Motivation to Learn Multiple Languages in Japan: A Longitudinal Perspective 9781800414846

Table of contents :
Contents
Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Part 1 Contextualizing the Study
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Background
3 Growing Body of LOTE Motivation Research
4 English and LOTE Education in Japan
Part 2 The Empirical Study
5 The Study
6 The Early Days: English Self-Instruction Using Radio Materials in High School
7 Broadening the Horizons: (Re-)Starting LOTE Learning at University
8 Pursuing Multilingualism or Not? Language and Academic Studies
9 What Does Language Mean to the Interviewees, in the End? Language Learning beyond Formal Education
Part 3 Concluding Thoughts
10 Reflecting on the Method: Advantages and Challenges of Longitudinal Case Studies Utilizing Interviews
11 Conclusion
Afterword
Appendices
References
Index

Citation preview

Motivation to Learn Multiple Languages in Japan

PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING Series Editors: Sarah Mercer, Universität Graz, Austria and Stephen Ryan, Waseda University, Japan This international, interdisciplinary book series explores the exciting, emerging field of Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching. It is a series that aims to bring together works which address a diverse range of psychological constructs from a multitude of empirical and theoretical perspectives, but always with a clear focus on their applications within the domain of language learning and teaching.  The field is one that integrates various areas of research that have been traditionally discussed as distinct entities, such as motivation, identity, beliefs, strategies and self-regulation, and it also explores other less familiar concepts for a language education audience, such as emotions, the self and positive psychology approaches. In theoretical terms, the new field represents a dynamic interface between psychology and foreign language education and books in the series draw on work from diverse branches of psychology, while remaining determinedly focused on their pedagogic value. In methodological terms, sociocultural and complexity perspectives have drawn attention to the relationships between individuals and their social worlds, leading to a field now marked by methodological pluralism. In view of this, books encompassing quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies are all welcomed. All books in this series are externally peer-reviewed. Full details of all the books in this series and of all our other publications can be found on http://www​.multilingual​-matters​.com, or by writing to Multilingual Matters, St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol, BS1 2AW, UK.

PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING: 19

Motivation to Learn Multiple Languages in Japan A Longitudinal Perspective Chika Takahashi

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS Bristol • Jackson

DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/TAKAHA4839 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Names: Takahashi, Chika, author. Title: Motivation to Learn Multiple Languages in Japan: A Longitudinal Perspective/Chika Takahashi. Description: Jackson: Multilingual Matters, 2022. | Series: Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching: 19 | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “This longitudinal study of motivation in extremely successful learners of English and languages other than English provides unique insights into long-term language learning motivation. It reveals the various factors that sustain multiple language learning and stretches our understanding of motivation beyond the recent theorizing of L2 motivation”—Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2022033936 (print) | LCCN 2022033937 (ebook) | ISBN 9781800414839 (hardback) | ISBN 9781800414846 (pdf) | ISBN 9781800414853 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Linguistic informants—Japan. | Language and languages—Study and teaching—Japan. | Second language acquisition—Japan. | Multilingual education—Japan. Classification: LCC P128.I53 T35 2022 (print) | LCC P128.I53 (ebook) | DDC 418.0071/052—dc23/eng/20220901 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022033936 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022033937 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-13: 978-1-80041-483-9 (hbk) Multilingual Matters UK: St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol, BS1 2AW, UK. USA: Ingram, Jackson, TN, USA. Website: www​.multilingual​-matters​.com Twitter: Multi_Ling_Mat Facebook: https://www​.facebook​.com​/multilingualmatters Blog: www​.cha​nnel​view​publ​ications​.wordpress​.com Copyright © 2023 Chika Takahashi. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned. Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India. Printed and bound in the UK by the CPI Books Group Ltd.

Contents

Tables and Figures ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xiii Part 1: Contextualizing the Study 1 Introduction 3 What Is This Volume About? 3 What Is New About This Volume? 5 Organization of the Volume 7 L2 Self-Instruction Using Broadcast Materials in Japan and My Involvement in It 9 Conclusion 10 2

Theoretical Background 11 The L2 Motivational Self System 14 Intrinsic Motivation in Self-Determination Theory 18 Advantages and Limitations of the Frameworks 20 The Issue of Persistence in L2 Learning 22 Summary 24

3

Growing Body of LOTE Motivation Research Different Meanings of ‘LOTE Learning’ Early Studies of LOTE Motivation in the Socioeducational Model Increase in English Motivation Studies and the Dearth of LOTE Motivation Research Recent Increase in Studies on LOTE Motivations and Their Characteristics Limited Number of Qualitative Studies Examining Trajectories of LOTE Motivations Employing the L2 Motivational Self System as the Theoretical Framework

v

25 26 28 29 31 32 34

vi  Motivation to Learn Multiple Languages in Japan

Comparisons of English and LOTE Motivations and the Influence of English on LOTE Motivation 36 Few Reports on Successful Learners 38 Paucity of Studies Examining Learners’ Motivations to Study Multiple LOTEs 40 Geographical Imbalance in Past Studies on LOTE Motivation 40 Paucity of LOTE Motivation Studies from Japan 44 LOTE Motivation Studies in Japan Written in Japanese 46 Summary 47 4

English and LOTE Education in Japan 48 Call for English Education Reforms 49 Various English Education Reforms 52 Characteristics of English Education Reforms 54 Dual Orientations among the Japanese 55 (Perceived) English Competence among the Japanese 57 Actual Need for English 58 History of LOTE Education at the Tertiary Level in Japan 59 Recent Situations Surrounding LOTE Education in Japan 61 Summary 63

Part 2: The Empirical Study 5

The Study 67 My Encounter with the Interviewees 67 A Brief History of the Interviewees’ Earlier Language Learning 68 Interviews 69 Procedures 70 Data Analysis 72 Choosing the Method of Longitudinal Case Study 73

6 The Early Days: English Self-Instruction Using Radio Materials in High School Two Sets of Interviews in High School as a Starting Point L2 Self-Instruction Using Radio Materials and the Issue of Persistence in Learning The Study Yuzuru as a Very Intensive Learner Non-Persistence in L2 Self-Instruction and Motivational Changes after Half a Year Yuzuru’s Seeds of a Multilingual Learner Shion as the Most Persistent Learner among the 13 Students L2 Motivational Bases That Sustained Shion’s Persistence in Studies with SIR Materials

76 76 77 79 80 83 85 85 86

Contents 

Comparing the Interviewees during This Study Phase Looking Back, Looking Ahead

vii

88 91

7 Broadening the Horizons: (Re-)Starting LOTE Learning at University 93 The Study 94 Yuzuru’s Studies of English and Multiple LOTEs 95 Yuzuru’s Rich Life Experiences and the Development of the Ideal English and LOTE Selves 97 Shion’s Studies of English and LOTE 99 Shion’s Search for a Future Career and Changing Ideal English Selves 101 Comparing the Interviewees during This Study Phase 103 Looking Back, Looking Ahead 107 8 Pursuing Multilingualism or Not? Language and Academic Studies 109 The Study 110 Yuzuru’s Further Development of the Ideal English and LOTE Selves 111 Yuzuru’s Non-Experience of Psychological Conflicts between Languages 114 Shion’s Intense Academic Studies and the Emphasis on Reading in English 116 Shion’s English Learning Motivations 118 Shion’s Ambivalent Attitudes toward LOTE Learning 120 Comparing the Interviewees during This Study Phase 120 Looking Back, Looking Ahead 123 9 What Does Language Mean to the Interviewees, in the End? Language Learning beyond Formal Education 126 The Study 128 Yuzuru’s Further Academic and Language Studies 129 Yuzuru’s Changes in Career Plans and the Nonetheless Stable Multilingual Attitude 131 Factors That Explain Yuzuru’s Further Development of the Ideal Multilingual Self 133 The Meanings of Language and Language Learning to Yuzuru 136 Shion’s Further Academic and Language Studies 138 Shion’s Career Choice and Language Use 139 Decreasing Role as a Student for Shion and Its Influence on Motivation 140 The Meanings of Language and Language Learning to Shion 143 Comparing the Interviewees during This Study Phase 144

viii  Motivation to Learn Multiple Languages in Japan

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

150

Part 3: Concluding Thoughts 10 Reflecting on the Method: Advantages and Challenges of Longitudinal Case Studies Utilizing Interviews 153 The Interviewees’ Experiences of Being Interviewed 154 Advantages of Longitudinal Case Studies Utilizing Interviews 156 Challenges of Longitudinal Case Studies Utilizing Interviews 158 Reciprocal Impacts between an Interviewer and Interviewees 160 Some Final Thoughts 161 11 Conclusion 162 Yuzuru and Shion throughout the Nine Years 163 Insights for Further Theorizing Language Learning Motivation 167 Directions for Future Research 171 Some Pedagogical Implications 172 Looking Back, Looking Ahead 173 Afterword 174 Appendices 175 Appendix A: Interview Prompts at First Interview in High School 175 Appendix B: Interview Prompts at Second Interview in High School 176 Appendix C: Interview Prompts in University and Graduate School 176 Appendix D: Interview Prompts in Professional Work (to Shion) 177 Appendix E: Interview Prompts Only Asked at Last Interview 178 References 179 Index 192

Tables and Figures

Tables

  4.1  Summary of English education reforms and related events   4.2  Changes in LOTE education in Japan   5.1  Characteristics of the interviewees   5.2  Timeline of the study   6.1 The interviewees’ basic accounts of experiences studying with SIR materials   6.2 Persistence in English self-instruction and factors related to persistence   7.1 Summary of Yuzuru and Shion’s language studies and motivation during the first two years of university   8.1 Summary of Yuzuru’s and Shion’s language studies and motivation during the second two years of university   9.1 Summary of Yuzuru and Shion’s language studies and motivation in graduate school and beyond 11.1  Yuzuru’s experiences throughout the nine years 11.2  Shion’s experiences throughout the nine years

54 61 70 71 89 89 106 124 149 164 166

Figures

  6.1 Yuzuru’s vocabulary card using SIR materials 82 11.1 Yuzuru’s motivational trajectories throughout the nine years 165 11.2 Shion’s motivational trajectories throughout the nine years 167 11.3 Schematic representation of a context and a learner 168

ix

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, my sincere gratitude goes to the two interviewees, Shion and Yuzuru, for their perseverance throughout the years, involving not only multiple interview sessions but also spending their valuable time on member-checking the manuscript. Without them, this long-term project would not have been achieved. I have been truly lucky to have met them and witnessed their developments through high school, university, graduate school and beyond. As this study started as part of my dissertation, I would like to thank my dissertation committee members (James Dean [JD] Brown, Richard R. Day, Thom Hudson, Richard Schmidt and Seongah Im) as well as Yukiko Hotozuka, who made the data collection possible at this stage. I am also grateful to the following people for reading various drafts of this study: Simon Humphries, Anna Mendoza, Huy Phung and April WhiteGallego. They gave me constructive feedback throughout the writing phase. My particular thanks go to Daniel O. Jackson, who provided not only sharp comments on the manuscript but valuable advice regarding book publishing. I am also thankful to Rosie McEwan and Laura Jordan at Multilingual Matters for their encouragement throughout the writing process and to the reviewer as well as the series editors, Stephen Ryan and Sarah Mercer, for their excellent feedback. This study was supported by the Language Learning doctoral dissertation grant as well as the institutional grant ‘Career Support Project for Younger Researchers’ at Ehime University. I am grateful for both. Finally, this book is derived in part from an article published in The Language Learning Journal, June 2021, copyright the Association for Language Learning, available online: https://www​.tandfonline​.com​/doi​/ full​/10​.1080​/09571736​.2019​.1606272, as well as two articles published in Language Education & Technology (the Japan Association for Language Education and Technology, November 2014 and June 2017), in revised forms. I am thankful to them for their permission to reproduce the text.

xi

Abbreviations

DMC DALF DELF EFL FL IELTS L1 L2 L2MSS L3 LOTE MEXT NHK NS NNS SDT SEM SIR TL TOEFL TOEIC TOPIK UK UN US

Directed Motivational Current diplôme approfondi de langue française diplôme d’études en langue française English as a Foreign Language Foreign Language International English Language Testing System First Language Second Language L2 Motivational Self System Third Language Language Other Than English Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Nippon Hoso Kyokai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) Native Speaker Non-Native Speaker Self-Determination Theory Structural Equation Modeling Self-Instructional Radio Target Language Test of English as a Foreign Language Test of English for International Communication Test of Proficiency in Korean United Kingdom United Nations United States

xiii

Part 1

Contextualizing the Study

1 Introduction

Language learning is a long endeavor, possibly beginning around preschool age and continuing well into late adulthood. It is enjoyable for some and agonizing for others. Having persisted with and having dropped out of my own studies as a language learner, I can empathize with both experiences. There are times when the learning is supported by the pure enjoyment of the experience, and other times we wonder why we started learning the language in the first place. In such long processes, I believe that motivation is one of the decisive factors for a fruitful endeavor. What Is This Volume About?

This volume is the story of two contrasting yet equally fascinating academically successful Japanese learners of English and of languages other than English (LOTEs), with a particular focus on the learners’ motivations. This interview study started as part of my doctoral studies in June 2012, and thanks to the two interviewees’ sincerity and enduring attitudes, it kept going for nine years until March 2021. During this period, they both finished high school, entered one of the top-tiered universities in Japan, continued on to graduate school and one interviewee started working in the final year. The two interviewees went through various language, life and academic experiences in the under-researched context of Japan in terms of LOTE motivations. One interviewee, for example, had similar experiences to those reported in past studies in contexts other than Japan (e.g. Henry, 2015a), i.e. difficulty persisting in LOTE studies due to the increasing role of English as a global language. In contrast, the other interviewee had the atypical and under-researched experience of becoming a multilingual, enjoying the studies of both English and various LOTEs. Interestingly, despite such differences the two interviewees shared a similar, constitutive perspective on language and language learning, which perceives language as an essential part of a human being’s thought processes and self-expressions (MLA, 2007), instead of the more dominant instrumentalist view. As such, the two cases demonstrate invaluable lived 3

4  Part 1: Contextualizing the Study

experiences that enable us to examine how second language (L2) motivation has been theorized thus far and how we can perhaps further develop these theories. In today’s globalized world, the role of English as a global language is undeniable. It is quite natural that many learners consider it a communication tool and find it useful – we can communicate with so many people around the world, which would not have been achievable without English. The very fact that I am writing this book, not in my first language (L1), Japanese, but in English, demonstrates the power of English as a global language. My intention is to reach readers who are not only in Japan but also outside the immediate context. In order to achieve such a goal, the choice of language was not difficult – I chose to write in English, not in Japanese. With the increasing role of English as a global language, learners now more than ever are motivated to study it due to factors such as ‘necessity, utility, advantage, social capital, power, advancement, mobility, migration, and cosmopolitanism’ (Ushioda, 2017: 471). Many feel that having competence in English gives them a competitive edge, including in the foreign language (FL) context of Japan. In a more extreme case, it may no longer give them a competitive edge because English is ‘now part of a basic social literacy and a medium of expression used extensively in day-to-day life’ (Henry, 2015a: 319), and so many are now competent in the language (e.g. Siridetkoon & Dewaele, 2018; Wang & Liu, 2020; Zheng et al., 2020). Seen from a broader perspective, the goals of English education in many countries, including Japan, are politically and economically shaped. In many contexts, they now aim to develop ‘human resources’ that are equipped with the four skills in English that can be quantified through ‘objective’ standardized tests. In other words, English education is conducted under a certain political and economic climate, which now seems to be shaped by neoliberal politics and the global market (Kubota & Takeda, 2021). Learners of English study the language under such a climate, and their motivations are influenced by contextual factors to varying degrees, with many forming an instrumentalist view of language learning. Under such circumstances, past studies have reported that many learners prioritize their English studies over their LOTE studies, questioning the necessity of learning a language in addition to English (e.g. Busse, 2017; Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005; Henry, 2015a). The status of English as a global language negatively influences the motivations of many LOTE learners, making it difficult to develop a multilingual (Henry, 2017). However, through the study of these two learners, it became evident that it is possible to perceive language learning as more than a way of pursuing economic and political interests, pragmatic utility, enhancement, etc. As the two interviewees in this study demonstrate, learning a

Introduction 

5

language can be a way of empathizing with people of different cultures and different languages. It can also be a way of enjoying and appreciating the diversity of people. If we take such a perspective, English may become ‘one of the languages’ we learn, and it may no longer negatively influence LOTE motivation. If we take such a perspective, reaching ‘nativelike’ proficiency does not always have to be the goal, and learners can keep learning languages throughout their lives. Such perspectives, I believe, have something to add to existing theories of L2 motivation. Engaging in various interviews with the two learners often reminded me of my experience as a student, which helped me understand their take on language and language learning. For example, their perspective of language learning as a way to empathize with people of different cultures and different languages echoed my study abroad experiences during my undergraduate studies; I still remember the smiles of Spaniards when they found out that an Asian like me could communicate not in English but in their language, and this realization clearly changed their attitudes. I imagine that my experiences in Spain would have been totally different had I only communicated with them in English. What Is New About This Volume?

As one of the most fruitful topics in L2 acquisition research, numerous journal articles and books have already been published on the topic of L2 motivation. However, more research is needed at least in the following three areas, in which the present volume has sought to fill the gap. First, this study offers a long-term perspective of English and LOTE motivations involving 16 interview sessions, in which I followed the interviewees from high school until after one of the interviewees started working. Considering that it usually takes years to achieve a certain level in any L2, such longitudinal approaches are necessary (Ortega & IberriShea, 2005). By spending nine years, long-term processes could be examined to reveal how English and LOTE motivations developed through the interviewees’ lived experiences at different life stages and how their perspectives on language and language learning – including one that goes beyond the dominant theorizing of L2 motivation – evolved. Second, the study was conducted in an under-researched context on the topic of LOTE motivation: it is different from the majority of past studies investigating LOTE motivation, i.e. the European and Anglophone contexts (see Chapter 3). Instead, the study took place in the FL context of Japan, where LOTE learning is considered as something unnecessary or non-essential by many learners, who often lack direct contact with LOTE speakers; it is an ‘exam-oriented’ context (Kormos et  al., 2011) with great emphasis placed on English education in the era of globalization (e.g. Kubota & Takeda, 2021), making learners dually oriented to ‘English for exams’ and ‘English for communication’

6  Part 1: Contextualizing the Study

(e.g. Yashima et al., 2004). The two interviewees demonstrate how living in such a context is different from living in a context where English is considered a basic social skill and where learning at least one other language in addition to English is the default, often with opportunities for direct contact with speakers of LOTEs. It is also distinct from living in a context where LOTE learning is valued from a strategic point of view but is received with less interest due to the increasing role of their L1, English, as a global language. In contrast to numerous studies conducted in Japan regarding English learning motivation (e.g. Apple et  al., 2013; Irie & Brewster, 2014; Irie & Ryan, 2015; Kikuchi, 2015; Taguchi et al., 2009; Yashima, 2002; Yashima et al., 2004, 2017), Japan has remained almost silent on the topic of LOTE learning motivation. However, various educational, social and political factors that intertwine to create the particular context of Japan made the interviewees’ experiences unique and distinct from what has been reported on LOTE learning motivation thus far. They are different from learners’ experiences in contexts such as Europe, where multilingualism is much more emphasized (e.g. Henry, 2015a), and contexts which are inherently multilingual due to their historical and geographical conditions (e.g. Coetzee-Van Rooy, 2019). As such, the two interviewees’ experiences and perspectives on language learning offer us an opportunity to further theorize LOTE learning motivation and language learning motivation in general. Third, this volume is one of the first to report the details of the motivational trajectories of an extremely successful learner of English and multiple LOTEs. With the growing body of LOTE motivation research, we see that many learners, instead of enjoying learning LOTEs, struggle because they find little meaning in learning them due to the growing role of English as a global language. As described, past studies have reported that learners question the necessity of learning yet another language when they can communicate in English with so many people around the world (e.g. Busse, 2017; Henry, 2011, 2015a); the negative influence of English on LOTE motivation has been reported (e.g. Csizér & Lukács, 2010). Furthermore, past studies on LOTE learning motivation have typically reported on learners of (English and) one LOTE, without examining cases of learners studying English and multiple LOTEs (e.g. Henry, 2015a; Oakes & Howard, 2022; Wang & Liu, 2020). However, there should be some learners, albeit perhaps not many, who succeed in learning multiple LOTEs and grow to be multilinguals. Their stories have somehow been left out of the discussions and current theories of L2 motivation, which have perhaps overemphasized the role of English and the instrumentalist view of language learning. This volume offers the case of an extremely successful learner of English and of multiple LOTEs, detailing his experiences as well as his thought processes and perspectives on language learning.

Introduction 

7

In sum, through the longitudinal study of two contrasting cases of Japanese learners of English and of LOTEs, this volume attempts to (a) examine existing theories of L2 motivation; (b) critically examine major findings in past LOTE motivation research from contexts that are quite distinct from the Japanese context; and (c) delineate how the two interviewees ‘as persons’ (Ushioda, 2009) went through various life experiences at each educational level that shaped their motivations to study both English and LOTEs, accounting for the various political, economic and educational factors that surrounded them in Japan. I hope that the volume will benefit readers both inside and outside of Japan. Organization of the Volume

The volume is divided into three main parts. Part 1 (Chapters 1–4) tries to contextualize the study. In Chapter 2, I describe the theoretical frameworks utilized in the empirical study, i.e. the L2 motivational self system (L2MSS; Dörnyei, 2005, 2009) and intrinsic motivation in selfdetermination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2017, 2020). The chapter illustrates both the advantages and limitations of these frameworks and argues that it is necessary to be open to other emerging themes in order to be comprehensive with the two interviewees’ motivations to study both English and LOTEs. In addition to these two frameworks, I also discuss the under-researched yet crucial aspect of L2 motivation in the present study, i.e. persistence in learning. Persistence has received increasing attention in recent years, and researchers have started to empirically examine its various aspects (e.g. Cheng & Lee; 2018; Davis, 2022; Feng & Papi, 2020; Henry & Davydenko, 2020; Teimouri et  al., 2020). In examining the scholarly discussions, I argue that the dimension of time is crucial in persistence. Chapter 3 discusses the recent increase in LOTE motivation studies and critically examines the findings as well as the theoretical, methodological and geographical bias in the existing research. Then, in Chapter 4, I examine situations in Japan surrounding the education of English and LOTEs, which can both be described as FLs without daily contact with the languages. In Japan, English education has been heavily emphasized and has been shaped by ‘the permanent sense of crisis’ (Ryan, 2009a: 407), which has led to various educational reforms. In sharp contrast to such emphasis on English education, the history of LOTE education can be characterized by constant de-emphasis. By elaborating on these aspects, I hope to contextualize the study and situate it in the existing literature. Part 2 (Chapters 5–9) reports on the empirical study. First, Chapter 5 lays the groundwork for the empirical study, starting by introducing the two interviewees, the interview method used in the study and the timeline of the study. This includes the interviewees’ early language learning

8  Part 1: Contextualizing the Study

histories before this study, the descriptions of my first contact with them, how the study evolved over the years, as well as some discussions on the methodological aspect of the study. Chapter 6 focuses on two sets of interviews that were conducted half a year apart when the interviewees were in their second year of high school. There is a particular focus on English self-instruction using radio materials, which has been prevalent in Japan for nearly a century and is closely related to the topic of L2 motivation. Both interviewees studied English with self-instructional radio (SIR) materials, and their persistence in studying with them varied to a great extent. I examine the motivational factors related to these interviewees’ (non-)persistence in L2 self-instruction. In Chapter 7, the first two years of the interviewees’ university lives are examined. At this stage, they start studying LOTEs (dai-2 gaikokugo in Japanese, or ‘second foreign language’) as a compulsory course at university. It is also around this time that they start broadening their horizons by considering possibilities in their major studies and various future career opportunities. They are both closely connected to their English/ LOTE motivations, and I examine their trajectories. In Chapter 8, I explore the second half of the interviewees’ university years with a particular focus on the interaction between their English and LOTE motivations. During this period, one of the interviewees embarks on a year-long exchange program in France, where he develops not only an ideal French self but also an ideal multilingual self (Henry, 2017). The processes in which the interviewee did not experience negative interactions between an ideal English self and an ideal French self are investigated. This contrasts with the other interviewee, who stopped her LOTE learning for personal and academic reasons; she was also influenced by the societal climate of Japan, where competence in LOTEs is not emphasized. In contrast to these differences, both interviewees undergo intense studies in their majors, which require an advanced L2 reading ability. This facilitates their recognition of the importance of an L2 reading ability. Chapter 9 focuses on the last three years of the study, in which both interviewees go on to graduate school, and in which one interviewee starts a professional career. The focus of this chapter is not only on the further development of their English/LOTE motivations but also on the fundamental issue of what language and language learning mean to the interviewees, who go beyond the formal educational settings. Finally, Part 3 (Chapters 10 and 11) includes reflections on the empirical study and discussions of future research directions. First, Chapter 10 reflects on the methodological aspect of the study. I introduce a discussion on the interviewees’ experiences of being interviewed for an extended period of time and explore this long-term approach to examining L2 motivation including its advantages and challenges.

Introduction 

9

In Chapter 11, I first integrate the findings from all research phases and discuss how the interviewees’ motivations to study English and LOTEs developed over the years. It shows a bigger picture of how motivations to study L2s are related to individual needs, goals and enjoyment in studying languages, as well as by more implicit factors that entail political, economic and educational forces. Their development also shows that rather than merely impacted by contextual factors, the interviewees also shaped their own contexts as they gained more experiences. The chapter concludes with theoretical implications including possible future research directions and some pedagogical implications that emerged from the prolonged conversations with the interviewees. L2 Self-Instruction Using Broadcast Materials in Japan and My Involvement in It

As the study initially started with an interest in the relationships between L2 motivational bases and persistence in studying English with SIR materials, a brief description of this type of learning is worthwhile at this point (for more details of these materials, see Chapter 6). Although L2 self-instruction using broadcast materials is not prevalent in many contexts such as the US, it has been widely recognized in Japan (Ohkushi, 1991; Takahashi, 2008; Umino, 1999). Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK), a nationwide public broadcasting company, has been broadcasting selfinstructional language education materials for nearly a century (Yamaguchi, 2001). As of 2021, 13 radio English materials and eight TV English materials are broadcast, in addition to materials in Arabic, Chinese, French, Korean, Italian, Russian and Spanish (NHK, 2021a). From 2021 to 2022, NHK also produced a popular morning TV drama series that specifically featured a family of three generations that grew up listening to SIR materials (NHK, 2021b). In Japan, L2 self-instruction using these materials has been perceived as an economical way of studying an L2 (Takahashi, 2008; Umino, 1999), and some junior high school teachers encourage their students to study English using these materials. I myself listened to various SIR materials for a total of six years throughout junior high and high school, tuning in to the programs every day. Although not an interactive type of learning, I feel that I learned so much English from these materials; studying with SIR materials greatly facilitated my four-year undergraduate study abroad in the United States. However, despite the widespread use of these materials, L2 selfinstruction using SIR or self-instructional TV materials has received only peripheral scholarly attention both inside and outside of Japan (for examples of these studies see Hara & Hattori, 1995; Ohkushi, 1991; Rybak, 1984; Takahashi, 2008, 2015; Umino, 1999, 2005, 2006; also see Mynard & Shelton-Strong, 2022, for underlying reasons for the dearth of research on outside-class language learning in general).

10  Part 1: Contextualizing the Study

After graduating from college in the US, I returned to Japan and worked as a materials designer (called ‘TV/radio directors’ in Japan) for these programs before entering the world of academia. I came to understand how difficult it is to persist in this type of learning without the pressure or encouragement of teachers. The issues of high drop-out rates are also reported in the literature (Ohkushi, 1991; Umino, 1999). I wondered what factors led to persistence, and through a preliminary study (Takahashi, 2008), I realized that it was a sense of direction, a crucial aspect of L2 motivation. As such, my experience as a materials designer helped me become aware of the topic of L2 motivation. Conclusion

Many of us know how difficult it is to persist in language learning. There are unexpected motivational ups and downs, some goals are not achieved and, in some cases, we just simply give up learning. The two interviewees also experienced ups and downs along the way. As I met with them many times for the interviews, however, I was truly fascinated to learn about their learning development. I was particularly keen to discover that both interviewees strongly emphasized their reading ability when studying English/LOTEs, the importance of which is not widely realized either in Japan or in other countries. They showed me, above all, how enjoyable language learning can be and how much language development is possible even in a context like Japan.

2 Theoretical Background

When I first became interested in the topic of second language (L2) motivation in 2009, when Dörnyei and Ushioda’s (2009) influential book on the L2 motivational self system (L2MSS) came out, I was overwhelmed by the various theoretical frameworks proposed and the already rich volume of studies in the area. It was necessary to immerse myself into reading relevant journal articles and books for months to start to understand the historical development of the field. At the time, I was trying to prepare myself for my doctoral dissertation and deciding which theoretical frameworks would be suitable for exploring the relationships between persistence in L2 self-instruction and L2 motivational bases among Japanese learners of English. Although I understood very well the profound contributions of the socioeducational model (Gardner, 1985, 2001, 2020), in terms of the motivation that would support self-instructed Japanese learners of English, I felt that other perspectives were also necessary. Another aspect I was trying to grasp at the time was the relationships between L2 motivation (particularly the aspect of direction) and persistence in learning. The issue of (non-)persistence was crucial in selfinstruction using radio materials, and it was one of the reasons I became interested in L2 motivation. As postulated in psychology, persistence may be facilitated or hindered by motivational as well as non-motivational factors (e.g. Moshontz & Hoyle, 2021), but persistence is surely a crucial aspect in motivation. However, at the time, the aspect of persistence had received far less attention than the other two aspects, i.e. choice and effort (e.g. Ramage, 1990; Vallerand & Bissonnette, 1992). Recently, the landscape has been changing little by little (e.g. Dörnyei, 2020; Dörnyei & Henry, 2022), and I hope that the empirical examinations in the present study will contribute to the discussion of persistence in L2 learning. Before describing the theoretical frameworks utilized in the study, some contextual factors that shape Japanese learners’ motivations to study English and languages other than English (LOTEs) are worth scrutinizing (see Chapter 4 for more details). These include (a) the symbolic meaning of ‘English’ in society in the era of globalization; (b) learners’ somewhat vague orientations to study ‘practical English’, which is 11

12  Part 1: Contextualizing the Study

related to globalization and internationalization; and (c) the educational context of (high school) students having to intensely study English and other subjects for paper-and-pencil university entrance examinations, i.e. ‘the exam-oriented’ context (Kormos et al., 2011). These contextual factors sharply contrast with society’s as well as many Japanese learners’ disinterest in LOTE learning. Furthermore, self-instructed learners of English using radio materials may have unique motivations to study English without institutional control and pressure/encouragement from teachers and peers. Theoretical frameworks that would be utilized in the study needed to address these interrelated issues. As such, below is an attempt to first briefly explain the three factors mentioned above. First, in Japan, many people perceive English as symbolizing ‘globalization’, ‘internalization’ and ‘things overseas’. As described in Yashima (2002: 57), ‘English symbolizes the world around Japan, something that connects them to foreign countries and foreigners’. Despite being a typical English as a foreign language (EFL) context with limited daily opportunities for contact with the language (e.g. Sugita-McEown et al., 2017), society greatly emphasizes English competence in the era of globalization; English seems to be perceived as a tool that is used for communication with both native speakers (NSs) and non-native speakers (NNSs) of English in the ‘globalized society’, which does not necessarily mean a particular country or community but something more general and vaguer. A second aspect is Japanese learners’ orientations to study ‘practical English’, which is often contrasted with English for exams (see Chapter 4 for details). The emphasis on acquiring ‘practical English’ is reflected both in the country’s educational policies and in the societal discourse. For example, when examining English learning and education in Japan, one immediately notices that English communication competence, speaking competence in particular, has been emphasized for some decades now (note that I intentionally use the term ‘communication competence’ instead of the more scholarly established term ‘communicative competence’; for the differences between the two, see Kubota & Takeda, 2021). This can be seen in various documents issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), such as the lines in the Course of Study: ‘nurtur[ing] the foundation for communication skills’ in elementary school and ‘nurtur[ing] the ability to understand familiar topics, carry out simple information exchanges and describe familiar matters in English’ in lower secondary school (MEXT, 2013). What MEXT seems to emphasize is ‘communication’ that involves ‘face-to-face interaction in hypothetical intercultural contact situations’ (Yashima, 2002: 54). Furthermore, the emphasis on practical English, and speaking ability in particular, is evident in the societal discourse. This is reflected, for example, in the Japanese term eikaiwa, which means ‘English

Theoretical Background 

13

conversation’: the word is included in some of the self-instructional broadcast materials by NHK (2021a), and there are many eikaiwa schools throughout Japan. In fact, to many Japanese people, eikaiwa seems to be what communication in English means. Torikai (2011) warns against such a take, for communication essentially entails all four skills whereas eikaiwa has a primary focus on the speaking skills (‘English conversation’). Nonetheless, society greatly emphasizes speaking skills over other skills, which is probably the same in many other contexts. Thirdly, and somewhat contrastingly, Japan is said to be a culture ‘where socio-educational factors put a great pressure on students’ achievement and where foreign language education is highly examoriented’ (Kormos et  al., 2011: 508). Although various reforms were implemented (for details, see Chapter 4), high school students still need to go through a series of intense paper-and-pencil university entrance examinations, and students can take each type of exam only once per year. This contrasts with, for example, the Scholastic Achievement Test, which students wishing to enter a college/university in the United States can take multiple times a year. In most cases, entrance examinations in Japan are paper-and-pencil tests requiring a wide range of knowledge, including discrete grammatical points and vocabulary in the case of English. The results of such examinations strongly influence the universities to which students are admitted. As such, for Japanese high school students, getting through these high-stakes examinations is a clear and well-defined goal that helps/pressures them to study English, which is a required subject in most cases. Considering such contextual factors, the L2MSS (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009) is particularly suitable for explaining Japanese learners’ motivations to study English. Many Japanese learners may envision themselves using the language proficiently in a somewhat vague ‘international society’ in future (the aspect of the ideal L2 self; also related to international posture, see Chapter 3), but at the same time they are under great pressure and feel an obligation to study English for exams (the aspect of the ought-to L2 self). In other words, the two aspects of Japanese learners of English seem to be well explained by the two core tenets of the L2MSS, i.e. the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self. In terms of learners’ motivations to study English through selfinstruction, however, one other dimension seems crucial: their pure enjoyment in learning English (for a growing literature on FL enjoyment, see e.g. Bielak, 2022; Dewaele & Dewaele, 2020; Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014, 2022a, 2022b; Li, 2020; Pan & Zhang, 2021; also see Botes et al., 2022, for a meta-analysis of the effects of FL enjoyment). This seems to be an aspect that the L2MSS does not cover, as Bui and Teng (2021: 312) argue that ‘it places emphasis (almost exclusively) on the function of language as a communicational tool while disregarding a language’s appeal as an object of interest to learners’. As my preliminary study (Takahashi,

14  Part 1: Contextualizing the Study

2008: 23–24) demonstrates, some interviewees who had experience studying with self-instructional radio (SIR) materials mentioned that aspect; they stated, for example, ‘I was attracted to those colloquial expressions’ and ‘[the small-talk section] was very interesting’. I also remember that in junior high and high school, I enjoyed tuning in to my favorite programs every day simply because I liked the figures and content of the shows, and I enjoyed studying English with them. I would normally listen to the materials at the time of airing and also record them for later practice. When I was not home, my mother would record them for me. I had to schedule my studies with SIR materials because my elder sister also studied with them, although at a more advanced level. During those days, I particularly liked and was interested in the rhythm and intonation of English and practiced repeating and overlapping dialogues until I could pronounce each line with exactly the same rhythm and intonation as the narrators. This was in the era of cassette tapes, and sharing a recorder with my sister meant that we used the ‘rewind’ button so often that one day the button broke. Looking back at these intense studies, I considered that the aspect of enjoyment in studying English, i.e. intrinsic motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2017, 2020), could very well be one of the keys to persistence in L2 self-instruction. Keeping in mind such complexities of Japanese learners’ motivations, below is an attempt to elaborate on the two frameworks with a particular focus on the characteristics of Japanese learners. The L2 Motivational Self System

The tripartite model of the L2MSS is most utilized in recent publications (Boo et  al., 2015) and explains the motivation to study English particularly well, for it tries to accommodate ‘the dissatisfaction with the integrative motive’ (Dörnyei, 2009: 22) in the era of English as a global language. Incorporating the theories of possible selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986) and the self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987) in psychology, the model was proposed specifically for L2 learning. Detailed descriptions of the model can be found in many papers and book chapters (e.g. Dörnyei, 2005, 2009, 2019), so my descriptions of the model will concentrate more on its relationships to Japanese learners’ motivations to study English. At the center of the model is the ideal L2 self, which is ‘the L2-specific facet of one’s “ideal self”’ (Dörnyei, 2009: 29). It is an idealized self-image that a learner imagines regarding an L2, such as a proficient L2 speaker. The construct was introduced to cover a wider range than integrativeness, which reflected ‘a genuine interest in learning the second language in order to come closer to the other language community’, and in an extreme case, it involved ‘complete identification with the community’ (Gardner, 2001: 5). Unlike integrativeness, for which the target language

Theoretical Background 

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(TL) community was not easily defined in the case of English as a global language, the ideal L2 self was more compatible with the motivation to study English without a particular TL community in the learners’ minds. Considering the characteristics of the construct, the ideal L2 self could include cases both with and without a specific TL community. It could include an L2 speaker who is integrated into the community that speaks the L2, in which case it is integrativeness and is ‘a specific local variation of a wider sense of emotional identification with a language’ (Ryan, 2009b: 132); it could also include a self-image that one envisions regarding English without a specific TL community in mind. For example, many Japanese learners of English are unlikely to identify themselves with a specific TL community like ‘the British’ or ‘the Americans’ because ‘English is something that connects us to foreign countries, and people with whom we can communicate in English, including Asians and Africans’ (Yashima, 2009: 145). The ideal L2 self for many Japanese, therefore, could be that of a proficient speaker of English who communicates with both NSs and NNSs using the language in the globalized world. Interestingly, one key element that is argued to be necessary for the ideal L2 self, the aspect of mental imagery, seems particularly compatible with the motivation of L2 learners studying with SIR materials. As emphasized in Dörnyei (2009), imagination plays a powerful motivational role and distinguishes the ideal L2 self from mere purpose and the goals of language learning. The motivating role of imagination seems relevant for self-instructed L2 learners with SIR materials precisely because these materials lack visual information. Although it might sound contradictory, the fact that SIR materials do not have visual information allows learners to imagine situations in which the L2 is used. For example, the main part of the materials, i.e. their various dialogues, is presented without visual information, providing learners with hypothetical situations in which they could communicate in English, and letting them imagine the situations however they like. Furthermore, when learners sit in front of a radio and study with SIR materials, they might feel as if the figures on the show are talking to them and that they are part of the show. In a sense, the imaginary world that a listener is in with the figures of the materials is the world out there – a world that the listener can participate in someday as a proficient L2 user. These characteristics make SIR materials particularly compatible with the construct of the ideal L2 self. That said, when it comes to actual opportunities to communicate in English, as already pointed out, Japan can still be described as a typical EFL context even in the era of globalization. As will be seen later, these opportunities are limited even with academically oriented students living in Tokyo, like the two interviewees in this study. Unlike other contexts such as Europe, in which English is ‘now part of a basic social literacy and a medium of expression used extensively in day-to-day life’ (Henry,

16  Part 1: Contextualizing the Study

2015a: 319), Japan is one of the contexts where daily contact with the language is limited outside of the classroom. Under such circumstances, it has been reported that many Japanese learners have some kind of ideal L2 self only at a macro level (e.g. Ueki & Takeuchi, 2012), and other studies report the non-existence of an ideal L2 self among many (e.g. Takahashi & Im, 2015). Furthermore, although many university students believe that English will be important after leaving school – which partly stems from the social climate of Japan emphasizing English communication competence in the era of globalization – the percentage of Japanese who actually need the competence for work is reported to be much lower than is generally believed (Terasawa, 2015; see Chapter 4 for details). In such an EFL context without the immediate need for the language and yet with the societal emphasis on competence, the existence, elaboration and vividness of the ideal English self envisioned by Japanese learners are likely to vary to a great extent. The second constituent in the model is the ought-to L2 self, which ‘concerns the attributes that one believes one ought to possess to meet expectations and to avoid possible negative outcomes’ (Dörnyei, 2009: 29, emphasis in original). Whereas the ideal L2 self has a promotion focus that aims to gain something, the ought-to L2 self has a prevention focus that aims to not lose something. As such, the ought-to L2 self is considered less internalized than the ideal L2 self, representing ‘L2 learners’ duties, responsibilities, and obligations’ (Teimouri, 2017: 683). Compared to the ideal L2 self, which has repeatedly been shown to be related to the variable of intended learning effort both in Japan (e.g. Ryan, 2009b; Taguchi et  al., 2009; Yashima et  al., 2017) and in other contexts (e.g. Kim & Kim, 2014; Kormos & Csizér, 2014; Taguchi et al., 2009), the ought-to L2 self has been reported to have conflicting findings in past research. In some studies, the variable did not emerge from the factor analytical approach (e.g. Kormos & Csizér, 2008), had low reliability coefficients (e.g. Csizér & Lukács, 2010) or showed inconsistent relations with the criterion variable of intended L2 learning effort (e.g. Kormos & Csizér, 2008; Kormos et al., 2011; Taguchi et al., 2009; Yashima et al., 2017). Nonetheless, recent theoretical and empirical examinations have provided some clarifications of these findings, for example, by (a) closely examining questionnaire items and proposing the distinction between the ought-to L2 self/own and the ought-to L2 self/others, depending on the degree of internalization (e.g. Papi et al., 2019; Teimouri, 2017) and (b) examining contextual factors that might influence the motivational power of the construct (e.g. Yashima et al., 2017). In terms of the distinction between the ought-to L2 self/own and the ought-to L2 self/others, researchers (e.g. Papi et al., 2019; Teimouri, 2017) proposed adopting the own–others perspective, which was originally proposed in the self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987) but was not incorporated into the original model of the L2MSS. This was proposed

Theoretical Background 

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both for the ought-to L2 self and the ideal L2 self, and by empirically testing the proposal, the distinction between the ought-to L2 self/own and the ought-to L2 self/others in particular became clear (e.g. Teimouri, 2017). The distinction lies in the internalization of the motives; whereas the ought-to L2 self/own represents ‘externally imposed obligations and duties by significant others for learning an L2 that are ultimately internalized or shared by the learners for their personal meaning and value’, the ought-to L2 self/others is less internalized and involves external factors such as ‘parental pressures or course requirements, projected on the learners for learning a second language’ (Teimouri, 2017: 700). It was argued that the inconsistent findings in past research were due to the lack of distinction between the ought-to L2 self/own and the ought-to L2 self/ others. This distinction also seems relevant to Japanese learners of English. In some cases, high school students might be studying English only to get through university entrance examinations, where the pressure comes from parents, teachers, etc. As soon as they enter university, they may face serious issues with a lack of motivation because they feel disoriented without the clear goal of passing university entrance examinations (Ushioda, 2013). In such cases, students may be driven by the ought-to L2 self/others. On the other hand, there will likely also be students who are ought-to L2 self/own driven. These students may think that they should study English not because their parents tell them to but because they think it is necessary to do so to avoid negative outcomes such as failing entrance examinations. As such, each of the ought-to L2 self/own and the ought-to L2 self/others is likely to motivate Japanese learners of English. Regarding contextual factors influencing the role of the ought-to L2 self, past studies have argued that in exam-oriented Asian contexts, including Japan, the ought-to L2 self is more prominent than in other contexts (e.g. Kormos et  al., 2011; Yashima et  al., 2017). Past studies conducted in such contexts as Japan and China have demonstrated that the variable has a predictive power for the criterion variable of intended English learning effort, albeit to a lesser extent than the ideal English self (e.g. Taguchi et al., 2009; Takahashi & Im, 2020; Yashima et al., 2017). That is, the self-image that others impose on learners or that learners impose on themselves does lead them to put effort into studying English in these contexts. Kormos et  al. (2011: 509) argue that in addition to the influence of family and other members of their close social context, such as friends and peers, on their self-image, ‘there are additional factors outside the family that exert an influence on Ought-L2 self such as educational requirements (primarily exams) and pressures to compete with peers’. Compared to the ideal English self, which is more internalized than the ought-to English self, the motivating power of the ought-to English self might be for a shorter period of time and anxiety-provoking

18  Part 1: Contextualizing the Study

if it is not in harmony with the ideal English self (Ueki & Takeuchi, 2017). Nonetheless, it seems a construct relevant to the Japanese context. The last constituent in the model is the L2 learning experience, which is defined as ‘situated, “executive” motives related to the immediate learning environment and experience (e.g. the impact of the teacher, the curriculum, the peer group, the experience of success)’ (Dörnyei, 2009: 29). This construct was proposed based on the conviction that, in addition to the two aforementioned future-oriented constructs, the third construct of more situation-specific motives was necessary, and was already realized in ‘the motivational renaissance of the 1990s’ (Dörnyei, 2019: 21). Past studies have indeed reported the strong relationships between the L2 learning experience (sometimes framed as ‘attitudes to learning L2’ or ‘L2 learning attitude’) and the intended L2 learning effort, pointing to the importance of a favorable learning experience that ‘encourages [learners] to exert daily effort to learn the language’ (Yashima et al., 2017: 692). Compared to the other two constructs, however, it has remained somewhat ‘undertheorized’ (Dörnyei, 2019: 22), and new directions are likely to be taken in the near future with a more detailed definition of ‘the perceived quality of the learners’ engagement with various aspects of the language learning process’ (Dörnyei, 2019: 26). Intrinsic Motivation in Self-Determination Theory

Now I turn to the discussion of intrinsic motivation. The theory originated in the field of psychology and has been extensively utilized in many fields, e.g. various educational contexts, workplaces and health care (Ryan & Deci, 2017: 17–18). As such, the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations is well known even to people outside of the field of psychology. As an organismic approach, self-determination theory (SDT) postulates that human beings ‘have evolved to be inherently curious, physically active, and deeply social beings’ (Ryan & Deci, 2017: 4). It is argued that by satisfying the three psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness, human beings are intrinsically motivated. Intrinsically motivated behaviors ‘represent the prototype of selfdetermination’ (Deci et al., 1991: 328) and happen when human beings are engaged in an activity because it is inherently interesting and enjoyable. To give an example of intrinsically motivated behaviors, Ryan and Deci (2017: 117) list such activities as ‘play, exploration, sport, games, and avocations’. Deci et  al. (1991: 328) also provide a case of a ‘child who reads a book for the inherent pleasure of doing so’. As seen in such examples, the purpose of engaging in the activity lies in itself; hence, it is ‘intrinsic’. In contrast, many activities that we engage in are not done so for their own sake – they are done for a purpose that is separable from and that lies outside the activity, hence the word ‘extrinsic’. What

Theoretical Background 

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is unique in SDT is that extrinsic motivation is further categorized into four types, i.e. integrated, identified, introjected and external regulations, and the types of motivation can be categorized along a continuum from the least (external regulation) to the most self-determined (intrinsic motivation). As mentioned, SDT presupposes three fundamental psychological needs that have to be satisfied. First, autonomy represents ‘the need to self-regulate one’s experiences and actions’ (Ryan & Deci, 2017: 10). Although in past studies the degree of autonomy satisfaction has been reported to have a complex relationship with the types of motivation in SDT (e.g. Noels, 2009), the need argued in the theory is most crucial. This is because autonomy ‘is a motivational state that energizes and directs such ways of behaving and managing the environment’ (Reeve, 2022: 32). Indeed, Ushioda (2011: 223) argued that autonomy ‘represents the psychological condition of personal agency we need to feel in order to be truly motivated’ and is thus ‘vital to developing [learners’] motivation from within’ (Ushioda, 2011: 224). The second need is that of competence. Learners need to feel efficacious in performing an action. This can be satisfied, for example, by receiving positive feedback from teachers. Third, relatedness means that learners need to feel that they are socially connected, which can be satisfied by ‘feeling connected to close others and by being a significant member of social groups’ (Ryan & Deci, 2017: 11). An aversive case in L2 learning might be, for instance, that of learners whose parents are against their learning a particular L2. In such a case, it becomes difficult for them to keep motivating themselves. The theory postulates that by satisfying the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness, the types of motivation can be changed from less self-determined to more self-determined. Getting back to L2 learning, it may be no exaggeration to say that, for many learners, it is externally regulated; they study an L2 because it is a compulsory course at school, for instance, and as soon as they earn enough credit, they stop studying the language. However, language learning may be intrinsically motivating for other learners. They study an L2 because it is interesting, intellectually stimulating and enjoyable, as in the case of the interviewees as elaborated in later chapters. Although detailed discussions of the types of extrinsic motivation are beyond the scope of this study, a closer look at intrinsic motivation, particularly in relation to L2 self-instruction, is worthwhile. For self-instructed learners, intrinsic motivation seems to be one of the keys to persistence. L2 self-instruction occurs outside institutional controls, with no pressure/encouragement from teachers or peers; in terms of L2 self-instruction using SIR materials by Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK, Japanese Broadcasting Corporation), there are not even credits to earn. Learners can start and stop studying via self-instruction whenever they wish. In such a context, extrinsic motivation, particularly the less

20  Part 1: Contextualizing the Study

internalized type of external regulation, is not likely to play a substantial role in helping learners persist. Instead, their studies need to be sustained by quite strong motivations, one of which can be intrinsic motivation. As the example in Deci et al. (1991) shows, the child who reads a book for the inherent pleasure of reading a book does so because they want to. Similarly, when L2 learners persist in self-instruction, for years in some cases, we see that they are often not coerced by anyone, but they do so because they want to, and they enjoy engaging in studying an L2 through self-instruction. Thus, the characteristics of L2 self-instruction seem to have a close relationship with the characteristics of intrinsic motivation. Numerous empirical studies have examined intrinsic motivation in L2 learning in various contexts including Japan (e.g. Hayashi, 2013; Noels et  al., 2000, 2019; Pae, 2008). They demonstrate the important role of intrinsic motivation in L2 learning. It is related to the intensity of motivation and the intention to continue learning (e.g. Noels et al., 2000, 2001; Pae, 2008). Such trends might be more evident in self-instructed learners for the reasons described above. Advantages and Limitations of the Frameworks

In applying the two theoretical frameworks in the empirical study, both their advantages and their limitations need to be acknowledged before moving on to the empirical study. One of the advantages of utilizing the L2MSS, as already described, is its compatibility with the motivation to study English as a global language. As the theory was developed specifically to go beyond the incompatibility of integrativeness with English which has no specific TL community, it explains Japanese learners’ motivations to study English for communication with both NSs and NNSs of English. Utilizing intrinsic motivation is also advantageous for its explanatory power not only in classroom settings but also in L2 self-instruction. As the aforementioned quotes from Takahashi (2008) demonstrate, some learners in L2 self-instruction using broadcast materials seem to enjoy studying English with these materials, and their purpose for studying seems to lie within that activity. Furthermore, it may also be compatible with LOTE learners’ motivations in that some may purely enjoy their studies of LOTEs, which have fewer pragmatic and utilitarian aspects than English in many cases (see Chapter 3 for details). Despite these advantages, there seem to be certain aspects of L2 motivation that are not covered by these two theoretical frameworks. This might have to do with the imbalance in the TLs investigated thus far in existing L2 motivation research, with over 70% of recent studies focusing on studies of English (Boo et al., 2015: 151). This might also have to do with current research on L2 motivation focusing on ‘the future goals and purposes of language learning’ (Ushioda, 2017: 471). As it may be

Theoretical Background 

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impossible to cover all aspects of a multifaceted construct like L2 motivation with one theory, keeping an open attitude toward newly emerging themes will be the key to fully capturing the complexities of the two interviewees’ motivations. First, because so many studies have focused on students’ motivations to study English, L2 motivation theories may have also been skewed toward disentangling English learning motivations, mainly the motivation to study English as a global language (e.g. Dörnyei & Al-Hoorie, 2017). The fact that the L2MSS grew out of the pursuit to explain learners’ motivations to study English as a global language means that it may not necessarily be suitable for explaining the motivation to study other languages. For example, integrativeness (Gardner, 1985, 2001, 2020) is demonstrated to explain LOTE learners’ motivations because, in many cases, the TL community is more definable than in the case of English (see Chapter 3 for details). Because of the distinct characteristics of English and LOTE learning motivations, perspectives in addition to the L2MSS in particular may be necessary when investigating LOTE motivations. Second, and perhaps more importantly, to fully elaborate on learners’ motivations to study both English and LOTEs, one may need to go beyond the instrumentalist and neoliberal view of language learning. Ushioda (2017: 471) argues that the predominant theoretical focus of L2 motivation studies has been ‘on the instrumental value of learning English (i.e. as a necessary means to a personally or socially desirable end) and on the concomitant instrumental value of learning languages in general’ (emphasis in original). Because of the predominant instrumentalist view of language learning, which prevails over learners, societies and researchers, much of the theorizing about L2 motivation has had ‘a focus on the future goals and purposes of language learning’ (Ushioda, 2017: 471). This is despite the fact that learners might have other reasons to study English/LOTEs than purely instrumentalist ones, possibly more so in the case of LOTE learning. Intrinsic motivation might be one type of motivation that is not too weighted toward the ‘purposes and goals’ of language learning because the purpose lies in the activity of L2 learning. There are other aspects that are non-instrumentalist, as will be demonstrated by the two interviewees themselves. To be precise, in the era of globalization, there have reportedly been many learners who hold the instrumentalist and neoliberal perspectives that emphasize economic interests for individuals as well as for societies (e.g. Thompson, 2020). Learners thinking this way may indeed value the pragmatic and utilitarian aspects of language learning, particularly English learning. In a more extreme case, such a pragmatic aspect may make learners pursue LOTE learning because having English competence may no longer give them a competitive edge (e.g. Siridetkoon & Dewaele, 2018; Wang & Fisher, 2021; Wang & Liu, 2020; Zheng et al., 2020). Nonetheless, as seen in later chapters, such an instrumentalist view

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may only be one aspect of L2 learning, and a broader perspective may be necessary, particularly in the case of LOTE learning. To elaborate more on this broader perspective, one may further consider the role of language learning and teaching in more general terms. For example, Kubota and Takeda (2021: 481) argue that language learning and teaching ‘ought to be about becoming more as a person’ and ‘not about enabling learners’ acquisition of capital’. This echoes what Ushioda (2017: 474) argues to be ‘humanist educational values of self-development, linguistic enrichment, and cultural understanding’. This line of thinking is distinct from the current theorizing of L2 motivation, but language learning motivations may also involve such factors as ‘self-development, linguistic enrichment, and cultural understanding’ (Ushioda, 2017: 474), and it is worth employing such a perspective. I will return to this issue after closely examining the two interviewees, who might provide us with some clues for future L2 motivation theories. In sum, employing the L2MSS and intrinsic motivation as the theoretical frameworks will enable close examinations of the two interviewees’ L2 motivation; both interviewees studied English and LOTEs and also used SIR materials during high school in the Japanese context. At the same time, in an empirical study, particularly in a qualitative study like this one, it is crucial to be open to possibly emerging themes and to analyze the data not only utilizing the two theoretical frameworks but also from broader perspectives. Such an open attitude will enable elaboration of the complexities of the two interviewees’ motivations to study both English and LOTEs, how they changed over the years and how they were affected by various contextual factors while simultaneously developing in unique ways. The Issue of Persistence in L2 Learning

Now I turn to the discussion of persistence in L2 motivation. Although my initial interests in L2 motivation grew out of its relationship to persistence in learning, until recently the issue of persistence had received far less attention in L2 motivation research compared to the other two dimensions of L2 motivation, i.e. choice and effort (Dörnyei, 2020: 136; for some recent studies on distinct aspects of persistence, see e.g. Cheng & Lee, 2018; Davis, 2022; Feng & Papi, 2020; Henry & Davydenko, 2020; Teimouri et  al., 2020). I believe that persistence is a crucial factor, particularly in a type of learning like L2 learning, for we need a certain period of time – usually years – to nurture competence. As such, a discussion on the issue of persistence is warranted at this point. According to Moshontz and Hoyle (2021), persistence can be conceived of as (a) continuous persistence and (b) episodic persistence. Whereas continuous persistence is concerned with a single episode and is discussed with a focus on resisting the urge to quit (e.g. how to

Theoretical Background 

23

complete a one-off task), episodic persistence ‘operates across episodes and entails more than just resisting the urge to give up during ongoing pursuit’ (Moshontz & Hoyle, 2021: 2). In L2 learning, learners must be able to come back to their studies (‘episodes’), among many other activities in their daily lives, and continue their studies over a long period of time to reach a certain level of proficiency. For such episodic persistence, Moshontz and Hoyle (2021: 2) propose a three-component model of persistence that involves (a) ‘resisting the urge to give up’, (b) ‘recognizing opportunities for pursuit’ and (c) ‘returning to pursuit’ (emphasis in original). Their model helps us realize that persistence in L2 learning can be a long-term, complex process involving both motivational and nonmotivational factors. Dörnyei (2020: 161) lists several conditions necessary for L2 persistence, which in many ways match the aforementioned model by Moshontz and Hoyle (2021): (a) self-concordant vision; (b) habits and behavioral routines; (c) regular sub-goals, progress checks, affirmative feedback, social support and momentum; (d) positive emotionality and approximating passion; and (e) strategic self-control and gritty resilience. When we examine L2 learners in self-instruction using radio materials in light of the aforementioned conditions, some factors that are unique to selfinstruction seem detrimental while others seem conducive to persistence. For example, many self-instructed learners outside institutional controls do not receive affirmative feedback or social support. On the other hand, having a fixed schedule of materials on air may make it easy for learners to develop behavioral routines. As will be detailed in Chapter 6, however, empirical studies show that self-instructed learners using broadcast materials seem to experience non-persistence rather than persistence, pointing to the difficulty in sustaining long-term motivation in L2 self-instruction. Although there are several aspects of persistence in learning, one of the most crucial is that of time: when we discuss whether and why a certain learner ‘persists’ in L2 learning, i.e. continues to learn an L2 even if there are obstacles, the discussion necessarily entails the aspect of time and long-term motivation. The aspect of time is also evident in the aforementioned model by Moshontz and Hoyle (2021). Recent L2 motivation literature has examined persistence, involving discussions of the dimension of time in relation to several important constructs such as grit (e.g. Chen et  al., 2021; Feng & Papi, 2020; Khajavy et  al., 2021; Teimouri et  al., 2020, 2021) and directed motivational current (DMC; e.g. Henry et al., 2015; Henry & Davydenko, 2020; Jahedizadeh & Al-Hoorie, 2021). For example, grit, which originated in the field of psychology, is defined as ‘perseverance and passion for long-term goals’ (Duckworth et al., 2007: 1087, emphasis added). Specifically, grit includes two components: perseverance of effort and consistency of interest. Just as Duckworth et al. (2007: 1089) emphasize the importance of ‘long-term stamina rather than short-term intensity’ in grit, the dimension of time

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seems crucial to me in discussing persistence. The aspect of time will be further elaborated on in Chapter 11. Considering the aspect of time, longitudinal studies are particularly suitable for investigating persistence. Compared to cross-sectional studies in which, for example, researchers administer a questionnaire and ask study participants to rate the likelihood of their future persistence (or their intent to continue their L2 studies, e.g. Noels et al., 2000) or gauge their persistence in an a posteriori manner (e.g. Vallerand & Bissonnette, 1992), longitudinal studies enable researchers to examine learners’ ongoing persistence/non-persistence spanning years and the underlying factors behind their persistence/non-persistence. Summary

This chapter provided a brief introduction to the two theoretical frameworks that guided the study as well as the important yet underresearched issue of persistence in learning with a particular focus on their relationships to Japanese learners and L2 self-instruction using radio materials. I also discussed the advantages and limitations of utilizing the two theories in the empirical study: the two frameworks were invaluable in exploring the two interviewees’ emerging motivations to study English and LOTEs through high school, university, graduate school and a professional career; at the same time, it was also deemed necessary to maintain an open attitude to other possibly crucial factors when examining their motivations, perhaps particularly so when investigating their LOTE motivations. Trying to elaborate on the full scope of the two interviewees’ English and LOTE motivations with particular attention to persistence in learning then makes it possible to examine current L2 motivation theories and propose new directions. Keeping these points in mind, in Chapter 3, I examine the growing body of LOTE motivation research in much greater detail. Specifically, I review the research with a focus on (a) what kinds of theoretical perspectives may be necessary in addition to the two theoretical frameworks and (b) what needs to be further investigated regarding LOTE learners’ motivations, how they should be investigated and in what contexts more research should be conducted. Such examinations will then help frame the present study in the existing research.

3 Growing Body of LOTE Motivation Research

It has been a decade since Henry (2010: 151) observed that ‘[r]esearch into L2 motivation… has, in theoretical terms, largely concerned itself with situations where monolingual learners are engaged in learning a single L2’. Moreover, until recently, English was the target language (TL) examined in the majority of second language (L2) motivation research. As Boo et al. (2015: 151) make clear, 72.67% of their motivation studies between the years 2005 and 2014 focused on motivations to study English. However, the dominance of English motivation research has gradually started to change, with an increasing number of studies focusing on motivation to study languages other than English (LOTEs) or concurrently examining English and LOTE motivations. On a more critical note, there seem to be theoretical, methodological and geographical imbalances among LOTE motivation studies, for example the geographical imbalance in which past LOTE motivation studies appeared. As described later in more detail, the majority of these studies came from Europe (e.g. Busse, 2017; Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005; Csizér & Lukács, 2010; Henry, 2010, 2015a, 2020; Henry & Thorsen, 2018; Howard & Oakes, 2021; Lanvers, 2017; Oakes & Howard, 2022), Oceania (e.g. de Burgh-Hirabe, 2019; Fraschini & Caruso, 2019; Sakeda & Kurata, 2016) and the United States (Thompson, 2017a, 2017b, 2020; Thompson & Vásquez, 2015), with some exceptions from other contexts such as China (e.g. Gao & Lv, 2018; Liu, 2020; Thompson & Liu, 2021; Wang & Liu, 2020; Wang & Zheng, 2021; Zheng et al., 2019, 2020). This is in sharp contrast to the trend that many of the studies investigating English learning motivation have appeared in Asia. Japan, in this respect, is a typical example. In the aforementioned study (Boo et al., 2015: 151), Japan is described as one of ‘the three leading locations’ for L2 motivation studies among the contexts of the studies they surveyed, and they have been ‘almost exclusively concerned with the learning of English’. Regarding LOTE motivation studies, however, the country has remained almost silent, at least at the international level; there have been an extremely limited number of LOTE motivation studies conducted with Japanese LOTE learners (e.g. Fukui & Yashima, 2021; Humphries & Yashima, 25

26  Part 1: Contextualizing the Study

2021; McEown & Sugita-McEown, 2020; Sugita-McEown et  al., 2017). Japanese LOTE learners’ learning experiences remain under-researched, and we have little understanding of the complexities of their motivations. As discussed by some researchers (e.g. Dörnyei & Al-Hoorie, 2017), the imbalance in the contexts of LOTE motivation studies may have constrained our understanding of the complexity of LOTE learners’ motivations because contextual factors are crucial in shaping LOTE learners’ learning experiences and motivations. Thus, remedying such an imbalance may enable further development of LOTE motivation theories not only in terms of geographical contexts in which the research takes place but also in terms of theoretical and methodological imbalance. Investigating under-researched areas by employing less utilized methods and taking a broad perspective may open up discussions about the further theorizing of LOTE motivation and, thus, of L2 motivation in general. In this chapter, I first attempt to clarify what ‘LOTE learning’ means to different first language (L1) speakers. Then, going back to early studies on LOTE motivation within the socioeducational model (Gardner, 1985, 2001, 2020; Gardner & Lambert, 1959), I describe the aspects that might not apply to learners of English as a global language but that might be applicable to LOTE learners today. Next, after briefly looking at studies of English learning motivation, I discuss the recent growth in LOTE motivation studies, both elaborating on their development and critically examining their characteristics. Finally, I delineate the little available research on Japanese learners’ LOTE motivation that is written in both English and Japanese. By examining these aspects, I hope to frame my study within the existing LOTE/English motivation research. Different Meanings of ‘LOTE Learning’

It is worth noting that when one examines LOTE learning, it can mean two distinct types depending on the context. One is the learning of languages that L1 English speakers are engaged in. Because their L1 is English, LOTEs can mean the second language they study or the third, fourth, etc. The other type is the learning of languages that L2 speakers of English are engaged in, which happens in many cases in addition to the learning of the L2 of English, and often enough through English. In both cases, in the era when English functions as ‘the primary language for international communication’ (TESOL, 2008: 1), i.e. a global language used for communication with both native speakers (NSs) and non-native speakers (NNSs) of English, the existence of English is almost always in the learners’ as well as the researchers’ minds. As such, English has an impact on learners’ LOTE motivations in the majority of cases, but the impacts are different depending on the learning contexts, i.e. whether the LOTE is for L1 English speakers or for L2 English speakers.

Growing Body of LOTE Motivation Research  27

First, for L1 English speakers, having English as a global language means that they can get themselves across in their L1 to many people around the world without having to learn an L2. This creates a motivational issue or ‘crisis’ (Lanvers & Martin, 2021: 91) in Anglophone countries in that many learners experience LOTE demotivation: ‘the interest in and take-up of language learning in Anglophone countries lags far behind that in other countries’ (Lanvers, 2016a: 152). For example, in a review comparing L2 motivation in Germany and the United Kingdom (Lanvers & Chambers, 2019), the researchers describe how LOTE learning is optional for students from age 14 in England, and thus, opportunities for LOTE learning vary depending on the type of school. In such a context, evidence suggests that ‘students from more affluent socioeconomic backgrounds choose to study languages (beyond the compulsory phase) much more willingly than those from poorer backgrounds’ (Lanvers, 2017: 520), which characterizes LOTE motivation by social and educational stratification. Many students under such circumstances choose to discontinue their LOTE studies, reasons for which can be ­‘perceived lack of importance, poor pedagogy, perceived academic difficulty, high-stakes examinations, and severe grading’ (Lanvers & Martin, 2021: 91). As such, ‘the focus [of L2 motivation studies] tends to be on (de)motivation on the level of the individual learner and interventions to increase both motivation and uptake’ (Lanvers & Chambers, 2019: 434). In this sense, L1 English speakers’ motivations to study LOTEs seem quite distinct from those of English language learners, for whom the pragmatic and utilitarian aspect of learning English is clear. On the contrary, L2 English speakers’ L1 is not English. Given the status of English as a global language, in most cases nowadays, they study English as their first L2. Thus, LOTE learning occurs concurrently with or after the learning of English, which complicates their motivations for LOTE learning (and for this reason, LOTE motivation is sometimes called third language or L3 motivation). As discussed later in more detail, the existence of English is always in the back of the learners’ minds, and in many cases, English plays a referential role for their LOTEs (Henry, 2010). The dominance of English in the globalized world makes learners compare LOTEs and English, reasons to study them and their competence in LOTEs and English. Because of these differences, when we say ‘LOTE learning motivation’ we easily notice different contextual factors depending on learners’ L1s. At the same time, similarities also exist between these two types of learners in that neither can ignore the spread of English as a global language. The pragmatic, utilitarian aspect of English exists regardless of whether learners are L1 or L2 English speakers. One of the defining characteristics when discussing LOTE motivation, then, might be the fact that we cannot avoid the discussion of English as a global language and its impact on LOTE learning motivation.

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Early Studies of LOTE Motivation in the Socioeducational Model

When one goes back to early studies of L2 motivation within the socioeducational model, at least two characteristics command attention in terms of what is contrasting with other existing studies of L2 motivation. One is the TL investigated; in the earliest studies of L2 motivation, the TL investigated was not English. This is in contrast to the exponential growth of studies on English learning motivation (Boo et al., 2015), which is only starting to be balanced out by renewed interest in LOTEs. For example, Gardner and Lambert (1959) investigated English-speaking learners of French as an L2 in Montreal, Canada. Also investigated were samples of Anglophone students of French in Maine and Louisiana (Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Thus, compared to a number of studies on English learning motivation, earlier studies focused on LOTE motivation, even if the range of LOTEs was not particularly large. Second, many of the contexts they examined can be described as second language contexts. This includes, for example, their study of learners’ motivation to study English in the Philippines (Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Although many of the later studies that characterize ‘a publication surge’ (Boo et al., 2015) appeared in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts such as China and Japan, early studies focused on second language contexts where direct contact with speakers of the TLs was more readily available than in later studies. Proposed through such studies, the early socioeducational model postulates that achieving a certain level of L2 proficiency ‘requires some form of identification with, or acceptance of, the other community’ (Gardner, 2020: 12). The basic question that the model tried to answer was: ‘How is it that some people can learn a second or foreign language so easily and so well while others, given what seem to be the same opportunities to learn, find it almost impossible?’ (Gardner & Lambert, 1972: 131). The proposed answer was integrative motivation. An integratively motivated learner is ‘motivated to learn the second language, has a desire or willingness to identify with the other language community, and tends to evaluate the learning situation positively’ (Gardner, 2001: 6). The cornerstone of the model, integrativeness, ‘reflects a genuine interest in learning the second language in order to come closer to the other language community’ (Gardner, 2001: 5), involving either complete identification with the community or integration within both communities. For Canadian learners of French whose L1 is English, for example, those who were proficient in French were likely to be those who were ready to identify themselves with the French community in Canada or at least had positive attitudes toward the community. It is important to note that, unlike these early studies in which learners of LOTEs as an L2 were investigated, LOTE learners in other contexts, including Japan, do not have direct contact with people of these

Growing Body of LOTE Motivation Research  29

languages. In this sense, it is not very likely that these learners would want to identify themselves with the TL community. It seems, nonetheless, possible for these learners to still be integratively motivated if integrativeness refers to ‘an openness to, and respect for other cultural groups and ways of life’ (Gardner, 2001: 5) without complete identification with the TL community. By defining integrativeness with positive attitudes toward the TL community, not with complete integration within the community, the construct seems relevant for LOTE learners, even without direct contact with the speakers. Ironically, as English started to become a bigger global language and as researchers increasingly focused on English learning motivation, the possible relevance of integrative motivation for LOTE learners was somewhat left out of the discussion of L2 motivation. Instead, researchers discussed the difficulty of defining ‘the TL community’ in studies of English, a ‘disembodied language’ (Pinner, 2016: 35) used anywhere, and started to look for and propose alternative perspectives (e.g. Au, 1988; Crookes & Schmidt, 1991; Oxford & Shearin, 1994). The scarcity of LOTE motivation studies in the 1990s hindered further discussion of the possible relevance of integrative motivation for LOTE learners despite the fact that LOTE learners may have a more definable TL community than learners of English. Only recently have researchers re-evaluated integrative motivation, particularly from the perspective of LOTE learning (e.g. Dörnyei & Al-Hoorie, 2017; Ushioda, 2017). As will be discussed later in more detail, empirical studies on LOTE learners also demonstrate that integrative motivation, for which an external reference group of TL community is identified, is indeed an important part of LOTE learning (e.g. de Burgh-Hirabe, 2019; Humphreys & Miyazoe-Wong, 2007; Oakes & Howard, 2022). Thus, as Ushioda (2017: 475) argues, these early studies still offer us important insights into LOTE motivation: by ‘linking language learning motivation to a willingness to diversify one’s behavioural, linguistic, and cultural repertoire’, we have the possibility of understanding the complexity of LOTE learners’ motivation. I will return to this issue when discussing the characteristics of recent LOTE motivation studies. Increase in English Motivation Studies and the Dearth of LOTE Motivation Research

As discussed, as English started to become a more prominent global language, the socioeducational model was criticized for its difficulty in defining ‘the TL community’ and applying integrative motivation to learners of English as a global language. Through the discussions of the applicability of the socioeducational model (e.g. Crookes & Schmidt, 1991; Dörnyei, 1990; Oxford & Shearin, 1994), researchers started to apply alternative models to learners’ English learning motivations,

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including the proposal of the L2 motivational self system (L2MSS). In the following years, the number of studies examining motivation to study English kept growing; there were four times as many publications during 2013–2014 as during 2005–2006 (Boo et al., 2015: 148). Interestingly, this period (1990s–2000s) overlaps with the time when FL education policies were changed in some countries. In 1991 in Japan, for example, the government relaxed the guidelines for establishing universities, and as a consequence, some universities/junior colleges started making LOTE courses non-compulsory (JACET, 2002), the details of which will be elaborated on in Chapter 4. Also, it was 2004 when LOTE education was no longer compulsory from age 14 in England (Lanvers & Chambers, 2019). Taken together, the period starting around 1990 can be seen as the time when English started to be particularly visible as a global language, creating both an increase in studies examining English learning motivation with new theoretical frameworks and a de-emphasis on LOTE education in certain contexts. To elaborate on the increase in studies on English learning motivations, numerous journal articles and book titles have dealt with Japanese learners’ motivations to study English in the Japanese context (e.g. Apple et  al., 2013, 2017; Irie & Brewster, 2014; Irie & Ryan, 2015; Kikuchi, 2015; Taguchi et al., 2009; Yashima, 2002; Yashima et al., 2004, 2017). In these studies, researchers discussed how, in the typical EFL context of Japan, learners are unlikely to identify themselves with a specific Englishspeaking community without direct contact with fluent English speakers on a day-to-day basis. As elaborated in Sawaki (1997: 95), ‘English is a language for international communication and is not associated with any particular group’, which undermines the role of integrativeness. Nonetheless, Japanese learners of English are likely to have a vague, favorable attitude toward ‘the international community’ (Yashima, 2009: 145). Considering such dispositions among Japanese learners, Yashima (2002, 2009) proposed the construct of international posture, which ‘captures a tendency to see oneself as connected to the international community, have concerns for international affairs and possess a readiness to interact with people other than Japanese’ (Yashima, 2009: 146). Thus, intense discussions of learners’ motivation to study English broadened the theoretical scope, helping us better understand the motivational complexities among learners of English. In contrast, from the 1990s to the early 2000s, LOTE motivation studies were left behind in the shadow of English motivation studies. Although some influential studies investigating LOTE motivations appeared (e.g. Ushioda, 2001, which examined Irish learners of French), these were exceptional. It was only in 2005 when major LOTE motivation studies started to appear in countries such as Hungary and Sweden (e.g. Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005; Csizér & Lukács, 2010; Henry, 2009).

Growing Body of LOTE Motivation Research  31

Recent Increase in Studies on LOTE Motivations and Their Characteristics

The years between 2010 and 2020 saw an increasing number of studies examining LOTE motivation (e.g. Dörnyei & Chan, 2013; McEown & Sugita-McEown, 2020; Siridetkoon & Dewaele, 2018; Thompson & Erdil-Moody, 2016; Wang & Liu, 2020; Zheng et al., 2019, 2020). Also relevant is a special issue in The Modern Language Journal in 2017 that dealt specifically with LOTE motivations (e.g. Dörnyei & Al-Hoorie, 2017). The number of studies seems to be growing with more journal articles and books specifically focusing on LOTE motivation, although they might still be fewer than English learning motivation studies. One of the first LOTE motivation studies to appear after the dominance of English motivation studies was a large-scale questionnaire study conducted in Hungary involving the learning of German, French, Italian and Russian in addition to English (Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005; Dörnyei & Csizér, 2005; Dörnyei et al., 2006). Data collection took place at three different points in time, 1993, 1999 and 2004, covering the period during which the country experienced drastic sociopolitical changes. One of the striking results of this study is that, despite the presence of German as ‘the primary regional lingua franca’ (Dörnyei et  al., 2006: ix), the country experienced the spread of English as a global language. Thus, as early as 2005, interferences of English and LOTE learning motivations were reported: ‘being motivated to learn more than one L2 at the same time also causes interferences in that positive attitudes towards one language can go at the expense of another’ (Dörnyei et al., 2006: 117). English negatively influenced the motivation to study German and, to a lesser extent, German negatively influenced the motivation to study English. Despite the growing body of LOTE motivation studies, there are certain methodological, theoretical and geographical imbalances in the existing research. Below, I will describe the six interrelated characteristics of past LOTE studies and critically examine each: (a) most studies, particularly in the early 2010s, employed the questionnaire method without examining individual trajectories of LOTE motivations; (b) the majority have employed the L2MSS as the theoretical framework, including extending constructs such as the anti-ought-to L2 self (Thompson, 2017a, 2017b; Thompson & Liu, 2021; Thompson & Vásquez, 2015) and the ideal multilingual self (Henry, 2017); (c) many compare English learning motivation and LOTE learning motivation, reporting the negative influence of English on LOTE motivation; (d) examinations of successful LOTE learners have been limited; (e) related to the characteristics of (d), investigations of learners studying multiple LOTEs in addition to English have been rare; and (f) there is a geographical skewness of the studies reported with most studies appearing from the European and

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Anglophone contexts. While the increasing number of LOTE motivation studies has greatly expanded our understanding of LOTE learners, there is still much more to examine. Limited Number of Qualitative Studies Examining Trajectories of LOTE Motivations

First, as with English motivation studies, early studies in particular employed the cross-sectional questionnaire method, delineating the general trends of learners simultaneously studying English and one LOTE (e.g. Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005; Csizér & Lukács, 2010; Dörnyei & Chan, 2013; Henry, 2009, 2010; Henry & Cliffordson, 2013; Huang et al., 2015, 2021; Liu & Oga-Baldwin, 2022; Thompson & Erdil-Moody, 2016); although longitudinal case studies like the present study are common in other areas of L2 learning (e.g. Pasfield-Neofitou, 2012, which is a longitudinal study involving multiple cases in the computer-mediated communication environment; for examples of longitudinal case studies, see Duff, 2008), this type of study is limited in LOTE motivation research. Typically, in early cross-sectional, quantitative studies, researchers administered a questionnaire that included Likert-scale items to university or school-aged students using convenience institutional sampling. Each item measured a particular variable of interest such as an ideal LOTE self, and researchers analyzed the motivational patterns of learners of English and at least one LOTE with various statistical techniques. In a qualitative critical research synthesis examining LOTE motivation studies within the L2MSS, Mendoza and Phung (2019: 127) identified that only nine of the 30 empirical studies they synthesized were qualitative. For example, Csizér and Lukács (2010) investigated Hungarian students concurrently studying English and German by administering a questionnaire and examining how the order of studying the two languages affected their ideal English/German selves. The variables, including ideal English self, ideal German self, ought-to English self and ought-to German self, were measured with several five-point Likert items (Csizér & Lukács, 2010: 4). By administering the questionnaire to 100 students who started studying English first and 132 students who started studying German first, the researchers found through multiple regression analyses that for the group who started German first, their ideal German self had a negative impact on their motivated English learning behavior and that their ideal English self negatively influenced their motivated German learning behavior (Csizér & Lukács, 2010: 9). Furthermore, despite the negative roles of ideal German/English selves, for this group, the motivated learning behavior toward each of the languages ‘play[ed] a positive role in the learning behaviour’ of the other language (Csizér & Lukács, 2010: 11). Interestingly, such complex interactions were not evident for the group who started English first. They argued that students who start

Growing Body of LOTE Motivation Research  33

with the regionally important German ‘will [possibly] be more open to study English as well and, as a result, their motivation to learn both languages will show positive interference’ (Csizér & Lukács, 2010: 11). In another study, Henry (2010) administered two different questionnaires at two different points in time to Swedish learners of English and LOTEs and examined between-language effects. The results indicated that although the level of ideal LOTE self remained stable in the group after three years of LOTE studies, English may play a referential role, with an English L2 self ‘function[ing] as a normative referent and determiner of the communicative “context of possibility”’ (Henry, 2010: 159), a pattern that was more noticeable in boys. Quantitative studies involving a large number of study participants are powerful for dealing with issues such as discovering general patterns of L2 motivations and testing construct validity. At the same time, there are also limitations, as discussed previously (e.g. Ushioda, 2001, 2009, 2020). The limitations concern at least the following points: (a) we have little knowledge of the unique motivations of each learner as a person; (b) we do not know much about how various motivations interact with each other within an individual; (c) as a consequence of (b), we do not know how the motivations change over time; and (d) each language is dealt with in isolation without examining the multilingual aspect. Through the questionnaire method, we understand the participants’ patterns of LOTE motivation at one point in time, or, if it is administered multiple times, the general patterns of changes in LOTE motivations, but the details of how and why their LOTE motivations are shaped remain unknown. First, when we analyze questionnaire data quantitatively with various statistical analyses, we gain an understanding of the LOTE learners’ motivations as a group. Thus, it helps to understand the overall patterns of LOTE motivations among study participants. In contrast, we are left with little understanding about individual learners – e.g. why a certain learner scored low on ideal LOTE self items or what kind of LOTE learning experience this learner is going through. Second, because each type of motivation is measured with distinct items and we calculate means and standard deviations, for example, the individual learner’s uniqueness is lost through the analyses, and we have little knowledge of how various types of motivations interact within an individual. In a hypothetical scenario, we know, for example, that a certain study participant scores very low on ideal LOTE self items and very high on ideal English self items. We understand that this participant probably has a clear ideal self-image related to English and a not-so-clear ideal LOTE self-image, but we do not know how the ideal English self is affecting the ideal LOTE self or vice versa. Furthermore, when we start dealing with ‘averages and aggregates that group together people who share certain characteristics’ (Ushioda, 2009: 215), we start to lose the unique learners; a certain participant may score extremely high or low on

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one scale, which deserves in-depth examinations, but through inferential statistical analyses, this learner is lost as an outlier. Third, an obvious aspect of cross-sectional studies is that, in many cases, we are dealing with learners’ motivations at one point in time. This limits our understanding of the dynamic interplay of the factors involved in LOTE learning, although language learning is a type of learning that involves long-term engagement. Lastly, past studies have tended to deal with each TL in isolation without examining the multilingual aspect of each learner in depth (e.g. Csizér & Lukács, 2010; Henry, 2009). As mentioned, questionnaire items have tended to measure ideal language X self or ought-to language Y self, dealing with one language at a time. The landscape has been changing in recent studies, particularly with the proposal of the ideal multilingual self (e.g. Henry, 2017; Henry & Thorsen, 2018). Nonetheless, typical Likert-scale items dealing with a particular LOTE are used without gauging ‘the organic interconnectedness of language systems in the mind’ (Ushioda, 2017: 477). With the increasing body of LOTE motivation studies, the methodological landscape is changing little by little. There have been more interview or narrative-based studies (Henry, 2011, 2015a; Huhtala et al., 2019; Thompson, 2017a; Thompson & Vásquez, 2015; Wang & Zheng, 2021) and those utilizing innovative methods, such as Q-methodology (Fraschini & Caruso, 2019; Peng & Wu, 2022; Zheng et al., 2019, 2020). What seems to still be missing, however, is the longitudinal aspect of LOTE motivations, just as Mendoza and Phung (2019: 134) discussed (but for exceptions, see e.g. Nakamura, 2019; Wang & Fisher, 2021; Wang & Liu, 2020; Zheng et  al., 2020). With the growing interest in the complex dynamic systems approach (e.g. Hiver & Larsen-Freeman, 2020), more researchers are discussing the non-linear, adaptive and unpredictable aspect of L2 motivation, for which longitudinal studies seem particularly well-suited. However, longitudinal studies ‘are still in a minority in the language-learning motivation literature’ (Zheng et al., 2020: 782). Furthermore, while it is possible to try to gauge the trajectories of LOTE learning motivations by way of retrospective interviews/ narratives, learners’ past language experiences are constructed and told through the learners’ subjective lens after experiencing various events, and it may not be the same as asking them to talk about their current language experiences. Longitudinal studies spanning years, in this sense, seem to be a promising avenue to examine individual learners as persons as they go through various life experiences. Employing the L2 Motivational Self System as the Theoretical Framework

A second characteristic of recent LOTE motivation studies is that many have utilized the L2MSS as the theoretical framework (see e.g. the

Growing Body of LOTE Motivation Research  35

30 studies synthesized in Mendoza & Phung, 2019). Some studies examined learners’ ideal and ought-to LOTE selves, comparing them with ideal and ought-to English selves or examining their interactions, while others extended the theory to propose related but distinct constructs. One of the extending constructs proposed by examining LOTE learners’ motivation is the anti-ought-to self (Thompson, 2017a, 2017b). Drawing on narratives of American instructors of LOTEs at universities, Thompson and Vásquez (2015) and Thompson (2017a, 2017b) examined the psychological reactance that participants went through. Being in a context that ‘did not particularly encourage language learning’ (Thompson, 2017a: 43), some participants eagerly pursued their learning of LOTEs that were considered uncommon or in which they were not adept. Such a state of psychological reactance motivated the participants to counteract societal expectations, energized by the ‘anti-ought-to self’. Similar experiences are reported in studies in other contexts, including England, where it is proposed that ‘the rebellious profile’ (Lanvers, 2016b, 2017) rejects the felt imposed self of the British as poor linguists, and China, where the learning of LOTEs and English is pursued energetically by the anti-ought-to self (e.g. Liu & Thompson, 2018; Thompson & Liu, 2021). Another development extending the L2MSS is the proposal of the construct of ‘the ideal multilingual self’ (Henry, 2017). Earlier studies (e.g. Csizér & Lukács, 2010; Dörnyei & Chan, 2013) examined the existence of distinct self-images for different languages and demonstrated that, within a learner, a separate ‘ideal language X self’ and ‘ideal language Y self’ indeed coexisted. These studies compared different ideal language selves. Taking the theory a step further, Henry (2017: 552) argued that distinct self-guides are ‘likely to interact in working cognition’ (emphasis added), and such interactions are likely to create a higher-order selfguide, leading to ‘the ideal multilingual self’. According to Henry (2017: 553), the nature of interactions between the ideal language X self and the ideal language Y self can take two different forms. One type of interaction is antagonistic, which leads to a ‘contentedly bilingual self’ (with ‘bilingual’ meaning one’s L1 and, in many cases, English). In this scenario, there will be competition between the two languages and, over time, the contentedly bilingual self will weaken the motivating power of the ideal language X/Y self. On the other hand, the interaction can be positive and harmonious; the ideal language X self and the ideal language Y self can be mutually complementary, leading to the emergence of the ‘ideal multilingual self’ (Henry, 2017: 554). Subsequent empirical studies (e.g. Henry & Thorsen, 2018; Liu, 2020) showed discriminant validity when examining the ideal multilingual self and the ideal L2 self. By analyzing the data with structural equation modeling (SEM), the results also indicated that the variable of ideal multilingual self exerts an indirect effect on the criterion variable of intended learning

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effort via ideal L2 self. This means that ‘the desire to achieve multilingual competence is separate to the desire to achieve competence in a specific language’ (Henry & Thorsen, 2018: 358), with the ideal multilingual self constructed at a higher level of abstraction and with a higher-level function than the ideal L2 self. Although empirical studies utilizing the L2MSS facilitated our understanding of LOTE learners’ motivations, they sometimes left behind some other motivational components that can be particularly important to LOTE learners. First, as discussed earlier, some have argued that LOTE learners have a much more definable TL community in their minds than learners of English, which makes integrativeness an applicable component of LOTE motivation (e.g. Bui & Teng, 2021; Dörnyei & Al-Hoorie, 2017; Minagawa et  al., 2019; Oakes & Howard, 2022). This resonates with the fact that the first study participants in the socioeducational model were L1 English-speaking learners of French (see discussion above). An example is a study of university students studying French and English in Sweden and Poland (Oakes & Howard, 2022: 9); the researchers found that the French learners were ‘more integratively motivated than their English counterparts’, with integrativeness defined as a weaker form of showing genuine affinity with the L2 culture. Similar trends are found in other contexts with learners of other LOTEs. Second, the intrinsic aspect of LOTE learning might also be critical, as demonstrated by recent studies (e.g. de Burgh-Hirabe, 2019; McEown & Sugita-McEown, 2020; Zheng et  al., 2019). Compared to studies of English, studies of LOTEs involve less pragmatic utility in most cases; learners instead find pure enjoyment in studying the languages, exhibiting strong intrinsic motivation. Comparisons of English and LOTE Motivations and the Influence of English on LOTE Motivation

The third characteristic of past LOTE studies is that, when examining LOTE motivations, the dominance of English as a global language is almost always in the learners’ as well as the researchers’ minds. As such, there have been discussions of the possible impact of English on LOTE motivation. For the majority of learners, LOTE learning typically takes place ‘in the shadow of Global English’ (Dörnyei & Al-Hoorie, 2017: 457), whose pragmatic values, utility and necessity are clearer than those of LOTEs. Learners are put in a place to constantly compare their English and LOTE studies, and in many cases, it seems that they prioritize their English studies (e.g. Henry, 2015a; Wang & Liu, 2020). Put rather bluntly, learners question the necessity and meaning of learning yet another language when they can get by virtually with anyone around the world in English, which they are already studying. The case might even be more aversive to LOTE learning if learners are not interested in

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studying any language – they may not be motivated to study English and may be even less motivated to study LOTEs. In one of the few longitudinal studies on the influence of English on LOTE motivation, Henry (2015a) investigated the motivational trajectories of six students studying French as their LOTE in Sweden. It is a country where English can no longer be described as an FL, for ‘English is now part of a basic social literacy and a medium of expression used extensively in day-to-day life’ (2015a: 319). By conducting a series of semi-structured interviews and classroom observations within a nine-month period, the impact of English on the students’ ideal French selves became clear. One of the interviewees, Freya (pseudonym), described how French studies seemed a little pointless ‘if you speak English so well, because… well, it feels a little unnecessary to learn French… because English is of course an international language’ (2015a: 330). Students were acutely aware of the role of English as a global language, which negatively impacted their French learning motivation. In a similar, large-scale international study that compared learners’ attitudes toward learning English and other European languages in Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain (Busse, 2017: 572), some participants ‘explicitly stated that English was more important than other FLs’. Although regional diversity existed, many participants from all four countries emphasized the importance of English for their future jobs and generally held positive attitudes toward the language. The researcher argued that such perceived significance of English can ‘also give rise to negative attitudes toward other European languages because they are perceived as being of less importance and utility’ (Busse, 2017: 577). The impact of English is also visible among L1 English speakers of LOTEs. Having English as their L1 means that they may not feel the immediate need to study an L2 (LOTE) because they can communicate with people of diverse L1s in their L1 English. As such, even in the United States, for example, where compulsory LOTE learning is common in many universities, learners are sometimes ‘questioned on why they bother with language study at all’ (Thompson, 2017b: 496). In an extreme case, learners are told by their significant others that ‘this is America and we only need to speak English’ (Thompson, 2017b: 496). There seems to be ‘an overall lack of the perceived importance of language learning in this context by many of the stakeholders’ (Lanvers et al., 2021: 3). Such situations pose a different type of challenge to L1 English speakers studying LOTEs, often leading to demotivation (e.g. Lanvers, 2017). In sum, past LOTE motivation studies report the negative impact of English on LOTE motivations. Because of the learners’ limited language learning capacity, there is a ‘competition’ among languages, and ‘the clear winner appears to be World English’ (Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005: 657). Fruitful LOTE learning for both L1 and L2 English speakers, in this respect, seems particularly challenging.

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Overemphasizing the role of English as a global language, however, may constrain our thoughts from going beyond the instrumentalist view of language learning. First, there are cases in which the interactions between English and LOTE learning are positive. For example, Dörnyei and Chan (2013: 455) examined junior high school students’ ideal L2 (English) and LOTE (Mandarin) selves and demonstrated that these selfimages can ‘interfere with each other both in a positive way (e.g. transferable linguistic confidence from one language experience to the other) or in a negative, demotivating manner (e.g. competition for space in the working self-concept)’. Thus, the relationships between ideal L2 and LOTE selves might be complex depending on individuals and contexts. Second, there should also be learners who, while valuing the pragmatic and utilitarian aspect of English, equally appreciate various LOTEs for reasons that are not instrumentalist. For instance, Zheng et al. (2020) delineated the detailed processes in which some of their participants, who are Chinese English majors simultaneously studying Spanish as an L3, (a) started studying Spanish with a vague multilingual posture, denying the English-only attitudes; (b) developed their ideal English and Spanish selves and became less concerned with instrumental values; and (c) after experiencing study abroad developed a constitutive multilingual self, accompanied by a translingual and transcultural orientation, or in some cases, developed language-specific integrative motivation. Similarly, Siridetkoon and Dewaele (2018: 318) compared Thai learners’ ideal and ought-to English and LOTE selves and observed that, while trying to learn LOTEs, learners put their ideal English selves ‘on hold’. Some L1 English speakers, for whom the pragmatic and utilitarian aspect of L2 learning is less clear, have also been reported to be motivated in other aspects, such as intrinsic motivation and integrative motivation (e.g. de Burgh-Hirabe, 2019; Oakes & Howard, 2022; Sakeda & Kurata, 2016). While acknowledging the widespread impact of English, concurrently focusing on other crucial aspects of LOTE motivations may do full justice to LOTE learners. Few Reports on Successful Learners

Related to the aforementioned characteristic, the fact that many LOTE learners experience the negative impact of English on their LOTE motivation has led to few reports of successful LOTE learners (but for an exception, see Dörnyei & Mentzelopoulos, 2023). When I say ‘successful’ here, I refer to two distinct meanings. First is the high competence in the LOTEs that learners study. Past studies have sometimes been criticized for examining the relationships between L2 motivation and L2 learning effort without further investigating their relationships to L2 proficiency/achievement (but for exceptions see e.g. Masgoret & Gardner,

Growing Body of LOTE Motivation Research  39

2003; Takahashi & Im, 2020; Yashima et al., 2017). This is exemplified in Mendoza and Phung (2019: 133), in which the researchers identified only one of the 21 quantitative LOTE motivation studies they synthesized ‘as connecting any achievement outcomes in association with motivation’. Existing studies do report on, for example, advanced LOTE learners, including both L1 and L2 speakers of English (e.g. Huhtala et al., 2019; Thompson, 2017a), LOTE instructors (e.g. Thompson & Vásquez, 2015) and English and LOTE learners at an atypical multilingual school (e.g. Henry, 2020). However, in the majority of LOTE motivation studies, achieving high competence in LOTEs seems challenging, the learning of which occurs in the shadow of English. In other studies, we do not know the proficiency level of the LOTE learners investigated unless it is specifically mentioned. As such, research on successful learners with high competence in LOTEs has been limited thus far. One theoretical underpinning that may be useful in examining highly motivated and successful LOTE learners is directed motivational currents (DMCs) (e.g. Dörnyei et al., 2015; Henry et al., 2015; Jahedizadeh & Al-Hoorie, 2021; Muir, 2020). Some L2 learners, including those of LOTEs, undergo certain periods when they experience DMCs or intense motivation that (a) is goal oriented; (b) starts with a clear trigger; (c) is well-structured with a behavioral routine and progress checks; (d) is supported by positive emotions; and (e) ends after a certain period, often with the achievement of a goal. Although much of the DMC research to date has focused on learners of English (see e.g. Jahedizadeh & AlHoorie, 2021, for a review of past DMC research and the TLs investigated), some studies reported on LOTE learners who have experienced DMCs (e.g. Henry et al., 2015, which examined learners of Swedish). By comparing learners of English and LOTEs who experience DMCs, studies may reveal characteristics unique to LOTE learning and details of the motivations of highly successful LOTE learners. This, then, may answer the question of why highly competent LOTE learners are not negatively influenced by English, which is the case with many LOTE learners as reported thus far. The second meaning of ‘successful’ refers to learners managing the learning of multiple LOTEs. Most study participants thus far are learners of (English and) one LOTE, which also applies to cases when researchers describe situations as ‘learning of multiple languages’ (e.g. Zheng et al., 2019, emphasis added). This might not be a surprise given the difficulty of learning multiple languages both physically and psychologically. There are, however, a few cases in which learners manage to learn English and more than one LOTE (e.g. Henry, 2011; Nakamura, 2015) or multiple LOTEs in L1 English speakers’ case (e.g. Mayumi & Zheng, 2021). These learners are successful and truly multilingual, but their reports have been limited, which leads to the next characteristic of recent studies.

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Paucity of Studies Examining Learners’ Motivations to Study Multiple LOTEs

The fifth characteristic, which is related to the fourth, is that there have been few discussions of LOTE motivations among learners of (English and) more than one LOTE, although such cases exist (e.g. Henry, 2011; Nakamura, 2019; Thompson, 2020). Learning multiple LOTEs might be particularly challenging for L2 English speakers because it means studying at minimum three languages (English and at least two LOTEs). Nonetheless, examinations of multiple LOTE learners may offer us further insights into the complexity of LOTE learners’ motivations, including the issue of how various language systems coexist in a single learner and how they manage the interactions between distinct LOTE motivations. In one of the few studies examining a learner of multiple LOTEs, Henry (2011) reports five contrasting cases of Swedish secondary students studying English and a LOTE/LOTEs. One student is a multilingual learner named Anton (pseudonym), who studied English as his L2 and also took up French and Russian. Through two in-depth interview sessions, this interviewee’s multiple LOTE learning as a way of projecting his identity and asserting his individuality became apparent. Thus, although he seemed to experience the certain influence of English, in which he was more competent than his other languages, the interviewee ‘refus[ed] to dwell on the inferiority of his competence in Russian’ (Henry, 2011: 247) and persevered in the learning of LOTEs. As Ushioda (2017: 477) noted, current theoretical frameworks have tended to ‘focus on motivation in relation to learning a single target language or, in some cases, on comparative motivations or motivational interactions in relation to learning two or more languages’. If we take things one step further, we should examine language learners’ motivations ‘in relation to the total composite system of languages and associated cultural and intercultural fluency developed by the individual’ (Ushioda, 2017: 477). This will then enable ‘a view of language learning as a process of becoming a multilingual speaker (with varying levels of competence across different languages)’ (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2021: 92). Multilingual learners of multiple LOTEs may be excellent cases in this respect and may offer crucial insights; there need to be more investigations of multilingual learners’ motivations to study multiple languages that coexist in a single learner. Geographical Imbalance in Past Studies on LOTE Motivation

The last characteristic I would like to discuss is the geographical imbalance in past studies examining LOTE motivations. As touched upon earlier, many studies to date appeared from either the European or Anglophone contexts, with only some exceptions. Research in other

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contexts has been limited, including contexts where LOTE learning mainly takes place in the classroom, such as Japan, and those characterized as ‘inherently multilingual contexts’ (Thompson, 2019: 646) with distinct indigenous, regionally dominant and national languages, such as Africa and Southeast Asia (but as an exception, see e.g. Coetzee-Van Rooy, 2019). Even in contexts where English motivation studies have been abundant, there has been a very limited number of LOTE motivation studies, including Japan. Below, I will attempt to examine existing LOTE motivation studies in the European and Anglophone contexts and discuss the contextual differences between these contexts and Japan. Perhaps Europe is the context where LOTE learning in addition to English learning might be perceived as the norm, often involving the possibility of direct contact with speakers of LOTEs. For this reason, it may come as no surprise that it is one of the contexts where most LOTE motivation studies have appeared. The context is well known for its plurilingual policy of encouraging its citizens to acquire two languages plus their L1s. In many European countries, English is no longer considered an FL; rather, it is regarded as a basic educational skill used in day-to-day interactions, including Sweden, where English is described as ‘a nearubiquitous presence’ (Henry & Cliffordson, 2017: 719). In such contexts, one might assume that it is easier to take up LOTE learning and persist in it thanks to one’s already high English competence and the fact that many beginning and intermediate LOTE textbooks are bilingually designed for (L1) speakers of English. Past studies delineate a more nuanced picture, however. Some report that learners perceive English as a global and dominant language and consider that ‘English is enough’, which ‘could make Europeans lose interest in learning other languages’ (Busse, 2017: 566). Busse (2017: 572) cites a quote by a Dutch learner of English and German, stating, ‘English is the only language I like…. My only other FL is German, and I think that it is less important than English’. Even in Sweden, where learners are ‘among the highest achievers in Europe’ in terms of English studies (Henry, 2020: 4), it is reported that LOTE achievement is poor. It might be the case that learners in Europe can communicate in English, which they are already proficient in, and they may find it difficult to motivate themselves to study LOTEs. Thus, discrepancies seem to exist between the philosophy of plurilingualism emphasized in the context and the realities of LOTE motivations among European learners. The landscape is different in Anglophone countries. With the increasing role of English as a global language, L1 English speakers can communicate with virtually anyone in the world in their L1. The status of English as a global language thus creates motivational issues for Anglophone learners of LOTEs who perceive language as a tool for oral communication. Cases of non-persistent learners of LOTEs are reported, for example, in England (e.g. Lanvers & Chambers, 2019). For L1 English

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speakers to be motivated to study LOTEs, it seems that additional factors are necessary. What drives L1 English speakers to pursue LOTE learning, then? Past studies conducted with Anglophone learners of LOTEs point to several possible motivational resources. First is the anti-ought-to self proposed by Thompson (2017a, 2017b). As described earlier, learners who are driven by anti-ought-to L2 self diligently study LOTEs to do the opposite of what the external pressures expect them to, i.e. they ‘[choose] to study a language to go against the norms of society’ (Thompson, 2017a: 39). Thus, Thompson (2017a) elaborated on how successful American learners (and indeed instructors) of LOTEs intended to counteract the widely held view that English is enough, eagerly pursuing LOTE studies. Similar trends are reported in other studies focusing on L1 English-speaking learners as well (e.g. Lanvers, 2017). The second possibility emerging from L1 English speakers’ motivation to study LOTEs is their motivations driven by their ideal LOTE selves and not by their ought-to LOTE selves. Studies with Anglophone learners of LOTEs repeatedly reported that their ought-to LOTE selves may not play a significant motivational role in contexts such as Australia (e.g. Sakeda & Kurata, 2016), New Zealand (e.g. de Burgh-Hirabe, 2019) and the US (Thompson, 2017a, 2017b); in the UK, however, the picture is a little different in that some are ought-to L2 self-driven (Lanvers, 2017). Sakeda and Kurata (2016: 58) investigated Australian learners of Japanese and found that many of the interviewees ‘never felt obliged to study Japanese’. The researchers interpreted the results in comparison to L2 English speakers studying English as a basic educational skill; their L1 English participants studying Japanese at the tertiary level ‘usually learn Japanese for the sake of satisfying their own interests’ and might feel much less pressure than learners of English, such that their motivations are ‘dominated by ideal elements’ (Sakeda & Kurata, 2016: 63). Such situations sharply contrast with learners in Asia, where both the ought-to LOTE selves and the ought-to English selves seem to play an important role (e.g. Huang et al., 2015; Taguchi et al., 2009; Yashima et al., 2017; for discussions of the underlying reasons, see also Mendoza & Phung, 2019). Without the pressure and necessity to study the global language of English or ‘identification with social role obligations’ (Huang et  al., 2015), many Anglophone learners of LOTEs are unlikely to be driven by their ought-to LOTE selves. The third possibility is that learners might have a more general ‘multilingual outlook’, denying the ‘English-only’ attitudes and believing in the importance of linguistic diversity. Lanvers (2018: 141) demonstrated that some of her study participants showed ‘interest in participating in a global multilingual world’, which is in contrast to the general decline in the uptake of LOTE learning in England (e.g. Lanvers & Chambers,

Growing Body of LOTE Motivation Research  43

2019). Lanvers (2018: 141) reported that, although some had the ‘English is enough’ attitude, others, ‘despite growing up in the most monolingual and monocultural areas of England’, demonstrated open and curious attitudes toward international communities and showed international posture (Yashima, 2002, 2009). Interestingly, they showed more interest not in studying European languages but in studying languages such as Chinese and Japanese, possibly seeing their international self ‘as more cosmopolitan than European’ (Lanvers, 2018: 141). In sum, existing LOTE studies concerning L1 English speakers point to the strong impact of English yet discuss the importance of other motivational factors as well as the multilingual attitudes that counteract the dominance of English. Because of the geographical skewness, discussions of linguistic situations and LOTE motivations in other contexts seem to be somewhat left out. The realities surrounding LOTEs in Japan are distinct from Europe, for example, where learning English plus one LOTE is the norm. They are also different from situations in many other Asian countries (Teng & Lixun, 2020), including China, where the government has started to promote LOTE education and is developing LOTE education programs in higher education institutions (Gao & Zheng, 2019; Huang et al., 2020). As will be detailed later, in Japan, studies of LOTEs are optional in many cases, and many learners consider it unnecessary or non-essential. Even regarding English, direct contact with the language is still limited on a daily basis, and it is still an FL. In other words, whether regarding English or LOTEs, Japanese people ‘are able to function effectively in daily life without having to speak English or the LOTE outside of the classroom in almost every context’ (Sugita-McEown et  al., 2017: 537). In such a context, LOTE learners may naturally face challenges in persisting in their studies. Their LOTE experiences and motivations, however, remain under-researched. To be fair, there are parts of Japan where multilingualism is more visible, such as in certain prefectures where many people from overseas work in certain industries. The government has also decided to accept overseas workers to complement the shortage of workers in the elderly caregiving industry. However, at least among ordinary Japanese learners, this type of multilingualism is not felt for real: as Fukui and Yashima (2021: 289) observe, ‘though different regional dialects and minority languages are present, representation of a multilingual speaker of different languages are rare compared to some European contexts’. Thus, whenever I read articles and books dealing with English and multilingualism, I cannot help but feel somewhat uneasy over the discrepancy between what has been discussed in those that have appeared outside of Japan and the realities of ordinary Japanese LOTE learners. This discrepancy partly stems from the paucity of LOTE motivation studies from Japan.

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Paucity of LOTE Motivation Studies from Japan

It is no exaggeration to say that Japan has remained almost silent when it comes to studies of LOTE motivation. This is particularly true in the internationally available publications with only some exceptions (Fukui & Yashima, 2021; Humphries & Yashima, 2021; McEown & Sugita-McEown, 2020; Sugita-McEown et al., 2017). One can also only read a scant number of articles in Japanese (e.g. Fujiwara, 2010; Matsui, 2007), examining learners’ motivations to study one particular LOTE by administering a questionnaire conducted in that LOTE classroom. These situations closely correspond to the social and educational climate of Japan, as described later, in that English education has been more emphasized than LOTE education by far. First, McEown and Sugita-McEown (2020) and Sugita-McEown et al. (2017) report complex relationships among self- and identity-related orientations regarding both English and LOTEs among Japanese learners. Sugita-McEown et al. (2017) administered a questionnaire involving various self- and identity-related variables to 250 Japanese university students concurrently studying English and a LOTE and analyzed the data by performing SEM. The results indicated rather complex relationships among the variables. First, it is perhaps not surprising that integrative orientation for a LOTE was a positive, moderate predictor of intrinsic motivation for the LOTE and the ideal LOTE self (SugitaMcEown et al., 2017: 541). However, when these variables involved both English and LOTEs, the model showed that integrative orientation for English was a negative predictor of the ideal LOTE self and an intrinsic motivation for the LOTE (standardized coefficients = –0.66 and –0.57, respectively). Thus, if a learner has positive feelings toward Englishspeaking communities and cultures, they are likely to have weak intrinsic motivation for LOTE studies and are less likely to have a clear image of themselves as a LOTE user (Sugita-McEown et  al., 2017: 543). The researchers argued that the data need to be interpreted in light of whether an L2 is learned in a required course or voluntarily, postulating that ‘if they [the learners] develop an interest in becoming psychologically closer to speakers of the required language [English], this might have a negative impact on their ideal L2 self and intrinsic motivation to learn their chosen language [LOTE]’ (Sugita-McEown et al., 2017: 544). McEown and Sugita-McEown (2020) investigated Japanese LOTE learners’ psychological factors of integrative orientation, intrinsic motivation, introjected regulation, teacher and parental support, intended effort for learning the LOTE and LOTE anxiety. By administering a questionnaire to 222 LOTE learners, the study demonstrated that the participants endorsed intrinsic motivation more than integrative orientation or introjected regulation, pointing to the importance of the pure enjoyment in LOTE learning. Intrinsic motivation was predicted by

Growing Body of LOTE Motivation Research  45

teacher support regardless of the LOTE studied, and intrinsic motivation predicted intended learning effort. From these two studies, one can assume that integrative orientation and intrinsic motivation may play an important role for Japanese LOTE learners. Complex relationships between English and LOTE motivations are also evident. However, these are quantitative studies employing the survey questionnaire method, which makes it impossible to uncover the underlying social, educational and political factors that shape Japanese learners’ LOTE learning experiences. In recent articles, Fukui and Yashima (2021) and Humphries and Yashima (2021) qualitatively explored Japanese university students’ changing motivations to study English and Chinese, focusing on English majors who experienced a study abroad in Taiwan for one academic year. What was common among the participants was the difficulty managing concurrent studies of two languages, at times making them feel ‘suffocated’ (Fukui & Yashima, 2021: 288); it was difficult for some of their participants to maintain motivation to concurrently learn the two languages. In Humphries and Yashima (2021), for example, one participant, Naoki, lost his strong ought-to English self after finishing high-stakes examinations; instead, he developed intrinsic motivation for his Chinese studies. The other participant, Oji, was content translanguaging with existing cognitive resources without further consolidating his multilingual motivation. On the other hand, the results also indicated that other participants developed an ideal multilingual self, thanks to the multilingual nature of study abroad (Fukui & Yashima, 2021: 289). Although these studies shed light on both the challenges and possibilities of LOTE learning among Japanese students, they examined Japanese students studying a LOTE outside Japan, necessarily involving contextual factors that are distinct from Japanese students studying LOTEs in Japan. The paucity of LOTE motivation studies in Japan sharply contrasts with the many past studies on English learning motivation in Japan, which was discussed earlier. The rich volume of English motivation studies in Japan can be ascribed to several reasons, including the government’s emphasis on English education combined with a discourse about the citizens’ perceived not-so-successful studies and the educational system having intense entrance examinations that cause demotivation among many. Despite the rich volume of studies on Japanese learners’ English motivations, English teachers still struggle with how to motivate their students. As such, it may be natural that researchers are primarily dealing with English learning motivation and thus have not focused so much on LOTE motivation. Only a few instructor-researchers have examined the LOTE motivations of their students and have published their studies, in most cases in Japanese.

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LOTE Motivation Studies in Japan Written in Japanese

So, what have these Japanese researchers examined and discovered so far? Existing LOTE motivation studies written in Japanese are extremely limited, just as those written in English, but researchers have examined university students’ motivational patterns, mainly by administering a questionnaire to their students who are studying one particular LOTE as part of their required curriculum (e.g. Fujiwara, 2010; Matsui, 2007; Oiwa, 2012; Okada, 2007; Suzuki, 2019). Unlike LOTE motivation studies in other contexts, few studies investigate learners’ LOTE motivations within the framework of the L2MSS (e.g. Iwai & Nishida, 2014). One of the types of motivations that was endorsed most by the study participants across studies is integrativeness. For example, Fujiwara (2010) administered a questionnaire to 407 first-year university students of German that included 42 five-point Likert scale items measuring various reasons to study German. Through an exploratory factor analysis, the researcher found that the most endorsed factor was ‘longing and interests in different cultures and languages’ (Fujiwara, 2010: 95, translation by the author). Similar results are gained by Okada (2007: 73): university students taking Spanish as their LOTE acknowledge ‘the freshness of contacting different cultures through foreign language learning and the joy of knowing a foreign language as a communication tool with people’ (translation by the author). This corresponds to the weak form of integrativeness in that positive attitudes toward the TL community seem to motivate LOTE learners, which agrees with past studies conducted with L1 English learners of LOTEs (e.g. Oakes & Howard, 2022). In one of the few studies that employed the L2MSS as the theoretical framework, Iwai and Nishida (2014) examined university students’ motivations to study German by administering a questionnaire at four points in time (April, July, November and February). It was an intervention study in which the researchers had students engage in active learning using an iPad, and they examined how the participants’ motivational and affective factors changed in a year. Although the participants’ amotivation level went up and the results need to be interpreted with caution, it was indicated that their ideal German selves and ought-to German selves became stronger. The researchers claimed that this change was due to ‘the novelty’ and ‘the futurity’ of the style of active learning using an iPad (Iwai & Nishida, 2014: 41, translation by the author). Although this type of longitudinal study might be insightful for future LOTE education in Japan, it has been rare, if not exceptional. In sum, past studies on Japanese LOTE learners’ motivations written in Japanese remain limited both in quantity and quality. Examining their motivations may offer further insights into LOTE motivation theories in an under-researched, exam-oriented context where English education is emphasized much more than LOTE education. As Gao and

Growing Body of LOTE Motivation Research  47

Lv (2018: 223) argue, ‘research into the learning of languages other than English in specific contexts may help refine our understanding of language learners’ motivations’. Summary

This chapter focused on past studies examining LOTE motivations, which have captured the attention of researchers in recent years. I first described the different meanings of ‘LOTE learning’ depending on whether learners are L1 or L2 English speakers. I then went on to examine the early studies within the socioeducational model that were conducted with LOTE learners. I also examined the paucity of LOTE motivation studies during the period when English motivation studies flourished, and then discussed the recent increase in LOTE motivation studies, elaborating on the development and critically examining the characteristics of these studies. The chapter also discussed the dearth of research on LOTE motivation among Japanese learners. Although past studies on LOTE motivation have indeed helped us understand the complexity of learners’ LOTE motivations, much more remains to be investigated. This includes the necessity of expanding the theoretical scope, examining learners in contexts that have been underresearched and looking into LOTE learners’ motivational trajectories as they go through various experiences in a particular educational, social and political context. For such purposes, longitudinal case studies may be a promising avenue, although they have not been prevalent in LOTE motivation research. Such investigations may enable us to further develop LOTE motivation theories and, consequently, L2 motivation theories.

4 English and LOTE Education in Japan

Whenever I read articles on either English learning motivation or languages other than English (LOTEs) learning motivation, one thing I always find informative, in addition to the results and discussion, is the study’s background, in which the writer(s) explain contextual factors that surround study participants. I am always amazed at the diversity of participants’ social, educational and political environments. The situations I explained in Chapter 3 are good examples; I find them in sharp contrast to the Japanese context. First, for young Swedish learners, ‘English is now part of a basic social literacy and a medium of expression used extensively in day-to-day life’ (Henry, 2015a: 319). Most Japanese learners, young and old, do not have day-to-day opportunities to use English as ‘a medium of expression’, just as Ryan (2009a: 410) describes ‘how peripheral the role of English is’. Second, in China, the government has recently started to promote LOTE education at the tertiary level (Gao & Zheng, 2019; Huang et al., 2020). LOTE education in Japan has been emphasized far less than English education by the government, as will be detailed later. Third, in England, foreign language (FL) education is no longer compulsory from the age of 14 (Lanvers & Chambers, 2019). In Japan, the starting age of English education is now as early as fifth grade, and in most cases, it is a compulsory subject even up until university. These examples point to contextual diversity, which is likely to impact learners in various ways. In an evaluative commentary on second language (L2) motivation research in Japan both as an insider and as an outsider, Ushioda (2013: 6) highlights three main areas of active research inquiry: (a) analysis of demotivation; (b) investigation of students’ motivational trajectories; and (c) exploration of what English and learning English mean for students. When one examines situations surrounding English education in Japan, it is immediately noticeable that the three themes are closely related to the situations regarding English education in the country. For example, the issue of demotivation is related to the existence of juken eigo, or ‘English for exams’, in the exam-oriented context, as detailed below. Examinations of motivational trajectories among Japanese learners of English 48

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are also related to the younger starting age for formal English education, which now starts at fifth grade. Furthermore, researchers have examined what English and learning English mean for Japanese students partly because of the discrepancy between the government’s strong emphasis on English education and the actual unnecessity of the language among many in a typical English as a foreign language (EFL) context. As such, it is imperative to examine the various educational, political and economic factors that surrounded the interviewees of this study before moving on to the empirical study. Such examinations are crucial in looking deeply into the interviewees not only as language learners but also as ‘persons’ (Ushioda, 2009). I hope that such examinations also help readers understand the environment in which the interviewees went through various experiences related to language, academic studies and a professional career. With this in mind, this chapter explores situations regarding English and LOTE education in Japan. The chapter is divided into two parts. The first part considers English education and English learning by Japanese people. In this part, I first examine the various English education reforms through which the government aimed to nurture English communication competence among its citizens. Call for reforms has been particularly acute from the economic sector in the era of globalization, which seemingly necessitate human resources with strong English communication competence. I then elaborate on the dual orientations (Yashima et al., 2004) among Japanese learners of English. On the one hand, these learners study English to get through a series of university entrance examinations (the aspect of juken eigo), and on the other hand, they study English for communication purposes (the aspect of eikaiwa, or ‘English conversation’). Despite the many years of various attempts to change the university entrance examination systems, many learners consider the two to be distinct types of English. This is followed by a discussion of the (perceived) English competence of the Japanese and the actual (un)necessity of the language among many in everyday life, which characterizes the country as an EFL context. In the second part, I move on to the history and current situations surrounding LOTE education in Japan, which sharply contrast not only with those of English education in Japan but also with LOTE education in many other contexts. I will describe the continuing de-emphasis on LOTE education at the tertiary level as well as the current situations regarding LOTE education, delineating how LOTE education has been conducted in the shadow of English education. Call for English Education Reforms

English education in Japan has been characterized by a ‘permanent sense of crisis’ (Ryan, 2009a: 407). It is a commonly held feeling among

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learners that the Japanese do not have communication competence in English even after studying it for years. As Ryan (2009a: 416) observes, ‘despite the years of study they are still unable to function in English in any practical sense’. One of the reasons for such incompetence is ascribed to the educational system of the country, which many Japanese perceive as ‘a failing system’ (Ryan, 2009a: 407). Urged by such a sense of crisis, the Japanese English education system has gone through various reforms to date. Despite such reforms, however, the sense of crisis seems to continue today. To trace this sense of crisis, we can go back to at least the 1970s. In 1974, the then member of the House of Councilors from the Liberal Democratic Party Wataru Hiraizumi proposed drastic plans to improve English communication competence among the Japanese (Hiraizumi & Watanabe, 1995). The plans were considered drastic because he proposed that English should be an elective in high school and that it should not be tested in university entrance examinations. Instead, he proposed that only those who seriously wanted to pursue their English studies should be given an opportunity, and that the opportunity should be intensive, involving ‘training of two hours or more every day and a completely intensive training for at least one month every year’ (Hiraizumi & Watanabe, 1995: 13, translation by the author). It was hoped that by such intensive training, at least 5% of Japanese citizens would acquire practical ability (or ‘working knowledge’ in Hiraizumi’s terms, [Hiraizumi & Watanabe, 1995: 84]) in FLs, mainly English (Hiraizumi & Watanabe, 1995: 13–14). The plans by Hiraizumi were criticized by Shoichi Watanabe, a professor at the faculty of humanities of a well-known private university in Tokyo, who supported the view of formal English education as ‘basic training in latent capacity, or brain’ (Hiraizumi & Watanabe, 1995: 87, translation by the author). He considered that the role of formal English education is basic intellectual training, and he also opposed abolishing English tests from university entrance examinations due to the strong correlations found between English test scores and those in other subjects in entrance examinations (Hiraizumi & Watanabe, 1995: 46). Their discussions created a heated debate in a journal regarding whether the country’s English education is concerned with ‘English for practical use’ or ‘English for basic intellectual training’. Their debate in print ended without either part conceding on their opinions, but the purpose of English education started to be geared toward English for practical use. As English started to function as a global language, the call for Japanese who can actually function in a practical sense has been particularly strong from the economic sector in order to compete in the global market (Terasawa, 2015: 57); the reforms ‘have been heavily influenced by the interests of two major Japanese business associations’ (Kubota & Takeda, 2021: 462). One of the movements

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that reflected such calls was an attempt to make English an official language in Japan around the turn of the century (e.g. Funabashi, 2000; Prime Minister’s Commission on Japan’s Goals in the 21st Century, 2000). For example, Funabashi (2000: 173) argued that in the era of globalization, many Japanese citizens needed to acquire competence ‘to be able to use English as a communication tool’ (translation by the author). Furthermore, he proposed that by establishing English as ‘the second official language’ in Japan, it can be ‘a second language’, not ‘a foreign language’, which ‘would improve the English competence of the majority of citizens’ (Funabashi, 2000: 203–205, translation by the author). Although the attempt did not succeed at the time, one can see that some people considered it urgent and necessary to improve English communication competence among the Japanese. Such urgency and necessity are reflected in the fact that the attempt was to make the FL of English an official language despite the fact that many of the ordinary citizens did not have day-to-day use of the language. On the learners’ side, one can see that many Japanese people hold somewhat ambivalent feelings about learning English. On the one hand, they may not face an urgent necessity for the language, as discussed later, but on the other hand, they cannot help but lament that their competence is not so strong despite their many years of study. As ‘an employee of one of the business associations that provide considerable input on Japan’s education policy’ (Kubota & Takeda, 2021: 470), an informant in Kubota and Takeda (2021: 471) says, ‘even after studying English for 12 years, people can’t speak English at all’. Many feel that they had to diligently study discrete grammatical points and vocabulary in order to pass paper-and-pencil entrance examinations, but that their communication competence is not strong. It is a commonly heard grudge that ‘we cannot speak English because we have had to study grammar all the time’, although communication and grammar are not dichotomous. Stakeholders from different areas perceived that reform in English education was imperative. Given such situations, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has implemented various English education reforms. They can be summarized as an attempt to develop global jinzai (global human capital/resource), i.e. those who possess ‘an advanced level of the four skills, with a priority placed on speaking, and these skills should be measured through standardized testing’ (Kubota & Takeda, 2021: 472). As will be seen later, the reforms regard various aspects of English education, including Japanese and English-speaking assistant teachers, target proficiency levels at each educational level, a starting age of formal English classes, English-medium programs at the tertiary level and university entrance examination systems. The reforms intensified particularly after it was decided that the Tokyo Olympics were to be held in 2020 (although they were postponed and held in a manner

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completely different from the original). Below, I will describe the various English education reforms implemented by MEXT. These are ambitious, detailed action plans, and one can see that the country is still struggling to nurture the English communication competence of its citizens, which creates a unique climate for Japanese learners. Various English Education Reforms

The Japanese educational system is highly centralized, with detailed guidelines for all school subjects specified in gakushu shido yoryo, or the Course of Study, which are to be observed by all schools throughout the country. In the Course of Study, the objectives of English classes as well as more detailed grammatical points and vocabulary that are to be covered are specified for each educational level. Only textbooks that adhere to these guidelines and are approved by MEXT can be used in school. MEXT adopted the word ‘communication’ in the Course of Study for the first time in 1989 (Torikai, 2014: 104). Although the definition of communication is still a matter of debate, it can be said that the directions since then have been geared toward English for practical use. ‘English for communication’ has been one crucial aspect that MEXT has specified as necessary in English education since then. One of the action plans that shaped English education in Japan is the so-called 2003 Action Plan or ‘The National Action Plan to Cultivate “Japanese with English Abilities”’ – a comprehensive English education policy that covered various aspects of English education in Japan. This five-year action plan was implemented during the 2003–2007 academic years following the ‘Strategic Plan to Cultivate “Japanese with English Abilities” – Plan to Improve English and Japanese Abilities’ announced in 2002 (MEXT, 2002). The plan included various measures, such as (a) introducing a compulsory foreign language (mostly English) activities class at elementary school and a listening test in the National Center Test for University Admissions; (b) implementing compulsory training for all English teachers at public junior high and high schools; and (c) increasing the number of non-Japanese assistant language teachers (MEXT, 2003; also summarized in Torikai, 2014). Following the plan, in the Course of Study for elementary school that was introduced in 2008, it was specified that ‘foreign language (basically English) activities’ were to be introduced in elementary school, involving a compulsory weekly English activities class for fifth and sixth graders. Furthermore, in the Course of Study for high school that was announced in 2009, it was specified that all classes were to be conducted in English in principle. Only as the Course of Study had started to be observed, the ‘English Education Reform Plan Corresponding to Globalization’ was announced in 2013. Specifically ‘[t]imed with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics’ and ‘in order

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for the full-scale development of new English education in Japan’, the plan aimed ‘to enhance English education substantially throughout elementary to lower/secondary school’ (MEXT, 2013). It comprised of various measures, including the following: (a) starting in junior high school, all classes are to be conducted in English in principle; and (b) English language (subject) classes are to be held three times a week starting from the fifth grade. This came as a surprise to many Japanese people because it meant that English was going to be a school subject, not just a ‘foreign language activity’. The plan also specified ‘coherent learning achievement targets’ (MEXT, 2013), including the target proficiency level upon graduating from high school, i.e. the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) iBT scores over 57. By utilizing standardized tests, it seems that MEXT aimed to examine students’ ‘four objectified and quantifiable skills in English’ (Kubota & Takeda, 2021: 479). There are at least two issues that created heated discussions after the plan was introduced. The first is whether to utilize standardized proficiency tests such as the TOEFL and the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) for university entrance examinations, to be incorporated into the nationally held Common Test for University Admissions (see below). The possibility of utilizing these standardized tests was first specified in the ‘English Education Reform Plan Corresponding to Globalization’ described above and went through twists and turns. Initially, by employing such a system, it was hoped that not only grammatical and vocabulary knowledge but also wider skills including speaking and writing could be tested in entrance examinations (MEXT, 2019). The plan was about to be implemented in 2020, but failed to do so at the last minute for various possible reasons: (a) each test is administered with different purposes, which creates difficulty equating them; and (b) it will create an inequality for students who are economically disadvantaged (because it is expensive to take this type of test even once) and for those in rural areas where the tests are administered less frequently compared to those administered in big cities. In the exam-oriented context of Japan, what is tested in university entrance examinations plays a vital role in shaping (high school) students’ English studies because of the possible consequences of the results of the examinations (Ryan, 2009b). After various discussions, the idea was finally discarded in 2021. However, discontent with reforms of university entrance examinations seems to exist even today among many of their stakeholders. Another issue that created heated discussions is the starting age of formal English education in Japan. I grew up in an era when compulsory English education started in junior high school (seventh grade), and there were no ‘foreign language activities’ in elementary school. Since then, situations have changed drastically. My older son went through various ‘foreign language activities’ but did not have English as a subject until he

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Table 4.1  Summary of English education reforms and related events Year

Events/reforms

Notable characteristics

1974

Hiraizumi Plan announced

Debate on ‘English for practical use’ or ‘English for intellectual training’

1989

New Course of Study announced

The word ‘communication’ appeared for the first time

2002

The Strategic Plan to Cultivate ‘Japanese with English Abilities’ – Plan to Improve English and Japanese Abilities announced

Introduction of ‘foreign language activities’ Mandatory training for Japanese instructors Increase in the number of assistants

2013

English Education Reform Plan Corresponding to Globalization announced

All English classes in junior and senior high schools to be conducted in English English language classes to be introduced in elementary school Possibility of utilizing standardized examinations for university entrance examinations

started junior high school. My daughter, who is four years younger, will start studying English as a school subject in the fifth grade. I do not even know what my younger son’s English learning experience will be like at school when he reaches fifth grade. The starting age of compulsory English education has been lowered despite some strong opponents (e.g. Otsu et al., 2013), just as in many other countries (c.f. Spada, 2015), in the hope of nurturing the citizens’ English competence by starting early. As summarized in Table 4.1, English education in Japan has undergone many reforms to date. Starting in the late 1980s, the government has voiced an increasing interest in nurturing ‘communication competence’ in English among its citizens. Despite such efforts, the sense of ‘crisis’ still exists today among policymakers as well as citizens. Characteristics of English Education Reforms

If we examine these English education reforms from a broader perspective, at least three characteristics are noteworthy. First is ‘the emphasis on human capital development’ (Kubota, 2016: 469), which strongly reflects an instrumentalist view of language, regarding it as ‘a skill to use for communicating thought and information’ (MLA, 2007). That is, the purpose of English education seems to involve developing global jinzai, i.e. those who are equipped with the four skills in English, which shape ‘communication competence’ or ‘communication skills’ as MEXT specifies. Under the reforms, ‘being able to communicate in English is equated with possessing an advanced level of the four skills, with a priority placed on speaking’ (Kubota & Takeda, 2021: 472). This seems to reflect the neoliberal policies in the globalized economy, which are ‘[b]ased on the principle of the free market economy’ and which try to

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‘deregulat[e] state control of production by leveraging the mechanism of competition, marketization, and privatization’ (Kubota & Takeda, 2021: 460) and necessitate an individual’s striving for human capital, including ‘communication skills’ in English. Second, intertwined with the first characteristic, as Torikai (2014) observes, the tendency to try to measure English competence with numerals is intensifying, which may reflect ‘the neoliberal principle of accountability’ (Kubota & Takeda, 2021: 479). This also echoes what Ushioda (2017: 472) argues as the ‘pragmatic focus on developing communication skills and knowledge that can be objectively measured (by means of language tests)’, which is evident not only in Japan but in other contexts as well. Third, the perspective by Watanabe in the Hiraizumi–Watanabe (1995) debate, i.e. formal English education as intellectual training, is lacking in educational reforms. Through various reforms, it is now obvious that MEXT sets the goal of formal English education as nurturing English communication competence involving the four skills. Such a goal seems to strongly reflect the instrumentalist view of language learning, which has shaped Japanese English learners’ motivations in explicit and implicit ways. On the other hand, the goal of formal education that Watanabe suggested, i.e. basic training in latent capacity, seems to have disappeared. Motivationally speaking, it is somewhat ironic that a lack of motivation is pointed out from the very early stage of the discussions. For example, in 1974, Hiraizumi already pointed out a lack of motivation among the Japanese, arguing that the cause was that ‘in our country, not having competence in a foreign language in reality does not inconvenience [the citizens] at all’ (Hiraizumi & Watanabe, 1995: 11, translation by the author). In the strategic plan in 2002, the necessity of motivating students was also pointed out (MEXT, 2002). All in all, many Japanese learners of English seem to have faced the issue of a lack of motivation, the reasons for which can be many as detailed later. Dual Orientations among the Japanese

Students studying under such an educational system have been argued to possess ‘dual orientations’ (Yashima et  al., 2004): one related to the short-term goal of passing the university entrance examinations, and the other related to a rather vague long-term goal of learning ‘practical English’ for communication with people from various countries. Thus, on the one hand, students diligently study juken eigo, or English for exams, mainly constituted of discrete lexicogrammatical knowledge, in order to get through a series of intense entrance examinations. Such intense studies of both English and other subjects for university entrance examinations are sometimes described as juken jigoku or ‘exam hell’ (Ushioda, 2013: 5), causing demotivation among many. On the other hand, many

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Japanese learners also strive to nurture ‘practical English’, which is reflected in the interest in eikaiwa (‘English conversation’) and the voluntary studies at eikaiwa schools by some Japanese (for the complex underlying factors, see e.g. Kubota, 2011). Such orientation for practical English is keen among some Japanese despite the fact that they may lack daily opportunities to use the language and may not envision specific situations in which to communicate in the language. In sum, many Japanese learners of English who are in the exam-oriented EFL context consider the two types of English to be distinct and hold dual orientations for each type (note that instructors also feel that they need to ‘wear two pairs of shoes’ and teach with different methods [Sakui, 2004: 158]: one for entrance examinations and the other for English for communication). In addition to the issues of English for exams and of the demotivation caused by it, English learning motivation after getting through university entrance examinations is considered another issue. University students may feel a ‘loss of learning purpose and disorientation’ (Ushioda, 2013: 10) because, compared to high school students, for whom the goal of studying ‘English for exams’ and getting through university entrance examinations is clear, university students may face motivational challenges; each learner may find ‘English fitting into (or not fitting into) their personal system of values, goal and identities’. As Ushioda (2013: 11) argues, then, it is imperative to ‘seek to understand what English and learning English mean for them as uniquely individual people, with particular personal histories, located in particular social contexts’. This also applies to the two interviewees of the present study. To be precise, ‘English for exams’ has changed through the various reforms elaborated on earlier. For example, when a new annual nationwide entrance examination of the Common Test for University Admissions started in 2021, replacing the National Center Test for University Admissions, discrete-type multiple-choice questions such as asking students to choose a word with a different accent pattern from the rest of the answer options were no longer included. The total scores also changed from 250 in the National Center Test for University Admissions (full score of 200 for the written part and 50 for the listening part) to 200 in the Common Test for University Admissions (full score of 100 for the reading part and 100 for the listening part), increasing the listening portion. Attempts are made to test more than just students’ discrete knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. Nonetheless, ordinary Japanese high school students consider that the two types of English, i.e. English for exams and English for communication, are still different. As will be detailed later, the perceived difference in the two types of English also influenced the English studies of the interviewees of this study. ‘English for exams’ keeps shaping high school students’ English studies and influences their motivation to a great degree.

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(Perceived) English Competence among the Japanese

One might assume that through various educational reforms by MEXT, English competence among Japanese learners has improved. However, available figures such as average TOEFL scores are not encouraging, as will be detailed later. What may be even more crucial is that the perceived incompetence among the citizens does not seem to have changed much. As I later discuss, such perceptions may create a vicious cycle in which perceived low English competence deprives them of the actual use of the language, further hindering improvement of their proficiency. Gaining confidence and functioning well in English still seem to be challenging for many Japanese learners, even after various educational reforms. One of the figures that often comes up when comparing the average English competence of Japanese learners to those in other countries is the average TOEFL scores. In 2018, Japan ranked third lowest in terms of total scores among Asian countries and the lowest in speaking (ETS, 2018). To be fair, such scores depend on who can take the test, which costs a considerable amount. There is also an argument that such figures cannot be used for international comparisons of English competence among different nationals because usually only those who plan to study abroad take the TOEFL (Terasawa, 2015: 58). However, such figures are often brought up by those in business and politics alike (Terasawa, 2015: 54–58), leading to discussions of the causes of incompetence among its citizens. The (perceived) low competence of English among the Japanese echoes the sentiment among many Japanese, as described above. I have also been asked more than once by my students why the Japanese ‘cannot speak English despite having studied the language for at least six years in junior high and high school’. Such perceptions might have been created by various factors, such as the classroom culture of having to be ‘correct’ and the few opportunities for authentic L2 communication in daily life. Setting aside the actual English competence, such perceptions have influenced learners in negative ways, as shown by past studies (e.g. Yashima, 2002; Yashima et al., 2004). Past research shows that perceived low competence in English has a detrimental effect on a learner’s willingness to communicate in English. For example, Yashima (2002) and Yashima et  al. (2004) demonstrated through structural equation modeling (SEM) that the variable of L2 (English) communication confidence, which is made up of low communication anxiety in the L2 and high perceived communication competence in the L2, predicted the willingness to communicate in the L2. This indicates that if learners perceive their English communication competence to be low, they are unlikely to be willing to communicate in the L2, which then influences the frequency of actual L2 communication (Yashima

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et al., 2004: 134). This is then likely to deprive them of the opportunity to further nurture their L2 communication competence because ‘L2 communication is a necessary part of L2 learning’ (Yashima, 2012: 119). In sum, even after various educational reforms, it seems that many Japanese learners still lack confidence in English. The situations involving the strong call for ‘the Japanese with English abilities’ and the felt incompetence among many learners are even complexified by the fact that, in reality, once people leave school, fewer working people seem to actually need the competence than is commonly believed. Such situations create a complex picture for learners in that even after diligently studying ‘English for exams’, they do not feel that they function well in English, and they do not encounter situations in which they need the competence in day-to-day life. Actual Need for English

If one examines the actual use of English in Japan, one notices that there is a gap between the fact that many people think in general terms that English competence is important in the globalized world and the actual percentage of businesspeople who need the competence. As described earlier, MEXT has implemented various English education reforms partly in an attempt to accommodate the economic sector’s request for Japanese human resources with English competence. It is also true that some major Japanese companies such as Uniqlo and Rakuten decided that their official language is English, and in some companies, people need a minimum TOEIC score to be promoted to a managerial position. It seems natural for many people to consider that because the world is globalized and the common language used in business in the globalized market is English, the Japanese need competence in the language. Close examinations of the use of English among Japanese people in business, however, tell otherwise. In a thought-provoking, book-length examination on ‘the Japanese and English’, Terasawa (2015) provides a surprisingly low figure of Japanese workers who actually need English competence. By quantitatively analyzing data from random samples of more than 2000 respondents, the study found that among the respondents who were working, only 18.4% ‘used English for work at all in the past year’ (frequency notwithstanding) (Terasawa, 2015: 162, translation by the author, emphasis added). Thus, the situations that Hiraizumi observed in the 1970s (see above) have not changed much in that there is little actual need for the language, even in the era of globalization. This is in contrast to the result of an analysis that Terasawa (2015: 164) conducted utilizing the data from another social survey conducted in 2000, in which approximately 40% of respondents answered that they felt the perceived need for the language at work. The researcher argued that ‘the perceived need for English use

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appears much greater than the actual use’ (Terasawa, 2015: 165, translation by the author). Terasawa’s (2015) study derives from large-scale social surveys that took place in the early 2000s. Thus, it may be possible that the figures have gone up in recent years as the world is increasingly globalized. Nonetheless, the gap between the perceived and the actual need is intriguing. When broadening perspectives to the status of English in a wider sense in Japan, not just regarding business, it is usually described as an FL. For example, Sugita-McEown et al. (2017: 537) described ‘the reality’ of the context that ‘learners in Japan have little contact with TL speakers’ and that English (and LOTEs) are FLs in the context. Daily contact with the language is limited unless a learner tries to create such opportunities. In sum, English education in Japan has faced challenges in trying to nurture communication competence in English among its citizens in the era of globalization and in maintaining a feasible university entrance examination system. In order to achieve such goals, the government has implemented various educational reforms. The picture is even more complex because of the fact that in everyday life, fewer Japanese people need the competence after leaving school than is commonly believed in a typical EFL context. The two interviewees went through various experiences in such an economic, political and educational climate; this impacted the interviewees both explicitly and implicitly, although at the same time, their own perspectives and thoughts on language and language learning are also evident, as will be described in later chapters. History of LOTE Education at the Tertiary Level in Japan

Now I turn to the discussion of LOTE education in Japan. The history of LOTE education can be characterized as a constant de-emphasis in Japan. Through several ministerial ordinances by MEXT, which was known as the Ministry of Education at the time, the total credits of LOTE classes necessary for graduation kept being decreased, currently with no specific regulations, as detailed below. This contrasts with situations with English education, which reflect the status of English as a global language; even without specific regulations, most universities offer compulsory courses in English. MEXT also encourages classes taught in English, creating ‘[t]he instructional shift from teaching English as subject matter to teaching subject matter in English’ (Sugita-McEown et al., 2017: 537). By comparing English and LOTE education, one can understand ‘an unmistakable political interest in promoting English education over other FL education’ (Sugita-McEown et al., 2017: 537). Although it might come as a surprise to Japanese people today, until the end of World War II, Japan had an intensive LOTE education system. For example, the Higher Education Foreign Language Education Guidelines specified in 1931 that if students in humanities majors

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learned German or French as their first FL, it was for 930 hours; for science majors, it was for 840 hours (Association for Preserving Information Materials on Old Higher Education System, 1981: 160–161). LOTE education was intensive in an era when continuing on to higher education was not common among ordinary citizens, and it was only for ‘the few elite students who excelled in memory capacity’ (Iwasaki, 2007: 58, translation by the author). As detailed in Iwasaki (2007), in the post-war era, LOTE education at the tertiary level dramatically changed. In 1956, the Ministry of Education specified in its ordinance that each university was to offer courses on two or more FLs, and they could regard only one FL under special circumstances (Ministry of Education Higher Education Academic Bureau University Division, 1957: 9). Language education was positioned as ‘auxiliary courses’, which were to support academic studies by playing an ‘instrumental role’ (Japan University Accreditation Association, 1950: 14, translation by the author). That is, FL courses were offered so that students could acquire basic knowledge of each language to read materials related to their specialization in the original languages. They were for eight credits, which meant that classes were to be offered twice a week for two years and, including one hour of preparation time for each class, it totaled 180 hours (Japan University Accreditation Association, 1950: 14). Comparing the numbers between the pre- and post-war eras, this means that in the post-war era, the total hours were drastically reduced. One of the major policies that still shapes LOTE education in Japan today is the relaxing of the guidelines for establishing universities in 1991 (Ministry of Education Higher Education Bureau, 1991). In the ministerial ordinance, all the regulations in earlier ordinances that had specified the types of courses to be offered were deleted, including the policy of ‘at least eight credits of one foreign language’. These were instead replaced by more general curriculum guidelines, leaving it to each university’s discretion as to what types of courses to offer. As long as they were within the framework of the minimum 124 credits to be earned for graduation, universities themselves could basically decide which courses to offer (Ministry of Education Higher Education Bureau, 1991: 74, 79). This policy change resulted in a tremendous reduction in LOTE classes. As detailed below, some universities started making LOTE courses non-compulsory in contrast to the fact that English education remained compulsory at most universities. Even at universities where LOTE courses were compulsory, the pattern was that students took two classes per week for one year, totaling 90 hours at most, and in a course with less intensity, they took either one class per week for one year or two classes per week for half a year, totaling 45 hours (Iwasaki, 2007: 60). This means that many university students do not study LOTEs, and even when they do, the total hours are much fewer than before 1991.

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Table 4.2  Changes in LOTE education in Japan Year

Events/reforms

Notable characteristics

1931

Higher Education Foreign Language Education Guidelines

930/840 hours total for studies of foreign languages at the tertiary level

1956

Ministry of Education Ordinance, Chapter 6, Article 21

‘At least eight credits of one foreign language’ policy Foreign language courses defined as ‘auxiliary courses’ 180 hours total for studies of foreign language at the tertiary level

1991

Guidelines for establishing universities relaxed

Foreign language courses no longer mandatory

In sum, the changing policies of LOTE education in Japan can be summarized as in Table 4.2. It is clear from Table 4.2 that the country has continuously de-emphasized LOTE education to the extent that it is no longer mandatory, and its education is basically at the discretion of each university/junior college. As such, it is described that ‘[t]he general stance of the government in Japan is still far from promoting multilingualism in Japan’ (Teng & Lixun, 2020: 56). Such changes sharply contrast with English education reforms in the country, as described above. Recent Situations Surrounding LOTE Education in Japan

As described earlier, LOTE education is not compulsory at many universities in Japan today. Thus, although LOTE learning was compulsory for the two interviewees in this study, many Japanese students do not have opportunities to study them. For example, in a series of nationwide surveys (JACET, 2002, 2003) of universities/junior colleges on English and LOTE education in Japan, JACET (2002: 20) reported that 51.4% of 360 participating faculties/departments in the survey had ‘zero credit’ as compulsory for LOTE courses. As Kubota and Takeda (2021: 463) argue, the emphasis on English, not LOTEs, ‘reflects a monolingual or homogeneous approach to foreign language education’. The situations sharply contrast with those in Europe, where learning two languages plus their L1s is emphasized, and in China, where the government has started to emphasize LOTE education at the tertiary level. These situations regarding LOTE education in Japan have been criticized and discussed from various perspectives by LOTE instructors and researchers. Approximately 77.4% of LOTE instructors surveyed in JACET (2003: 21) answered that they were ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘somewhat dissatisfied’ with current situations regarding FL education in Japan (translation by the author). For LOTE instructors, Japan did not seem to have a concrete FL education policy (JACET, 2003: 22). For instance,

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Oiwa (2012: 90) criticized the country’s policies, stating that ‘it is not too much to say that the country’s language education policies focus exclusively on English’ (translation by the author). LOTE instructorsresearchers also argue that English and LOTE education should be implemented in a more balanced manner. Oiwa (2012: 92) argues that ‘LOTE education should be emphasized more in Japan, as one of the advantages of learning more than one L2 is that the experience will broaden learners’ perspectives and that stressing only efficiency and practical utility will not benefit learners’ (translation by the author). In sum, there still seems to be much room for improvement for LOTE education in Japan. On the learners’ side, greater familiarity with English than LOTEs seems to exist. In almost all cases, the first FL that the Japanese study is English. Even without day-to-day opportunities for direct contact, learners are aware of the existence of English as a global language through various media reports. Other than few occasions in which students have opportunities to study LOTEs at the secondary level, LOTE studies usually occur only at the tertiary level, and are not available to all university/junior college students. Intertwined with the political interest in promoting English education (e.g. Kubota & Takeda, 2021; Sugita-McEown et al., 2017), the citizens’ interests in studying LOTEs are not readily visible, and it seems to depend on the individual whether or not to seek LOTE studies. Although English and LOTEs are both FLs, their implied meanings vary according to individuals. Given such social climates, the dearth of research on Japanese learners’ LOTE learning motivations might be of little surprise (see Chapter 3). Reports of successful Japanese LOTE learners have been extremely limited, if not non-existent. This is not surprising considering the fact that some students do not study LOTEs at all. Even when LOTE courses are compulsory, many seem to only go through the required stage without reaching high competence (e.g. Matsui, 2007). On a more positive side, some Japanese researchers argue that university students may be more motivated to study LOTEs than English because, unlike English studies, they have not experienced demotivation. That is, compared to their English studies, for which students might have experienced demotivation from having to intensively study the subject for paper-and-pencil university entrance examinations, they start studying a LOTE from scratch at university (Sakamoto, 2016). For example, one of the Thai participants majoring in Japanese expressed in Siridetkoon and Dewaele (2018: 321) that ‘[w]e have different background knowledge in English. But for the third language, everyone is equal’. Japanese learners’ LOTE motivation in this regard may be unique and worthy of investigation in its own right in addition to possible interactions with English learning motivation.

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Summary

In this chapter, I examined situations surrounding both English and LOTE education in Japan. In the first part, I described the early stage of discussions on the purposes of English education in the country being either English for practical use or English for intellectual training. Then, I examined the various educational reforms that the country has gone through, with some details on university entrance examination systems. I then introduced the dual orientations that many Japanese learners of English possess under such an educational system, and argued for the need to examine the two interviewees considering such an aspect. This was followed by the still low perceived English competence among many Japanese learners and the actual unnecessity of the language among many in the country after leaving school. By examining such factors, it became clear that political and economic forces strongly shape English education in Japan. In the second part, I introduced the history of LOTE education in Japan, mainly describing its constant de-emphasis in the country. In contrast to the intensive education system before World War II, the government has implemented policies that enable reductions in LOTE education at the tertiary level. LOTE instructors and researchers have argued for more balance between English and LOTE education, but there is still much more to be done to achieve such a balance. As such, situations surrounding LOTE education sharply contrast with those of English education. Unlike English studies, much seems to depend on learners as to whether or not they seek LOTE studies without unanimous opportunities to study them in formal education. Seen from a broader perspective, situations regarding English and LOTE education in Japan seem to have both similarities and differences compared to other contexts. With regard to English education, Japan shares many similarities. In the era of globalization and neoliberal politics, the emphasis on the instrumentalist view of English learning is evident as in many other contexts (Ushioda, 2017). Educational institutions are expected to produce human resources that are equipped with the four skills in English. Stakeholders are held responsible for accounting for the outcomes that are demonstrated with quantifiable measures, i.e. scores of standardized tests that measure the four skills of English. Unlike such similarities, Japan is also different from many other contexts in that the actual need for the language is not very visible in the environment. Day-to-day use of the language is limited among ordinary citizens, and it might be limited to working people in certain businesses, characterizing the country as a typical EFL context. In terms of LOTE education, Japan is different from many contexts such as Europe and China in that the importance of LOTE education is not emphasized in formal education. For example, the de-emphasis on

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LOTE education in Japan contrasts with situations in northern Europe, where ‘the simultaneous acquisition of more than one L2’ is described as ‘the norm for many secondary school pupils’ (Henry, 2010: 151). In Japanese society, the importance placed on English is far more visible than on LOTEs; almost all Japanese study English as their first L2, and the government emphasizes the development of human resources with English communication competence. Even at the tertiary level, not all Japanese have opportunities to study LOTEs. As Zheng et al. (2020: 783) observe, ‘English and LOTE learning may differ significantly in terms of the societal support that the learners receive’. In this respect, Japanese learners of LOTEs may be considered to receive even far less support than in other contexts. In such a societal and educational context, with limited emphasis and opportunities to study LOTEs, it is unlikely that many Japanese learners of LOTEs will have a multilingual outlook. A pragmatic and utilitarian aspect of language learning, which is evident in the case of English studies, is not apparent, either. Even an instrumentalist view of LOTE learning, which may exist in other contexts (e.g. Siridetkoon & Dewaele, 2018; Zheng et  al., 2020), does not seem apparent in Japan. As such, Japanese learners of LOTEs may face challenges in motivating themselves, for they may lack various motivating factors that may be more apparent in the case of their English studies or LOTE studies of learners in other contexts. It should also be noted that even in contexts where LOTE learning is the norm, LOTE learning motivation is described as ‘generally low’ (Henry, 2020: 4). All in all, LOTE learning in Japan seems particularly challenging. It was in such a context that the two interviewees studied English and LOTEs. Various contextual factors influenced their motivations at each educational level of high school, university, graduate school and beyond. At the same time, their own perspectives that seem unaffected by such factors and that seem to have developed for themselves are also evident. Considering the various contextual factors surrounding Japan, yet examining the interviewees as unique individuals with unique experiences, I now turn to the empirical study.

Part 2

The Empirical Study

5 The Study

Part 2 is the empirical part of the study. In this chapter, I provide basic information about the study, including a brief introduction to the two interviewees, how I met them, the semi-structured interviews utilized in the study, the timeline and procedures and data analysis. I also discuss some characteristics of longitudinal case studies. I hope that by providing such basic information, I contextualize the study and help readers understand the two interviewees’ motivational trajectories of studying English and languages other than English (LOTEs) during the nine years. My Encounter with the Interviewees

I first met the interviewees when they were in their second year of high school. I was working on my dissertation project (Takahashi, 2013), which focused on the relationships between second language (L2) motivational bases and persistence in learning English using self-instructional radio (SIR) materials. It was a mixed-method survey study, for which I administered a quantitative questionnaire to 180 high school students and interviewed 13  students who had experience learning English with SIR materials and who volunteered to be individually interviewed about the details of their experience. The two interviewees, Yuzuru and Shion (both pseudonyms), were initially named ‘Interviewee 11’ and ‘Interviewee 12’, respectively, because they were among the 13 students interviewed. For the second session half a year later, I interviewed five  students among the 13, who had been listening to SIR materials at the time of the first interview sessions. The purpose of the second session was to investigate how their motivational bases had changed after half a year and how that had possibly affected their persistence in L2 self-instruction. The two interviewees were among these five students, and they showed different patterns of persistence in studying with SIR materials. Whereas Shion continued studying with these materials for over four years, Yuzuru dropped out after only seven months. Among the five students, both Shion and Yuzuru left a particularly strong impression on me for being sharp, very clear in articulating their opinions for a high school student 67

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and approachable. However, in terms of persistence in SIR studies, they were already contrasting cases at the time, as will be detailed in Chapter 6. Some time after the two sets of interviews, I started wondering how their motivations had evolved. I was curious to find out whether Shion had persisted in learning with SIR materials when she must have been extremely busy studying for a series of university entrance exams in her final year of high school. Furthermore, although Yuzuru was portrayed in my dissertation as a non-persistent learner in terms of learning with SIR materials, he was a very intense learner, listening to three of the most advanced materials at the time of the first interview session. Above all, he appeared to be the most serious learner among the 13 students I interviewed. Thus, I tried contacting the five students who took part in the two interview sessions in 2012, including Shion and Yuzuru, after they had graduated from high school in 2014. Some did not respond or were too busy and another dropped out after the third interview, which are all typical in this type of longitudinal study. Yuzuru and Shion, however, responded and accepted my invitations to be interviewed again. As I found out, after graduating from high school in March 2014, both had gone straight to one of the top-tiered universities in Japan. Although they were no longer studying English with SIR materials, their motivations had developed in their own ways. They had also started studying dai-2 gaikokugo as part of their required courses at the university; Yuzuru picked French and Shion chose German. Thanks to their enduring attitudes, these interviews at approximately half-year intervals were kept going until March 2021. Duff (2008: 130) noted that ‘it is very helpful in written reports of case studies for researchers to clarify their role in the research process and their history with the participants or research site without jeopardizing anonymity’. In my case, I was an alumna of their high school, and their English teacher also happened to be my English teacher. As I discuss in more detail in Chapter  10, such a relationship helped me establish an appropriate rapport with the two interviewees. If, for example, I had been their English teacher, I might have unintentionally exercised inappropriate power over them, or I might not have been able to extend the study to this scope after high school. Also, being an alumna of their high school probably helped them not exercise too much vigilance against me. As such, the relationship assisted in establishing a ‘balance between objectivity and subjectivity’ (Duff, 2008: 131). A Brief History of the Interviewees’ Earlier Language Learning

The interviewees’ earlier language learning histories might be atypical in some sense, but not so atypical considering the current situations in

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Japan that strongly emphasize English competence. Yuzuru, a male political philosophy major who was about to earn a master’s degree when the data collection ended in March 2021, started learning English in a class at a private school for two hours a week as an elementary school student. Encouraged by his parents, he learned basic English vocabulary, expressions and writing. He attended classes there until the end of junior high school, at which time he also learned to read in English. In high school, he went to a special juku, or cram school, where the focus of study was not on preparations for university entrance examinations (which is typical of a juku) but more on extensive reading in English. Shion, a female nursing major, started learning English ‘at the age of two or three’, as she recalls, in an English class at a private school. She was encouraged by her mother, who also sometimes taught her English. She also had a home-stay opportunity in Australia during spring break just after she finished fifth grade. In high school, Shion attended the same juku as Yuzuru, where she studied reading extensively in English. This might be atypical in that cram schools in Japan usually help students prepare for entrance examinations. It can be considered quite rare that the school had native-speaking instructors helping students engage in extensive reading in English. Indeed, among the 13 interviewees, they were the only interviewees who described attending such an atypical juku. Both Shion and Yuzuru described how they enjoyed reading in English at the cram school. Looking back at their high school days, this enjoyment and the experience of having extensively read in English might have much to do with their success in reading academic articles in English at university, which of course was not conceivable at the time. The details of their studies are elaborated on in the rest of the chapters. In terms of LOTE learning, both interviewees had studied some Chinese in high school for a program organized by their school, which took their students to China. Having an experience of LOTE learning is not very typical in the country and thus should not be considered a regular experience. In brief, Table 5.1 describes the two interviewees’ characteristics. As Table  5.1 shows, they had both similarities and differences. Both went to the same high school and university, and both were very academically oriented but majored in distinct subjects. As will be detailed later, their language studies also shared similarities and differences. Interviews

In terms of study design, throughout the project, semi-structured interviews were conducted. In the first two sessions, the design was a survey method using interviews (Brown, 2001) with more interviewees participating than in later sessions. Starting with the third interview session, the design was a case study mainly utilizing interviews with some follow-ups of email exchanges. In a sense, the first two interviews with

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Table 5.1  Characteristics of the interviewees

Gender

Yuzuru

Shion

Male

Female

Major

Political philosophy

Nursing

Highest degree earned

Master’s

Master’s

English studies

Started as an elementary student

Started at ‘the age of two or three’

LOTE studies before the study

Chinese

Chinese

more interviewees helped me identify unique cases, which is the first step in a case study (Creswell, 2013: 98). The interviews in the case study were more like ‘guided conversations rather than structured queries’ (Yin, 2014: 110). I had a set of specific questions that guided the interviews, but our conversations were relaxed and sometimes extended to topics that were not in the original protocols. Each of the interviewees was an intrinsic case, i.e. ‘a case that has unusual interest in and of itself and needs to be described and detailed’ (Creswell, 2013: 98), for investigating the issue of L2 motivation with much-utilized theoretical frameworks and possibly going beyond them. During the first two interviews, I identified the interviewees as unique and contrasting cases both in their L2 motivational bases and in their persistence in studying English with SIR materials. Yuzuru appeared to be the most serious student among all the interviewees I met for my dissertation, but in terms of his studies with SIR materials, he was a nonpersistent learner. Shion, on the other hand, had very strong L2 motivation and was the most persistent learner in using SIR materials among the 13 interviewees. At the same time, both seemed very sharp and academically successful. As such, these two ‘cases’ were ideal for investigating changes in English and LOTE motivations. For each research phase, I had specific research questions that guided the interviews, which are presented in the rest of the chapters (also see the Appendices for interview prompts). In addition, questions not originally planned were also asked when an interesting topic came up along the way to explore the interviewees’ experiences. Throughout the project, these questions were led by one big question: How does English/LOTE motivation develop over the long term? This helped me keep sight of the big picture of delineating the long-term motivational trajectories of these intrinsic cases. Procedures

As I explained, the project ran from June 2012 to March 2021. I interviewed the participants at approximately half-year intervals, except for

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Table 5.2  Timeline of the study Yuzuru

Shion

1

June 2012

2

December 2012

3

August 2014

4

February 2015

5

September 2015

6

February 2016

7

August 2016

8

9

September 2016 March 2017

July 2017

September 2017

10

March 2018

11

October 2018

12

March 2019

13

August 2019

September 2019

14

March 2020

15

October 2020

16

March 2021

Notes Second year of high school

First year of university; replaced with email exchanges for Yuzuru due to his absence from the country First year of university Second year of university

Third year of university Third year of university; replaced with email exchanges for Yuzuru due to his absence from the country Fourth year of university

Fifth year of university (Yuzuru) First year of master’s program (Shion) First year of master’s program (Yuzuru) Second year of master’s program (Shion) Second year of master’s program (Yuzuru) First year of professional career (Shion) Conducted online due to COVID-19

two sessions when Yuzuru was not available due to his absence from the country. These interviews were replaced with several email exchanges. As the timeline in Table 5.2 shows, the study followed the two interviewees until Yuzuru finished his master’s degree and Shion had been in her professional career for a year. For each interview, I met with the interviewee, whether in a quiet room at their high school without the presence of their teachers, on campus or at a coffee shop in Tokyo. This created a relaxed atmosphere in which the interviewees could reflect on their English/LOTE studies without unnecessary pressure. As I stated earlier, the fact that I was an alumna of their high school was also probably a factor that assured them that I was not a person of whom to be afraid. It should also be noted that the last two interviews in October 2020 and March 2021 were held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The interviews were held in our first language (L1), Japanese. Each interview typically lasted 30–40 minutes, sometimes an hour. The interviewees sometimes followed up after the interviews through email exchanges, and these messages were included in the analysis with the interviewees’ consent. To protect the interviewees’ rights, written consent was obtained for each interview, in addition to their guardians’ consent for the first two

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sessions when they were high school students. The consent explained the purpose of the study as well as the approximate time needed and assured their anonymity, the voluntary nature of their participation and the interview’s non-relationship to their grades at school. In each interview, the interviewees received a 1000-yen book certificate as a gratuity for the time they spent with me. Data Analysis

First of all, as the study involved four distinct phases (high school, first half of university, second half of university, graduate school and beyond), detailed data analysis was conducted only after each phase. In other words, previous discussions were only briefly reviewed before each interview, and detailed analyses were withheld until all the meetings in each phase were completed. This was to maintain the basic interview structure and ‘to avoid imposing meaning from one participant’s interviews on the next’ (Seidman, 2013: 116). This ensured that the results would be longitudinally comparable across the interviews and the interviewees, while taking into consideration what had been discussed in the previous interviews. Each interview was transcribed verbatim in the original language of Japanese. I first tried to understand the overall contents of the interviews by repeatedly listening to them and reading the transcripts. This helped me get a general sense of what kinds of language, academic and life experiences the interviewees went through in chronological order, how these experiences affected them and how their English and LOTE motivations changed accordingly. A detailed description of the case (Creswell, 2013: 101; Stake, 1995) followed, including ‘the chronology of events’ and ‘a day-by-day rendering of the activities of the case’. The main analysis was conducted both deductively and inductively. I analyzed the data by focusing on the key issues of each research phase, i.e. ‘analysis of themes’ (Creswell, 2013: 101), which was helped by ‘follow[ing] the theoretical propositions’ (Yin, 2014: 136). Examples of key issues are the interviewees’ classroom and outof-class English/LOTE learning/using experience, the development of their ideal English/LOTE selves and their persistence/achievement in English/LOTEs. Details of these key issues are described in each of the following chapters. I marked salient comments related to the key issues while listening to the interviews and reading the transcripts again. They were noted, for example, as ‘listening to news in French’, ‘aiming to be an academic and write papers in English’ and ‘obtaining a German Grade 3 Certificate’. These salient comments were then coded with summative, essence-capturing phrases. Examples include ‘out-of-class French learning’, ‘development of ideal English self’ and ‘achievement in German’.

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At the same time, some themes not covered by the theoretical frameworks also emerged from the data. These emerging themes were also noted in trying to further understand ‘the complexity of the case’ (Creswell, 2013: 101). Examples of such themes included the importance placed on L2 reading and the pursuit of lifelong L2 learning, which will be detailed in the following chapters. In sum, the analyses, both deductive and inductive, helped me not only with a close investigation of the cases but also with a critical examination of the theoretical frameworks along the way. After that stage, the results of each interview were compared for intra-interviewee changes to examine each interviewee’s trajectories of English and LOTE motivations. These within-case analyses were followed by a cross-case analysis, comparing the two cases across the key issues of each research phase. After the cross-case analysis, I interpreted all the data and distilled implications, trying to highlight intra-case changes as well as inter-case differences and similarities. The analyses were done in Japanese, and I translated the excerpts into English and checked their adequacy by reviewing them twice. Finally, my interpretations and the translations were member-checked by the two interviewees so that skewed interpretation of the data could be avoided. I believe that such member-checking ‘enrich[ed my] analysis’ and ‘help[ed] ensure the authenticity or credibility of interpretations’ (Duff, 2008: 171). Chapters  6–8 are based on already published papers (Takahashi, 2014, 2017, 2021); as such, the basic findings are already published. Nonetheless, to examine the cases from a broader perspective, I went back to the original data, re-examined the analyses and expanded on them where appropriate for deeper insights. As such, these three chapters are extensively revised and touched up compared to the published papers. Some new insights were gained by going back to the original data after several years because enduring themes gradually became apparent. In Chapter 11, I integrate the findings from all research phases and discuss how the interviewees’ motivations to study English and LOTEs developed over the years, presenting a bigger picture of the entire project. Choosing the Method of Longitudinal Case Study

Case studies using interviews are perhaps not rare in L2 motivation research, but some detailed discussions of the characteristics of this longitudinal case study are warranted. First, case studies are appropriate for ‘gain[ing] a thorough understanding of the phenomenon being studied, of which the case is an exemplar’ (Duff, 2014: 5). In the present study, Yuzuru and Shion were excellent cases for understanding changes in LOTE and English motivations ‘through the dynamic processes of interacting with others and with the wider social, material, and symbolic world’ (Duff, 2014: 4) in an under-researched context. Furthermore,

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questions of how and why are the types of questions that ‘[c]ase study research is most likely to be appropriate for’ (Yin, 2014: 29). The present study sought to answer questions such as how the types of motivation and persistence in learning are related, how motivation changes over time, why a learner does not experience the negative impact of English on LOTE motivations, how a learner perceives language and language learning, etc. Considering the types of questions that I intended to answer, the present study can thus be described as a relational and explanatory case study (Duff, 2008: 101). Second is the longitudinal aspect of this study. Although there have been few longitudinal case studies in LOTE motivation research (see Chapter  3), longitudinal case studies that seek to capture changes or development have been widely used in applied linguistics (for examples of longitudinal case studies, see Duff, 2008). In this study, spending years seemed particularly appropriate in order to examine the long-term changes and developments of the two interviewees’ English and LOTE motivations. This is why I opted for a longitudinal study. In sum, this longitudinal case study method seemed to be particularly appropriate in the present study for investigating ‘what types of participant changes occurred, if any, through an extended period of time’ (Saldaña, 2003: 13–14) and answering how and why these changes occurred. Through this method, I feel that I was able ‘to gain a detailed, situated and holistic understanding of an individual which can thus facilitate insights into complex aspects of a learner’s experiences and psychology’ (Mercer, 2012: 45). One thing to note is that there were advantages and challenges with this long-term case study method. Although details of the discussion are presented in Chapter 10, it is worth briefly describing them at this point. One of the obvious advantages is that through such a longitudinal study involving various interview sessions, a researcher can really examine changes in each interviewee in depth as a person who lives in a unique context (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2021; Ortega & Iberri-Shea, 2005; Saldaña, 2003). Although there seems to be ‘no consensus or authoritative answer’ to how long a longitudinal qualitative study is (Saldaña, 2003: 3), the focus on change is one of the defining features of this method and what distinguishes it from cross-sectional studies. Compared to, for example, the questionnaire method that has been widely utilized in the field, we start to understand study participants as persons and how they change over the years. This is a critical point when examining ‘individual difference’ factors like L2 motivation. On the other hand, the results gained from this type of study are not generalizable beyond the participants. As someone living in a unique context surrounded by so many macro, meso and micro contextual factors, no other person will be exactly like them. Furthermore, it is obviously a time-consuming and daunting task to spend so many years on a single

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project like this one. Additionally, because the number of participants is limited, the possibility of one participant dropping out of the project means so much more than in the case of, for example, the questionnaire method. Had one of the interviewees in this study dropped out, for example, this book probably would not have gotten into shape. On a more critical note, ‘[e]ven the researcher is affected by longitudinal enterprises through personal and professional outcomes’ (Saldaña, 2003: 14). Personal relationships also begin to develop with the interviewees in a long-term engagement like this one. This could be something positive and something possibly negative. For me, the various conversations with the interviewees were so enjoyable and so meaningful, and what is more, the prolonged conversations with the two interviewees indeed broadened my academic interests. My initial interest in the topic of L2 motivation was in English learning motivations, not LOTE learning motivations. By engaging in various conversations with the two interviewees, however, I came to realize how much more work was needed in the area of LOTE learning motivations, particularly in under-researched contexts such as Japan. As such, there is a possibility of study participants impacting the researcher. At the same time, as has already been discussed by some researchers (e.g. Consoli & Aoyama, 2020; Lamb, 2018), in a long-term study like this one, the researcher can no longer remain in the position of an ‘outsider’ – my presence as a researcher for the years necessarily also impacted the interviewees in one way or another. Luckily, in the very last interview session, I had an opportunity to openly discuss this issue with the two interviewees as part of ‘final exit interviews’ (Saldaña, 2003: 35). This helped me put myself in their shoes and critically examine this longitudinal project from their perspective. I discuss this issue in more detail in Chapter 10, which I hope will provide readers with an opportunity to consider both the advantages and limitations of a longitudinal approach to examining L2 motivation.

6 The Early Days: English Self-Instruction Using Radio Materials in High School Two Sets of Interviews in High School as a Starting Point

When I first met the two interviewees in 2012, I was in the middle of my dissertation project. As briefly described in Chapter 5, I had a basic design for this mixed-method study. I would first administer a quantitative questionnaire to students who had used self-instructional radio (SIR) materials in order to examine the causal relationships between types of second language (L2) motivation and persistence in L2 self-instruction using SIR materials together with related variables; this quantitative part was to be followed up by the qualitative part with two sets of interviews with those who volunteered to be individually interviewed at half-yearly intervals. The interviews were conducted to investigate the details of their learning experiences with SIR materials and possible changes in the types of L2 motivation and persistence in learning after half a year. These two sets of interviews in high school worked critically in this study in at least three ways. First, they provided example cases of academically successful English learners in a typical exam-oriented context who were eager to study ‘English for communication’ through SIR materials while concurrently being aware of juken eigo, which they would need for the upcoming university entrance examinations. The importance of getting through these examinations should be acutely felt, particularly among academically successful students like the interviewees. Second, methodologically speaking, having met more than 10 interviewees at this early stage served as a way to find ‘intrinsic’ cases among them (Creswell, 2013: 98). Among the 13 interviewees, Shion and Yuzuru were contrasting and demonstrable of how self-instructed learners are in the Japanese context. Lastly, and more importantly, these interviews in high school provided clues as to why their experiences and perspectives evolved the way they did in later days and enabled closer examinations of their English/language other than English (LOTE) motivations at university and beyond, which will be discussed in later chapters. This includes their experiences of extensive reading in English and LOTE learning. 76

The Early Days: English Self-Instruction  77

These are both quite rare in a context like Japan, where discrete grammatical and vocabulary knowledge of English is tested in entrance examinations and where there is continuing de-emphasis on LOTE education. Considering the de-emphasis on LOTE education, particularly after 1991 (see Chapter 4), their LOTE learning opportunity indeed seems valuable. In sum, although not conceivable at the time, looking back at the first two interviews, I realize that the seeds of their development were already there. Had the project ended in high school, these characteristics would never have been ‘discovered’. As such, although the first two interviews lack some depth due to their nature as follow-up interviews with more participants involved, they provide crucial insights into the two interviewees’ long-term developments. L2 Self-Instruction Using Radio Materials and the Issue of Persistence in Learning

As I explained in Chapter 1, L2 self-instruction using SIR materials is a prevalent way of studying English in Japan (e.g. Ohkushi, 1991; Umino, 1999). Learners in L2 self-instruction study the target language (TL), usually alone but sometimes with others such as family members, without institutional controls. Being outside institutional controls means that learners do not receive evaluation for their learning and do not receive credits. As such, L2 self-instruction is distinct from seemingly similar types of learning, e.g. distance education, such as those held at Open Universities, and self-directed learning held at the tertial level. There are no credits to earn, no encouragement from teachers and no pressure to continue studying. As L2 self-instruction is not widely known or researched particularly outside Japan, I will attempt to describe (a) the basics of SIR materials, (b) Japanese learners’ perceptions of these materials as reported in past studies and (c) why the issue of L2 motivation is critical in L2 self-instruction. First, when learners study English with SIR materials by Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK; Japan Broadcasting Corporation), they usually listen to 15-minute materials that are aired Monday through Friday. They can choose to listen to the radio at the time of airing, to record the material, to stream online or to listen via a special smartphone app. Accompanying monthly textbooks are sold for under $10, but of course, they can listen without such textbooks. Learners often study with one material at a time, but they can listen to more than one during the same period if they like. One type of material (a ‘series’) usually runs for half a year or a year. A new series usually starts in either April or October, but a learner can start listening any time they wish. In the materials, there is usually a teacher-figure that is Japanese in most cases, and native speaker (NS) narrators who support the teacherfigure. Other narrators act in the dialogue part (called ‘skits’ in these

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materials) and these dialogues serve as the basic material of each program. There are parts in which the teacher-figure explains the content and grammatical points of the material, in which listeners can practice the dialogues out loud, and sometimes, there are other parts, such as short compositions and listening quizzes. As far as English is concerned, there are materials for learners of all proficiency levels (NHK, 2021a). Past studies have reported learners’ varying perceptions of SIR and self-instructional TV materials in terms of their advantages and drawbacks (e.g. Ohkushi, 1991; Takahashi, 2008; Umino, 1999). Although these are only perceptions by learners, they matter particularly in selfinstruction. This is because these perceptions are likely to influence persistence in their studies, which they are free to drop any time they wish. Put another way, if they perceive materials to be useful and interesting, they will likely help them persist. On the other hand, if learners perceive materials to be boring, inflexible, etc., they are more likely to stop studying with these materials. The advantage reported most is that it is an economical way of studying English (e.g. Takahashi, 2008; Umino, 1999). Compared to eikaiwa or English conversation schools, learners do not have to pay much, and they can study at home. Another commonly reported advantage is that the learning is kept regular without much intention on the learners’ side. This characteristic is unique to broadcast materials and contrasts with other types of L2 self-instruction, such as studying with materials online, because broadcast materials are on air at a fixed time of day (Hara & Hattori, 1995). However, the same characteristic of materials being on air at a fixed time of day is perceived by others as a drawback because of its inflexibility (Takahashi, 2008). Furthermore, as far as radio materials are concerned, having no visual information is also perceived in different ways. Some appreciate this characteristic because they can concentrate on listening, but others see it as a drawback because of its lack of information (e.g. Umino, 1999). Two other drawbacks are worth describing further. First, one major drawback of SIR materials as a characteristic of broadcast materials is that it is not interactive (this drawback is reported with the highest frequency in Umino [1999: 320]). As such, they do not offer opportunities for authentic L2 communication. Nonetheless, many of the materials do tend to focus on eikaiwa or ‘English conversation’, as described. The question then arises as to whether self-instructed learners using broadcast materials seek opportunities for L2 communication outside their selfinstruction using broadcast materials. Given that communication is considered both a means and an end to L2 learning, this drawback is serious. Second, the most serious drawback regarding L2 self-instruction with broadcast materials as perceived by learners is that it is difficult to persist

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in studying (Ohkushi, 1991; Umino, 1999). Being outside the institutional controls means that learners can start and stop studying at any time they wish. Even when they find difficulty motivating themselves, they cannot receive encouragement or pressure from their teachers or peers. In this sense, persisting in self-instructed learning may be even more difficult than doing so in similar types of learning such as self-directed learning in institutional settings (see e.g. Mynard & McLoughlin, 2020, for changes in motivation among learners in self-directed learning). For example, Cheng and Lee (2018: 178) identified ‘advisor and peer support’ as a salient factor contributing to students’ persistence in self-directed learning, but ‘advisor and peer support’ is not available in self-instruction. As such, to persist in L2 self-instruction without credit, feedback, evaluation, encouragement or pressure, learners need to be sustained by strong motivation. Although L2 self-instruction involves some conditions that may facilitate persistence in learning (see the discussion in Chapter 2), it may be a type of learning in which persistence in learning is particularly challenging. In sum, L2 self-instruction using broadcast materials has both advantages and drawbacks that are unique to this type of L2 learning. Learners’ perceptions of the materials are likely to greatly influence their persistence in learning, which may be particularly difficult in this case. To persist in L2 self-instruction using broadcast materials, learners need to favorably perceive this type of learning and be sustained by strong motivational bases. In L2 self-instruction, the issue of L2 motivation is serious. The Study

Considering such characteristics of L2 self-instruction using SIR materials, the research focus at this phase was to examine in detail the interviewees’ basic experiences with the materials, their English learning motivational characteristics and trajectories, their possible relationships to persistence in learning English with SIR materials and their opportunities to engage in communication in English outside their studies with SIR materials. It should be noted that as the focus of the study at this phase was on their English learning, my discussion is also weighted toward their English studies. However, as I only discovered at the interviews, both Yuzuru and Shion were already studying a LOTE then. As such, available data on LOTE learning are also included where appropriate. The research questions that guided this phase were the following: (1) What are the typical experiences of English studies using SIR materials like? (2) How are types of L2 motivation and persistence in learning using SIR materials related to each other in the Japanese context? (3) How do Japanese learners in self-instruction engage in L2 communication?

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The two interviews I conducted were semi-structured, as explained, in the sense that I followed a basic pattern of asking questions regarding the learners’ experiences with SIR materials and their L2 motivation in the same order for all interviewees, but I asked extra questions when necessary. Questions concerned the following four key issues: (a) participants’ basic experiences studying with SIR materials; (b) the similarities and differences between their English studies at school and in self-instruction; (c) the relationships between their L2 motivational bases and persistence in learning in self-instruction; and (d) their opportunities to engage in authentic L2 communication. In the data analysis, I tried to examine in detail the interviewees’ experiences in light of the four key issues described above. First, I tried to elaborate on the learners’ basic experiences learning with SIR materials: Why did Yuzuru and Shion start learning English using SIR materials? Did they listen to these materials alone or with someone else? Did they record the materials? Why did they stop listening, if they did? Second, I examined how the interviewees perceived English classes at school: Did they like English classes at school? What were the differences between English classes at school and self-instruction? Third, I focused on the motivational characteristics and their trajectories: Were they motivated to learn English? For what reasons? What kinds of careers did they hope to have in the future? Did that involve L2 communication? How are these motivational bases related to their persistence in learning in selfinstruction? Fourth, I paid specific attention to how the interviewees reported engaging in L2 communication outside of self-instruction: Did Yuzuru and Shion seek opportunities to engage in L2 communication outside of self-instruction? What kind of influence did these experiences have on their self-instruction? By focusing on these key issues, the interviewees’ detailed learning experiences with SIR materials and L2 motivations became clear. Yuzuru as a Very Intensive Learner

Among the 13 interviewees I met, Yuzuru appeared by far to be the most serious. He was the only student listening to three of the most advanced SIR materials during the same period, when most other students listened to only one type of material at a time. He complained that one of the materials he listened to had ‘too many parts in Japanese’, and instead, he ‘loved the part where the NS narrator kept talking for a substantial amount of time’ in the most advanced material. He also explained that he ‘dislike[d] doing something loosely’, which indicated his seriousness about his studies. Yuzuru had started studying English with SIR materials in April 2012, only three months before I first met him. He explained his reasons for starting to study with SIR materials, that he became inspired by his

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experience staying with a Chinese family in China the previous year in a program organized by his high school. In the program, 20 students from his high school participated and enjoyed the exchanges with students in Beijing. He told me that all the Chinese students he got to know were very fluent in English and were going to study at American universities. As described, he listened to three types of materials and rarely skipped listening. Although some of the students I interviewed listened in the living room with a family member, Yuzuru considered that ‘the living room is a place to relax and not to study’ and instead listened alone in his room. This was one of the reasons he chose radio materials over TV materials – the only TV at his home was in the living room. In addition, he opted for radio materials because he considered that self-instructional TV materials ‘progress[ed] more slowly than radio materials’. Although he recorded materials, he also listened at the time of airing, and the recording was only to practice repeating and shadowing dialogues later. He explained that considering his characters, he ‘would procrastinate’ if he intended to record materials and only listen later, and he further elaborated on why he listened to SIR materials at the time of airing. This resonates with one of the conditions for persistence (Dörnyei, 2020), i.e. habits and behavioral routines. I study English by deciding to listen to SIR materials at a certain time of the day. And by listening to radio then [at a fixed time of the day], I can manage my schedule for other studies well. Like, ‘Okay, I’m going to listen to the radio at this time, so I’ll finish this [other study] by that time’. (Second year of high school, June 2012)

Yuzuru’s comments demonstrate the importance of making it a habit to study in order to persist, which was facilitated by the fact that the broadcast materials were on air with a fixed schedule. By studying English with SIR materials at a certain time of the day, he succeeded in developing behavioral routines without ‘volitional decisions’ (Dörnyei, 2020: 141). Such behavioral routines even extended to his other studies. Furthermore, he made a vocabulary book of his own from the new words/phrases he found in these materials, as shown in Figure  6.1. He filed cards like the one in Figure 6.1 in alphabetical order and occasionally looked them up when he had free time. In contrast to English classes at school, which he considered to be learning that centered on translations and was not strong on L2 communication, SIR materials offered him English expressions that he thought were used in daily conversations and in business: For example, unlike textbook English or English in books, in terms of English to speak, or authentic English for communication… I wouldn’t say that the only way is radio, but considering my circumstances, it’s

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radio through which I can learn or acquire such English. (Second year of high school, June 2012)

Figure 6.1  Yuzuru’s vocabulary card using SIR materials

It is ironic that his studies with SIR materials took place in 2012, many years after the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) started focusing on ‘communication’ in English education (see Chapter 4 for details), yet his perceptions of English textbooks at school tell otherwise. At the first interview, his motivation to study English was particularly notable for his very strong intrinsic motivation. The following quote shows his interest even in linguistics: Of course, there are utilitarian aspects [of English], like being able to communicate with many people by becoming competent in languages. But …but I don’t think that’s all. Well, I’m also interested in linguistics, although I haven’t read many books. Well, like, you know, there’s the theory that humans realize objects by giving names to them… Also, I just like it because I do. Well, it’s not that I like studying grammar all the time… Um, it’s difficult to answer the ‘reason’ why [I like studying English]. (Second year of high school, June 2012)

Such interests in languages and strong intrinsic motivation seemed to have extended to LOTE learning already in high school by (a) studying Chinese in preparation for the program in which he participated in China and (b) having a certain period in which he ‘longed’ for French, reflecting integrativeness (Gardner, 1985, 2001, 2020). When asked if he liked English, he answered, ‘I like languages, not just English.… I love learning languages, it’s nothing to struggle with’. Such a remark resembles an excerpt of a written narrative by an advanced Finnish learner of English and LOTE, who commented, ‘I have always liked studying languages a lot, right from elementary school’ (Huhtala et al., 2019: 296). Considering the few opportunities for LOTE studies among Japanese high school students and learners’ disinterest in LOTEs, Yuzuru’s perspectives seem uncommon for a high school student. Unlike in later days, Yuzuru had not decided on one possible future career and had ‘many things’ he wanted to do, although he thought that

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he would need English competence regardless of what he would do. He was also interested in living abroad and studying abroad, but again, his character of ‘dislik[ing] doing something loosely’ was evident in his remarks: I would like to enter a university in Japan for once, and… if I go overseas, or… I’m not very interested in studying abroad to study a language, and if I do [go abroad], I would like to really pursue academic studies. So, if I enter a university and really decide on a subject, and if it goes, like, to study that topic this is the place, then I thought I would go there for that reason and go there for a year or two. (Second year of high school, June 2012)

As such, in high school he seemed to take it for granted that he would need English competence regardless of his future career, but a concrete ideal English self was yet to be developed. Living in a typical English as a foreign language (EFL) context, the 13 interviewees did not have many opportunities to communicate in English even in the capital Tokyo, which contrasts with cases in Europe (e.g. Henry, 2015a). Some interviewees seemed to take it for granted, while others consciously created such opportunities on their own and supplemented the deficiencies of L2 self-instruction by, for example, intentionally communicating in English with their family members. In this respect, the experiences of Yuzuru and Shion are particularly unique. As briefly introduced in Chapter 5, Yuzuru attended an atypical juku, which focused on extensive reading and academic writing in English. It is atypical in the sense that the school did not focus exclusively on grammar-translation and their preparations for university entrance examinations, as most other cram schools in Japan do. Instead, it seemed to help students create opportunities to communicate in English and, in a way, prepare for higher education in an English-speaking country. Classes were held for three hours a week, half of which focused on extensive reading in English and the other half on various types of English including academic writing in English with an NS instructor. Yuzuru seemed to benefit both from having opportunities to communicate in English and from nurturing his reading abilities in English, one of the crucial themes that comes back much later in university. Non-Persistence in L2 Self-Instruction and Motivational Changes after Half a Year

In November 2012, when preparing for the second interview session, I still remember the surprise I had when I found out through email exchanges that Yuzuru was no longer studying with SIR materials. Given his intense attitudes, seriousness and strong intrinsic motivation in the

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first interview, his dropping out of SIR materials was not something I had expected even in the exam-oriented context of Japan. However, as it turned out, one of the main reasons for having dropped out of his studies with SIR materials was exactly because of his preparations for university entrance examinations. In December 2012, the month the second interview sessions were held, all the interviewees had to decide whether they were going to pursue the rikei (science) or bunkei (arts, social sciences and humanities) course; these decisions were likely to have a major impact both on their studies for the entrance examinations and on their future careers. Therefore, it was natural for them to start thinking seriously about university entrance examinations, which influenced Yuzuru’s studies with SIR materials. In the interview, Yuzuru explained that he became busy preparing for the university entrance examinations. He allocated the time he could spend on studying each subject for the university entrance examinations and realized that he could not spend so much time on his studies with SIR materials. He further explained that he had to ‘postpone’ studying using SIR materials after prioritizing things. For him, the studies using SIR materials were for L2 interpersonal communication, which he considered different from studies for entrance examinations: After entering a university I may resume my studies with SIR materials, or go to a conversation school, for example. I don’t know, but I think I should learn English phrases for communication after entering a university. And so, I stopped [studying with SIR materials]. (Second year of high school, December 2012)

As such, it is somewhat ironic that the perceived discrepancy between university entrance examinations and English for communication still exists even after the various attempts at English education reforms by MEXT (see Chapter  4). Yuzuru elaborated, ‘If there were no entrance examinations, I’d still continue with my studies using SIR materials’. He also added that he had to think about ‘efficiency’ for the entrance examinations. Influenced by such factors, he started skipping listening, and then he came to a complete stop in October 2012. The non-persistence in learning was surprising because of the intense attitude and seriousness about his studies with SIR materials that he exhibited during the first interview. At least at the time of the second interview, his primary concern was to get through the university entrance examinations; he did not mention anything about enjoying learning English, nor did he elaborate much on his future self-image in relation to English. His motivational pattern illustrates the ‘dual orientations’ (Yashima et al., 2004) among Japanese high school students, which consist of (a) the short-term goal of passing the university entrance examinations and (b) the long-term goal of learning practical English to communicate

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with people from various countries (see Chapter 4 for a discussion). At least at the second interview, his short-term goal of passing the university entrance examinations seemed to outweigh his L2 motivation to study English for interpersonal communication, which led him to discontinue his studies using SIR materials. Yuzuru’s Seeds of a Multilingual Learner

One of the notable aspects that can be considered particularly atypical for a Japanese high school student is Yuzuru’s studies of Chinese and his week-long trip alone to China. As described in Chapter 4, most Japanese students study English and only English, with an opportunity to study a LOTE only at the tertiary level, an opportunity not all university students have after the guidelines for establishing universities were relaxed in 1991 (Ministry of Education Higher Education Bureau, 1991). However, this did not apply in Yuzuru’s case. He started studying Chinese in preparation for the program that he participated in and continued even after the program: I was told that the host parents do not speak English at all, so I studied [Chinese] and went [to China]. By studying it I got hooked, and I still study it [even after the program]. (Second year of high school, June 2012)

Maybe even more atypical for a Japanese high school student is that he went alone to China in August 2012 and ‘traveled for a week by using both Chinese and English’. He reflected on the opportunity in December 2012 that the problem was more about ‘having few occasions in which English could be used’ rather than ‘the lack of [his] language expertise in situations in which [he] could communicate in English’. Laughing and explaining that he ‘survived by using Chinese [and English] concurrently’, he seemed to enjoy discussing such an opportunity. As such, Yuzuru already had the experience of studying a LOTE and an opportunity to communicate in the TL in the country where the TL is spoken. As it became apparent at later stages, such an experience seemed to deeply impact his multilingual attitude. Shion as the Most Persistent Learner among the 13 Students

Compared to Yuzuru, Shion gave me the impression of a relaxed learner who simply enjoyed studying English. Encouraged by her teacher, she started her self-instruction using SIR materials when she was a seventh grader and had been studying with SIR materials since then. She liked English as a school subject as well and enjoyed learning English with SIR materials. The way she listened to the materials was simple. She listened at the time of airing without recording materials, and when she was not home at the time they aired, she listened to the broadcast using

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her smartphone. She stated that it was not very difficult to keep listening for such a long period of time. She sometimes skipped listening but ‘did not worry much’, and simply continued studying with the materials. Shion considered that the materials helped her improve her listening abilities and learn colloquial expressions in English. She explained that in the material she listened to, which focused on eikaiwa or English conversation, ‘there are many types of skits with characters of all ages and all occupations in various situations’ compared to school textbooks, which, according to her, only had ‘limited patterns [of characters] like students or a tourist and a Japanese’. She also considered that the skits in the materials ‘were closer to how [English] is spoken in real situations’. Unlike Yuzuru, who experienced changes in his studies with SIR materials and his motivations within a half-year period, there was not much change in Shion’s experiences during this period. At the second interview in December 2012, she explained that she listened to the same material in the same manner as she had at the time of the first interview and did not find it difficult to continue listening: It’s not like ‘I have to listen’, but I continue because I want to. It’s like a hobby.… It [listening to SIR materials] is a good listening practice, and also, it’s just so interesting, like, I’d listen to the material even if it was a show in Japanese. (Second year of high school, December 2012)

As such, Shion kept studying with SIR materials for more than four years, including the six months between the two interviews. This made her the most persistent learner with SIR materials among the 13 interviewees. L2 Motivational Bases That Sustained Shion’s Persistence in Studies with SIR Materials

What sustained Shion’s persistence in learning through selfinstruction, which lacks encouragement, pressure, feedback or credits? What kept her going for more than four years when other interviewees dropped out, in some cases, in less than half a year? There are at least three motivational factors that sustained her perseverance. First is the strong intrinsic motivation that Shion maintained throughout the study period. As the above quote demonstrates, her persistence in studying was sustained by a very strong intrinsic motivation, as demonstrated by expressions such as ‘like a hobby’ and ‘interesting’. That intrinsic motivation seemed to be unchanged even after she started thinking seriously about the upcoming university entrance examinations. Second, as a high school student, Shion envisioned working at the United Nations (UN). She was aware that this ideal professional self would involve many L2-related aspects, which not only partly helped her persist in studying English with SIR materials but also helped her study

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Chinese. She elaborated that this dream of working at the UN was ‘one of the very reasons to keep listening [to SIR materials]’. As she also understood that more than one foreign language (FL) is needed to work there, she ‘also had a period during which [she] listened [to an SIR material] in Chinese’ around the time when she went to the same program as Yuzuru. As such, the ideal L2 self of working at the UN facilitated both her studies with SIR materials and her LOTE learning, which not many Japanese high school students have an opportunity to engage in. Third, Shion saw a positive relationship between her studies with SIR materials and her studies for entrance examinations. This is different from Yuzuru’s and, indeed, many other interviewees’ perspectives. She maintained a unique perspective on the relationships between the two factors, which helped her persistence in studies with SIR materials. When examining all 13 interviewees, I realized that one of the most crucial factors that interfered with persistence in learning with SIR materials was their studies for university entrance examinations. Most of the interviewees explained that although SIR materials were good for listening practice, they had to focus more on ‘grammar’ and ‘translation’ in preparation for the entrance examinations. Thus, many did not think that SIR materials were very useful for their preparations. Instead, they began studying using various workbooks that targeted the entrance examinations, and in some cases, they dropped out of their studies using SIR materials, including Yuzuru. Such a picture strongly reflects how Japanese high school students with social role obligations (Huang et al., 2015) perceive university entrance examinations and take them seriously. Furthermore, they perceived that ‘English for exams’ is distinct from ‘English for communication’, despite the various efforts by MEXT for educational reforms, as described in Chapter  4. Such perceptions echo how Ryan (2009a: 408) describes ‘English for exams’ as being ‘a form of English stripped of its function as a system of human communication and bear[ing] little relation to varieties of English used outside Japanese classrooms’. However, in the case of Shion, the story was different. For Shion, her studies with SIR materials were not a waste of time, and in fact, she felt they had a positive influence on her preparations for entrance examinations. Shion explained that through the use of SIR materials, ‘I keep the interest in English, which is also good for entrance examinations’. Furthermore, she considered that her studies with SIR materials ‘were related to listening skills’, which were also tested in university entrance examinations. Thus, she stated that she would continue to listen to SIR materials for as long as possible. Such perceived positive relationships between her studies with SIR materials and her studies for entrance examinations helped the interviewee persist in L2 self-instruction even when she started studying hard for university entrance examinations. In

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other words, ‘the dual orientations’ seemed to coexist in Shion’s case and did not contradict each other. In addition to her strong motivations, she also had the advantage of having occasional opportunities to communicate in English. These include attending the same juku as Yuzuru, which provided her with the opportunities to engage in extensive reading in English and to communicate in English. Another interesting experience of Shion is that, while at a sports rehabilitation gym in Tokyo, she encountered one of the narrators of the show she listened to and conversed in English for about 10 minutes. She stated that she sometimes had to strain to remember some vocabulary, but the narrator was good at guessing and the conversation went well. The experience of actually meeting one of the narrators of the show seemed to have a great impact on her. She may have felt as if she had actually met a figure of a scene that she hoped to be part of in her future ideal English self. Shion indeed explained that it became a great motivator for her to continue her studies using SIR materials. In sum, Shion was the most persistent learner among the 13  interviewees, studying English using SIR materials for four years and nine months by the time of the second interview. She continued with her studies using SIR materials mainly because she enjoyed listening to the show, and she envisioned herself working for the UN in the future. Learning with SIR materials had a positive impact on her studies in preparation for the entrance examinations in that she could maintain her interest in English by listening to the material. She also had some opportunities to communicate in English; all of these experiences and goals seemed to create a virtuous cycle for Shion. Comparing the Interviewees during This Study Phase

The two interviewees’ learning experiences with SIR materials are contrasting and closely related to their motivations to study English. As high school students, their opportunities for L2 communication were not abundant in a typical EFL context, but they found their own ways. The interviews showed both the stability and changes in L2 motivational bases within half a year, influenced by various individual and contextual factors. This, in turn, led to their (non-)persistence in L2 self-instruction. Regarding Research Question 1, as presented in Table 6.1, the interviewees’ experiences with SIR materials draw a rather simple picture even in the age of high technology. Both tuned in to the radio alone and listened at the time of airing every day, fixing their studies with SIR materials at a certain time of the day. This is in accordance with past studies demonstrating that studying with broadcast materials keeps learning regular (Hara & Hattori, 1995; Takahashi, 2008), helping learners make it a habit to study. Furthermore, also in accordance with past studies (e.g. Umino, 1999), they both considered that the materials offered them

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Table 6.1  The interviewees’ basic accounts of experiences studying with SIR materials Yuzuru

Shion

Why started?

Became interested himself

Recommended by a teacher

Learned alone?

Yes

Yes

Influence of family

No

No

Listened at the time of airing?

Yes

Yes

Recorded materials?

Yes

No

Learned what?

Colloquial expressions, ‘real’ English

Listening; colloquial expressions, ‘real’ English

Table 6.2  Persistence in English self-instruction and factors related to persistence Yuzuru

Shion

Persistence in studies with SIR materials

Seven months

Four years and nine months

Intrinsic motivation

Changed from strong to weak

Strong

Ideal English self

Vague

Elaborate

Relationship between L2 self-instruction and studies for university entrance examinations

Negative

Positive

authentic English for use in ‘real’ conversations, which they contrasted with English textbooks at school. Regarding Research Question  2, persistence in learning with SIR materials was closely related to their L2 motivational bases. The interviewees’ motivations were both similar and distinct at the two interview sessions, as shown in Table 6.2. At the first interview session, both emphasized the intrinsic aspect of learning English, repeatedly describing the materials as ‘interesting’. At the second interview session, however, they showed drastic contrasts in their motivational trajectories. Whereas Shion did not experience much change and was still intrinsically motivated as in the first interview, Yuzuru experienced a sharp decline or ‘postponement’ in intrinsic motivation. He did not mention anything related to intrinsic motivation at the time of the second interview, unlike in the first interview session, in which he described his interests in languages and linguistics. In contrast, Shion, who was the most persistent among the 13 students, seemed to purely enjoy listening to SIR materials without having to try hard to keep listening. Intrinsic motivation, in this regard, was one of the decisive factors for persistence in the case of L2 self-instruction. Second, another difference concerns the specificity of ideal English selves. The two interviews with Shion showed that her ideal English selves were supported by her ideal professional self of working at the UN and were more detailed than other interviewees, including Yuzuru. Shion

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herself saw a positive relationship between her ideal English self and persistence in studying with SIR materials, stating that her ideal English self, working at the UN, was ‘one of the very reasons to keep listening [to SIR materials]’. This is in accordance with the L2 motivational self system (L2MSS), which postulates that the more elaborate and vivid the ideal L2 self is, the more motivational power it has (Dörnyei, 2009: 19). Third, another major factor related to persistence, which perhaps outweighed the intrinsic aspect in the case of Yuzuru, was the upcoming university entrance examinations in this exam-oriented context. For Yuzuru, preparing for university entrance examinations had a negative influence on his studies with SIR materials, making him drop out of his studies using them. As the season of the university entrance examinations approached, Yuzuru started to emphasize the necessity of prioritizing his studies, which may strongly reflect his social role obligations as a high school student. It is interesting to note, however, that Yuzuru explained that it was only a ‘temporary postponement’ and that he would resume his studies once he finished the entrance examinations. He explained at the second interview that he felt the necessity and personal importance of English as strongly as he had before, but that he had to ‘postpone’ his studies using SIR materials after prioritizing things. Thus, Yuzuru’s case demonstrates ‘the duality’ of orientations among Japanese learners of English (e.g. Yashima et  al., 2004). The case sharply contrasts with that of Shion, who did not experience a negative influence of university entrance examinations on her studies with SIR materials but instead saw a positive relationship between them. From a broader perspective, Yuzuru’s experience during this period seems to show some signs of directed motivational currents (DMCs). He had a goal of improving his ‘English for interpersonal communication’; his intense studies of listening to three different materials started after being greatly stimulated by his experience in China and seeing highly competent Chinese students; he had a behavioral routine of tuning in to the radio and studying with a fixed schedule; and his experience of DMCs ended when he started preparing for the upcoming entrance examinations. The characteristics of SIR materials facilitated his experience in that radio materials were on air at a fixed time of day, thus helping him form study habits. It is interesting to note that Yuzuru himself was aware of the importance of forming study habits/behavioral routines and the facilitating role that SIR materials played in it (see the quote above). Regarding Research Question 3, opportunities for L2 communication were not something the 13 interviewees could easily gain in a typical EFL context, but the two interviewees had their own ways of engaging in communication in English. This was thanks to the juku they attended, where they were able to improve their English reading abilities and communicate in English. In this sense, in Japan, opportunities for communication

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in English were not easily available but could be consciously created with awareness on the learners’ side. Lastly, although a major part of the two interviewees’ L2 learning at this stage concerned English, both Shion and Yuzuru had an opportunity to study Chinese for the program in which they participated. Considering the Japanese education system, which ‘reflects a monolingual or homogeneous approach to foreign language education’ (Kubota & Takeda, 2021: 463), their LOTE learning opportunity is indeed atypical, albeit not as school subjects. Their actual achievement in Chinese studies might not have been great; however, these opportunities, together with the experience of visiting the country where that LOTE is spoken, may have helped them not develop the attitude that ‘English is enough’ (e.g. Lanvers, 2018: 138) or that English is ‘more important than other FLs’ (e.g. Busse, 2017: 572) and may have opened a new horizon for their language learning. Looking Back, Looking Ahead

My first encounters with the interviewees were some time ago, but I can vividly remember the day I first met them. The two interviewees were quite different and unique in their own ways, but both were very serious about their studies, and both were outgoing. Despite being in an examoriented context, they both strived to learn ‘authentic’ English through SIR materials and put much effort into their studies. Through the radio, they could imagine various situations in which conversations in English would take place with ‘characters of all ages and all occupations’. It calls attention to the fact that they both considered that SIR materials offered more colloquial, ‘authentic’ English than English textbooks did. Through SIR materials, they both tried to study English for communication while simultaneously preparing for the upcoming paper-and-pencil university entrance examinations. Depending on the strength of intrinsic motivation, the ideal English selves and the perceived relationships between SIR materials and university entrance examinations, one persisted in L2 self-instruction and the other did not. To me, however, they were both young, talented Japanese students with lots of possibilities ahead. Considering the regularity of studies with broadcast materials, L2 self-instruction using SIR materials may be a type of learning that suits learners like high school students, who more or less keep a regular schedule. This observation matches one of the necessary conditions for persistence in learning as argued by Dörnyei (2020: 141–142), i.e. habits and behavioral routines. I remember that, unlike my English studies, I easily dropped out of my Spanish studies with SIR materials that I engaged in during the one semester in which I attended a Japanese university before going to the United States. This was due to the various commitments I had in addition to the coursework at my university, including my parttime job. It became increasingly difficult for me to be home at a certain

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time of the day, and as a typical non-persistent learner, I gradually skipped listening and stopped only after a couple of months. In this sense, the interviewees’ university schedules were likely to be different from their high school schedules, and their worlds were also likely to broaden to a greater extent at university than in high school, providing them with diverse opportunities both academically and socially. In such a context, other types of learning were likely to play an important role, perhaps more so than studies with SIR materials. Interestingly and somewhat ironically, the issue of the regularity of the study schedule and L2 learning in self-instruction comes back at the very last phase of the study, when both interviewees had to stay home due to the spread of COVID-19. This will be detailed in Chapter 9. Looking back at their high school days after knowing their psychological and academic developments until 2021, it is remarkable that some of the enduring themes of the interviewees are already evident at this early stage. One is their engagement in extensive reading in English. Engaging in such activities is rare in Japan, particularly for a high school student, and sharply contrasts with the more grammar-focused activities done at regular cram schools. This aspect was to help them in university when they had to read a substantial number of academic papers in English, which was only to be conceivable later. Another aspect is the interviewees’ studies of Chinese. Although the two interviewees’ LOTE learning follows different paths at university, having had an atypical opportunity to study a LOTE and actually visit the country where it is spoken in high school may have influenced their perspectives on language and language learning. In Chapter 7, they start to further develop in different directions with even richer academic and life experiences than in their high school days.

7 Broadening the Horizons: (Re-)Starting LOTE Learning at University

In July 2014, when I contacted Shion and Yuzuru again, I discovered that they had entered one of the top-tiered universities in Japan in April 2014. They did not have to declare their majors right away upon entering the university and seemed to be enjoying their university life after getting through a series of high-stakes entrance examinations. At the same time, their academic studies were intense, and they seemed to be studying diligently. Their cases delineate a picture that contrasts with one that is more commonly described in Japan, where university students are often characterized with ‘apathy, passivity or lack of learning purpose and engagement’ (Ushioda, 2013: 9). Nor did they seem ‘to be oriented away from study to such pastimes as TV programs, mobile phones, fashion brands and cars’ (Taguchi, 2013: 170). Instead, the two interviewees’ studies seemed as intense as in high school, maybe even more so. This demonstrates the high academic orientation of the two interviewees. At university, both had to take compulsory courses in one language other than English (LOTE) or dai-2 gaikokugo. It was a university policy that all freshmen had to take courses in one LOTE, which contrasts with many other universities where LOTE studies are not mandatory (see the discussion in Chapter  4). This turned out to be not the language they studied in high school, i.e. Chinese, but French for Yuzuru and German for Shion. This was in addition to their English studies at university, which were compulsory as well. Yuzuru also took up voluntary studies of other languages, including German, Greek and Latin. As described later, they seemed to put varying efforts into their language studies, involving distinct ideal second language (L2) selves. When examining their English and LOTE studies, one immediately notices that they went through contrasting experiences and varying influences of contextual factors on their studies. As the discussion in Chapter 4 demonstrates, Shion and Yuzuru were in a context where there is ‘an unmistakable political interest in promoting English education over other FL education’ (Sugita-McEown et al., 2017: 537). This emphasis also heavily involved economic factors in that the initiatives for various English education reforms ‘have been heavily influenced by the interests of two 93

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major Japanese business associations’ (Kubota & Takeda, 2021: 462). However, as detailed later, the two interviewees’ English and LOTE learning was distinct and formed by their initiatives ‘as uniquely individual people, with particular personal histories, located in particular social contexts, rather than as learners necessarily defined by their Japanese cultural, historical and psychological legacies’ (Ushioda, 2013: 11). The interviews illustrate the day-to-day experiences in academia, life and language of two academically successful Japanese learners who shaped their own contexts. The first two years of university were the period when the interviewees’ ideal English and LOTE selves developed, heavily influenced by their major studies and future career aspirations. Although unrelated on the surface, these aspects were closely related to their language learning. Indeed, as Taguchi (2013: 184) pointed out, ‘encouraging an Ideal L2 Self for academic and vocational purposes will help develop higher levels of motivation’, there was a close relationship between them. Although the participants in Taguchi (2013: 179) showed ‘[a] lack of interest in using English for academic and vocational purposes’, the two interviewees perceived much relevance between their language learning and their academic and professional aspects. Such perceptions influenced the development of their ideal English/LOTE selves. The Study

Considering (a) the little available research on LOTE motivations among Japanese learners who actually have an opportunity to study a LOTE, particularly using interviews; and (b) the various contextual factors surrounding English and LOTE education in Japan as examined in Chapter 4, this research phase aimed to examine the interviewees’ developments in English/LOTE motivations and their related factors during the first two years of university. As LOTE learning is not emphasized in Japan, it was also fruitful to examine whether the two interviewees would persist in not only English but also LOTE studies. Accordingly, the research questions that guided this research phase were the following: (1) How do ideal English and LOTE selves develop over time? (2) What are the significant factors related to their development? (3) How does intrinsic motivation change over time? (4) Do Yuzuru and Shion persist in learning English and LOTEs? During this period, four sets of individual interviews took place at approximately half-year intervals, except for one session with Yuzuru, who was not available because he was abroad (see Chapter 5 for details). This interview session was replaced with several email exchanges. As in other interviews, each interview was semi-structured. I had a set of questions regarding English/LOTE studies and English/LOTE motivations

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but allowed for flexibility when some unexpected but important topics emerged. Furthermore, as the two interview sessions in high school served to identify them as intrinsic cases, the interviews reported in this chapter and beyond were case studies of two extremely academically successful yet contrasting learners of English and LOTEs. All the interview data were analyzed in terms of four key issues: (a) interviewees’ classroom and out-of-class academic and English/LOTE learning/using experience; (b) development of the interviewees’ English and LOTE motivations; (c) significant experiences related to English/ LOTE studies; and (d) development of the interviewees’ career plans. By focusing on these four issues, I considered that I would be able to explore not only how the interviewees’ English/LOTE studies developed but also the possible development of ideal English/LOTE selves and the factors that might be related to such development. This included the investigation of Shion’s ideal professional self; she envisioned working at the United Nations (UN), which was clear when she was a high school student. I tried to gauge the interviewees’ future career plans because as learners in a typical English as a foreign language (EFL) context, their future professional selves might be closely related to the development of their ideal English/LOTE selves (e.g. Huhtala et al., 2019; Siridetkoon & Dewaele, 2018; Taguchi, 2013). Yuzuru’s Studies of English and Multiple LOTEs

Although Yuzuru was a non-persistent learner in English selfinstruction with self-instructional radio (SIR) materials, his L2 studies bloomed at university, not only in English but also in multiple LOTEs. Every time I interviewed him, I was amazed at his development between interviews; I came to realize that he is truly an extremely successful English and LOTE learner for a student in any context, but especially for a Japanese student. This was despite the societal climate of Japan emphasizing English communication competence, speaking skills in particular, and de-emphasizing LOTE competence. As such, Yuzuru’s case can be considered one of the under-researched and few documented successful learners (see Chapter  3 for discussions). His case demonstrates what is possible in a non-multilingual context if a learner is ready to take on the journey of L2 learning. Below is an attempt to elaborate on the development of his English and LOTE studies and the factors involved during his first two years at university. First, as a university student, Yuzuru studied English in various ways, including (a) reading books and articles related to his major in English, (b) joining an English debate club at the university, (c) repeatedly listening to podcasts like the BBC and (d) studying for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with a perspective of studying abroad. In contrast, English communication opportunities did not seem

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frequent, although he occasionally communicated in English (e.g. spoke with an exchange student from Taiwan). These opportunities seemed to decrease as his academic workload increased. Partly thanks to the intensity of his English studies, the overall score band of the IELTS that he took in December of his freshman year was 7.5, with an already perfect reading score of 9.0. This is the only standardized test he took during this period, but it might very well show Yuzuru’s very high English competence. This was possible even without extensive experiences abroad. Second, a notable aspect of Yuzuru’s language studies is that he started studying multiple LOTEs: French, German, Greek and Latin, in addition to English, as mentioned above. At the time of his interview in the winter of his freshman year, he had been taking an obligatory course in French as well as an elective course in German; at his interview in the summer of his sophomore year, he had also started learning Greek and Latin ‘at a level of hobby’. He seemed to need little effort to take up studying a new language. Furthermore, the societal emphasis on English had little or no impact on the interviewee, and he did not seem to experience interferences of English and LOTE learning motivations as in the case of many LOTE learners in various contexts (e.g. Dörnyei et al., 2006; Henry, 2015a). Yuzuru’s experience of starting various languages resembles the unique experiences of students in England that are described in Benson and Lamb (2021). Lamb explains the students’ experience of being provided with ‘language tasters’ of French, German, Spanish, Greek and Turkish, then later deciding on their language of choice (Benson & Lamb, 2021: 77). What is even more unique in Yuzuru’s case is that he initiated such ‘tasters’ on his own, without being directed by instructors or other significant people. Although Yuzuru’s intrinsic motivation drastically decreased or was ‘postpone[d]’ in high school, he seemed to have regained the enjoyment of learning not only English but various LOTEs after finishing the entrance examinations and entering university; he continued to exhibit a natural knack and love for languages. This is in accordance with the importance of intrinsic motivation for LOTE learners, which is reported in past studies in other contexts (e.g. de Burgh-Hirabe, 2019; Zheng et  al., 2019). Notably, he seemed to go between different language studies at times, spending varying amounts of time studying each language. At one time, he took an elective course in German, and another time, he spent less time on German and instead took an elective course in Greek and studied Latin on his own. He explained his various LOTE learning in the following way: For now, I can just try to learn basic grammatical points and nurture basic reading abilities [of various languages] and lay the groundwork so that when one language becomes necessary, I can specialize in that. (Sophomore year, September 2015)

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Interestingly, his motivation to study French, he explained, was ‘not really to speak [French] but to read the academic literature’. As reported in Taguchi (2013: 181), many Japanese students seem to be keen on L2 speaking and ‘Japanese university students’ Ideal L2 Self is for speaking and communication purposes’. However, in Yuzuru’s case, the emphasis was on reading. He complained about the level of one of the French classes at the university focusing on conversation in that it only dealt with conversations ‘like what are in books of collections of conversations or of travel [French]’. Furthermore, the following quote shows his reasons for studying multiple LOTEs: My specialization is political science, particularly political philosophy. So classical languages are a must…. The professor [specializing in Western classical literature] says that if I want to do political philosophy, in particular ancient and medieval political philosophy, then Latin is definitely necessary. (Sophomore year, September 2015)

As will be further detailed later, the interviewee’s studies of multiple LOTEs are closely related to his academic studies and ideal LOTE selves, in addition to his strong intrinsic motivation. Together, they seemed to help him not experience the negative impact of English on his LOTE learning because he considered LOTE learning ‘a must’. Yuzuru’s Rich Life Experiences and the Development of the Ideal English and LOTE Selves

One of Yuzuru’s significant experiences during this period in relation to language learning was his participation in a summer program at Oxford University, which was organized by one of the professors at his home university. It was a month-long program during the summer of his sophomore year, when he had classes in law and Greek classics, both taught in English. When asked whether he had any difficulty following lectures and participating in discussions, he explained his experience in the following way: Well, of course I would be lying if I said I had no difficulty. Of course I had parts in which, like, okay, I don’t understand this concept of a certain law, so I’ll look it up, or I couldn’t communicate what I wanted. But, well, overall, I felt I did reasonably well. (Sophomore year, September 2015)

During the summer program, he had opportunities not only to participate in all-English classes but also to travel alone to parts of the UK and attend academic conferences. He seemed to be greatly stimulated by

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this experience, stating that if he ‘had a more specialized vocabulary, [he] would have a wider world stage’ (Sophomore year, September 2015). Yuzuru seemed to have little problem traveling alone overseas. As elaborated on in Chapter 6, he traveled alone in China for a week as a high school student, which is atypical for a Japanese teenager; during his freshman year, he traveled alone in Europe; and then in the UK during the summer of his sophomore year. Although these experiences might not be directly related to his language studies, they are crucial life experiences that the interviewee ‘as a person’ (Ushioda, 2009) went through and might have been conducive to understanding various cultures, appreciating them and learning English and LOTEs. Yuzuru’s ideal English self was rather vague when he was a high school student. However, as time went by, he seemed to crystallize his ideal professional and English selves. When asked about his possible career plans and how those would involve English, his ideas developed as follows: I do long for the world of academia, but I also know that the road will be tough. And recently, I often see my seniors, my seniors who are out in the world [working], like after finishing exams. Then I feel the world of business also seems interesting. Frankly, I can only say I’m thinking. (Freshman year, February 2015) If I write academic papers in English, the number of readers would certainly be different, right? Compared to writing in Japanese. By doing so, or rather, by communicating to the world in a proactive manner, I might be able to find new research members, or on the contrary, I might be refuted. And I think that the process in which my research will be finetuned is really important. (Freshman year, February 2015) So if I pursue my academic career, I think writing in English, speaking with foreigners in English, having a real discussion in my specialization… right, in terms of speaking I think I’d like to be able to have a real discussion [in English]. (Freshman year, February 2015) Well, [career plans] I’m really spending a lot of time thinking about. I’m really interested in political philosophy, which is an area where it’s difficult to actualize societal interests with other professions (laughs). So the interests in a research job have not changed. But, that’s really a strait gate, so I’m also aware that I need to think about the case if that [research job] does not go well. (Sophomore year, September 2015) [After studying in England during the summer], I felt I really need to be able to present my research in English, contact professors overseas, and put my work on the international table of discussion. So if I am to be a researcher, I felt it indispensable not only to read in English but to communicate in English. That’s… one of the things I gained by going [to England]. (Sophomore year, September 2015)

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In terms of influence from significant others, none of his family members used English in their jobs, which is perhaps typical in Japan, and he ‘was not aware’ of anyone who could serve as his role model, except for the Chinese students he met in high school. Rather, what influenced the development of his ideal English selves seemed to be his academic studies and career plans related to that major. One of Yuzuru’s most notable developments during this period was that he decided to study abroad in an exchange program for a year after winning a competitive scholarship. This was not to take place in an English-speaking country but in France, where his major LOTE is spoken. This way, he would be able to take courses in both English and French. Furthermore, as for his specialization, the university ‘put emphasis on seminars or small-sized classes’, which he considered another advantage of studying at the university. Interestingly, Yuzuru did not consider it a disadvantage that he would have to spend five years in total at the undergraduate level if he studied in France for a year. Rather, he explained that having an extra year would enable him ‘to have more time to study’. Yuzuru’s motivation to study French seems to be related not to oral communication in French, but to his career aspirations in academia. As explained above, his initial reason to take up French was to read the academic literature in French, and even after deciding to study in France, he explained his motivation in the following way: I have things I want to read [in French], so that became the motivation…. Books on philosophy might give the impression that they’re difficult, but surprisingly, they have little vocabulary. So if you understand the vocabulary that comes up in the first 20, 30 pages by doing nothing but consulting a dictionary, it’ll be quite easy to read them…. So I’m drawn by this type of motivation. (Sophomore year, February 2016)

In sum, during this research phase in the first two years of university, Yuzuru seemed to develop his ideal English selves related to his career aspirations, and his ideal French selves also seemed to have begun to develop. Supported by both strong intrinsic motivation and ideal L2 selves, he put much effort into studying not only English and French but additional languages as well. These were also supported by his rich life and academic experiences and were related to his future career goal of becoming an academic, which seemed to crystallize as time went on. Shion’s Studies of English and LOTE

Just as in high school, Shion appeared relaxed and enjoying her university life. She studied both English and German at university, although German was not her first choice of LOTE – her first choice was Spanish. Due to the limitation of the maximum number of students who could take Spanish, her only option was to take German. Interestingly, she did

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not keep complaining about it and successfully finished the compulsory period of her German studies. Shion studied English and German diligently, but her studies may have been less intense than Yuzuru’s studies. Furthermore, her studies seemed to be gradually taken up not by language studies but by those for her major, which she officially declared in her sophomore year. As detailed below, this involved major changes in her studies from the bunkei to rikei course, and accordingly, Shion seemed to put a lot of effort into studying for her major to catch up. Following are the details of her English, German and major studies. Regarding her English studies, as a university student she no longer studied with SIR materials; during this research period, she seemed to benefit mainly from her coursework at university. She took several obligatory and elective courses in English, all extensively focusing on academic English. For example, one class that Shion described in great detail and seemed to take advantage of was a course focusing on academic writing and giving presentations in English. Another elective course involved learning how to write academic papers in English, taught by a native speaker (NS). Rather than engaging in self-instruction, her English studies at this stage seemed to involve preparing and reviewing for these classes at university. Opportunities for oral communication in English at this stage seemed to be limited. Shion went to an exchange meeting with international students ‘once or twice’ and ‘talked a little’ in English but explained that she had ‘not been using [English] at all’. Disenrolling from the juku she went to in high school seemed to deprive her of opportunities to speak in English, just like Yuzuru. Again, this might be a typical experience in an EFL context. In terms of LOTE learning, Shion started studying German by taking obligatory courses. Studying German, she explained, was ‘really tough’, and seemed to sometimes interfere with her English studies. This resembles ‘the competition between English and Japanese learning in the allocation of the students’ limited time and energy’ of the Chinese learners trying to handle concurrent studies of English and Japanese (Wang & Zheng, 2021: 391). The following quote demonstrates this aspect: German is really tough, and the course progression speed is really fast, and we finished its grammar in a semester… so I haven’t been able to study English much. (Freshman year, August, 2014)

Partly thanks to the intensity of the classes, she seemed to improve her German quickly, already reading Thomas Mann in class during the third semester of university. It is also noteworthy that Shion was aware of her professor’s intentions to assign students to read such a difficult text and that the professor ‘probably wanted [students] to pursue academic

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studies in German as well’. Such intentions echo one of the past policies regarding foreign language (FL) education in Japan in that language classes were meant to serve as a way to nurture students’ basic knowledge of each language to read materials related to their specialization in the original languages later on (see Chapter 4 for details). With such progress, Shion started considering obtaining certificates in German; she passed Grade  5 with a perfect score (Freshman year, October 2014), skipped Grade  4 and obtained a Grade  3 Certificate (Sophomore year, June 2015). In contrast to Yuzuru, however, she never mentioned anything about studying in Germany or doing something more with her LOTE, except for how she ‘hoped to travel to Germany with [her] classmates’. After passing Grade 3 in German, she ‘brought the studies to a close for now’ (Sophomore year, February 2016). This might be a rather typical case of a Japanese university student taking a compulsory course in a LOTE in that she stopped studying German after the compulsory period (see the discussion in Chapter 4). She was, however, successful as she earned the Grade  3 Certificate, which was supported by her German learning effort that lasted during the compulsory period. Although Shion maintained a very strong intrinsic motivation in high school, which helped her persistence in learning with SIR materials, the intrinsic aspect of English studies was not emphasized during this period. Instead, she considered English ‘a tool’ (Freshman year, August 2014), emphasizing its practicality: [With Chinese people] rather than by speaking in Chinese, or by speaking in Japanese, I can definitely get myself across by speaking in English. If we get lost, we might use Chinese characters, but… if I am to speak with a non-Japanese, there’s nothing else but English now. (Freshman year, August 2014)

Such a perspective reflects the status of English as a global language, even for communication with non-native speakers (NNSs) of English. Unlike in later days (see Chapter 9), at this early stage, she even described that ‘[having only] English would not differentiate [her]’ from others in the job market but that she ‘wanted to have English as one of [her] strengths’. This quote resembles those in Wang and Liu (2020: 208), in which Chinese students of German considered that ‘[e]veryone can speak English and it does not offer a competitive edge’. Shion’s Search for a Future Career and Changing Ideal English Selves

One of the most notable changes in Shion’s motivations was in her ideal English selves. As described in Chapter  6, she envisioned her ideal English self working for the United Nations (UN) as a high school

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student. This changed, however, after entering university. During the interview in the summer of her freshman year, she no longer mentioned her ideal professional self working for the UN. Her career plans and ideal English selves changed from one idea to another: The UN… well I think I have less aspirations for it. …I had a chance to directly listen to a talk by someone working for the UN and was told that it’s really tough. Even if I get used to it, I wonder whether I can persevere unless I have unlimited willpower. (Freshman year, August 2014) I want to work using English… with clients or my colleagues, I will be speaking in English. I long for situations in which, like, the language I speak with my colleagues is English. (Freshman year, August 2014) I am now less certain about my career again…. Before, I thought I would work for a company, but a research job is also a possibility. (Freshman year, February 2015) I’ll have to read academic papers in English. A lot. So I’ll use [English] for it, and if I obtain the certificate in nursing, I want to use it as evidence that I have expertise in health. So I want to do specialist work… then if I can, join an organization with connections overseas, like the WHO or an NGO. (Sophomore year, September 2015)

This change in ideal English selves could be explained by her choice of major; she had not decided on a major as of her freshman year and contemplated various possibilities. One possibility was social psychology, but she felt that the field focused on ‘examining parts that are common to as many people as possible’ and not on ‘areas where there would be variations and individual differences’, which was closer to her interests. As such, she decided on a field that included a focus on ‘dealing with how to provide cares suitable for each and every person’, i.e. nursing, a rikei major, when she became a sophomore. This was despite the fact that, as a high school student, she chose bunkei; the decision seemed particularly challenging and required strong willpower. Shion explained her uncertainty about her ideal professional selves in the following way: I don’t know if I’ll go to graduate school or start working. I am not clear about this probably because I have no specialized knowledge yet and am in no situation to be able to say that my strong point is such and such. (Sophomore year, February 2016)

Furthermore, because Shion changed her course from bunkei to rikei, her university studies seemed to be gradually dominated by studies for her major to make up for the change, which might partly explain the low intensity of her L2 studies. After deciding on the major, she explained that she was studying English ‘only related to [her] major area’.

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However, Shion does not regret having chosen the major, and she explained the advantages of her major in the following way: I do think it was right. I mean, I thought I’d feel quite insecure if I didn’t study anything related to science and went out into society. That’s one of the reasons why I chose this major. (Sophomore year, February 2016)

When asked whether she had any hesitation in pursuing a course different from her original bunkei course, she answered that it was partly helped by her high school policy, in which all students, regardless of whether they pursued the bunkei or rikei course, were to study all subjects; she positively considered that ‘[she] would handle things if [she] just did it’. As someone with high aspirations since her high school days, Shion was not wasting time without taking action. For example, in her sophomore year, she tried to design her own study abroad program by contacting various sources related to her major, although it did not actualize at that time. Thus, the situation during this phase might be characterized as her search for a future career. Comparing the Interviewees during This Study Phase

The purpose of this research phase was to investigate the development of English and LOTE learning motivations and related factors and whether they persisted in English and LOTE studies. The analysis revealed not only how the interviewees’ ideal English selves changed over time but also how the ideal LOTE selves of one of the interviewees evolved, together with their intrinsic motivation. These were both closely related to their academic and professional aspects, in addition to their various life experiences. Due to various factors that sustained/interfered with their L2 motivational bases, both interviewees persisted in their English studies, but one of them dropped out of the LOTE studies after the compulsory period. Regarding Research Question 1, first, the results of this research phase contrast well with those in their high school days: Yuzuru, who only had vague ideal English selves in high school, developed elaborate ideal English selves, whereas Shion is still searching for her new ideal English self after discarding her original idea of working for the UN. After pondering various possibilities, Yuzuru seemed clearer about becoming an academic and was more comfortable with the English-related aspect regarding his career; Shion considered that she would use English for her career, but that career was yet to be decided. Second, Yuzuru also started to develop ideal LOTE selves (‘I have things I want to read [in French]’). This differs from Shion, who did not seem to have developed ideal LOTE selves: Shion’s main motivation to study German was to pass certificate exams, and when those goals were met, she stopped studying the language.

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Regarding Research Question 2, several factors seem to be related to the development of the interviewees’ ideal English/LOTE selves, which may be particularly important in a typical FL context like Japan. Some factors are common to the two interviewees, while others are distinct. As described below, the combination of these factors explains the (non-) development of ideal English/LOTE selves. First, both interviewees seemed to perceive English as relevant for their future, although opportunities to communicate in English were not abundant. For example, even though Shion’s ideal English selves were not clear, she perceived English to be relevant for her future (as evidenced by comments such as ‘I want to work using English’ and ‘[read] academic papers in English’), despite the lack of opportunities to use it now. This can be called ‘perceived relevance of English’, which remained high throughout the interview period for both interviewees. This high perceived relevance of English helped Shion not totally discard her English studies: she still anticipates a future that will involve English, which will be necessary for her future career plans, although those career plans are not yet clear. Her case contrasts with the participants in Taguchi (2013: 179), who lacked ‘interest in using English for academic and vocational purposes’. Considering the discrepancy between the percentage of Japanese workers who perceive the necessity of English and the percentage of Japanese people who actually use it for work (Terasawa, 2015), this perceived relevance of English might be somewhat ironic; more Japanese perceive the necessity of English for work than actually use it, which may be conducive to English studies. For university students, it may be that anticipating a future career that involves English motivates them to study English, and depending on the type of career they choose, the actual necessity of the language differs once they leave school. All in all, such situations in Japan without day-to-day opportunities to encounter situations in English sharply contrast with other contexts where English is no longer considered an FL (Henry & Cliffordson, 2017). Second, one noteworthy aspect is the richness of what Irie and Brewster (2014: 172) termed ‘experiential capital’, which refers to ‘investment in and reflecting on experiences inside and outside the classroom’. On the surface, the various life experiences of the interviewees might not seem to be directly related to L2 learning. However, the researchers argue that experiential capital fosters self-efficacy and imagination, which are indispensable for the development of ideal English/LOTE selves. Yuzuru had a wide range of these experiences, from traveling alone to China in high school to joining a summer program at Oxford – experiences both in English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries. Shion’s experiential capital is not very limited, either. She started studying English quite young at various places, had a home-stay experience as an elementary school student (see Chapter 5) and participated in an exchange program

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to China organized by her high school, just like Yuzuru (see Chapter 6). In this sense, the experiential capital is particularly rich for both of them in a context like Japan. Third, unlike the lament of many Japanese people regarding their felt incompetence in English (see Chapter  4 for a discussion), neither perceived such incompetence regarding their English. Instead, both Yuzuru and Shion seemed to have high L2 self-efficacy and considered that their progress simply depended on how much effort they made. In other words, they truly held a personal sense of agency and believed that ‘their behaviour can make a difference to their learning’ (Mercer, 2012: 41). As such, they did not go through a vicious cycle of perceiving their English competence to be low, being unwilling to communicate in English and not having communication opportunities in English. This is remarkable given the society’s ‘permanent sense of crisis’ (Ryan, 2009a: 407) regarding English education and citizens’ negative perceptions of their competence. Although the interviewees had similar characteristics as were elaborated, their English/LOTE studies started following different paths. One possible factor leading to such a difference is the specificity of future career plans, perhaps one of the most decisive factors related to the development of ideal English/LOTE selves in an FL context. Yuzuru’s ideal professional self of becoming an academic became clear as time went on. For example, in an interview in his sophomore year, he mentioned detailed situations where he communicates in English for career purposes, such as ‘present[ing his] research in English, contact[ing] professors overseas, and put[ting his] work on the international table of discussion’. This professionally successful English/LOTE self seemed to be within his ‘working self-concept’ (Markus & Nurius, 1986) and worked well as a future self-guide, exerting strong motivational power. Yuzuru was successful in crystallizing this professional future self, which might explain the development of his ideal English/LOTE self and the subsequent intensity of his English/LOTE learning. In contrast, Shion’s future career plans are less clear now than in her high school days, as evidenced by her quoting, ‘I don’t know if I’ll go to graduate school or start working’. After finding out the realities of working at the UN, Shion had to ‘re-evaluate’ and ‘revise’ her ideal English self (Henry, 2015b), and no clear ideal self-image related to English seemed to be within her working self-concept at this stage. In their one-year longitudinal study, Nitta and Baba (2015) illustrate two cases of Japanese university learners who first developed their ideal selves of working in the music industry. These ideal professional selves later included an English-related component, thus developing into ideal English selves. During the first two years of university, Shion’s future career plans were not decided, which, in part, made it difficult for her to develop a clear, new ideal English self.

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Regarding Research Question 3, another possible factor for explaining the differences between Yuzuru and Shion is the intensity of intrinsic motivation. In high school, Shion’s intrinsic motivation remained strong, which partly explained her persistence in studying using SIR materials. During this research phase, however, Shion seemed to find less enjoyment in studying English itself. In contrast, Yuzuru was intrinsically motivated not only in terms of his English studies but also in terms of his multiple LOTE studies, as seen in quotes including ‘at a level of hobby’. In other words, Yuzuru seemed to purely enjoy studying not only English but also multiple LOTEs. Such a difference in intrinsic motivation regarding both English and LOTEs is one of the important factors leading to the difference between the two interviewees. Lastly, regarding Research Question 4, the two interviewees’ persistence in studying English and LOTEs varied: Yuzuru persisted in studying both English and multiple LOTEs; Shion persisted in studying English but stopped studying German after the compulsory period. The case of Shion might be typical for a Japanese university student, and Yuzuru’s might be atypical. In sum, the contrasting results of Yuzuru and Shion during this period can be summarized as in Table  7.1. Yuzuru persisted in learning not only English but also French and other LOTEs, whereas Shion persisted in learning English but not German. This persistence/non-persistence seems to be related to various factors, as described above, including the (non-)development of ideal English/LOTE selves and intrinsic motivation. Table 7.1  Summary of Yuzuru and Shion’s language studies and motivation during the first two years of university Yuzuru

Shion

Languages studied during the period

English, French, German, Greek, Latin

English, German

Ideal English selves

To be an academic; elaborate and vivid; Not elaborate; changes leads to L2 learning effort from one interview to another

Ideal LOTE selves

To be able to read academic literature in French; vivid; decides to study in France for a year on a scholarship

To pass certificate exams; not vivid

Perceived relevance of English

Very high

Very high

Intrinsic motivation

Very strong

Weak

Experiential capital

Rich

Rich

Career plans Clear Ideal professional selves

Not clear

Persistence in English studies

Yes

Yes

Persistence in LOTE studies

Yes

No

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As discussed in Chapter  3, there have been few reports of successful LOTE learners thus far. In one of the few studies examining successful Swedish learners of English and a LOTE at an atypical secondary school offering a multilingual environment, Henry (2020: 10) described how students developed multilingual identities, supported by language use beyond the classroom and ‘opportunities to use and experiment with languages’. The case of Yuzuru is contrasting in that his environment was nothing like the one described in Henry (2020). Despite the contextual factors that emphasize competence in English but not in LOTEs, he seems to have developed not only elaborate and vivid ideal English selves, but also ideal French selves. The English and LOTE studies of Yuzuru were supported by his perceived relevance of the languages, a clear ideal professional self involving both English and LOTE aspects, strong intrinsic motivation and rich experiential capital. In a long-term engagement like language learning, having one type of motivation (e.g. intrinsic motivation) or one of the factors mentioned before might not be enough to persist because motivation dynamically changes (Hiromori, 2013). The case of Yuzuru, however, demonstrated that when supported by numerous factors, concurrently persisting in English and LOTE studies and becoming a multilingual are possible even in an FL context. These factors together ultimately led to a year-long study abroad in France. In contrast, Shion’s ideal English and LOTE selves did not develop within this period. She was still thinking about her possible career and how that would involve English and other languages. Instead of her language studies, Shion seemed to be gradually concentrating on her major studies, which becomes even more apparent in later days. Looking Back, Looking Ahead

As described, this phase of the study focused on the development of the interviewees’ English and LOTE studies during the first two years of their university life. Yuzuru intensively studied not only English but multiple LOTEs related to his major studies. It is insightful that instead of his speaking abilities, he kept emphasizing the importance of and enjoyment in reading in both English and LOTEs. This becomes more evident in later days. Shion successfully finished the compulsory period of her German studies with the Grade 3 Certificate but did not seek further opportunities for German studies. As such, their LOTE learning experiences were distinct even at the same prestigious university. Yuzuru’s case is already remarkable at this stage, studying four languages in addition to English and growing to be a multilingual. Notably, at this stage, Yuzuru is aware of the possibility of using the whole repertoire of his languages and seems to have started to ‘operate between

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languages’ (MLA, 2007). In his case, this was made possible by emphasizing the importance of reading in L2s, as will be more evident in later days. In Japanese society, it is often considered that university students do not study much. The two interviewees, however, clearly demonstrate that their stories are different. Although in distinct directions, both strived to pursue their academic interests and future careers, and quite frankly, studied diligently at their academically oriented university. In Chapter 8, their intense academic studies continue and flourish. In terms of language learning, however, their paths further diverge.

8 Pursuing Multilingualism or Not? Language and Academic Studies

The period between 2016 and 2018 is when the directions of the interviewees further diverged. As seen in Chapter 7, during the first two years of university, Shion and Yuzuru diligently studied not only English but also languages other than English (LOTEs), albeit with varying intensity. However, as LOTE classes were no longer compulsory during this research period, the two interviewees started following different paths. Yuzuru further pursued English and LOTE studies, developed ideal English and French selves and experienced a year-long study abroad in France. Shion, on the other hand, concentrated on her studies for her major, including a long-term practicum at a hospital. The coursework and the practicum took up most of her time; she never resumed her studies of German after the compulsory period. As such, the two interviewees’ LOTE learning showed sharp contrasts. However, they shared a similar perspective on second language (L2) reading, emphasizing its importance for their academic studies. At university, they were required to read various articles for their coursework and graduation theses; Shion did so in English, and Yuzuru did so in both English and LOTEs. Such emphasis on L2 reading has not been widely reported in past studies either in Japan or in other contexts; in most cases, L2 oral communication is more emphasized (e.g. Henry, 2020; Taguchi, 2013). In this respect, the two interviewees’ atypical experience of having read extensively in English at the juku in high school seems to have facilitated their studies as well as the development of such an emphasis on L2 academic reading. When learners study more than one language, their studies interact in various ways. This, of course, includes realistic issues of managing schedules and ensuring time to study each language, which seemed particularly challenging for Shion. A more serious issue, however, might be psychological, as elaborated on in Chapter 3; it might be rare that a learner is equally motivated to learn distinct languages without experiencing ‘interference’ between different languages (Dörnyei et al., 2006: 117). As already discussed, past studies reported various interactions between English and LOTE learning motivations (e.g. Csizér & Lukács, 109

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2010; Dörnyei & Chan, 2013; Henry, 2015a; Wang & Liu, 2020). Some studies examining LOTE motivation, particularly the interactions between the ideal English and LOTE selves, report negative interactions between them (Csizér & Lukács, 2010). In such cases, this conflict leads to the emergence of a ‘contentedly bilingual self’ (Henry, 2017). Given what has been reported in past studies and the contextual factors surrounding Japanese learners of English and LOTEs, the possibility of developing an ideal multilingual self (Henry, 2017) seems particularly challenging. Even in contexts where English is considered a basic social literacy and where learners have competence in English, it seems that more cases of contentedly bilingual selves have been reported because of the dominant role of English in the globalized world (e.g. Csizér & Lukács, 2010; Henry, 2015a). If this is the case, developing an ideal multilingual self seems to be even more challenging among Japanese learners of LOTEs because nurturing English competence is already difficult (see Chapter 4 for details). As Shion’s case demonstrates, her English studies interfered with her German studies, and her German studies came to an end without an ideal German self fully developing. Seen in this light, Yuzuru increasingly appeared an atypical learner, necessitating close examinations of his psychological processes. Various questions arose by comparing his case to those of not only Shion but also others reported in past studies. How did Yuzuru perceive English as a global language? Why was he not influenced by the societal climate of Japan strongly emphasizing communication competence, particularly speaking skills, in English? How did his ideal multilingual self develop? How did his interactions with non-native speakers (NNSs) of English, including other international students in France, influence his perspectives on language and language learning? The interview method involving prolonged conversations with the interviewee seemed to be particularly suitable for answering such questions of ‘how’ and ‘why’. The Study

Considering the theoretical and contextual aspects as well as the development of the interviewees, the focus of this research phase was not only on the further development of the interviewees’ English/LOTE motivations but also on the interactions between them. During this period, Yuzuru set out for his study abroad in France as an exchange student and further developed his competence in English and French. Shion mainly stayed in Japan and kept herself busy with her studies for her major. To gauge the development in ideal English/LOTE/multilingual selves and their interactions, the following research questions were asked: (1) How do the interviewees’ English and LOTE motivations develop over time?

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(2) How do the interviewees’ ideal English/LOTE/multilingual selves influence their actual English/LOTE learning/persistence? (3) Does English have any impact on the interviewees’ LOTE motivations? To examine the interviewees’ development of ideal English/LOTE selves, their possible impact on English/LOTE learning and the interaction between English and LOTE motivations, four sets of interviews were conducted at approximately half-year intervals, except for one session with Yuzuru due to his absence from the country; this session was replaced with several email exchanges. The data were analyzed in terms of the following five key issues: (a) interviewees’ classroom and out-of-class academic and English/LOTE learning/using experience; (b) development of the interviewees’ English and LOTE motivations; (c) persistence and achievement in English and LOTEs; (d) development of the interviewees’ career plans; and (e) perception of the role of English and its impact on LOTE studies, if any. Yuzuru’s Further Development of the Ideal English and LOTE Selves

In one of the email messages that Yuzuru sent to me from France, he described his days in the following way: It has been increasingly warm since yesterday, and more Parisians are enjoying the sunlight in outside terrace seats at cafes. We are in the middle of a semester at the university, and I am keeping myself busy with papers and mid-terms. By the way, there are various achievements in terms of language learning. (Junior year, March 2017)

I could vividly imagine Yuzuru in Paris, enjoying his studies, improving his French and enjoying just ‘being there’. I also felt that he was probably enjoying being surrounded by the culture, the climate and the people. During this research period, he deferred his studies at the undergraduate level for a year due to his year-long exchange program in France. While doing so, his English and LOTE studies further developed. The research period started just as Yuzuru was about to leave for France on the exchange program. As described in Chapter 7, after winning a competitive scholarship, he stayed in France for a year, studying not only French but also subjects related to his major of political philosophy in both French and English. In France, he also had an opportunity to attend lectures and give presentations in English because it was university policy. While in France, the interviewee took courses that ‘focused on output’ and ‘required [him] to speak up in French’, which he contrasts with classes in Japan. He seemed to enjoy the environment

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where students had to engage in communication in the target language (TL), whether it was student–teacher or student–student. When Yuzuru was in Japan, his language learning experience seemed to take place mainly outside the classroom. As a junior, he no longer had any compulsory language courses at university. Instead, he attended a language school, taking French courses before his departure for France, and on his return from France, he listened to news in French, read the academic literature related to his field in French, etc. Interestingly, unlike the significant amount of time he spent studying English before the study abroad in France, on his return from France, his language learning seemed to focus more on LOTEs. Compared to what has been reported in the literature (e.g. Peng & Wu, 2022; Wang & Liu, 2020), the role of language teachers seemed to be minimal in Yuzuru’s case. He never mentioned language teachers as people who influenced his language studies, and they did not seem to serve as role models, which contrasts with past studies. Again, he criticized the required level of the French courses at his home university, which he considered too undemanding. As for studies of other languages, the case of Yuzuru can be described as that of a truly autonomous learner who takes control of his own language studies and finds opportunities even in a foreign language (FL) context. The interviewee ‘consciously made opportunities’ to engage in various languages, such as listening to news on the radio and reading academic literature in the TLs. During the first two years of university, Yuzuru studied Latin, Greek and German in addition to English and French (see Chapter 7). During this study period, he also started studying Dutch, which was ‘necessary’ in order to read the academic literature in the original language: Now I’m studying, doing research on a Dutch jurist. This person wrote in Latin— While this person wrote in Latin, various research papers on his works are published in English, French and German. But I need to know the basic Dutch. So I’m learning a bit of Dutch now. (Senior year, March 2018)

The magnitude of his motivation for studying not only English and French but also other languages seems to be related to his ideal English/LOTE selves, which is supported by his ideal professional self. As described in Chapter  7, Yuzuru started envisioning himself becoming an academic as a freshman. This ideal professional self seemed to become consolidated and refined as time passed, attaining opportunities to attend academic conferences and talking to people both inside and outside academia. During this study period, these ideas seemed to be further consolidated:

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[By going to France for a year], my academic year will be extended by a year [i.e. junior year will be repeated in Japan after the study abroad]. That means I will be returning [from France] during the summer of my junior year. So, probably, I will concurrently seek employment [while aiming for an academic career]. (Junior year, August 2016) At first, I thought of concurrently hunting for a job, but hearing stories from my friends who were job hunting, it seemed quite time-consuming. I thought I should not be putting my fingers into two pies and losing time. (Senior year, July 2017) I don’t have any career pathways that seem particularly interesting to me [other than becoming an academic]. (Senior year, March 2018)

The interviewee realized that this ideal professional self of becoming an academic was closely related to his ideal English and LOTE selves (mainly French, but other languages as well). To function well in academia, he considered it necessary to be able to read not only in English but also in French, German, Greek, Latin and Dutch, and to write articles and give presentations in English and French. He explained his aspirations for learning these languages, which seem to have further developed after studying in France, in the following way: I am interested in the doctoral degree [overseas]. And tuitions are cheap in France compared to the UK or the US. So it’d be nice if I can go to France. (Senior year, July 2017) I think it depends on subject matters, but I think there are certain things that cannot be translated into English, like certain constructs…. So I think I’ll choose the language considering this factor. (Senior year, March 2018)

A ‘simple example’ he elaborated on regarding the point above was the differences between the words ‘law’ and ‘right’ in English, and their corresponding words in German (‘Recht’), French (‘droit’) and Latin (‘jus’), which mean both law and right. He considered that certain thoughts and philosophies emerged depending on whether humans considered ‘right’ and ‘law’ as two distinct constructs or perceived the two as unity. As such, he considered that certain things are not translatable, for which he preferred to access the content by learning the languages concerned. Although Yuzuru’s LOTE studies were supported by his ideal LOTE selves, this was not the only factor. Just like during the first two years at university, Yuzuru emphasized the intrinsic aspect of learning various languages, stating that even if he had not chosen to be an academic, he would have studied these languages or he might have pursued his Chinese studies, which he did during his senior high school days. He ‘liked’ learning languages and studied them ‘as a hobby’. In the interviews, he

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mentioned more than once that he ‘liked French’, including ‘the sounds’ of French. Yuzuru explained that even as an elementary school student, he was interested in the different Japanese dialects because his grandparents spoke a dialect different from the one in Tokyo, where he lived, and he made ‘a dialect book’ of his own. This combination of clear ideal English/LOTE selves and a strong intrinsic motivation seemed to have a positive impact on his English/ LOTE development. As explained in Chapter  7, as a freshman, he had achieved a 7.5 overall score band on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), with an already perfect reading score of 9.0. As for French, during the study period even before leaving France, he passed the Diplôme d’études en langue française (DELF) B2 level in January 2017, then the Diplôme approfondi de langue française (DALF) C1 level in May 2017. This was partly supported by the fact that if he wanted to pursue his studies at a graduate school in France, having this type of certificate would be a plus. Yuzuru’s Non-Experience of Psychological Conflicts between Languages

Regarding the interactions between his English and LOTE studies, Yuzuru did not mention a negative impact of English except for how difficult it was to prioritize one language over another while studying and having to manage the constant switch between French and English when studying in France. The difficulties he explained were that (a) if he concentrated on one language, it would deprive him of the time to learn the other languages, which resembles Shion’s experience of her English and German studies, as well as others’ experiences reported in past studies (e.g. Humphries & Yashima, 2021; Wang & Zheng, 2021); and (b) because he took courses taught in both French and English in France, he often had to switch between the languages. Apart from such difficulty, he did not mention anything about the psychological difficulties or ‘negative interferences’ reported in the literature (e.g. Csizér & Lukács, 2010). Even after returning from his study abroad in France, the interviewee persisted in learning not only French but also English, Latin, German, Greek and Dutch, or in other words, English and multiple LOTEs. He seemed to have no difficulty taking up a new language, explaining that in order to conduct research in political philosophy reading materials in these languages, including those written during the early modern period, it was a ‘must’. One might assume that because of his extended stay in France, his integrative motivation might be stronger, making him prioritize his French studies over his studies of other languages. For example, some of the participants in Zheng et al. (2020: 793), who initially had a constitutive multilingual self, addressing ‘an individual’s internal need for personal growth and self-improvement’, developed language-specific

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integrative motivation after experiencing a semester-long study abroad. Yuzuru, however, seemed to maintain a more constitutive multilingual self, particularly related to his academic studies. This helped him remain motivated to study multiple LOTEs in addition to French and English. To be precise, Yuzuru described that he ‘did not have such intentions as to move to another language because [he] considered that [his] English was perfect’, for example. Rather, his English and LOTE learning seemed to develop organically, already developing translingual and transcultural competence at this stage. As such, his English and LOTE studies continued with varying emphasis on each language studied simultaneously but none coming to an end. Yuzuru explained the reasons for not experiencing a negative impact of English on LOTE motivations with three factors: (a) his enjoyment of reading in original languages, not through translation; (b) his experience traveling alone in China as a high school student; and (c) his emphasis on and appreciation for linguistic and cultural diversity. First, the interviewee emphasized the enjoyment and importance of being able to read the literature in its original languages and not through translation. He emphasized that ‘the experience of reading in the original language is so different [from reading a translation], and it is so meaningful’, and that he had ‘belief in reading in the original language’. Such a perspective, Yuzuru explained, was initially nurtured by his having read extensively in English in high school. He became aware of the differences in reading in the original language and in translation, for ‘there are books that [he] had read in Japanese but re-read in [the original language of] English’. This contrasts with, for example, the case of a Swedish upper secondary student named Oscar in Henry (2011: 252), who studied English and Spanish but seemed to opt for reading in English: ‘it would be much better to read this in English I thought, like I want to read it in English instead of Spanish’. In contrast, Yuzuru’s motivation to learn LOTEs was always supported by his interests in reading in original languages, including various LOTEs. It is interesting to note that the interviewee contrasted the reactions he received when he told others that he was studying German ‘because [he] wanted to read in German’. He described that in Japan, this was received with little surprise, and it ‘was nothing exceptional’. However, when in France, a German friend of his reacted with much surprise when he told the friend that he was hoping to read Friedrich Nietzsche or Max Weber in German, to which the friend questioned, ‘Doesn’t the enjoyment of learning a language lie in communicating with others?’ Yuzuru explained how he observed that many people learning languages in Europe today do so because they wanted to orally communicate, and ‘they may consider it okay to read in translation’. Second, Yuzuru traveled alone to China as a high school student and enjoyed communicating in Chinese, the language he was studying at the

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time (see Chapter 6). He recalled that this experience in high school made him aware of the enjoyment of communicating in the language spoken in the countries he stayed in, not in English. Such an experience shares similar characteristics with the Chinese participants studying Japanese in Lv et al. (2017: 19), for whom ‘the learning of Japanese has prepared a solid foundation for intercultural dialogue, which in turn generates motivation for them to learn the language and acquire better crosscultural understanding’. Similarly, by studying Chinese, Yuzuru was able to communicate in Chinese in China and could understand the people there, which helped motivate him to not nurture an ‘English is enough’ (Lanvers, 2018) attitude. Third, the interviewee explained what he experienced when he traveled alone in Europe as a university freshman. He was surprised by national and cultural differences between Austria and Slovakia, which are geographically close: With the distance of just an hour [by train], political distance, and various distances, cultural distances, are born…. We tend to put distinct countries in the same categories like ‘Europe’ or ‘Anglo-Saxon’, etc., but each country brings its own uniqueness, like, Japan and Korea are totally different. They’re different. So, how can I explain it? I thought I wanted to value the difference, the diversity…. That’s why, for example, rather than reading all the poems in English, I tried to consciously create diversity and access them from various languages. (Senior year, March 2018)

Thus, the interviewee’s attempt to become multilingual and his motivations to do so also seem to be explained by his various life experiences, which, on the surface, are not necessarily related to language learning. These life experiences supported his long-term engagement in learning various languages. Shion’s Intense Academic Studies and the Emphasis on Reading in English

The second half of university for Shion can be characterized by her intensive academic training in her major, which, at times, seemed to interfere with her English studies regarding her study schedule. At the same time, however, the training also had a positive impact on her in that she realized the importance of reading academic articles in English, just like Yuzuru. Compared to her English studies, however, the interviewee’s LOTE learning did not develop. She never resumed her German studies during this period after finishing the compulsory period in her sophomore year. Her academic and social lives developed in their own ways, which contrast with Yuzuru’s case. Below is an attempt to elaborate on

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Shion’s English and academic studies, together with other important life experiences during this period. As a nursing student, most of her time seemed to be taken up with her studies for her major during this period. This includes a term in which she attended five 105-minute classes a day, Monday through Friday. She also had a practicum at a hospital, for which she got up at 5.30am, and she spent all day taking care of the patients to whom she was assigned. Even weekends were spent writing reports and reflections about the practicum. Her life, according to her, was ‘all about [her academic studies, including the practicum]’, and she had ‘studies during the practicum, the national exam [for the nursing license], the exam to get into the grad school, and the graduation thesis, so [she] could not easily get to [her] studies of English’ (Junior year, March 2017). As such, the interviewee’s English studies were not very intensive but nonetheless involved several aspects: (a) taking courses focusing on reading and writing academic papers in English; (b) reading the academic literature for the graduate school entrance examination and graduation thesis; and (c) occasional opportunities to engage in communication in English. First, regarding the interviewee’s classroom English learning, she took elective courses that focused on reading and writing in formal English. She benefited from these courses, as she ‘learned differences in writing styles between Japanese and English’, and she learned how to read the academic literature. Second, reading in English is one of the most important skills she emphasized throughout this research phase. In one interview, she emphasized the importance of reading in English in the following way, which very much echoes Yuzuru’s perspectives on the matter: Even if the same paper was [written] in English and translated into Japanese, if one cannot read in English, I suspect that one may receive [a message] that is a little different from the original one. Well, in that sense, if I become able to read in English, my world will be broader. (Junior year, September 2016)

Shion considered that if she only read papers translated into Japanese, it might be inevitable that the contents would be influenced by the perspectives of the translator. As such, she clearly articulated that her reason for studying English was ‘to read academic papers’ (Junior year, March 2017). During this research period in particular, Shion read many articles in English for her graduation thesis and for the examination to get into the master’s program at her university. By taking the aforementioned courses, the interviewee realized that there are differences in writing styles between articles written in Japanese and English. Thus, she became

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aware that she needed the ability to read articles in English and, possibly, to write well in English. Furthermore, to pass the graduate school examination, she ‘came in contact with English every day while [she] was studying for the grad school examination’ and considered that she learned ‘how to read the writer’s argument and the counterpart’s [in English]’. After successfully passing the examinations to get into graduate school, she explained that she ‘found it easy to read’ the articles that she read for her graduation thesis: ‘The contents are difficult at first because they include specialized vocabulary, but if I understand it, I understand what they say’ (Senior year, March 2018). Third, Shion did not have many opportunities to communicate in English outside the classroom, but occasionally had valuable opportunities to do so. This happened, first, when she went to Finland during the summer of her junior year for a fieldwork organized by the university. This visit was a reality check for her communicative competence in English, as she puts it: I felt frustrated with the fact that I could not communicate anything… complicated… just as I would in Japanese. The others [in Finland] had much higher competence in English. (Junior year, September 2016)

Other opportunities to engage in English communication include when she planned a visit to the United States and communicated on a social networking service with a friend who was studying there, and when she attended a lecture by an American professor at the university. These seemed to add to her ‘experiential capital’ (Irie & Brewster, 2014: 172), which was very rich for a Japanese university student. Shion’s English Learning Motivations

In contrast to Yuzuru’s ideal English selves, Shion’s remained distant. She described her English learning motivations as ‘important to be able to communicate, or to speak, or to have discussions with researchers overseas after gaining the ability to read [in English]’. Furthermore, although she understood the importance of reading in English, this did not help her develop her ideal English selves. She considered it different to be able to read articles from being able to orally communicate in English, which she thought would be more important than reading in the future. As such, regarding her ideal self-image in the future, she seemed to want to envision herself orally communicating rather than reading in English. Even so, she explained that without frequent opportunities to communicate in English, she had ‘not been able to envision any [ideal English selves]’ (Senior year, September 2017).

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Interestingly, Shion’s ought-to L2 self and her feared L2 self (someone she was afraid of becoming) seemed to be much clearer than her ideal L2 self, as shown in the following excerpts: The required level [of English at the university] is much higher than in high school. Compared to the required level, I was easily higher than that of a high school student. But as the level becomes higher and higher, I feel that I am not catching up. So it’s more like I have to [study English] than I want to. (Junior year, March 2017) [Regarding her future job], I would not want a situation like I failed [a negotiation] because my counterparts were from an English-speaking country. (Senior year, September 2017)

This type of feared L2 self is an important factor that works to counterbalance one’s ideal L2 self (Dörnyei, 2009: 21–22) and regulates one’s behavior. However, it needs to work in tandem with ideal L2 selves, which Shion did not vividly envision. The unclearness of her ideal L2 selves seems closely related to the fact that her career plans changed, which seemed similar to her first two years at university. Just as she did during the first two years of university, Shion mentioned various possibilities, from working at a company to working at a ministry in Japan, but she did not focus on any one idea. At the interview in the winter of her senior year, she said she had been accepted to her university’s graduate school and that she would work for a company after getting a master’s degree. As in the first half of her university life, Shion’s intrinsic motivation to study English remained weak. For example, at one interview session, she described the image of English in the following way: ‘Rather than [English] being attractive, I have the impression that it is something I use’ (Senior year, March 2018). The reasons for this change seem to be related to the pressure that she felt and to her ought-to and feared English selves, particularly involving role obligations as a student, as described. In other words, high school English was a subject that she liked and was good at; her proficiency was higher than others in high school. However, at university, she felt that the required proficiency was much higher than in high school, which made her think that she had to catch up. Such pressure seems to have made her English learning motivation less internalized than before, making her enjoy the intrinsic aspect of her English studies less. This is in accordance with some past studies reporting learners’ less enjoyment in learning due to the strong pressure derived from ought-to L2 selves, as one participant, for example, in Wang and Fisher (2021: 14) describes: ‘the stress I felt sometimes dampens my enthusiasm’.

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Shion’s Ambivalent Attitudes toward LOTE Learning

Perhaps not surprisingly, Shion did not resume her German studies or take up any new language studies during this period. The interviewee’s case was, in a sense, a typical Japanese university student in a context where English, not LOTEs, is emphasized. Just before graduating from university, she looked back on her German studies during the compulsory period and stated that she could not ‘easily think of advantages of studying a LOTE for one and a half, two years’ at university, and explained the reasons in the following way: We can communicate with each other by [using] English. We could study each other’s language, but if asked whether it is convenient, then it’s not. (Senior year, March 2018)

As such, the case of Shion can be described as a ‘contentedly bilingual self’ (Henry, 2017: 554), which hindered her ideal German self from developing and made her think that English was sufficient for her language studies. However, Shion’s contentedly bilingual self seemed more fluid than before. For example, she seemed nuanced about her ideas above and explained that she would feel sad if foreigners stopped studying Japanese because English functioned as a common language. She explained: Considering that Japanese has its own good points or expressions and feelings that can only be conveyed [through Japanese], I think I consider it that way [how inconvenient it is to learn German when we have English] because I did not reach the high enough level of German where I would start to feel the uniqueness of German. (Senior year, March 2018)

Another example is the subtle differences in nuance in English expressions that Shion detected. She considered that although using inappropriate expressions in English in certain situations would still ‘get [her]self across okay in Finland’ as both are NNSs, she wanted to further improve her English so that she would understand the subtleness and uniqueness of the language. She seemed to gradually realize the value of reading in the original languages and became aware that each language brings its own uniqueness. As such, the seed of a constitutive view of language was becoming evident – and would become more evident in later days. Comparing the Interviewees during This Study Phase

The purpose of this research phase was to further investigate not only the development of the interviewees’ English and LOTE motivations but also the possible interactions between them and their underlying factors. The analyses of the two cases revealed some interesting similarities

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and differences. As in the first two years at university, both their academic and professional aspirations influenced their English and LOTE learning, creating differences between the two. However, it is notable that Shion and Yuzuru also shared an important similarity. They both strongly emphasized the importance of L2 reading, or reading in original languages, particularly for their academic studies. In a society where English communication competence – speaking skills in particular – is emphasized, it is atypical that both Shion and Yuzuru were aware of the importance of L2 reading. It was not through speaking as emphasized in society but through reading that the interviewees persisted in L2 learning. First, regarding Research Question 1, perhaps one of the crucial differences between Yuzuru and Shion is whether they formed a vision of their ideal professional selves, which is closely related to ideal English/ LOTE selves, and in the case of Yuzuru, an ideal multilingual self. As time went on, Yuzuru became clearer about his dream of becoming an academic, discarding other professional possibilities. His firm ideal professional self included both English and various LOTEs components, which helped him put effort and be persistent in studying these languages. On the other hand, Shion was still not clear about her future career plans. She wanted to narrow her interests and explore possibilities in graduate school. Such differences in ideal professional self seemed to impact their English/LOTE studies. Second, the interviewees’ intrinsic motivation was also in sharp contrast. During this period, Shion did not seem to enjoy her English studies, and her intrinsic motivation seemed weak. In contrast, Yuzuru was genuinely interested in languages and valued their diversity. This helped him persist in studying not only English but other languages too. His enjoyment in learning languages helped him ‘want to’ study language (related to ideal English/LOTE self), while Shion felt more strongly that she ‘had to’ study English (related to ought-to English self) and was afraid of failing if she did not study (related to feared English self). In a sense, she seemed to struggle with her major studies and her English studies, including her studies during the practicum, the national exam for the nursing license, preparations for graduate school examinations and the graduation thesis, perceiving various social role obligations as a student. The case of Shion demonstrated that a type of motivation (intrinsic motivation) may be pulled by another, less internalized type of motivation (ought-to English self) on the internalization continuum, making her less intrinsically motivated to study English. Yuzuru’s strong ideal English/LOTE selves and intrinsic motivation are similar to the Chinese learners of English and Spanish identified in Zheng et  al. (2019) using Q-methodology. In their study, participants grouped under Factor Two ‘def[ied] the English-only mentality and believe[d] in a multilingual world’, at the same time being ‘attracted by the language itself’ and being ‘willing to communicate with Spanish

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speakers and their cultures’ (Zheng et  al., 2019: 597). The researchers proposed that these participants held a ‘multilingual posture’, which is defined as ‘a willingness to identify with an international community mediated by multilingualism and to diversify their multilingual repertoire’ (Zheng et  al., 2019: 600), which, together with strong intrinsic motivation, seemed to motivate them to study not only English but also Spanish. In this sense, Yuzuru also held strong intrinsic motivation as well as a multilingual posture. Third, while both interviewees were busy studying for their majors, they were required to complete distinct levels of English/LOTEs. In every interview, Yuzuru mentioned that he had to read the academic literature in its original languages, not only in English but in other languages. Reading articles in English/LOTEs almost seemed habitual, something he was engaged in every day. Shion occasionally had to read articles in English for her studies, but this was not as intense as Yuzuru’s case. Shion was busier with training as an apprentice and was occupied more with her studies not related to English/German. Consequently, partly depending on their majors, their developments in English/LOTEs were different. The third difference, as previously mentioned, points to an interesting similarity between the two interviewees. For both, reading competence in English/LOTEs was a necessity at university, not for English/ LOTE courses but for studies of their majors. They were required to read the academic literature in English/LOTEs, and they both strongly emphasized the reading skills. When such skills were required, they seemed to put in much effort. L2 reading, then, might be a more important opportunity for university students in FL contexts than oral communication, which many university students and researchers emphasize as necessary in the globalized world (e.g. Munezane, 2013). Strong L2 reading abilities required at university do not echo the discussions surrounding FL education at the tertiary level these days, but rather a previous policy by the Ministry of Education that was issued soon after the end of World War II. As described in Chapter 4, in 1956, the Ministry of Education made FL ‘auxiliary courses’, which aimed to support academic studies by playing an ‘instrumental role’ (Japan University Accreditation Association, 1950: 14, translation by the author). Both interviewees did exactly this at their university. In Japan, there has been little discussion recently on tertiary level FL courses and how they help nurture students’ abilities to read materials about their specialization in the original languages; however, the aspect of reading in original languages, the impact of which both interviewees realized, may be emphasized more in post-secondary education. Interestingly, the emphasis on reading may contrast with situations in many European countries, where the basic communication skills are emphasized, just as Yuzuru himself observed. For him, however, becoming a competent reader in various languages was a way to become

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multilingual, appreciating the value of reading in original languages and of their diversity. This might echo the more ‘holistic view of language learning’ (Ushioda, 2017: 474), which contrasts with the instrumentalist views of English that are tied to the focus on developing communication skills and gaining an economic advantage in the globalized world. Such a perspective will be clearer in Chapter 9. Another similarity between the interviewees is that, just as in the first half of their university life, the perceived relevance of English remained high for both throughout this research phase. Although not always intense, Shion persisted in studying English when necessary and relevant. This was partly helped by the fact that she considered English relevant for her future, although that future was still not clear. Regardless of the actual English relevance, this perceived relevance seemed to exert a motivational power and helped the interviewee put effort into studying English. Helped by such factors, both Shion and Yuzuru persisted in their English studies and achieved much, to answer Research Question  2. Their persistence was facilitated by various factors, as elaborated on above. However, in terms of LOTE learning, Yuzuru persisted, but Shion did not. Their LOTE studies further diverged during this research period. Regarding Research Question  3, for Yuzuru, valuing English as a global language did not exert a negative influence on his LOTE studies, unlike many learners of LOTEs who have been reported in the literature (e.g. Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005; Henry, 2015a). He enjoyed reading in original languages, including English, and emphasized the importance of language diversity. While he was aware of the pragmatic aspect of English as a global language, it was only one of the languages he learned, and even for communicative purposes, he considered other languages to be equally valuable because they allowed him to communicate with speakers of those languages. Thus, to answer Research Question  3, English may not negatively impact LOTE motivation, which was demonstrated by Yuzuru’s experiences. In sum, Table 8.1 is an attempt to compare the two cases during this research phase. Partly supported by their motivations to read in English for their academic studies, both interviewees persisted in studying English. In terms of LOTE learning, however, Yuzuru persisted, but Shion did not resume her LOTE studies. Their development in ideal English and LOTE selves is also distinct, just as in Chapter 7. At the same time, it must be noted that the experiential capital of both interviewees is rich for Japanese university students. Looking Back, Looking Ahead

This research phase further examined the development of English/ LOTE learning motivations with a particular focus on the interactions

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Table 8.1  Summary of Yuzuru’s and Shion’s language studies and motivation during the second two years of university Yuzuru

Shion

Persistence/achievement in English studies

Yes

Yes

Persistence/achievement in LOTE studies

Yes

No

Emphasized skills in English

Reading; communication

Reading; communication

Emphasized skills in LOTEs

Reading; communication

Does not study LOTEs

Ideal English selves

Vivid; developing over time Vague; changing from one to another

Ideal LOTE selves

Vivid; developing over time; Is not developing closely related to career plans

Career plans Ideal professional selves

Clear

Not clear

Intrinsic motivation

Very strong

Weak

Experiential capital

Rich

Rich

between them. Regarding the development of English/LOTE motivations, the results highlighted the importance of various factors, including developing an ideal professional self with the English/LOTE component, intrinsic motivation and experiential capital to persist in English/LOTE learning and achieve in English/LOTEs. The results also pointed out that reading opportunity is more widely available than oral communication opportunity in an FL context. This is something that Japanese learners are not necessarily aware of since communication competence in English, particularly speaking in English, is widely emphasized in society. Influenced by such a climate, many learners, researchers and policymakers alike emphasize English-speaking abilities (see Chapter  4 for a discussion). However, Shion persisted in her English studies mainly thanks to her reading opportunities in English. Both interviewees were required to show competence in English/LOTE reading for their academic studies, which may demonstrate how L2 reading is involved in learners’ everyday lives in a typical FL context. Lastly, ideal English/LOTE selves seemed to work as a motivator to study these languages, but unless learners envision specific contexts and unless their images using the languages are clear, these remain too vague to work as a motivator. Regarding the interactions between English and LOTE motivations, Yuzuru did not experience negative interactions between them thanks to many interacting factors such as ideal English/LOTE self, ideal multilingual self, intrinsic motivation and experiential capital. He seemed to have developed an awareness of multilingualism even in a context like Japan, but this is quite likely exceptional for a Japanese learner.

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Looking back at their second half of university life, I remember foreseeing that Yuzuru would retain the professional pursuit of becoming an academic and that Shion would start working after earning a master’s degree. This turned out to be only half true. Shion did start working after successfully finishing her graduate studies, but surprisingly enough, Yuzuru also decided to leave school after earning a master’s degree. More surprisingly, however, is the fact that his discarding of his ideal professional self of becoming an academic did not demotivate him from studying English or LOTEs. A big question, then, is how he was able to maintain his English and LOTE learning motivations. This will be told by the interviewee in Chapter 9.

9 What Does Language Mean to the Interviewees, in the End? Language Learning beyond Formal Education The period between 2018 and 2021, which is the focus of this chapter, is characterized by major changes in the academic and professional lives of the two interviewees. As briefly described in Chapter 8, Shion experienced changes in her role from that of a student to that of a professional worker: she went on to graduate school, earned a master’s degree and started her professional career in the last year of this study. Yuzuru, who deferred his graduation due to his year-long study abroad in France, also went on to graduate school and obtained a master’s degree just as the study was about to end. What was most surprising to me during this period was that after starting his graduate studies, Yuzuru discarded his ideal professional self of becoming an academic – an ideal self that seemed elaborate, included both English and language other than English (LOTE) components and seemed to come with clear action plans (Dörnyei, 2009: 37). For reasons described later, he discarded this idea and instead decided to start working in April 2021. In sum, the last research phase saw drastic changes in both the interviewees’ lives. These experiences in their lives brought about both changes and stability to their second language (L2) learning. After leaving school, Shion no longer had compulsory English classes or had to read academic journal articles in English as in graduate school. It remained to be seen whether her career would involve any English-related aspect. That is, Shion’s experience was to be an example case of someone working in Japan, where, despite a foreign language (FL) context, English competence is perceived as necessary by many people working (Terasawa, 2015). Shion’s case was also particularly interesting because of the gradual decrease in her role as a student. As will be detailed later, Shion strongly felt both explicit and implicit pressure at her prestigious university in terms of ‘how students at the university should be’, which strongly impacted her ought-to English selves. Such a message from the university seemed to be closely related to the political and economic climate of 126

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Japan, necessitating global jinzai, who are equipped with English communication competence and actively participate in the global market. However, her role as a student involving various obligations gradually disappeared as she completed her studies and started working. She was going to start a new life that involved completely new roles outside of formal education settings. Whether that life would involve any L2 was to be examined. Yuzuru’s discarding of his ideal professional self of becoming an academic meant that his English and LOTE learning was no longer sustained by his ideal professional self. One might assume that the disappearance of the ideal professional self in becoming an academic, in which an L2-related component was heavily involved, would demotivate the interviewee to study them. To the contrary, however, his language learning showed great stability, even adding a new language of Korean during the very last period of this study. In sum, the interviewees’ life paths were surely influenced by various contextual factors that are educational, social and political. However, their initiatives in trying to navigate their own lives as well as L2 learning were also evident. What added an additional nuance at this last research phase, particularly in the final year, were the dramatic changes in the interviewees’ environments due to COVID-19. They caused tremendous constraints on the interviewees’ lives, as both had to basically stay home all the time. As will be detailed later, although Shion started working in April 2020, she did so from home, only commuting to her office less than 10 times in total during the whole year between 2020 and 2021. The frequency even seemed to decrease as time went on, as she explained during the last interview in March 2021 that she had not gone to her office at all in 2021. Yuzuru’s classes at the graduate school were also conducted online. For several months, he could not even go to the library, which slowed his progress on his master’s thesis. Such conditions seemed to cause not only constraints but also an unexpected positive aspect in the interviewees’ lives, i.e. regularity in the daily schedule. As discussed in Chapter 6, having a regular schedule was one of the facilitating factors for persistence in L2 self-instruction. As such, although by coincidence, both resumed their English self-instruction with broadcast materials, albeit with different intensity. Situations under COVID-19 influenced the interviewees’ language learning as well. Motivationally speaking, three themes were particularly relevant at this stage. First is the further development of their English and LOTE learning motivations, especially involving the influences of career aspirations on their ideal English/LOTE/multilingual selves. As discussed in Chapter 8, in an FL context like Japan, one of the most likely ways of developing the ideal English/LOTE self seems to be in the professional domain (e.g. Nitta & Baba, 2015; Taguchi, 2013). Thus, whether and how their professional aspirations would further influence their language learning motivations were of particular interest.

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Second, from the very beginning of this study, they were ‘students’: high school students, university students and graduate students. This necessarily involved both explicit and implicit social role obligations in the exam-oriented context of Japan (Kormos et al., 2011), which ‘are related to language learners’ actual and present identity’ (Huang et al., 2015: 30). These obligations were presumably intense, particularly for academically oriented students like the two interviewees. In fact, Yuzuru’s strong emphasis on getting through university entrance examinations in high school was just one example of his obligations as a student (see Chapter 6). In this last phase of the study, however, they were about to disappear. The L2 motivations of learners who are not in formal education settings are under-researched (Mendoza & Phung, 2019). However, it was conceivable that, as Huang et  al. (2015: 37) describe, when learners no longer identify with social role obligations as students and ‘as their identities within society and their personal aspiration change, the composition of their language motivation self system may become more diverse’. The question of whether and how was of relevance at this phase of the study. Third, related to the second theme, one of the bigger questions that came through in this last phase of the study was what language and language learning meant to the interviewees ‘as uniquely individual people, with particular personal histories, located in particular social contexts’ (Ushioda, 2013: 11), as they were less and less identified as students. Although Ushioda (2013) problematized the issue of English studies for Japanese university students who no longer have an unquestionable reason to learn the language for examinations, it applies equally or more to LOTE learning and to those who are no longer students in formal education settings. How did the two interviewees as individuals living in an FL context perceive language and language learning? What, in the end, did language mean to the interviewees? The Study

Although English motivation studies in Japan are abundant, as has been mentioned multiple times, studies focusing on graduate students and those beyond formal education settings are few in the context (but see, for an exception, e.g. Kubota, 2011). As graduate students, the interviewees were likely to engage in intense L2 reading, even more than at the undergraduate level. As they were about to leave school, however, I foresaw that their L2 motivations were also likely to evolve in different directions. How did the interviewees see their language learning developing beyond graduate school? Would they just stop their studies? If they continued, what drove them to do so? Would Shion’s professional career involve any English use? Above all, how did Yuzuru’s ideal multilingual self further develop, or not? With such questions in mind, the following research questions were posed during this study period:

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(1) How do the interviewees’ ideal English/LOTE/multilingual selves develop over time? (2) Does the decreasing role as a student influence the interviewees’ L2 motivations? (3) What do language and language learning mean to the interviewees? To examine the interviewees’ further development in their English/LOTE motivations, six sets of semi-structured interviews were conducted at approximately half-year intervals. For the last two interviews with Shion, questions concerning her professional career instead of her studies at university were asked as she had already started a professional career in the final year. Also, as briefly mentioned, the last two sessions in October 2020 and March 2021 were conducted online due to the spread of COVID-19. The data were analyzed in terms of the following key issues: (a) interviewees’ classroom and out-of-class academic and English/LOTE learning/using experience; (b) development of the interviewees’ English and LOTE motivations; (c) persistence and achievement in English and LOTEs; (d) development of the interviewees’ career plans; and (e) interviewees’ perspectives on language and language learning. Yuzuru’s Further Academic and Language Studies

One of Yuzuru’s academic achievements is that he graduated from university with a distinction. He was also exempt from the written examination, which is usually required to get into graduate school, because the paper he had turned in to the faculty earlier was judged to be so excellent. His master’s thesis in the final year of the study was also to appear in the department annals, which not all graduate students are able to achieve. Although he explained that completing the master’s thesis was especially tough due to various constraints caused by COVID-19, these facts demonstrate the extraordinary achievement in his academic life. During his fifth year at undergraduate level and in graduate school, Yuzuru persisted in learning various languages, just as in the earlier phases of the study. These include his study of Italian, for which he joined a study group during the final year of his undergraduate studies and read 16th-century Machiavelli in Italian for two hours a week. This lasted until the summer of his first year in graduate school. In addition, his coursework both at the undergraduate and the graduate levels included classes taught in English/LOTEs, such as a literature class taught in French by a French professor and a public administration class taught in English, which, according to him, was ‘90% occupied with international students’. These classes involved much reading in the original languages. Furthermore, during this period, his out-of-class English and LOTE learning involved not only reading but other skills, which was helped by his awareness that in addition to reading, he ‘should be able to

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communicate more smoothly rather than only facing reading materials one-to-one’. First, in regard to his English studies, with the understanding that he was not ‘particularly strong in listening’, he regularly watched drama series and films in English, confirming his understanding afterward with scripts in his hands. He also registered to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) in the last month of his undergraduate studies (March 2019) so that he would make a conscious effort toward the test. His scores were 30 (reading), 28 (listening), 23 (writing) and 22 (speaking), with a total score of 103. He also took the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) in July 2019, for which he scored 955. Given that he did not have any long-term experience in an English-speaking country, this clearly shows his efforts and proficiency. Second, during his final year of undergraduate studies, he started ‘language exchanges’ with first language (L1) French speakers, meeting up with them once a week and speaking in French for half the time and in Japanese for the other half. This lasted until the fall of his first year of graduate school. In an email message that Yuzuru sent to me after one of the interviews, he explained how his English and LOTE learning mutually played facilitative roles for the studies of the other(s). He explained that, unlike English studies, few start LOTE studies on their own initiative; trials and errors on one’s own are necessary for studying LOTEs. Initiating various LOTEs learning on his own with trials and errors has been ‘very meaningful for improving [his] English competence as well’ and ‘for relativizing English [compare English with other languages] (in terms of vocabulary, grammar, or the overall aspects of the language and culture surrounding English)’. He also stated that he applies strategies that he has learned from his experiences of studying French and other languages to his English studies. In sum, the interviewee seems to have learned how to start taking up a new language on his own, which he can apply to any language he studies. Regarding the facilitative role of English studies to LOTE studies, in examining Chinese learners of English and Japanese, Bui and Teng (2021: 309) argued that ‘being previously exposed to at least one similar linguistic system was facilitative for their current language learning’. In the case of Yuzuru, this seems to extend to linguistic systems that are not so similar as well by applying language learning strategies to both English and LOTEs. As such, instead of perceiving English and LOTEs as ‘competing languages’ (Csizér & Lukács, 2010: 11), Yuzuru found both English and his various LOTE studies as positively influencing one another. One surprise that happened at the last interview session in March 2021 was Yuzuru resuming his English studies using SIR materials. After seven years, he ‘went back to the original point’ and restarted listening to two of the most advanced materials, which he also listened to in high school. Listening to the same materials helped him realize

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‘[his] improvement in listening abilities’. As the interviewee basically had to stay home without opportunities to communicate in English/ LOTEs, this type of study seemed to suit his environment at the time. Compared to other ways of studying English outside the classroom, such as online eikaiwa classes, he further described that studying with SIR materials had fewer ‘hurdles’ and did not interfere with his work on his master’s thesis. The interviewee also elaborated on how he could manage his schedule well by listening to SIR materials at a certain time of the day, which resembles his statements in his high school days (see Chapter 6 for details). As such, L2 self-instruction using radio materials seemed particularly suited to learners in an FL context with regular schedules, which the interviewee (unexpectedly) had due to the COVID19 catastrophe. Yuzuru’s Changes in Career Plans and the Nonetheless Stable Multilingual Attitude

In stark contrast to his career aspirations of becoming an academic, which were detailed in Chapters  7 and 8, during this study period, Yuzuru decided to discard this ideal professional self and opted instead to work professionally in the public financial sector. During the fifth year of his undergraduate studies, his future self-image of becoming an academic had not changed; he had foreseen a future going all the way up to the doctoral program and becoming an academic. His situation changed, however, after entering graduate school. By attending some academic conferences and having opportunities to talk to senior students and professors in various contexts, the interviewee gradually compared the actual possibility of obtaining a researcher job at the tertiary level and the time and financial burden that would be involved before obtaining such a position. In Japan and perhaps other contexts, getting a tenured position is considered a ‘strait gate’, i.e. a course without abundant possibilities, as the hardship among post-doctorate students has been widely reported for some time (e.g. Enoki, 2010). Many post-doctorate students are reported to work multiple part-time jobs to support themselves even after so many years of studies because full-time positions are quite limited. Under such circumstances, the interviewee contemplated the possibility and finally discarded his idea of becoming an academic and started to look for other possibilities. The following demonstrates the changes in his ideal professional self: I do have some worries whether I can really achieve [the goal of becoming an academic]. But I do not have any particular aspirations for pursuing a different path. (Fifth year of university, October 2018)

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If I start talking about it, it’ll be long. Well, I am thinking about going on to the doctoral program, but there are various, recent conditions.… So I have lightly started thinking that I can consider obtaining a master’s degree and start working.… Of course, in my feelings, I do want to go to the doctoral program. But I am not 100 percent sure that I can make a living after going to the doctoral level. (First year of graduate school, August 2019) Researcher: How about a researcher position or going to the doctoral course? Yuzuru: Well, that, I am not really thinking. I’ve been talking about it with my advisor, but due to various circumstances… for example, considering that I’ll have to spend five years or so in the doctoral program, there are economic issues, and also psychological issues, and of course issues after earning the doctoral degree. (First year of graduate school, March 2020) [At the company I am considering], there are researcher positions – people who conduct research all the time – so there are many people who are like researchers, and many people who are academically oriented. So, well, positionwise, or character-wise, there definitely are similarities with the directions that I have pursued. (First year of graduate school, March 2020)

The position he settled on was a professional career in the public financial sector in Japan. After engaging in several internships and receiving job offers, including one at a think-tank that he showed some interest in, he accepted the offer in this sector in part because he saw a possibility of doing a research job even without being at a university. When asked at the last interview session whether he had any ambivalent feelings about discarding the possibility of becoming an academic, he answered, ‘If asked that I had none then it’s difficult, but for now I feel that it was the best choice for me’. One might suspect that because he discarded his ideal professional self of becoming an academic, in which English and LOTE aspects were heavily involved, he would experience English/LOTE demotivation. As discussed by some researchers, envisioning a clear ideal professional self that involves an L2 component may be particularly conducive to L2 learning in a context like Japan (e.g. Nitta & Baba, 2015; Taguchi, 2013). Quite to the contrary, this did not seem to apply to Yuzuru’s experience. In addition to the various languages that he persisted in studying for his studies as an undergraduate and graduate student, including English, French, Latin and Italian, he started studying Korean at the end of 2019. To be precise, his new professional position seemed to involve a major L2 aspect, including

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negotiating with delegates from other countries. However, this, according to him, ‘was likely to take place in English’, not in Korean. Thus, the relationships between his LOTE learning and his ideal professional self do not fully explain his taking up the language. In his own words, the importance of being able to function in multiple languages ‘has not changed despite the changes in career path’, which can be explained by various factors, in part his new ideal professional self, as described below: I will have to engage in negotiations, representing the country.… I think that informal communication and relationships outside the formal negotiations will also be necessary to smooth the relationships … so I’d like to communicate, both formally and informally, not restricted to reading and writing but also by speaking and listening, involving authentic communication, and work for the national interests. (Second year of graduate school, October 2020) There might be opportunities to be temporarily transferred to international organizations. So, for example,… there might be issues of supporting countries in Africa, which may necessitate my French, or, if I engage in negotiations with, for instance, China, Korea, countries in ASEAN, then I might use Chinese or Korean.… At least in unofficial circumstances, I’d like to use the languages of the counterparts and forge relationships of mutual trust. (Second year of graduate school, March 2021)

However, his new ideal professional self seemed to be only part of what sustained his English and LOTE studies, and factors involving more than the ideal self in the professional domain seemed to be called for to explain the complexities of his motivations to study multiple languages and do full justice to his development. Factors That Explain Yuzuru’s Further Development of the Ideal Multilingual Self

During this period, the development of his ideal multilingual self was more visible than the development of an ideal self related to a specific L2, even with a new LOTE added to his repertoire. The fact that the interviewee’s clear ideal professional self disappeared and that he nonetheless diligently studied both English and LOTEs demonstrate that an ideal professional self involving L2 aspects may be just one aspect that facilitated the development. There are at least three other factors that helped further the development of his ideal multilingual self. First is the aspect of trying to understand others by studying their languages. For example, Yuzuru’s motivations to study Korean, in addition to various European languages that he had taken up, was partly in trying to really understand others, including their ways of thinking and their

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perspectives, because he felt that thought and language ‘are inter-related’. At this phase of the study, around 2020, the relationships between Japan and South Korea were not necessarily positive, which led the interviewee to think that he wanted to understand the counterpart, i.e. ‘Korean people’s standpoints, like the political standpoints’. Such a perspective on language echoes one of the Chinese participants studying Japanese in Gao and Lv (2018: 230), who demonstrated changes in the ‘perspectives and visions of China, Japan, and the world as a result of learning Japanese’. This participant claimed that studying Japanese and being able to read Japanese websites made it possible to ‘look at the same issue from multiple perspectives’ (Gao & Lv, 2018: 230). Similarly, helped by his belief in the importance of understanding in original languages, Yuzuru took up his studies of Korean. As such, Yuzuru can be regarded as a dialogic communicator who is ‘willing and ready to engage in intercultural dialogues for better mutual understanding’ through learning LOTEs (Lv et al., 2017: 21). Second, one notable aspect of his English/LOTE motivations is that the interviewee did not seem to experience conflicts between his ideal L2 selves and ought-to L2 selves, which he considered to always be closely connected. According to him, both ‘function[ed] in a mutually complementary manner’. In addition, his ought-to L2 selves/others seemed almost non-existent, even as a ‘student’, for he never mentioned pressure from others, including implicit societal pressure. He did not seem to feel particular pressure from outside sources in terms of how ‘a student should be’ or in his role as a student. Whenever I asked questions regarding the ought-to L2 self-image he had, he described his image in terms of what he thought he ought to be, indicating the drive from within and reflecting ought-to L2 self/own. He explained that he ‘did not have specific situations in which [he] would be in trouble if [he] did not study L2s’ and his image of what he ‘wanted to be was bigger’ than that of what he ‘should be’. As such, his ought-to L2 self/own seemed much weaker than his ideal L2 self, and the two seemed to be in harmony. As such, the societal pressure that some students might feel in an exam-oriented context seemed very weak or even non-existent, at least during this period, in the case of Yuzuru. Helped by such ideal L2 self-driven motivations, Yuzuru perceived that even in an FL context, ‘there are opportunities to study [English and LOTEs] in daily life’, and what is important is ‘how much opportunity [he] could create to study a language within [him]self on a daily basis’. He explained that language learning would not last long if one is driven only by the awareness that one has to study the language. He explained: Rather than driven by a sense of obligation…, in a sense precisely because I do it [study languages] because I like it, I consider it important to make

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sure to utilize, without failing, opportunities for learning [languages] that are around in daily life. (Fifth year of university, March 2019)

Yuzuru’s acute awareness of the importance of utilizing learning opportunities illustrates one of the three components of Moshontz and Hoyle’s (2021) model of episodic persistence, i.e. recognizing opportunities for pursuit (see Chapter 2). They argued that repeatedly failing to recognize opportunities for pursuit can be one of the causes for non-persistence. Unlike such series of missed opportunities, Yuzuru made sure that he made use of every opportunity that he had for his language learning, which partly facilitated his persistence in multiple language learning. Third, what seemed to indirectly facilitate the development of his ideal multilingual self is the strong intrinsic motivation the interviewee maintained, as some past studies on LOTE motivations report (e.g. Zheng et  al., 2019). In one interview, he stated that he ‘liked any language’, adding that he could start studying Swedish because he liked Swedish films and saying ‘it is completely a hobby’. He often described his language studies with keywords such as ‘hobbies’ and ‘out of curiosity’, including his take-up of Korean, which he said was ‘led by curiosity’. Elaborating on seeming similarities and underlying differences between Japanese and Korean using the example of two expressions that on the surface seem similar but are used in distinct contexts by native speakers (NSs) of each language, i.e. 대화/対話 (dialogue) and 회화/会話 (conversation), the interviewee explained the linguistic features of the two languages in great detail and stated that he ‘enjoyed both similarities and differences’. This resembles some of the interviewees in Bui and Teng (2021: 312), who ‘exhibited a clear analytic awareness of their linguistic repertoire’, which ‘enabled them to explore similarities and differences between their L2 and L3’. In the case of Yuzuru, the example of Korean studies is between his L1 and a LOTE. Nonetheless, the emphasis on ‘a language’s appeal as an object of interest’ (Bui & Teng, 2021: 312) seems to be the same, and part of the reason for studying Korean seems to lie within the act of studying the language itself. Such strong intrinsic motivation indirectly helped his ideal multilingual self to further consolidate. In sum, despite the drastic changes in his career plans, Yuzuru’s multilingual attitude remained the same as when he envisioned himself becoming an academic. He further developed his ideal multilingual self, which was facilitated by the aforementioned factors. Being multilingual now seemed to form a crucial part of his identity, which was sustained by his eagerness to try to understand others in their languages, harmonious ideal and ought-to L2 selves and strong intrinsic motivation. As a result, his achievement in some of the languages he studied is particularly notable, including the French diplôme approfondi de langue française (DALF) C1 level and his TOEFL score of 103. He also passed the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) I, Level 2, scoring a full mark for reading

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and 98 out of 100 for listening. The interviewee took the test in April 2021, less than two years after he initiated his Korean studies. More notable than such achievements, however, may be his translingual and transcultural orientation. Although somewhat weighted to the reading skill, he had no difficulty functioning between languages and taking up a new language. He studied each of the languages according to his interests and needs that arose each time and switched from one to another. In the future, it may even be conceivable that his ideal multilingual self will be updated with additional languages. The Meanings of Language and Language Learning to Yuzuru

As Yuzuru was about to start working in April 2021, one of the broader and more crucial questions that came through at this last phase of the study was what language and language learning meant to him, now with the ‘student’ role disappearing. The interviewee had already expressed a view that sees a strong connection between language and culture at the undergraduate level, stating that ‘in order to understand a country, [he] need[s] to be able to function in the language of the place’. When asked the question in the last interview, he articulated his thoughts without hesitation: What immediately comes to my mind is that it [language] is the life itself of people using the language, or the way of living itself. For example, for French people living using the language, well, they’re not only French people but also various people in Africa or people in international organizations who use it as an international language – those people’s daily living.… There are absolutely aspects where the language frames their lives, but on the other hand, there are also real activities of those people which lead to new vocabulary, new expressions, or special idioms, etc. This way, I think language makes life and life makes language. That interaction represents languages. That is exactly why we can touch people’s lives by learning their languages and by filtering through this thing called language.… I think through this filter called language, we can touch people’s lives, which means we can touch their cultures, and [language] reflects people’s lives using it and living, or, the exact way of living. (Second year of graduate school, March 2021)

Such a perspective may partly reflect a weak form of integrative motivation in that it entails ‘a genuine interest in learning the second language in order to come closer to the other language community’ (Gardner, 2001: 5). This is also in accordance with past studies that examined LOTE motivations (e.g. de Burgh-Hirabe, 2019; Humphreys & MiyazoeWong, 2007; Oakes & Howard, 2022) and the discussions of the applicability of integrative motivation to LOTE learners (e.g. Dörnyei &

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Al-Hoorie, 2017; Ushioda, 2017). However, it seems to go beyond integrative motivation. In a thought-provoking paper, Ushioda (2017: 474) introduced the MLA (2007) report, which sought to balance the instrumentalist and constitutive views of language. In the report, it is argued that ‘while we use language to communicate our needs to others, language simultaneously reveals us to others and to ourselves’. The report went on to argue that language ‘links an individual to other individuals, to communities, and to national cultures’. The interviewee’s perspective seems to strongly reflect this constitutive view, in which language is ‘understood as an essential element of a human being’s thought processes, perceptions, and self-expressions’ (MLA, 2007). Interestingly, the interviewee did not mention the other view of language, the instrumentalist and pragmatic view, and did not use any expressions such as ‘economic and utility value, employability, social prestige, necessity, or global and national security’ (Ushioda, 2017: 479). Extending this line of argument, Yuzuru further elaborated on his perspective of language learning, stating that it is ‘a way to reduce the distance with someone’. He said: For example, in terms of French, of course Japan and France, we have different cultures and different ways of living. But by studying the language, well, we start to understand French-speaking people and the French culture a little, which we did not [at first] (laughs). Well, the road [course] of language studies is tremendously long, and well, really reaching a nativelike level is of course difficult. That is why we probably never exactly understand France the way French people do. However, I think what makes the original distance shorter for sure is language learning. So, well, it is a road without an end, but what reduces the distance with that culture or the people for sure is language learning. (Second year of graduate school, March 2021)

As the quote demonstrates, Yuzuru emphasized that language learning is a way of reducing the distance between people of other languages and other cultures. In other words, language learning to Yuzuru meant ‘experiencing alternative models of knowing, thinking and valuing that come from an engagement with symbolic (i.e. aesthetic, mythical, historical, political) dimensions of language use’ (Kern, 2011: 7). Such a take echoes, for example, a perspective of a Chinese English major who also studied Spanish as their LOTE in Zheng et al. (2020: 791), who stated that ‘[t]he more languages you speak, the more you can learn from different peoples and cultures’ (see also Busse, 2017, for a related idea of ‘ideal plurilingual Bildungs-Selbst’). The case of Yuzuru might be more demonstrable of the perspective in that he not only learned English and one LOTE, but he also learned multiple LOTEs. Such a translingual and transcultural

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orientation seems to be what made the interviewee emphasize the importance of reading in the original languages, studying not only English but various LOTEs (even adding a new language in the last phase of the study), and what kept him going even without the original ideal professional self of becoming an academic in the non-multilingual context of Japan. The interviewee’s language learning seemed to continue even outside of his role as a student and well beyond formal education. Shion’s Further Academic and Language Studies

During the period of this research phase, Shion spent the first two years at graduate school and started working in the final year. Her academic studies involved coursework during the first year, although it was less demanding than at the undergraduate level, and she was working on her master’s thesis during the second year. Some of the classes and workshops she took in graduate school were taught entirely in English, and she also engaged in reading academic articles in English just as in the undergraduate level. Compared to these aspects that involved English, her professional career did not seem to involve much L2 use at least during the first year. This may show an example, as in Terasawa (2015), that fewer Japanese people working than are generally believed actually need English competence. Below, I will first elaborate on Shion’s academic work and language learning/use during the two years while she was at graduate school. At graduate school, the interviewee’s academic studies seemed to involve a lot of academic reading in English and some opportunities for discussions in English. For example, one of the compulsory classes she took on environmental health medicine was taught by a Korean professor, all taught in English. For this course, she engaged in academic reading in English and also turned in all assignments in English. Furthermore, she (a) took a seminar course with her advisor that required academic reading in English and (b) participated in a program in which some workshops were taught in English and some discussion sessions were held in English. In addition, to complete her master’s thesis, she read academic articles in English. Second, one of the notable instances of out-of-class English learning/ use was her opportunities to travel overseas, i.e. to the United States, France and Spain. These travels provided her with an opportunity to reflect on both linguistic and non-linguistic aspects. First, she visited Chinese friends she had met for her program in high school, who were then studying at a university in the US in winter 2018. During the stay, she was able to engage in various discussions in English and get to know the educational realities in the US. During one of the interviews, Shion reflected that she ‘did not have a particular problem in listening [in English]’ but found it difficult to make herself understood instantly, which

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was ‘frustrating’. She also traveled to France and Spain in winter 2019, where she communicated in English. Communicating in English with Spaniards made her think that she ‘did not perhaps have to shy away’ from not handling the language perfectly because the Spaniards ‘were speaking and using English without hesitation even though their English was not perfect’. Thus, these travels provided her with an opportunity to reflect on her English and her attitudes toward it. Her out-of-class English learning/use also involved communicating via LINE with a Malaysian student studying in the same academic department as hers and with her Chinese friends mentioned above via social media, although the frequency declined as time went on, particularly after she became extremely busy with her professional work. Partly facilitated by such English learning/use, she scored 900 on the TOEIC that she took during her first year of graduate school in June 2018, which was higher than she expected. Her score was better on listening, for which she reasoned that she ‘had been studying English since childhood and liked the sensation of English sounds’. She also speculated that her high score might have had something to do with the test-taking skills that academically oriented students possessed because they had been through high-stakes entrance examinations. All in all, this shows her achievement in English for someone with no experience of an extensive stay in an English-speaking country. During this period, Shion did not resume much LOTE learning, including her German studies, although she showed some interest in studying Spanish and Chinese. These were helped by her travel to Spain as well as by her Malaysian friend, who spoke Chinese and taught her some Chinese. However, she did not seriously take up the studies because she did not have a trigger to initiate her LOTE studies. A multilingual aspect did not seem to be part of her identity. Shion’s Career Choice and Language Use

After engaging in several internships, the professional career that she chose was at a well-known, middle-sized Japanese company dealing with information technology. She explained that she was interested in digital manufacturing and particularly liked the people working there. Before starting to work there, she foresaw that depending on the project in which she would be involved, she may have to gather information in English on the internet or use the language if the company expanded to the overseas market. However, at least during the first year of her career, English use in her work was ‘non-existent’. The type of work she was involved in did not require much English competence, and her job seemed to go smoothly without any L2 competence, be it English or LOTEs. Depending on the type of work within the company, the interviewee expected

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that there might be a possibility of doing business in English in the near future, albeit only a slight possibility. This might reflect the gap between the actual need for English and the perceived need for the language as reported in Terasawa (2015). The first year of Shion’s career is characterized by trying to balance her work and her life. Working at home, she seemed extremely busy, particularly at the beginning, sometimes ‘working from 10am to 1 or 2am on three or four days consecutively’. Managing her schedule and keeping her work–life balance seemed challenging due to her telework, without her peers or boss present to give advice. The situation seemed especially challenging around six months into her new career, as discovered during the interview session that took place at that time; she seemed overwhelmed and worn out. Her conditions seemed to greatly improve after some time, and at the very last interview in March 2021, she seemed to be managing her schedule well. Despite the lack of opportunities to use English for work, she did manage to have some opportunities to communicate and learn English, albeit not intensively. First, she was interviewed by her aforementioned Chinese friend for an online article that her friend was working on. This interview lasted ‘30 minutes to an hour’, all in English. She rated the quality of the interview as ‘90%’ and ‘70% as English conversation’. She also had small ways of studying English, including her occasional viewing of self-instructional TV materials and setting up a web bot that would send English words at random via LINE from the vocabulary file that she had created. The interviewee seemed to be enjoying these opportunities more than during her days as a student, perhaps because she felt less pressure than when she was a student. Decreasing Role as a Student for Shion and Its Influence on Motivation

During this study period, Shion’s ideal English selves did not seem to fully develop and did not seem to be within her working self-concept, as the proportion of English learning seemed to occupy less of her life: I would like to speak better English.… I only occasionally think so only when I talk to English-speaking people, so, well, I’m putting things off now. (Second year of graduate school, September 2019) Maybe watching YouTube [in English] every day, for there are interesting videos or something like that. (Second year of graduate school, March 2020) I have one ideal image of occasionally talking to my friends overseas [in English] like a hobby. Or, myself energetically using business English. (First year of professional career, March 2021)

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Instead, the interviewee’s ought-to English selves seemed to be bigger and different from her ideal English selves. Her ought-to English selves seemed to have a close relationship with the perceived role she felt as a student particularly at the prestigious university she attended. The role drastically changed during this phase of the study. As a student at a very academically oriented university, she talked more than once about the pressure she felt as ‘a big worrier’, stating, ‘particularly being at the university I feel the pressure to have to improve my English’. Such pressure, according to her, was both explicit and implicit. The pressure seemed to exert certain non-internalized motivational power but only for a short period of time, and it caused much anxiety. First, the explicit pressure was from faculty members including the chancellors, who commenced various programs and systems such as new study abroad programs ‘every time they changed to a new one’. She also explained that one of the chancellors commented that the students at the university ‘may have studied hard in a restricted sense for university entrance examinations but have not engaged in real academic studies as research, lack social experiences or social activities, and lack various skills including English’. She also extended the discussion in that she felt that ‘being able to speak English was more valued than being able to speak other languages’. The interviewee explained that the following is commonly believed at the university: ‘It is better to be able to conduct research in English, so it is better to go to a graduate school in an Englishspeaking country, or study abroad, and it is to be given credit to do academic work or study in English’. She explained that she had not heard a similar thing for ‘going to a graduate school in China, for example’. Her comments are intriguing and reflect situations in Japan and perhaps in other contexts. From a broader perspective, students at her university seem to be good candidates for global jinzai as it is one of the top-tiered universities in Japan. Contextualized in the neoliberal politics and globalized economy, it is perhaps no surprise that the chancellors extended the messages that she described. A sharp student like Shion was further aware of the imbalance in the emphasis placed on English versus LOTEs at the university, which may reflect ‘[t]he exclusive focus on English’ (Kubota & Takeda, 2021: 463) in Japan. Shion’s comments coincide with the deemphasis on LOTE education in Japan, as described in Chapter 4, which contrasts with a newly initiated emphasis on LOTE education in other contexts such as China. Second, she felt the implicit ‘pressure of having to grow’. She questioned who it came from and explained that it was ‘in the air’. Such an implicit pressure may be characterized as an implicit societal pressure felt in the context of Japan, as explained in Chapter 4, in that many Japanese people perceive the need to nurture communication competence in English without an obvious necessity. At least in the case of Shion, the

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pressure seemed to provoke negative feelings and only motivated her for a short period of time. The pressure she felt drastically decreased as her role as a student also decreased. At graduate school, she ‘was out of the university [campus] more often than at the undergraduate level’ and was more and more out in the world. Being away from the university, she perceived that she had less of a role as a student placed on her. This seemed to have a profound impact on the changes in pressure that she had been feeling regarding the necessity to improve her English skills as well as ‘how a student should be’ at university. The interviewee explained the changes in the following way: I think such pressure is decreasing. It is probably because the proportion within myself of this entity called university is decreasing because I think more about things like my work and things after graduation, so it is proportionally becoming smaller. (Second year of graduate school, September 2019)

Such perceptions of a decreasing student role seemed to impact her ought-to English selves, which also changed during the study period. At several interview sessions, Shion explained her ought-to English selves in the following way: The ‘ought-to’ is keeping the status quo. Not to lower the English competence than the status quo. That is the least line, I think. (First year of graduate school, October 2018) Not to lower [the English competence] as the minimum line. (First year of graduate school, March 2019) No image in particular now… (Second year of graduate school, March 2020)

As such, Shion’s ought-to English selves are a clear example of them being prevention focused (Higgins, 2014), as seen in comments like ‘not to lower the English competence’. Her ought-to English selves seemed to disappear as she experienced a decreasing role as a student and less pressure. Upon finishing her master’s degree, she seemed to be released from the anxiety and ‘felt to a greater degree that the university is not the only place now that [she had] graduated’. In sum, the interviewee was oughtto-English-self driven at university and felt strong pressure, but she was released from it when she left the place. Interestingly, as Shion felt a decreasing role as a student, her perspectives on English studies started to be more positive, just like in high school. For example, at the last interview, describing how she sometimes watches a self-instructional TV material, she elaborated that ‘there still

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is an aspect that I like studying English itself’. When pointed out that the intrinsic aspect is not something that the interviewee referred to during undergraduate or graduate school, the interviewee explained that ‘the university days might have been much of a hardship’. Now that she was no longer a student, she did not feel much pressure from outside sources ‘regarding English’. As such, the release from both the implicit and explicit pressure as a student seemed to help her (re-)realize the intrinsic aspect of English studies. In sum, during this research period, Shion’s ought-to English selves, which were formed by the pressure she felt as a student, gradually disappeared as she experienced a decreasing role as a student. As she was extremely busy with her professional career, which did not include an L2 aspect, the aspect of language learning/use did not seem to occupy much of her life. Nonetheless, the interviewee seemed to perceive L2 learning positively, including intrinsic motivation. Indeed, the interviewee’s perspectives on the meanings of language and language learning turned out to surprisingly resemble those of Yuzuru. The Meanings of Language and Language Learning to Shion

In the last interview with Shion, I asked the same questions of what language and language learning meant to her, as I had with Yuzuru. Shion shared a similar view as Yuzuru’s, expressing that language ‘has the image of an activity to better understand others, whom we do not at first, and get along well’. She elaborated on the point in the following way: English is something like a bridge that is, like, easily understandable [that makes each other easily understood].… First, we cross the bridge that is easily understandable, but, well, we come to want to know the other’s native language in the end. Like, we are talking with people from Germany, conversing in English, but we might ask, ‘how do you put it in German?’ After all, we will want to know the words through which we can listen to their real voices. So, well, English is like the thin edge of the wedge. Right. Like the first way to communicate. We can stay there okay. But there might be deeper parts in the first languages of each other. (First year of professional career, March 2021)

As such, although Shion stopped studying German after the compulsory period, she seemed to realize the value of knowing not just English but LOTEs. Like Yuzuru, Shion did not express an instrumentalist view to this question. This contrasts with one of her statements in her undergraduate days, in which she explained that she ‘wanted to have English as one of [her] strengths’ (see Chapter 7). This may be partly due to the fact that in her professional work, at least during the first year, she did not need

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much L2 competence. Such conditions might have made her perceive language less as a means of ‘economic and utility value, employability, social prestige, necessity, or global and national security’ (Ushioda, 2017: 479) and more as a way to understand others. Furthermore, Shion elaborated on her perspective on language learning, which she considered was not merely ‘to obtain information’: The feeling of wanting to know the other side leads to learning languages … [It] becomes the motivation. I would want to improve the level of an L2 because I want to know the other person better.… I have the image [of language learning] that I would want to know the other person’s feelings. (First year of professional career, March 2021)

After Shion started a professional career, she was not engaged in intensive English or LOTE learning. Nonetheless, she still perceived language as a way to empathize with other people and even appreciated the value of LOTEs. Although she acknowledged the usefulness of English as a common language, she did not consider that English was enough and appreciated the value of studying LOTEs because they enabled getting closer to people of those languages. Comparing the Interviewees during This Study Phase

Through the six interview sessions with each of the interviewees, both differences and similarities, including unexpected ones, emerged. These explained the distinct paths that the interviewees took in terms of language learning yet the similar perspectives they shared on language and language learning. Below is an attempt to delineate such similarities and differences. Regarding Research Question 1, during this period, the interviewees’ language learning developed in distinct ways, as did their ideal L2 selves. While academic L2 reading remained an important part for both in graduate school, this was no longer the case after Shion started working. For her, the aspect of language learning seemed to occupy less of her life after she became extremely busy with her professional work. As such, Shion persisted in studying English but did not develop a vivid ideal English self. In contrast, Yuzuru further developed an ideal multilingual self, which further enhanced the strength of his ideal selves regarding each of the languages he studied. First, academic L2 reading remained important for both interviewees in graduate school. Both were required to read extensively for their major studies in English (for both the interviewees) and in LOTEs (for Yuzuru), just as at the undergraduate level. They also had and consciously created some opportunities to speak and listen in English/LOTEs, although with less frequency than reading in L2. Again, the importance of L2 reading in FL contexts is evident for academically oriented students.

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When Shion was no longer in the school settings, however, her reading in English decreased. In fact, L2 studies seemed to occupy less of her life now that she kept herself busy with her professional work, which did not involve an L2 aspect. This might be a typical case of Japanese workers as reported in Terasawa (2015). Under such conditions, she did not develop an ideal English or multilingual self. In contrast, Yuzuru’s motivations to study multiple LOTEs and English, which extended to fields other than L2 academic reading, further developed during this period and remained unaffected by the drastic changes in his ideal professional selves. In fact, his repertoire of languages kept growing as time went on. Bui and Teng (2021: 305) suggest that learners might ‘find it difficult to stay motivated in learning two languages at the same time or in learning an additional language while still maintaining proficiency in a learned language’ because of limited learning resources. This explains the fact that the specific languages that Yuzuru studied with intensity varied from time to time. Depending on his interests and needs at each period, the specific languages that he put effort into changed. Nonetheless, the multilingual aspect within his identity developed and worked as a higher-order self guide within the multilingual motivational self system (Henry, 2017), exerting a positive influence on the various languages that he learned. Researchers have discussed that in an FL context like Japan, envisioning an ideal professional self may help develop one’s ideal L2 self (e.g. Nitta & Baba, 2015; Taguchi, 2013). Indeed, the ideal professional self of becoming an academic facilitated Yuzuru’s English and LOTE learning in the earlier days. However, this does not fully explain the experience that Yuzuru went through at this phase of the study after he discarded the idea of becoming an academic. Although the career that Yuzuru chose did not involve much of a LOTE aspect, he persisted in studying various LOTEs, including ones that did not have obvious links to his professional career. In this sense, developing an ideal professional self that involves a LOTE-related aspect can be conducive to the development of an ideal LOTE self, but it does not fully explain the interviewee’s motivations. What facilitated the further development of Yuzuru’s ideal English/ LOTE selves, in addition to the career-related aspect, seems to involve many factors: harmonious ideal English/LOTE selves and ought-to English/LOTE selves, intrinsic motivation and, above all, the intention to understand people of various cultural backgrounds by studying their languages. Yuzuru clearly held ‘an openness to and interest in relating [him]self to the world beyond national borders and a willingness to interact with different cultural groups’ (Busse, 2022: 200). These multifaceted aspects helped the interviewee persist in learning various languages and developing a multilingual self. In Chapter 3, I discussed that there have been few reports on successful learners of multiple LOTEs. When I examine the changes in Yuzuru

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during the three years, the unusual case of Yuzuru as a multiple LOTE learner seems to have been made possible precisely because his initial focus was on academic LOTE reading. Engaging in multiple LOTE learning may be easier for reading than for other skills because it does not require a TL speaker. This may be less conceivable in contexts where interactions with TL speakers are more readily available, e.g. in Europe, because in such contexts, learners may tend to focus on oral communication (see Chapter 8 for an example). However, in a context like Japan, even if a learner wishes to have direct interactions with TL speakers, there are few such opportunities, which causes many to become demotivated or lose interest in studying LOTEs. In contrast, the interviewee experienced learning multiple LOTEs through reading first, which then helped him develop a multilingual attitude and later opened other possibilities, including oral communication. In sum, Yuzuru’s case as a successful learner of multiple LOTEs may have been made possible in part because it took place through reading in a non-multilingual context. As the learning progressed, being multilingual started to form part of the interviewee’s identity, which then helped his studies extend to other skills. Regarding Research Question 2, the influences of the decreasing role as a student on their L2 motivations varied. On the one hand, Shion felt less pressure as a student, which influenced changes in her ought-to English selves and alleviated her anxiety. As a result, her English learning motivation seemed to be more positive than during her undergraduate or graduate days. On the other hand, Yuzuru did not seem to feel much pressure from outside sources, even as a student at a prestigious university. This remained unchanged until the end of the study. Huang et al. (2015: 30) argue that in many Asian contexts including Japan, learners ‘are expected to fulfill their role obligations by pursuing goals that are highly admired by their society’. Shion seemed to strongly feel her role obligations as explicitly and implicitly expressed at her university, which expected that students should study English and possibly study abroad. Such expectations acted as pressure on her and influenced her ought-to English selves, which only exerted short-term motivational powers. In her case, the lack of a clear ideal English self meant that her ought-to English selves did not have the counterpart that was to work in harmony with her ought-to English selves. This is in accordance with past studies demonstrating that the discrepancy between one’s ideal and ought-to L2 selves creates L2 anxiety (e.g. Ueki & Takeuchi, 2017). What is different from the rest of the chapters, however, is that Shion no longer had such social obligations as a student during the last year. This meant that the neoliberal discourse (Kubota & Takeda, 2021) that Shion was placed in during her undergraduate and graduate days no longer existed for her. Furthermore, in her professional work, she did not feel the pressure to be equipped with English skills as global jinzai,

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either. This is in contrast to the need for English communication competence that many Japanese in general vaguely perceive in the globalized world (Terasawa, 2015). Such conditions seemed to enable her to view her English studies more positively, helping her regain intrinsic motivation. As such, various types of L2 motivation indeed wax and wane as an individual goes through experiences in a particular educational, political and economic context. At one point in time, a particular type of motivation may be stronger than others. If we take the time to examine the trajectories, however, we can really examine this waxing and waning. Interestingly, even being at the same university, Yuzuru’s experiences were different from Shion’s. For Yuzuru, social obligations as a student seemed to have very little or no influence on his English and LOTE motivations. After entering university, he never mentioned any pressure or perceived social obligations as a student. Instead, he seemed to be driven by interests and aspirations of his own, helping him be ideal-L2-self dominant: the interviewee’s ideal English and LOTE selves were much more influential than his ought-to English and LOTE selves. Even his ought-to English and LOTE selves were own-driven rather than othersdriven (Teimouri, 2017). Furthermore, both his ideal and ought-to L2 selves seemed to work in harmony, as he stated that the two were never too far apart, both ‘function[ing] in a mutually complementary manner’. If such is the case, even learners in ‘Confucian relationalist societies such as Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan’ (Huang et  al., 2015: 37) have the possibility of going beyond their role obligations by fully developing their ideal L2 selves. Lastly, one of the crucial questions of this last phase of the study, i.e. what language and language learning meant to the interviewees (Research Question  3), yielded intriguing and unexpectedly similar answers from both. As seen in quotes like ‘language makes life and life makes language. That interaction represents languages’ (Yuzuru), and language ‘has the image of an activity to better understand others, whom we do not at first, and get along well’ (Shion), both perceived languages to be essentially for human beings. This contrasts with the instrumentalist perspectives involving ‘factors such as economic and utility value, employability, social prestige, necessity, or global and national security’ (Ushioda, 2017: 479), as exemplified in past studies (e.g. Busse, 2017; Wang & Liu, 2020). Even living in the globalized world, their perspectives are not related to economic advantage or social prestige. Instead, language is constitutive for the two interviewees. How come, then, both interviewees, even Shion, who once seemed to hold a more instrumentalist view, ended up with such a view? There might be multiple reasons. One of the possible reasons is that in an FL context like Japan, the command of English may not directly lead to economic advancement in reality. Because of such circumstances, perhaps neither interviewee mentioned aspects of ‘necessity’, ‘employability’ or ‘advancement’. While

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both acknowledged the role of English as a global language, they are in an environment where they can decide whether or not to pursue English studies; it might be remarkable that even after reaching high competence in English and LOTEs, Yuzuru never mentioned the aspect of ‘competitive edge’ throughout the nine years, unlike those reported in past studies (e.g. Wang & Liu, 2020; Zheng et  al., 2020). Since he did not consider that having competence in English directly led to a ‘competitive edge’, he did not have to experience a negative interaction between English and LOTEs. Relationships between the pragmatic value of L2 (particularly English) studies and necessity or economic advancement may be more acutely felt in countries where the issue of unemployment is more visible (for an example case, see Busse, 2017) or if they lacked expertise and only had L2 competence as something that they could rely on in the job market. Another possible reason is the fact that both interviewees have the experience of studying multiple LOTEs starting in high school, which is atypical in a context like Japan, where political and economic interests in promoting English education are visible (e.g. Kubota & Takeda, 2021; Sugita-McEown et al., 2017). Shion had the experience of studying not only German but also Chinese in high school. Yuzuru, as already reported, has the experience of studying various LOTEs. Past studies on LOTE motivations tended to focus on the learning of English and one LOTE (e.g. Henry, 2015a; Zheng et al., 2019, 2020). In contrast, the two interviewees’ experiences of having learned multiple LOTEs may have helped them relativize different languages and realize the value of language as something that lets them understand others. Third, related to the second factor, both understand the uniqueness of each language and the relationships between language, culture and thought. Yuzuru kept emphasizing that they are interrelated and that to understand speakers of other languages, he needed to study their languages. Shion also emphasized that to fully understand others, she had to study their language while admitting that English was an easy way to get to know others. As such, they developed a constitutive view of language, considering it as something essential for human relations. These factors, together with the fact that both interviewees were to go beyond formal education, delineate a perspective that contrasts with the dominant theorizing of L2 motivation including the L2MSS. As explained in Chapter 2, the focus of the L2MSS is on ‘the future goals and purposes of language learning’ (Ushioda, 2017: 471), and much is about goal-directed behaviors. However, the two interviewees’ perspectives on language learning, while acknowledging the importance of goals, seem to entail more factors. Both emphasize the enjoyment of getting to know others better through language, the learning of which may last their entire lives: Yuzuru indeed described language learning as ‘a road without an end’. Unlike goals and purposes, such a type of learning does not have a preferred deadline or even an approximate time to be completed

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because it does not have an end. While future goals and purposes may indeed exert strong motivational power, there may be other types of motivation, including motivation of language learning as a constitutive human act that nurtures translingual and transcultural competence. Such constitutive, lifelong language learning can be as important as language learning that emphasizes (more short-term) purposes and goals. That said, the interviewees’ perspectives are not to deny the instrumentalist view of language learning; the matter seems to be about a ‘balance’ (Ushioda, 2017: 474) between the two perspectives. Both interviewees do acknowledge the usefulness of English and they were, at many times, indeed engaged in goal-directed behaviors. After all, a part of what drove Yuzuru is his very elaborate ideal English and LOTE selves. Nonetheless, when an L2 learner begins to nurture a constitutive perspective and have a balanced view of language learning, they seem to begin to be released from the ‘pressure-driven, and often fragile nature’ of L2 motivation (Ushioda, 2017: 471). In this sense, the constitutive view can co-exist with the instrumentalist view to different degrees, and the two interviewees were perhaps more aware of the constitutive view than many learners who only hold the instrumentalist view of language learning. In sum, Table  9.1 shows the development of the two interviewees during this study period. Each of the interviewees went through distinct experiences in graduate school, involving different perceived roles as a student, and pursued different paths regarding L2 studies. One of the interviewees experienced perhaps a typical case of a Japanese learner/ worker, not involving a multilingual aspect. The other interviewee went Table 9.1  Summary of Yuzuru and Shion’s language studies and motivation in graduate school and beyond Yuzuru

Shion

Persistence/achievement in English studies

Yes

Yes

Persistence/achievement in LOTEs studies

Yes

No

Emphasized skills in English

Reading; communication

Reading; communication

Emphasized skills in LOTEs

Reading; communication

Does not study LOTEs

Ideal English selves

Vivid; developing over time

Vague

Ideal LOTE selves

Vivid; developing over time

Is not developing

Intrinsic motivation

Strong

Changed from weak to strong

Social role obligations as a student

Not felt

Strongly felt but disappears

Perspectives on language

Constitutive

Constitutive

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through an atypical experience as a Japanese learner, fully developing an ideal multilingual self in the non-multilingual context. At the same time, both shared a similar, constitutive view of language, which is different from the instrumentalist view that many learners and researchers have discussed in past studies. Looking Back, Looking Ahead

The last three years of the study are surely characterized by the various life and academic experiences of the two interviewees. When I focus just on the two interviewees, they contrast in many ways, and their experiences start to seem ordinary. However, if I compare them to other Japanese students, they are surely much more academically oriented than many others with rich academic and life experiences. As such, both are truly academically successful students who managed to navigate their lives in their own ways. Sustained by their academic lives, the two interviewees’ language learning also developed in their own ways. Even just during the three years covered in this chapter, their English/LOTE motivations developed in distinct directions. What the two interviewees demonstrate is that although being in a particular political, economic and cultural context, they both went through various L2 learning ‘as self-reflective intentional agent, inherently part of and shaping [their] own context’ (Ushioda, 2009: 218). In their own ways, each was sustained by their sense of personal agency, ‘a belief that their behaviour can make a difference to their learning in that setting’ (Mercer, 2012: 41). Their own initiatives led them to unique experiences, and indeed the experiences of each are distinct even at the same school. By closely examining each interviewee, we see a dynamic interplay of person and context that is only to be experienced by that particular person. Although the study ended in March 2021, their lives involving various professional and language aspects continue. At different stages of life, they are likely to go through various experiences related to English/ LOTEs. As a matter of fact, after the study ended in March 2021, Shion started studying Korean on her own using YouTube after getting interested in Korean pop stars. In a recent email exchange, she also informed me of the business negotiations in English that she engaged in for the first time since she started working at the company and of the possibility of an increase in such negotiations. Yuzuru is also likely to be in such a position; he is currently keeping himself busy not only with his professional work but also with English studies such as reading the Wall Street Journal every day and getting tutored for the TOEFL writing section with a perspective of being sent to the US for a master’s or an MBA program by his organization. He may also be involved in further LOTE learning not only in professional but also in personal domains. Their future language learning is yet to be foreseen.

Part 3

Concluding Thoughts

10 Reflecting on the Method: Advantages and Challenges of Longitudinal Case Studies Utilizing Interviews Part  3, consisting of two chapters, includes the concluding thoughts on the study. In this chapter, I take a look at the empirical study from a different angle and examine it from a methodological point of view. Then, in Chapter 11, I integrate the findings gained from the empirical study as examined in Part 2 and discuss both theoretical and pedagogical implications. Looking back on this longitudinal study, I have to say that I was lucky that the two interviewees persevered. In a prolonged engagement like this study, researchers are always in danger of study participants dropping out. Although it is often necessary to have an ‘attrition contingency plan’ or ‘a series of actions to implement in the event that your individual case study or members from your panel become unavailable or withdraw from the study in progress’ (Saldaña, 2003: 20–21), unfortunately in my case, I did not have such plans. Furthermore, when the number of participants is so small as in the present study, one participant dropping out may mean the end of the study. As I will discuss later, this was one of the challenges of this longitudinal small-scale study. In my case, I can only thank the two interviewees’ sincerity and perseverance. As explained, in this chapter, I examine the study from a different perspective and (a) introduce the interviewees’ experiences as interviewees and reflect on my experience as an interviewer and (b) examine the longitudinal case study method using interviews, including its advantages and challenges. The discussion serves as an ‘explicit reflection on the part of the case study researcher (and possibly participants as well) about how decisions that were made at any stage in the process might have affected the reported findings’ (Duff, 2020: 150). First, I try to put myself in the interviewees’ shoes and discuss how it might have been to be 153

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interviewed over an extended period of time. Second, I elaborate on both the advantages and limitations of this longitudinal case study method using interviews, incorporating the insights gained by the discussions with the interviewees. My discussion entails pragmatic and realistic issues of what it is like to be interviewed a number of times over years on the interviewees’ side, whether such an approach is worth pursuing and how we as researchers might be able to do our best if we take this approach. Furthermore, as numerous books are already available on more comprehensive descriptions of the basics of this method, including its pros and cons (e.g. Creswell, 2013; Duff, 2008; Dörnyei, 2007; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2021; Saldaña, 2003; Seidman, 2013), my discussion will instead focus on what I learned through this particular study. By openly discussing both the advantages and limitations of such a method, I hope that the readers can also reflect on their perspectives on this method. The Interviewees’ Experiences of Being Interviewed

At the very last interview in March 2021, I had an opportunity to discuss the experiences of being interviewed for an extended period with the two interviewees. They both generally perceived the experience positively (which might be natural because, after all, they never declined my invitations to be interviewed), except for one comment from Shion, which will be described later. Although I was already aware that a longitudinal study like this one, involving in-depth conversations with learners, would inevitably exert a motivating effect on them, their comments suggested further aspects as well. As one can guess, the first aspect that emerged from the discussion was the motivating effect of this longitudinal study, or at least the aspect of providing the interviewees with regular opportunities for reflection on their language learning: They [the interviews] became no doubt an opportunity to reflect, …to reflect on my motivations then and the details of my studies. (Yuzuru) I think there was a positive effect. They [the interviews] were triggers for me to think, regularly, that it is a good idea to learn languages. (Shion)

I probably did not play a role in directly influencing their language studies, as Yuzuru describes that there was ‘no influence on [his] language studies in particular’. After all, I never suggested, e.g. a new language that Yuzuru could study, or how Shion could resume her English studies with self-instructional radio (SIR) materials. However, the interviews I conducted provided the interviewees with regular opportunities to reflect on their language studies and check their progress, which probably influenced their motivations in one way or another. This motivating aspect

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may be inevitable, but a researcher should remember that the experience of being interviewed may influence the interviewees’ language studies. Second, another aspect the interviewees described is that they seemed to become aware of their implicit thoughts by being engaged in interviews and verbalizing them. Shion elaborated this aspect in the following way: By talking about language learning, like how much I care about learning English, I care about it more. Also, like the implicit pressure (laughs). [Talking about] aspects not related to English makes me realize what I have been thinking about them. (Shion)

Shion ‘appreciated’ that I pulled out even her negative thoughts and listened to them. She described the whole experience as ‘enjoyable’. I do remember being somewhat hesitant in some interviews when listening to Shion’s struggles with the explicit and implicit pressures she had been feeling. This was related to her ought-to English selves, which came up in the interviews, but I did not want to put her in a position where she would have to talk about any experience that she might feel uncomfortable discussing. Shion was a stronger person in the sense that she positively perceived the experience of talking even about her negative experiences. One negative comment I received from Shion was that she ‘did not particularly like being compared to Yuzuru’. It is understandable that being contrasted with an extremely successful learner like Yuzuru would make Shion uncomfortable (although they did not communicate with each other on a regular basis, Shion did know that Yuzuru was another participant in my study). Had they not known each other, she might not have felt so uncomfortable. However, not only did Shion and Yuzuru attend the same high school and university but they also knew each other and even participated in the same program in China, for example. As such, Shion considered Yuzuru ‘extraordinary’, with which I agree. Of course, my intentions were not to recruit any ‘positive case’ or ‘negative case’. As I explained in Chapter 5, they were intrinsic cases in that Shion and Yuzuru were contrasting, but both were very successful in their own ways. In fact, Shion was the most persistent and, in that sense, the most successful learner among the 13 interviewees in terms of studies with SIR materials. However, having two interviewees in the study might have put Shion in an uncomfortable place because of constant comparisons. Lastly, what the two interviewees and I observed that facilitated and made this long-term project possible in the end is that the study was based on a ‘trustful relationship’ [Yuzuru]. As Yuzuru recalls, ‘it was an opportunity for conversations after forging a personal relationship of trust’. He further described that it was thanks to ‘its long-term nature as well as [the researcher] being someone who had graduated from [their] high school’. As such, the aspect of the researcher and the interviewees having

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gone to the same high school had a facilitative role. The researcher was not someone who would have (unnecessary) power distance, such as their teachers, nor someone too close to them, such as their friends, yet not a total stranger. I also felt that the distance was appropriate, not involving ‘[t]oo much or too little rapport’ (Seidman, 2013: 99). As I noted earlier, the distance was appropriate for ‘[s]eeking a balance between subjectivity and objectivity in reporting’ (Duff, 2008: 131). In sum, the interviewees’ experiences of being interviewed can be generally conceived as positive, but aspects that I had not expected also emerged. Furthermore, as can be seen above, I was in no way an outsider but had inevitable influences on the interviewees. As such, I am reminded of the importance of being conscientious and empathetic enough to try to put myself in their shoes, even though it is probably impossible to anticipate everything that could happen in a long-term study like this one. Advantages of Longitudinal Case Studies Utilizing Interviews

Having discussed the interviewees’ experiences of being interviewed, I would now like to turn to the discussion of the advantages and challenges of longitudinal case studies utilizing interviews. Researchers have emphasized various advantages of longitudinal interview studies as an increasing number of longitudinal L2 motivation studies appear (e.g. Henry, 2015a; Lamb, 2018; Ueki & Takeuchi, 2017). As someone who utilized this method, I can see at least three advantages of this method. One of the obvious advantages of longitudinal case studies with interviews is the focus on change over time, as many researchers have already pointed out (e.g. Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2021; Ortega & Iberri-Shea, 2005; Saldaña, 2003). Precisely because I was not a teacher-researcher but rather an alumna of the interviewees’ high school, I was not confined to thinking of ‘the convenient scaling of other studies on institutional time, particularly the one-semester and four-year periods widely meaningful in tertiary education’ (Ortega & Iberri-Shea, 2005: 37) or what is common in applied linguistics, i.e. ‘the duration of a course or an academic year, or the important transition from one context, such as high school, to another, such as college or a workplace’ (Duff, 2020: 148); instead, I was able to extend the study to a much longer period. As a result, spending years enabled me to examine how Shion and Yuzuru went through various language, academic and life experiences at different points in time and how they ‘interpret[ed], respond[ed] to and manage[d] change and the ensuing shifting experiences’ (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2021: 220). By examining the two interviewees through various educational stages as well as outside the formal educational setting, I was able to gain insights into the temporal dimension of L2 motivation and the long-term motivational trajectories of them. As such, the first advantage can be that this type of study enables researchers ‘to capture through long-term

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immersion the depth and breadth of the participants’ life experiences, and to capture participant change (if any) through long-term comparative observations of their perceptions and actions’ (Saldaña, 2003: 16). The second advantage that I feel was only possible through this longitudinal case study is that I was able to really begin to understand the two interviewees as unique individuals. This is because, as Stake (1995: 45–46) argues, ‘we need a long time to come to understand what is going on’. In a sense, Yuzuru’s case was easier to understand as he developed vivid ideal English/LOTE/multilingual selves and strong intrinsic motivation – his case fit the theoretical frameworks. I assume that many readers feel the same way. Shion’s case was more challenging to me; particularly after entering university, she did not seem to fit the contentions of the L2 motivational self system (L2MSS) or intrinsic motivation that I utilized throughout the study. Shion’s experiences seemed to be typical in Japan on the surface, as she considered English as a common language and did not develop an ideal multilingual self: her ideal English self was not very vivid in her university days, and she stopped studying German after the compulsory period. In a quantitative study – or even a qualitative study but not a longitudinal one – her case might have been simply regarded as a not-so-successful LOTE learner. However, her perspective on language and language learning developed constitutively and resembled that of Yuzuru’s. Shion never stopped L2 learning completely. This ran counter to the arguments in the L2MSS or intrinsic motivation. By engaging in multiple conversations with Shion, I began to really understand the educational and societal context she was placed in and the complexities of her L2 motivation, which included aspects that are not either in the L2MSS or intrinsic motivation. I believe this was made possible through this longitudinal case study, and it might not have been possible by either one set of interviews or a longitudinal but quantitative method. Third, just as researchers contrast quantitative and qualitative methods and discuss the strengths of each, this type of qualitative study has the possibility of building new hypotheses and proposes new directions for theorizing L2 motivation. By examining the cases of Yuzuru and Shion over an extended period of time, I realized how they sometimes fit the existing theories and other times did not. Just as when quantitative researchers learn much from studies that reject their original hypotheses, I learned much from aspects that did not fit the theories I utilized in this study. To describe this aspect in more detail, as the case of Shion demonstrates, learners may not keep developing ideal L2 selves or intrinsic motivation, and various types of motivations wax and wane over time. In her case, she had to revise the original ideal English self of working at the United Nations (UN) and struggled through developing a new ideal English self. Her English studies, however, never came to a complete stop. From the beginning, Shion appeared relaxed and still appears so – her

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approach to L2 learning was quite different from Yuzuru’s, who, in a sense, very well fit the theories of the L2MSS and intrinsic motivation. I still tried to understand Shion’s case and, over time, came to realize that I may need a theoretical account that is different from the L2MSS or intrinsic motivation. As she acknowledges in one of the email messages that she sent to me after the study ended, her language studies ‘are likely to continue with various influences’. Such lifelong L2 learning is not something the L2MSS emphasizes, but it may be worth further investigating. This point is to be further elaborated on in Chapter 11. In sum, this longitudinal case study with ‘a person-in-context relational view of motivation’ (Ushioda, 2009: 220) enabled me to capture a whole range of changing contextual factors and how the interviewees themselves as persons shaped their own contexts. Indeed, such a longitudinal interview method enabled me to uncover ‘the complex interaction of social, cultural and psychological factors within individual learners, in the situated context of their lived experiences and local realities’ (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2021: 213). I feel that this longitudinal qualitative inquiry enabled me to do justice to the interviewees, albeit not perfectly, and understand that there are aspects that are not covered by current theorizing of L2 motivation. One set of interviews would never have achieved this. Challenges of Longitudinal Case Studies Utilizing Interviews

Having elaborated on various advantages of the method, it is, of course, not without its challenges. First, one of the obvious limitations is that it is time-consuming. Unlike other types of studies such as questionnaires, I had to wait for some years to publish one paper, which focused on each phase of the research. Now I am putting the study into a book, writing this chapter in 2021, and nine years have passed since I started the study in 2012. It is one of the most obvious and biggest limitations. Related to the issue above, the academic field kept developing quickly while I was working on the project. When I started this study in 2012, the number of studies utilizing the L2MSS or those focused on LOTE studies were still limited, although they were increasing with great speed. Between 2012 and 2021, the field witnessed so much development, including the increasing number of LOTE motivation studies as well as qualitative studies. As such, I tried to incorporate new insights from emerging L2 motivation research, which resulted in an updated research focus at each research phase – I realized that, as Lamb (2018: 358) points out, ‘researchers themselves change over time’. Saldaña (2003: 38) suggests that a researcher should be advised to keep up with the literature ‘since selected works may have some bearing on the design, analysis, or interpretation of data from the ongoing study’, and I agree. It is not a limitation per se, but something a longitudinal researcher can keep in mind when working on a long-term project.

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Second, this type of interview study is small scale, and one participant dropping out means so much more than in other types of studies, such as questionnaires with hundreds of participants. Miller (2015) provides an example of how some of her participants declined participation in another round of interviews when she contacted them years after the original study. This is natural, as study participants have so many other obligations in their busy lives than to be interviewed for research. However, for a researcher, one interviewee declining to be interviewed again may mean the end of the study, as mentioned earlier, and this means so much more than in other types of studies. Third, the nature of the longitudinal interview study’s small scale makes the results applicable only to the interviewees – the results are not generalizable beyond the study participants. I now know much about the complexities of the two interviewees’ English and LOTE learning motivations, but they are about just two learners. Considering how academically oriented Yuzuru and Shion are, they may also be so atypical that their cases are not generalizable to other learners even in the Japanese context – this makes generalization of any sort entirely impossible. On the other hand, the main purpose of the study was not to generalize the results beyond cases but to examine two intrinsic cases in depth and ‘come to understand the case’ (Stake, 1995: 77). Furthermore, in a realistic sense, I do not think I would have been able to handle many more interviewees in a long-term project like this one. In a survey study with somewhat less involvement having a bigger number of interviewees may be more manageable. However, in a study like this one, involving extended conversations with the interviewees ‘as persons’, I think I was able to handle the interviews because there were only two people. In sum, the issue of generalization is a limitation in the method, but perhaps not a critical one. Fourth, just as Shion and Yuzuru’s comments pointed out, the results of this longitudinal study need to be carefully interpreted because of ‘researcher effects’ (Lamb, 2018). It is highly likely that my interviewing Yuzuru and Shion at half-year intervals motivated them to study languages, providing them with opportunities for a regular check on their motivations. In an insightful paper, Lamb (2018) elaborates on how he as the researcher was (although unexpectedly) both an authority figure as well as a source of inspiration. By interviewing 12 focal participants and following them for years since the end of the original study (Lamb, 2007), the researcher explains how he might have influenced both the interviewees’ ought-to and ideal English selves. As such, no matter how hard he tried to not interfere with the students’ everyday lives at the beginning, by being there as a researcher (a native speaker [NS] from England in his case, which had particularly strong sociocultural implications in the Indonesian society, where the study unfolded), Lamb admits that he

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could not help such a ‘researcher effect’. He goes on to discuss the longterm effects of research on interviewees, proposing the examination of ‘what happens to participants after the research finishes’ (Lamb, 2018: 367). This equally applies to the interviewees in this study. In response to Lamb (2018), Consoli and Aoyama (2020) suggest some practical tips in these types of long-term investigations. For example, in order to understand the local contexts in which interviewees are situated and enhance sustained relationships, they propose that ‘a researcher needs to stop and think about the type of life that these people might lead in order to devise strategies that support their initial interactions with potential candidates’ (Consoli & Aoyama, 2020: 181). In my case, talking to their high school English teacher (who was also my English teacher) about their lives and English studies indeed helped me become familiar with their local context. Nonetheless, regardless of such tips, researcher effects are still there. That said, such researcher effects are not a limitation confined to longitudinal interview studies. For example, a diary study may also provide study participants with an opportunity to reflect on their experiences as well as psychological states and may, thus, be motivating. Even questionnaires may have the same motivating effect for some participants because it may mean an opportunity to reflect on their language studies – as Lamb (2018: 367) puts it, ‘the act of completing a questionnaire might prompt a process of reflection in respondents that changes behaviour before the second administration of the survey’. As such, it is not a limitation that is unique to longitudinal case studies using interviews, but the effect may be stronger due to its longitudinal and in-depth nature. Reciprocal Impacts between an Interviewer and Interviewees

As discussed, a researcher in this type of study can no longer remain an outsider and may impact study participants in one way or another. The relationship is not one way, however. What I would like to discuss here in more detail is that the relationship can be reciprocal; study participants may also influence researchers as we engage in prolonged conversations. I strongly felt this point throughout the present study. One of the reciprocal aspects that I realized as the study evolved is how my research interests broadened thanks to the interviewees. As can be seen in Chapter 6, in my dissertation, my main interests were on English learning motivation, particularly in the context of L2 self-instruction using radio materials. I started my work, situating it as an English motivation study that was held in an under-researched area of L2 selfinstruction. However, as I discovered only at the first interviews, Yuzuru and Shion were already studying Chinese at the time. As time passed, their LOTE studies further developed after high school, and I considered

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the aspect of LOTE motivations so crucial that I ended up feeling that this work should be situated as a LOTE motivation study. Of course, the period between 2012 and 2021 is when the number of LOTE motivation studies substantially grew, and I was aware of such a development. However, in terms of this study, my research focus evolved the way it did in part due to the two interviewees’ contrasting experiences regarding LOTE studies. Had Yuzuru and Shion been through typical experiences of not-so-successful LOTE studies and held an instrumentalist perspective, the research focus might have developed in a different direction. All in all, Yuzuru and Shion as study participants and I as a researcher all feel that a mutual relationship of trust is crucial. Without such a relationship, a longitudinal study that expands over years would probably be impossible. Some Final Thoughts

My discussion on this longitudinal case study method might have been more comprehensive had I been able to hear stories from those who did not respond to my initial interview invitation or from those who dropped out at a much earlier stage. Furthermore, unfortunately, I have no way of finding out how other interviewees in my dissertation felt about my presence because it was a brief encounter. However, at least hearing about the experiences of being interviewed from Yuzuru and Shion enabled me to look at the study from the interviewees’ perspectives. As all research methods have both advantages and limitations, there is no perfect method. As such, the best a researcher can do may be to go back to the basics of conducting research and being conscientious, e.g. being familiar with various types of methods, including their advantages and limitations; considering whether the method that the researcher has chosen is suitable for answering the research questions they have posed; contemplating any impact, both positive and negative, that a study might have on its participants; and asking for member-checking when possible. As Seidman (2013: 143) puts it, ‘[p]erhaps the most genuine way that we as researchers can reciprocate participants for having taken part in our research is to carry out an interview in a way that supports and even enhances their dignity’.

11 Conclusion

This volume attempted to empirically investigate two academically successful Japanese learners of English and languages other than English (LOTEs), examining existing second language (L2) motivation theories as well as past studies on LOTE motivation. The empirical study shed light on both the advantages and limitations of current L2 motivation theories. This was done by employing a less utilized longitudinal case study method with interviews spanning years in an under-researched context on the topic of LOTE motivation. The empirical study was conducted with distinct research foci at various phases, guided by one overarching question of how English and LOTE motivations change over time. Chapter 6 examined the relationships between motivational bases to study English and persistence in learning with self-instructional radio (SIR) materials in high school. Chapter 7 examined the development of ideal English and LOTE selves and the factors that affected such development during the first two years of university. Chapter  8 went on to investigate possible interactions between English and LOTE motivations during the second half of university. Chapter  9 was an attempt to further examine the development of English and LOTE motivations, focusing more on the multilingual aspect as well as the interviewees’ emerging perspectives on language and language learning. Chapter 9 may be uncommon in that it examined the interviewees at graduate schools and beyond, as there have not been enough investigations of learners beyond formal education (Mendoza & Phung, 2019). The 16 interview sessions not only delineated long-term motivational trajectories but also highlighted the interviewees’ lived experiences in the particular context they were placed in, while they also shaped their own contexts. In this chapter, I first look back on Yuzuru and Shion’s nine-year experiences and their changing English and LOTE motivations, incorporating the results gained through prolonged conversations with the interviewees. I then discuss theoretical implications, including possible future directions for L2 motivation research, as well as some pedagogical implications. 162

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Yuzuru and Shion throughout the Nine Years

At each research phase (and educational phase for the interviewees), some crucial factors influenced the interviewees’ language studies. These include their studies for university entrance examinations, their choice of major as well as intense studies in their majors, opportunities for study abroad and professional aspirations. Helped by such factors, Yuzuru and Shion developed ideal, ought-to, L2 and professional selves as well as intrinsic motivation in their own ways. What was most striking to me, however, is how they both developed a constitutive view of language and saw language learning as a lifelong endeavor. First, Table  11.1 aims to summarize Yuzuru’s experiences throughout the study period. Although somewhat simplified, what immediately appears as one of Yuzuru’s most notable aspects is his rich life experiences, both in English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries. His life and academic experiences are balanced in English and LOTEs, which is atypical in Japan and demonstrates his multilingual identity. Also notable are his intense academic studies, which involved not only English but also various LOTE aspects. Supported by his rich experiences, he studied Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Korean and Latin during the study period. Motivationally speaking, Yuzuru’s trajectories can be summarized as in Figure  11.1. Although I feel that this type of summary ignores some important details and simplifies the picture, it nonetheless shows a bigger picture of his changes throughout the study period, which were only partly covered in each chapter. It also demonstrates how his motivational trajectories are closely related to his experiences, summarized in Table 11.1. This includes, for example, a downward trend in his intrinsic motivation, which can be explained by his studies for university entrance examinations. After entering university, his ideal English and French selves started to develop (as shown by the upward trend), which later developed into an ideal multilingual self. Yuzuru experienced a virtuous cycle of learning various languages and being more motivated, which resembles students’ unique experiences of studying various languages in England as described in Benson and Lamb (2021) (see Chapter  7). After nine years, Yuzuru grew to be an extremely successful learner of English and multiple LOTEs, demonstrating high proficiency in various languages, as shown in Table 11.1. Turning now to Shion, Table 11.2 presents her experiences throughout the study period. It shows a different picture from that of Yuzuru, with more emphasis on the intensive training in her nursing major, which did not involve many LOTE aspects. Nonetheless, they involved heavy academic reading in English, which seems to have been facilitated by her experience of reading extensively in English in high school. Shion also had various experiences in both English-speaking and non-English-speaking

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Table 11.1  Yuzuru’s experiences throughout the nine years Year

Academic year

Notable events and experiences

2012

Second year of high school

Non-persistence in L2 self-instruction Extensive reading in English Intense studies for university entrance examinations Studies of Chinese Travel alone in China

2014

First year of university

Starting compulsory French classes Initiating various voluntary LOTE studies Academic reading in English and LOTEs Scoring a 7.5 overall score band and a 9.0 in reading on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) (December)

2015

First year of university

Travel alone in Europe

2015

Second year of university

Summer program at Oxford University Travel alone in Great Britain Officially declaring political philosophy major

2016

Third year of university

Setting out for a year-long study abroad in France Consolidating the ideal professional self of becoming an academic

2017

Third year of university

Earning Diplôme d’études en langue française (DELF) B2 level (January)

2017

Fourth year of university

Earning Diplôme approfondi de langue française (DALF) C1 level (May) Studies of Dutch

2018

Fifth year of university

Intense academic reading in English and LOTEs Being exempt from written examination to get into graduate school

2019

Fifth year of university

Scoring 103 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) (March)

2019

First year of graduate school

Discarding the ideal professional self of becoming an academic

2020

Second year of graduate school

Staying home due to COVID-19 Resuming English self-instruction with radio materials

2021

Second year of graduate school

Earned a master’s degree Scoring a full mark in reading and 98 out of 100 in listening on the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) I, Level 2 (April, after the study period)

countries. This added to her experiential capital, which seems to have indirectly helped her English motivation. As a result, she gained experiences in studying Chinese, English, German and Korean. Shion’s motivational trajectories are depicted in Figure  11.2. I feel that it also greatly simplifies the complexities of her L2 motivations but may be conducive to understanding the trajectories. As the interviewee admits, her days at university (particularly at the undergraduate level) seemed to involve a strong perceived role as a student, which caused anxiety. As a result, her motivations at university show a somewhat darker picture after high school. However, as the last year of the study demonstrated, once she was relieved of such pressures, she started to regain intrinsic motivation, and she perceived language learning as

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Figure 11.1  Yuzuru’s motivational trajectories throughout the nine years

continuing well after formal education. In this sense, Figure  11.2 may have given a different impression had the study been extended for several more years. Contextual factors exerted varying influences on the interviewees. As described in Chapter 4, some noteworthy political, economic and educational factors are evident in Japan: (a) emphasis on English communication competence in the era of globalization; (b) importance placed on global jinzai; (c) exam-orientedness; (d) strong role placed on students; and (e) de-emphasis on LOTEs. Through personal histories and experiences, both Yuzuru and Shion were impacted by some contextual factors but not others. Instead of being completely influenced by these factors, they shaped their contexts in their own ways, e.g. by going through life experiences abroad, studying diligently, acting on personal needs and interests, and contemplating what language and language learning meant to them – they are two excellent cases that demonstrated a sense of personal agency. An obvious example is Yuzuru’s development of an ideal multilingual self in a context like Japan. The societal emphasis on English had very little or no impact on the interviewee. Furthermore, we notice that if we examine his nine-year motivational trajectories, the development of an ideal professional self played a role in facilitating his ideal LOTE selves, as past studies suggested (e.g. Nitta & Baba, 2015), but did not completely explain his development. The development of his ideal multilingual self was also explained by his intentions to understand others, harmonious ideal and ought-to L2 selves, and strong intrinsic motivation (see Chapter 9). These are the factors that Yuzuru nurtured irrespective of the political and economic contexts of Japan.

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Table 11.2  Shion’s experiences throughout the nine years Year

Academic year

Notable events and experiences

2012

Second year of high school

Persistence in L2 self-instruction Extensive reading in English Intense studies for university entrance examinations Developing an ideal professional self of working at the UN Studies of Chinese (before the study period)

2014

First year of university

Starting compulsory German classes Earning German Certificate Grade 5 with a perfect score (October) Discarding the ideal professional self of working at the UN

2015

Second year of university

Officially declaring nursing major Earning German Certificate Grade 3 (June)

2016

Third year of university

Intense studies and training in nursing Intense academic reading in English Fieldwork in Finland

2017

Fourth year of university

Intense academic reading in English Passing examinations to get into graduate school as well as the national examination for the nursing license

2018

First year of graduate school Scoring 900 on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) (June) Intense academic reading in English Traveling to the United States

2019

Second year of graduate school

Traveling to France and Spain Earned a master’s degree

2020

First year of professional career

Being extremely busy with new professional position Staying home due to COVID-19 Occasional viewing of self-instructional TV materials for English learning

2021

First year of professional career

Starting Korean studies (after the study period)

Another example is Shion’s development of her constitutive perspectives on language and language learning. She was surrounded by and was aware of the contextual factors emphasizing English as a global language, global jinzai, and her social role obligations as a student. It might have been only natural had she developed a more instrumentalist perspective. However, facilitated by her experiences of having studied multiple LOTEs and her understanding of the uniqueness of each language, her perspectives instead developed more constitutively. As seen in the examples above, the context that a learner is placed in may indeed be a decisive factor in shaping their L2 motivation; at the same time, we can see that it is each learner who makes sense of the context and goes beyond it. The interviewees in this study did not ‘simply receiv[e] and accep[t] “as is” whatever learning opportunities, learning partners, instruction, mentors, goals, activities, resources, events and circumstances happen to come [their] way’ as passive learners (Reeve, 2022: 37). Instead, they took initiatives and strove to learn languages as

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Figure 11.2  Shion’s motivational trajectories throughout the nine years

agentically engaged learners. Figure 11.3 is a schematic representation of how the interviewees, rather than only being impacted by the societal discourse, gradually came to shape their own contexts as they went through experiences under this particular societal discourse. Such development supported the interviewees’ L2 motivations and is likely to continue to do so after this study. In sum, both Yuzuru and Shion demonstrated unique developments of English and LOTE motivations supported by their rich experiences in their own contexts. Although the results of the study are not generalizable beyond the two interviewees as described in Chapter 10, their stories demonstrate what is possible in a context like Japan, which has remained almost silent thus far on the topic of LOTE motivations. Insights for Further Theorizing Language Learning Motivation

Duff (2020: 150) argues that ‘case studies are designed not just to introduce readers to participants, but to advance knowledge of a more theoretical and more general nature’. This empirical study with two excellent cases enabled (a) close examinations of existing motivational theories as well as the issue of persistence in learning and (b) a proposal of motivational factors that may be unique to lifelong multiple language learning. I hope that the following discussion will help further theorizing of LOTE motivation and thus L2 motivation in general. In an introductory paper for a special issue of The Modern Language Journal (2017), Ushioda and Dörnyei (2017: 452) raised two core questions about (a) whether current L2 theories adequately account for

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Figure 11.3  Schematic representation of a context and a learner

motivation to learn LOTEs and (b) the impact of English as a global language on the motivation to learn LOTEs in a globalized yet multicultural and multilingual world. The present study provided some clues for answering these questions by employing a method that enabled detailed investigations of ‘highly specific and personalized reasons’ for studying LOTEs (Dörnyei & Al-Hoorie, 2017: 462). To answer the second question first, the impact of English can be positive or negative depending on the learner. As reported by some past studies, there are instances in which the impact is positive (e.g. Dörnyei & Chan, 2013). The present study also suggested that it is possible to go beyond the instrumentalist view of English by appreciating the diversity of languages and nurturing translingual and transcultural competence, as in Yuzuru’s case: English did not negatively impact his LOTE learning motivations, and the various languages that he learned coexisted in harmony within him. Second, to answer the first question, although the frameworks employed by the study (i.e. the L2 motivational self system [L2MSS] and intrinsic motivation) were adequate in accounting for the two

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interviewees’ LOTE learning motivations, some perspectives not covered by them also emerged. These include the interviewees’ perceptions of the learning of both English and LOTEs as a lifelong endeavor ‘without an end’ (Yuzuru); such a perception goes beyond short-term goals and purposes on which current theorizing of L2 motivation has mainly focused. Interconnected with this perception is the constitutive view of language and language learning that the interviewees developed. Their take on language and language learning, i.e. ‘language makes life and life makes language’ (Yuzuru) and ‘the feeling of wanting to know the other side leads to learning languages’ (Shion), are very much in tune with what Ushioda (2017: 474) described as ‘this more holistic constitutive view of language learning in terms of a person’s whole linguistic and cultural repertoire’. This, according to Ushioda (2017: 474), ‘has yet to make significant inroads into our ways of conceptualizing (and thereby promoting) motivation for learning languages’ (emphasis in original). Indeed, what appeared as one of the most crucial aspects of the interviewees’ LOTE motivations is their drive to nurture translingual and transcultural competence, i.e. ‘the ability to operate between languages’ (MLA, 2007), as a lifelong endeavor. Such enduring translingual transcultural orientation is what facilitated Yuzuru’s multiple LOTE learning, which he sees as continuing even after formal education, and it helped Shion initiate learning a new LOTE, i.e. Korean. To be precise, translingual competence here is to be conceived ‘not as an encouragement to code switch with abandon or to use a hybrid pidgin but as an incentive to capitalize on the surplus of meaning that multilingualism can bring about’ (Kramsch, 2012: 17–18). As such, enduring translingual transcultural orientation, defined as one’s lifelong drive to learn multiple languages and operate between them using the whole linguistic and cultural repertoire, i.e. to ‘lear[n] to mediate between incompatible cultural worldviews’ (Kramsch, 2014: 305), may be another element in LOTE learners’ motivations to go beyond English. There have already been discussions on multiple language learning as a lifelong endeavor in other areas of L2 learning. For example, in a chapter discussing language learner autonomy, Palfreyman and Benson (2019: 676) suggested that ‘more research is needed on how reflection on differences, similarities, or complementarities between languages and between experiences of learning different languages might help to build learner autonomy’. Considering that discussions of language learner autonomy often involve lifelong learning that goes beyond classroom and educational settings, the focus on the relation between multiple language learning and language learner autonomy very much echoes enduring translingual transcultural orientation. L2 motivation research may have been slow to address such a perspective possibly for at least three reasons: (a) such translingual transcultural orientation may not emerge from studies focusing only on English

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motivation; (b) when empirical studies examine learners who are only keen to develop ‘practical communication skills’ (Ushioda, 2017: 472) and the goal of language education in many countries is framed with a narrow focus on oral communication skills that can be ‘objectively’ measured, such a perspective may not emerge from data; and (c) developing translingual and transcultural competence may take a substantial amount of time, necessitating longitudinal studies of successful learners. On the other hand, there has already been much discussion on translingual and transcultural competence and a broader ‘trans-’ perspective both theoretically and pedagogically (e.g. Hawkins & Mori, 2018; Kern, 2011; Kunschak, 2020). The discussions may give clues to further theorizing on the motivational aspect of such competence. Enduring translingual transcultural orientation is also likely to be uncovered by future empirical research of successful LOTE learners who go beyond the status of English as a global language, including those who are not in formal education. The point will be further described below. Compared to other important states in motivation, e.g. directed motivational currents (DMCs), enduring translingual transcultural orientation may be a long-term, stable orientation, perhaps without ‘surges’, yet it is nonetheless what facilitates persistence in learning. It may be less intense and less goal-oriented, particularly in the sense of short-term goals. Most importantly, it does not have a clear ending point. Rather, it is an orientation that learners gradually nurture throughout their lives, which Shion’s case well exemplifies. Although Shion struggled with her English and LOTE studies at times, she persisted in learning languages in her own way, with a ‘discontinuation’ not resulting in ‘non-persistence’ because she ‘later return[ed] to the goal’ (Moshontz & Hoyle, 2021: 7). As such, enduring translingual transcultural orientation may be less conceivable than intense types of motivation, but it may be crucial particularly in lifelong multiple language learning that includes LOTEs. If we turn to recent discussions on the aspect of persistence in L2 motivation and the conditions that are argued to be necessary for persistence (Dörnyei, 2020, see Chapter  2), a self-concordant vision seems to be one of the most crucial factors facilitating persistence in a type of learning like lifelong multiple language learning. Shion, for example, had study habits of listening to SIR materials at a fixed time of the day in high school but lost them at university; her goals became unclear at some point. At certain times, Shion did not receive strong social support but rather only pressures that negatively influenced her language learning and, thus, she did not have positive emotions. In contrast, her enduring translingual transcultural orientation gradually formed part of her selfconcordant vision. Together with strategic self-control and the gritty resilience that many academically successful students like Shion have, this vision facilitated her persisting in learning multiple languages. In this sense, a self-concordant vision with enduring translingual transcultural

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orientation – the kind of person one aspires to be throughout life – may be one of the most decisive factors for persistence in lifelong multiple language learning. Yuzuru and Shion’s cases both exemplify this point. When persistence is examined in relation to enduring translingual transcultural orientation, the importance of the dimension of time becomes clear. Enduring translingual transcultural orientation facilitates persistence (particularly episodic persistence; Moshontz & Hoyle, 2021) in language learning as a lifelong endeavor. As such, although the intensity of learning may vary at times, this type of persistence surely involves a long-term motivation. This illustrates the crucial aspect of time in persistence (see the discussion in Chapter 2). Directions for Future Research

From this study, at least three themes appeared as promising avenues for future research. First, it will be fruitful to examine learners beyond formal education. This area has not received enough scholarly attention (Mendoza & Phung, 2019). As such, the current theorizing of L2 motivation centers around goal-directed behaviors, as Ushioda (2017) observes. However, learners who are not in formal education may seek L2 learning as a lifelong endeavor, ‘a road without an end’ (Yuzuru), as a constitutive human act that nurtures translingual and transcultural competence. Their motivations may entail factors other than ‘the future goals and purposes of language learning’ (Ushioda, 2017: 471) and may be worth examining. Second, examining more cases of successful learners of LOTEs in the era of English as a global language may be insightful. To be precise, ‘success’ here does not have to refer so much to ‘nativelikeness under laboratory conditions’ (Ortega, 2019: 25) or to an ‘idealised monolingual native speaker’ (Cook, 2016: 11) but to ‘being able to function in more than one language vis-à-vis whatever life demands a person faces, by circumstance or choice’ (Ortega, 2019: 25). Although some learners have reportedly experienced a negative impact of English on their LOTE motivation (e.g. Busse, 2017; Csizér & Lukács, 2010; Henry, 2015a) as portrayed in Chapter  3, some important themes are already emerging from studies that examined LOTE motivations among learners who balance English and LOTE studies. These include a multilingual posture (Zheng et al., 2020) and dialogic communicators through LOTEs (Lv et al., 2017). Cases of successful LOTE learners may demonstrate how multilingual learners develop in different contexts for different reasons, which may include enduring translingual transcultural orientation. Studies on such learners are likely to facilitate further theorizing of LOTE motivation and, thus, L2 motivation in general. Third, engaging in these types of in-depth examinations of multilingual learners’ motivations in other under-researched contexts, including

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‘[g]rass-roots multilingualism and the multilingualism of marginalized and minoritized communities’ (Ortega, 2019: 32), may show the diversity of multilingualism. This study demonstrated just one type of multilingualism that developed in Japan. However, there are distinct types of multilingualism throughout the world, as demonstrated by past studies (e.g. Coetzee-Van Rooy, 2019; Hajar, 2022; Henry, 2020; Kalaja & MeloPfeifer, 2019; Nakamura, 2019; Thompson, 2017a, 2017b). I am aware that multilingualism, for example in Hawai’i, where I was educated and spent some time, shows a completely different picture than this study. Longitudinal interview studies on various types of multilingual learners are worth pursuing. Some Pedagogical Implications

Given how academically oriented Shion and Yuzuru are, no pedagogical suggestions will be equally applicable to learners of varying proficiency levels and motivations. However, I felt that some ideas I gained from prolonged conversations with the interviewees might be helpful. First, it seems crucial for teachers to try to nurture a balanced view of language learning among their students. As most learners are already aware of the pragmatic aspect of English and may hold an instrumentalist view of language learning, emphasizing such aspects may only intensify the pressures they are already feeling and make their motivation more ‘fragile’ (Ushioda, 2017: 471). As Shion experienced strong implicit and explicit pressures at university, heightening learner anxiety does not seem very helpful in motivating them in the long run. Instead of further nurturing an instrumentalist view, teachers can emphasize a more holistic view to help students balance their views on language learning. To facilitate such a balance, it seems meaningful to have students engage in discussions of what language and language learning fundamentally mean to them. Such discussions have the possibility of going beyond the instrumentalist view of language learning not only for learners but for instructors as well. There should be opportunities for learners and instructors alike to realize that language learning/teaching can be about ‘becoming more as a person’ (Kubota & Takeda, 2021: 481). Second, the proposals made in an MLA (2007) report should once again be remembered. Although conflicts in FL education goals and challenges that LOTE instructors in particular face have already been pointed out (e.g. Kramsch, 2014), some learners, like Yuzuru, are able to operate between languages. Being introduced to ideas like ‘language makes life and life makes language’ (Yuzuru) and ‘there might be deeper parts in the first languages of each other’ (Shion), LOTE learners’ motivations may not have to be negatively impacted by English. Instead of trying to help learners reach ‘nativelike’ proficiency in all languages they study, instructors can facilitate learners’ gradual development of translingual

Conclusion 

173

and transcultural competence (Kramsch, 2014), involving linguistic multicompetence as L2 users (Cook, 2016) and ‘self-development, linguistic enrichment, and cultural understanding’ (Ushioda, 2017: 474). Third, although learners, researchers and policymakers both inside and outside Japan emphasize the speaking skills of L2s, and English in particular, L2 reading is an area that can be appreciated more. As both Shion and Yuzuru emphasized, their L2 reading skills greatly facilitated their academic studies. L2 reading is a relevant area even in a context like Japan, where few day-to-day speaking opportunities are available. Of course, L2 reading can have varying depths simply from obtaining information on the internet to understanding academic arguments to reading literature and appreciating different ways of thinking. As Yuzuru demonstrated, through reading, we get to understand people of diverse cultures and, in his words, ‘we can touch people’s lives’. Regardless of the depth, L2 reading is an area in which learners even in contexts without direct contact with target language (TL) speakers can engage, with the possibility of further broadening their horizons. Looking Back, Looking Ahead

As I stated at the very beginning, language learning is indeed a long endeavor. When this study started in 2012, Shion and Yuzuru were in their second year of high school; at the time of writing this chapter, they are now professionals, having earned master’s degrees. It is revealing how Yuzuru and Shion engaged in learning English and LOTEs throughout the nine years and how their language studies have continued even after the study ended in March 2021. Examinations of Yuzuru and Shion’s language learning motivations revealed how language learning through nine years was only a part of their lives yet possibly a big part of their lives. Likewise, at different points in their lives, language is likely to play different roles of varying importance to them. Nonetheless, language will surely remain an essential part for both because – as Yuzuru puts it – language makes life and life makes language.

Afterword

Originally, I had not planned to write an afterword. However, the situation surrounding Yuzuru necessitated it. This longitudinal study was surely the most fulfilling and pleasant one for me with the two wonderful interviewees, until May 2022, when I heard the devastating news of Yuzuru’s sudden death. I had almost finished making revisions to the manuscript, and I wondered whether I should add anything to the main text. After much thought, I decided not to do so because what I had written is, after all, how the study evolved and ended. Although in Chapter 10 I did point out the possible impact of a study participant on a researcher, the impact became far more emotionally laden and challenging than I had imagined. Getting in touch with my own writing or the original data still inevitably brings me the deepest sorrow. It will probably long remain that way. I cannot help but think about the many ‘what-ifs’ and ponder how his life, his language learning and his perspectives on language would have further developed. However, no further conversation with Yuzuru is possible. This is a heartbreaking fact for me. On the other hand, I still feel that I was truly lucky to have met Yuzuru as well as Shion through this study because, without their participation, this study would never have been initiated nor completed. Even though I can no longer interview Yuzuru, what Yuzuru and Shion told me throughout the many interviews and email exchanges are here in this book. Without these data, we would never have gauged their thought processes or the development of their perspectives on language and language learning. I am quite sure that their take on language and language learning resonates with that of many other learners and that it will influence many language learners around the world now and later. In this sense, I feel the power of language. Language transcends time and place. Although Yuzuru is no longer with us physically, he will always be with us in this book.

174

Appendices

Appendix A: Interview Prompts at First Interview in High School Background questions

(1) Why did you start learning English with self-instructional radio (SIR) materials? (2) How long have you studied English using SIR materials? (3) What are the names of the materials? (4) How often have you listened to these materials? (5) Do/did you listen to these materials alone, or with somebody else? (6) Do you find it difficult to keep learning English with SIR materials? If so, why? L2 motivation at school

(1) Do you like English classes at school? Why/why not? (2) What do you think are the differences between English classes at school and self-instruction with SIR materials? (3) Have you kept learning using SIR materials? Why/Why not? Future goals

(1) What kind of career do you wish to have in the future? (2) Do you wish to work/live in a foreign country in the future? (3) Do you have any experience in which you gained/lost second language (L2) communication confidence? Opportunities for L2 communication

(1) Do you have any opportunities outside of self-instruction to engage in L2 communication? (2) What kind of influence do these experiences of L2 communication have on self-instruction?

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Appendix B: Interview Prompts at Second Interview in High School Studies with SIR materials

(1) Have you kept learning English with SIR materials over the past six months? (2) If you have stopped, when did you stop listening? (3) If you have stopped, what made you stop? (4) If you have stopped, how did it happen (e.g. whether you suddenly stopped listening one day)? (5) Has it been difficult to persist in your studies with SIR materials? How? (6) Has anything changed with the ways you listen to SIR materials, such as the materials you listen to or the frequency of listening? If so, in what way? Changes in L2 motivation and L2 communication opportunities

(1) Has anything changed with regard to your attitude toward English studies and the amount of effort you put into English studies? If so, how? (2) Have you had any opportunities to engage in L2 communication outside the classroom in the past six months? (3) Have you had any significant experiences related to English outside the classroom, such as traveling abroad, in the past six months? (4) Have you started studying English outside school or with SIR materials? Future goals

(1) Has anything changed with regard to your future career goals? Have they become clearer? (2) Have you started thinking seriously about university entrance exams? (3) What influence, if any, do university entrance exams have on your studies with SIR materials? Appendix C: Interview Prompts in University and Graduate School English studies

(1) Would you tell me about your classroom English studies? (2) Would you tell me about your English studies outside the classroom? (3) Did you take any standardized proficiency tests? (4) Did you have any opportunities to communicate in English?

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177

LOTE studies

(1) Would you tell me about your classroom language other than English (LOTE) studies? (2) Would you tell me about your LOTE studies outside the classroom? (3) Did you take any standardized proficiency tests? (4) Did you have any opportunities to communicate in LOTE(s)? Academic studies

(1) How are your major studies going? (2) Do they have anything to do with English or LOTEs? Future goals

(1) What kind of career do you wish to have in the future? (2) Would that involve any English/LOTEs? Ideal and ought-to L2 selves

(1) Do you have any image of yourself you ideally want to be regarding English/LOTEs? (2) Do you have any image of yourself you think you ought to be regarding English/LOTEs? Appendix D: Interview Prompts in Professional Work (to Shion) Details of professional work

(1) Which department are you in? (2) What are the details of your assigned job? (3) How is your work going in the pandemic? (4) Does your work have anything to do with English/LOTEs? English studies

(1) Did you have any opportunities to study English? (2) Did you take any standardized proficiency tests? (3) Did you have any opportunities to communicate in English? LOTE studies

(1) Did you have any opportunities to study LOTEs?

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Ideal and ought-to L2 selves

(1) Do you have any image of yourself you ideally want to be regarding English/LOTEs? (2) Do you have any image of yourself you think you ought to be regarding English/LOTEs? Appendix E: Interview Prompts Only Asked at Last Interview Participation in a longitudinal study

(1) Do you think there was any impact of being interviewed at a regular interval on you? (2) Do you think there was any impact of the researcher on you? Meanings of language and language learning

(1) What does language mean to you? (2) What does language learning mean to you?

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Index

constitutive, 3, 38, 114–115, 120, 137, 147–150, 163, 166, 169, 171; see also holistic contentedly bilingual self, 35, 110, 120 Course of Study, 12, 52, 54 COVID-19, 71, 92, 127, 129, 131, 164, 166 cross-sectional, 24, 32, 34, 74

achievement, 13, 38–39, 41, 53, 72, 91, 111, 124, 129, 135–136, 139, 149 agency, 19, 105, 150, 165 anti-ought-to self, 31, 35, 42; see also ought-to (L2) self, rebellious profile anxiety, 17, 44, 57, 141–142, 146, 164, 172 Australia, 42, 69 Austria, 116 autonomy, 18, 19, 169; see also psychological needs auxiliary course, 60, 61, 122

demotivation, 27, 37, 45, 48, 55–56, 62, 132 dialogic communicator, 134, 171 Diplôme approfondi de langue française (DALF), 114, 135, 164 Diplôme d’études en langue française (DELF) , 114, 164 directed motivational current (DMC), 23, 39, 90, 170 distance education, 77 dual orientations, 49, 55–56, 63, 84, 88 Dutch, 112–113, 114, 163, 164

behavioral routine, 23, 39, 81, 90, 91; see also habit Bulgaria, 37 bunkei (arts, social science and humanities), 84, 100, 102–103 case study, 32, 47, 67, 69–70, 73–75, 95, 153–161, 167 China, 17, 25, 28, 35, 43, 48, 61, 63, 69, 81, 82, 85, 90, 98, 104–105, 115– 116, 133, 134, 141, 147, 155, 164 Chinese, 9, 43, 45, 69, 70, 82, 85, 87, 91, 92, 93, 101, 113, 115–116, 133, 139, 148, 160, 163, 164, 166 Common Test for University Admissions, 53, 56 communication competence, 12, 16, 49– 52, 54–55, 57–58, 59, 64, 95, 110, 121, 124, 127, 141, 147, 165 communication tool, 4, 46, 51 communicative competence, 12, 118 competitive edge, 4, 21, 101, 148 complex dynamic systems, 34

eikaiwa (English conversation), 12–13, 49, 56, 78, 86, 131 enduring translingual transcultural orientation, 169–171; see also transcultural; translingual England, 27, 30, 35, 41, 42–43, 48, 96, 98, 159, 163 English as a foreign language (EFL) context, 12, 15–16, 28, 30, 49, 56, 59, 63, 83, 88, 95, 100 English as a global language, 3–4, 6, 20, 21, 26, 27, 29, 31, 36–38, 41, 62, 101, 123, 148, 166, 170, 171

192

Index 

exam-oriented context, 5, 12, 17, 46, 48, 53, 56, 76, 84, 90, 128, 134 experiential capital, 104–105, 106, 107, 118, 123, 124, 164 extensive reading, 69, 76, 83, 88, 92, 164, 166 feared L2 self, 119, 121 Finland, 118, 120, 166 foreign language activity, 52–54 formal education, 8, 55, 63, 126, 127– 128, 138, 148, 156, 162, 165, 169, 170, 171 France, 8, 99, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111–114, 115, 126, 137, 138–139, 164, 166 French, 8, 9, 28, 30, 31, 36–37, 40, 60, 68, 72, 82, 93, 96–97, 99, 103, 106–107, 109, 110, 111–115, 129–130, 132, 133, 135, 136–137, 163, 164, 165 German, 31, 32–33, 41, 46, 60, 68, 72, 93, 96, 99–101, 103, 106, 107, 109, 110, 112–115, 116, 120, 122, 139, 143, 148, 157, 163, 164, 166 Germany, 27, 37, 101, 143 global jinzai (global human capital/ resource), 51, 54, 127, 141, 146, 165, 166 grammar, 51, 56, 82, 83, 87, 92, 100, 130 Greek, 93, 96–97, 106, 112, 113, 114, 163 grit, 23 habit, 23, 81, 88, 90, 91, 170; see also behavioral routine holistic, 74, 123, 169, 172; see also constitutive Hungary, 30, 31 ideal (L2) self, 8, 13, 14–18, 32–36, 37–38, 42, 44, 46, 72, 83, 87–90, 91, 93–95, 97–99, 101–102, 103–107, 109–114, 118–120, 121, 123–124, 126–127, 129, 133–135, 140–141, 144–147, 149, 157, 159, 162–163, 165, 167

193

ideal multilingual self, 8, 31, 34, 35–36, 45, 110, 121, 124, 128, 133–136, 144, 150, 157, 163, 165 ideal plurilingual Bildungs-Selbst, 137 ideal professional self, 86, 89, 95, 98, 102, 105, 106, 107, 112–113, 121, 124, 125, 126, 127, 131– 133, 138, 145, 163–166 instrumentalist, 3, 4, 6, 21, 38, 54–55, 63–64, 123, 137, 143, 147, 149– 150, 161, 166, 168, 172 integrativeness, 14–15, 20, 21, 28–29, 30, 36, 46, 82 intellectual training, 50, 54, 55, 63 intended learning effort, 16, 17, 18, 35–36, 44, 45 International English Language Testing System (IELTS), 95–96, 114, 164 international posture, 13, 30, 43 intrinsic case, 70, 76, 95, 155, 159 intrinsic motivation, 7, 14, 18–22, 36, 38, 44–45, 82–83, 86, 89, 91, 94, 96–97, 99, 101, 103, 106–107, 114, 119, 121–122, 124, 135, 143, 145, 147, 149, 157–158, 163, 164, 165, 167, 168 Italian, 9, 31, 129, 132, 163 juken eigo (English for exams), 5, 12, 13, 48, 49, 55–56, 58, 76, 87 juku (cram school), 69, 83, 88, 90, 92, 100, 109 Korean, 9, 127, 132–136, 150, 163, 164, 166, 169 L2 learning experience, 18 L2 motivational self system (L2MSS), 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 20–22, 30, 31, 32, 34–36, 46, 90, 91, 148, 157–158, 168 L2 self-instruction, 9, 11, 14, 19–20, 23, 24, 67, 76, 77–79, 83, 87, 88–89, 127, 131, 160, 164, 166 language learner autonomy, 169 language learning strategy, 130 language taster, 96 Latin, 93, 96–97, 106, 112–114, 132, 163

194 Index

lifelong, 73, 149, 158, 163, 167, 169–171 Likert scale, 32, 34, 46 longitudinal, 5, 7, 24, 32, 34, 37, 46, 47, 67, 68, 73–75, 105, 153–161, 162, 170, 172, 174 long-term motivation, 23, 171 Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), 12, 51–55, 57, 58, 59, 82, 84, 87 mixed-method, 67, 76 multilingualism, 6, 43, 61, 109, 122, 124, 169, 172 multilingual posture, 38, 122, 171 National Center Test for University Admissions, 52, 56 neoliberal, 4, 21, 54–55, 63, 141, 146 Netherlands, 37 New Zealand, 42 Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK), 9, 13, 19, 77–78 objectivity, 68, 156 ought-to (L2) self, 13, 16–17, 32, 34, 35, 38, 42, 45, 46, 119, 121, 126, 134, 135, 141–143, 145, 146–147, 155, 159, 163, 165, 167; see also anti-ought-to self, ought-to L2 self/others, ought-to L2 self/own ought-to L2 self/others, 16–17, 134; see also ought-to (L2) self ought-to L2 self/own, 16–17, 134; see also ought-to (L2) self perceived relevance of English, 104, 106, 123 persistence, 7–10, 11, 14, 19, 22–24, 67–68, 70, 72, 74, 76–81, 83–84, 86–91, 101, 106, 111, 123–124, 127, 129, 135, 149, 162, 164, 166, 167, 170–171 continuous persistence, 22 episodic persistence, 22–23, 135, 171 person-in-context relational view, 158 Philippines, 28 Poland, 36 prevention focus, 16, 142

promotion focus, 16 psychological needs, 18–19; see also autonomy Q-methodology, 34, 121 qualitative, 22, 32, 74, 76, 157–158 quantitative, 32–33, 39, 45, 67, 76, 157 questionnaire, 16, 24, 31–34, 44–45, 46, 67, 74–75, 76, 158–160 rebellious profile, 35; see also anti-oughtto self reciprocal impact, 160–161 researcher effect, 159–160 rikei (science), 84, 100, 102–103 role as a student, 126–127, 129, 134, 138, 140–143, 146, 164; see also role obligation role model, 99, 112 role obligation, 42, 87, 90, 119, 121, 128, 146–147, 149, 166; see also role as a student Russian, 9, 31, 40 self-concordant vision, 23, 170 self-determination theory, 7, 18–19 self-directed learning, 77, 79 self-efficacy, 104–105 self-instructional radio (SIR) materials, 8–9, 14–15, 19, 22, 67–68, 70, 76–92, 95, 100–101, 106, 130– 131, 154, 162, 170 semi-structured, 37, 67, 69, 80, 94, 129 Slovakia, 116 socioeducational model, 11, 26, 28–29, 36, 47 South Korea, 134 Spain, 5, 37, 138–139, 166 Spanish, 9, 38, 46, 91, 96, 99, 115, 121– 122, 137, 139 structural equation modeling (SEM), 35, 44, 57 subjectivity, 68, 156 successful learner, 6, 38–39, 145–146, 155, 163, 170, 171 Sweden, 30, 36, 37, 41 Swedish, 39, 135 Taiwan, 45, 96, 147

Index 

target-language (TL) community, 14–15, 20, 21, 29, 36, 46 Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), 53, 57, 130, 135, 150, 164 Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), 53, 58, 130, 139, 166 Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK), 135, 164 third language (L3), 27, 38, 62, 135 transcultural, 38, 115, 136, 137, 149, 168–171, 173; see also enduring translingual transcultural orientation translingual, 38, 115, 136, 137, 149, 168–171, 172; see also enduring

195

translingual transcultural orientation Turkish, 96 United Kingdom (UK), 27, 42, 97–98, 113 United Nations (UN), 86–90, 95, 101– 102, 103, 105, 157, 166 United States (US), 9–10, 13, 25, 37, 42, 91, 113, 118, 138, 150, 166 university entrance examination, 12–13, 17, 49–51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 59, 62, 63, 68, 69, 76, 83, 84–87, 89, 90, 91, 128, 163, 164, 166 willingness to communicate, 57