Pieces of the Puzzle: Stories from Efl Thai University Students’ Language Learning Motivation, Experiences, and Self-Identities in Their Imagined Communities
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PIECES OF THE PUZZLE: STORIES FROM EFL THAI UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ LANGUAGE LEARNING MOTIVATION, EXPERIENCES, AND SELF-IDENTITIES IN THEIR IMAGINED COMMUNITIES Sudatip Prapunta A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education Victoria University of Wellington 2017 ABSTRACT Despite the growth of English, the lingua franca of today’s world, most Thai undergraduates struggle to attain a high level of communicative skills in environments where English is a Foreign Language (EFL). This thesis explores and reinterprets Thai students’ language learning motivation, experiences, and their identity formation and development. The person-in-context relational view of motivation was used to complement Dörnyei’s theory of L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS). These frameworks were used to analyse the multifaceted aspects of individual and contextual influences on the participants’ L2 self and identity. This study employs a research methodology with a focus on a narrative qualitative approach. Quantitative data were collected from 356 first-year students at a public and private university in Thailand and four Thai students were purposively selected. These four participants were formally interviewed three to four times about their English learning motivation and experiences. The narrative data were generated by a series of individual interviews and supplemented by stimulated recall interviews, an English diary, and other person-family-and-social artefacts. Their L2 learning motivation and experiences from school to university were presented as unique individual narratives. The interview transcripts were then analysed across the cases to create themes. The findings indicated that the rote-memorisation, grammar-translation, and examination-orientated methods practised by their secondary and tertiary EFL teachers impacted the participants’ language learning motivation and the development of their L2 self-identities. The Thai participants prioritised speaking skills and felt highly motivated to attain communicative English for their future career. Their ideal L2 self appeared to be strengthened by their sustained efforts to communicate in English in both formal and informal learning contexts. Nonetheless, their ideal L2 self and ought-to L2 self seemed to be interconnected and worked together in their motivational system. The participants regulated themselves by using motivational strategies in association with the promotion-focused and prevention- focused instrumentality to maximise their intended effort in learning English. The inclusion of self-efficacy into the L2MSS model yields insights into how the I participants actualised their self system in their motivational orientation. They pushed themselves to gain more exposure to a variety of learning experiences in both face-to-face and virtual communication in their imagined communities. By investing their effort and time in majoring in English and Business English, they envisioned themselves after graduation improving their parents’ and extended family’s social status and well-being. Their ideal L2 self and transportable identities were developed to meet Thailand’s integration within the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). For instance, two participants at a public university were able to envision themselves studying English at a Malaysian university. Narrative approaches shed light on the participants’ individual motivational orientations and the effects of these on the formation and development of their L2 self and identity in the past, present, and future. This study allows teachers and educators to understand the interplay between in-class and out-of-class learning experiences and the implication of the local, social, and global learning experiences of EFL Thai learners that may have been unexplored and unheard. II PUBLICATION Prapunta, S. (2017). Who am I? "I am a Swifty!" Some Stories from EFL Learners. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 5(10), 1827 – 1834. Prapunta, S. (2016). EFL learners’ stories: Ideal L2 self and their learning experiences. In P. Clements, A. Krause, & H. Brown (Eds.), JALT2015 Conference Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT. III IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to my supervisors, Dr. Carolyn Tait and Dr. Margaret Gleeson, for their wisdom, constructive feedback, and continued support on my research. They opened the opportunity for me to conduct the narrative research based on my interest and intention. They have extremely played a pivotal role in motivating me to strive for the best. My special thanks to Prince of Songkla University for sponsoring me the Staff Development Scholarship to pursue my PhD journey in New Zealand. Studying in the foreign country was challenging and could broaden my worldview of being an autonomous researcher and gaining overseas lived and learning experiences. I am extremely thankful to Dennis Dawson, Dalice Sim, and Lisa Woods who kindly gave me statistical help and consulting in the quantitative realm. I would like to thank Thilegawathy Sithraputhran, Thuy Tran, Dwi Agustina, Syerina Syahrin, Raewyn Eden, and other colleagues at Campbell 31 A and Waiteata 3, for sharing their learning and researching experiences with me. Special thanks to Ajarn Siriluck Wechsumankalo and Dr. Nattakritta Chotipaktanasook for assisting me to obtain the approval and giving me some constructive advice with administering the online questionnaire at their university. Additionally, I am thankful for the faculty and administrative staff at my home university for their assistances in data collection. I felt grateful for the full cooperation of the undergraduates at both universities who voluntarily participated in this project and actively shared their L2 learning experiences with me all through my research project. Particularly, interviewing the students at my home university strengthened our research relationship and bonds of friendship. Listening to their meaningful stories deepened my understanding of their language learning motivation and L2 self-identity. Without them, this project could not happen. Since some parts of this thesis are included in the JALT Postconference Publication, I want to acknowledge Professor Stephen Ryan, the content editor, for his valuable comments and suggestions. V Lastly, I take this opportunity to thank my parents and family members. Their continuous concern immensely encouraged me to push myself to write this thesis. I am grateful for the support of family in my life. VI GLOSSARY AEC ASEAN Economic Community ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations BE Business English CoP Communities of Practice EFL English as a Foreign Language ELF English as a Lingua Franca ESL English as a Second Language GAT General Aptitude Test GPA Grade Point Average L2 Second/foreign Language L2MSS L2 Motivational Self System M Mean PAT Professional Aptitude Test SD Standard Deviation SLA Second Language Acquisition SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences NS Native speaker NNS Non-native speaker O-NET Ordinary National Education Test TOEIC Test of English for International Communication SCT Sociocultural theory VII Definitions of terms A brief definition of key terms and abbreviations is presented in Table 1. Key term/Abbreviation Definition Asian Economic Community (AEC) In 2015, the Asian Economic Community (AEC) integrated ASEAN or its member states of the Southeast Asian region with the free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labour, and free flow of capital. People from non-English speaking countries are expected to use English as a medium of their communication to achieve these objectives. Association of Southeast Asian The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Nations (ASEAN) was cooperatively formed by Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore on August 8, 1967. The aim was to foster the economic, social and cultural development within the ASEAN region. The motto is “One Vision, One Identity, One Community (ASEAN Secretariat, 2008)”. English as a Foreign Language (EFL) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) refers to the use of English among speakers of VIII other languages in a non-English speaking country such as Thailand, Japan, or China. Most of EFL students are likely to have limited opportunities to communicate English in their daily lives and learn English for passing the examinations. English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) refers to the communication in English between speakers with different dominant languages such as non-native speakers in Asian countries with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds (Seidlhofer, 2005). English as a Second Language (ESL) English as a Second Language (ESL) refers to the communication in English among speakers who use English as a second language or an official language, in addition to their native language such as Malaysia, Singapore, or the Philippines. Integrative motivation Students who are integratively motivated to learn the L2 language in order to communicate with the member of the second/foreign language community, identify themselves with English speaking people or ultimately integrate within an IX English-speaking society (Gardner & Lambert, 1972) . Instrumental motivation Students who are instrumentally motivated want to learn the second/foreign language in order to acquire some advantages such as getting a good grade or good job (Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Instrumentality-prevention The individual L2 learner is encouraged