella of the L2 Motivational Self System. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching,
9
(1), 19–30.
Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E.
(2009) Motivation, language identities and the L2 self: Future research directions. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 350–356). Multilingual Matters.
Du, X., & Jackson, J.
(2018) From EFL to EMI: The evolving English learning motivation of mainland Chinese students in a Hong Kong university. System,
76
(777), 158–169.
Gao, X.
(2008) Shifting motivational discourses among mainland Chinese students in an English medium tertiary institution in Hong Kong: A longitudinal inquiry. Studies in Higher Education,
33
(5), 599–614.
Gardner, R.
(2001) Integrative motivation and second language acquisition. In Z. Dörnyei & R. Schmidt (Eds.), Motivation and second language acquisition (pp. 1–20). University of Hawaii Press.
Henry, A., & Goddard, A.
(2015) Bicultural or hybrid? The second language identities of students on an English-mediated university program in Sweden. Journal of Language, Identity and Education,
14
(4), 255–274.
Higgins, E. T.
(1987) Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review,
94
(3), 319–340.
Karniol, R., & Ross, M.
(1996) The motivational impact of temporal focus: Thinking about the future and the past. Annual Review of Psychology,
47
(1), 593–620.
Kuncewicz, D., & Kuncewicz, D.
(2019) Hidden stories in monologues. Forum: Qualitative Social Research,
20
(1), Art. 9.
Lanvers, U., & Hultgren, A. K.
(2018) The Englishization of European education: Concluding remarks. European Journal of Language Policy,
10
(1), 147–152.
Lasagabaster, D.
(2016) The relationship between motivation, gender, L1 and possible selves in English-medium instruction. International Journal of Multilingualism,
13
(3), 315–332.
(2017) Language learning motivation and language attitudes in multilingual Spain from an international perspective. Modern Language Journal,
101
(3), 583 – 596.
Markus, H., & Nurius, P.
(1986) Possible selves. American Psychologist,
41
(9), 954–969.
McAdams, D. P., & McLean, K. C.
(2013) Narrative identity. Current Directions in Psychological Science,
22
(3), 233–238.
Norton, B.
(2001) Non-participation, imagined communities and the language classroom. In M. Breen (Ed.), Learner contributions to language learning: New directions in research (pp. 159–171). Pearson Education.
(2013) Identity and language learning: Extending the conversation (2nd ed.). Multilingual Matters.
(2015) Identity, investment, and faces of English internationally. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics,
38
(4), 375–391.
Norton, B., & Toohey, K.
(2011) Identity, language learning, and social change. Language Teaching,
44
(4), 412–416.
Pan, L., & Block, D.
(2011) English as a “global language” in China: An investigation into learners’ and teachers’ language beliefs. System,
39
(3), 391–402.
Rivero Menendez, M. J., Urquía-Grande, E., López-Sánchez, P., & Camacho-Miñano, M.
(2018) Motivation and learning strategies in accounting: Are there differences in English as a medium of instruction (EMI) versus non-EMI students? Spanish Accounting Review,
21
(2), 128–139.
Sabaté-Dalmau, M.
(2016) The Englishisation of higher education in Catalonia: A critical sociolinguistic ethnographic approach to the students’ perspectives. Language, Culture and Curriculum,
29
(3), 263–285.
Sung, C. C. M.
(2020) Investing in English-mediated practices in the EMI university: The case of cross-border mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong. Lingua,
243
1, 1–17.
Thorsen, C., Henry, A., & Cliffordson, C.
(2017) The case of a missing person? The current L2 self and the L2 Motivational Self System. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,
23
(5), 584–600.
Ushioda, E.
(2009) A person-in-context relational view of emergent motivation, self and identity. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 215–228). Multilingual Matters.
van Lier, L.
(2010) Foreword: agency, self and identity in language learning. In B. O’Rourke & L. Carson (Eds.), Language learner autonomy: Policy, curriculum, classroom: A festschrift in honour of David Little (Vol. 31) (pp. ix–xviii). Peter Lang.
Vollebergh, A.
(2022) Contested multiplicities and mobile monologues: The poetics and politics of conviviality in the plural. Journal of Intercultural Studies,
43
(2), 210–227.
Wächter, B., & Maiworm, F.
(2014) English-taught programmes in European higher education: The state of play in 2014. Lemmens.
Wenger, E.
(1998) Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press.
Yashima, T.
(2009) International posture and the ideal L2 self in the Japanese EFL context. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 144–163). Multilingual Matters.
You, C., & Dörnyei, Z.
(2014) Language learning motivation in China: Results of a large-scale stratified survey. Applied Linguistics,
37
(4), 495–519.