Investigating the motivation of two adult ESOL learners in the UK

This dissertation is a qualitative study investigating the motivational profiles of two ESOL learners, using my pilot study as a framework and re-examining my pilot study data in the light of my new findings. In a review of motivation literature from the past fifty years I explore and critique R. C. Gardner’s model of integrative and instrumental motivation, the limitations of the model and some of the ways in which it has been expanded and adapted for particular contexts. I consider motivation in relation to the globalising world and how this impacts upon learners’ sense of identity and perception of their future selves; I also explore the growing literature suggesting that different languages may have different motivational profiles, and demonstrate that although the two fundamental concepts of integrativeness and instrumentality have been, and continue to be, dominant in L2 motivation theory, they may need significant further refinement in order to apply to a 21st-century ESOL context. The instrument was a semi-structured interview designed to glean information about participants’ past and present attitudes to language learning experience, past and present attitudes towards the target culture, and past and present L2 contact experience. Through analysis of two semi-structured interviews and a discussion of my findings alongside the findings from my pilot study, I have attempted to specify the ‘social and pragmatic dimensions of L2 motivation’ operating on my learners. These dimensions are: learner perception of choice and agency, nature of contact experience and perceived benefits of learning English. My discussion considers that although the concepts of integrativeness and instrumentality can be seen to operate within these dimensions, their definitions are fluid and contextually grounded, and are meaningful only as components of a more complex and multifaceted motivational construct. Implications for teaching practice are then briefly discussed.