‘Acts of desire for capital’Students’ motivation for learning English as a second language

Ardian Setiawan

Research

• A critical ethnographic study

• Exploring the way the professional identity of Indonesian teachers of English is perceived by various educational stakeholders in relation to the issue of the strong preference for native English teachers in Indonesia

• Students – Parents – Other Subject Teachers – English Teachers

• RQ – How do students perceive English?

• Why? --- the way they see the language might influence their perceptions of the teachers (Murray & Christison, 2011)

Research Question

How do students perceive English?

Students’ motivation for learning English

Why they learn EnglishStudents’ perceptions are reflected by their L2 motivation

Research Question

L2 Learning Motivation

Gardner’s (1985, 2010) theory of motivation in second language learning

• Explains individuals’ motives for acquiring a language

• Motivation --- ‘the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language’ (Gardner, 1985, p. 10).

• L2 learners have two motivational orientations toward learning a language: integrative and instrumental orientations

L2 Learning Motivation

L2 Learning Motivation

Integrative and instrumental orientations

• Integrative orientation: individuals’ desire to learn a language in order to interact and identify with the community of the target language.

Social expectation – to engage with and to be accepted by the speech community (the community of the language).

• Instrumental orientation: individuals’ practical goals for learning a second language. --- practical reasons such as passing tests.

L2 Learning Motivation

L2 Learning Motivation

However…

• Noel (2001) – Gardner’s two orientations may not be relevant to many language learners. There may be many other orientations.

• Murray and Christison (2011) – Gardner’s theory ‘ignore[s] the multiple group membership that individuals have, such as gender, race, language, language variety, social institution’ (p. 4).

• The theory does not ‘do justice to the complex identities of language learners, and the often inequitable relations of power they negotiated in different sites’ (p. 415).

• It conceptualized L2 learners’ identities ‘as their fixed personalities, learning styles, and motivations’ (p. 419).

L2 Learning Motivation

Investment in L2

Norton Pierce’s (1995, 1997) and Norton’s (2000, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2013) concept of investment

• Based on poststructuralist theories of identity and language, and Bourdieu’s economic metaphors

• Explains individuals’ complex experiences in learning a target language and complement the various constructs of motivation in the field of second language acquisition

• Investment ‘sees language learners as having complex identities, which change across time and space, and which are constructed on the basis of the socially give, and the individually struggled –for’ (Norton & Toohey, 2011, p. 420).

Investment in L2

Investment in L2

Norton Pierce’s (1995, 1997) and Norton’s (2000, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2013) concept of investment

‘If learners invest in a second language, they do so with the understanding that they will acquire a wider range of symbolic and material resources, which will increase their value in the social world. Learners will expect or hope to have a good return on their investment in the target language – a return that will give them access to the privileges of target language speakers’ (Norton, 2001, p. 166).

Investment in L2

English as linguistic capital

Bourdieu’s economic metaphors

Bourdieu (1986) --- three forms of capital: economic, social, and cultural. Further, he adds linguistic capital as a form of cultural capital.

• Economic capital is ‘immediately and directly convertible into money and may be institutionalized in the form of property rights’ (p. 243).

• Social capital --- ‘social obligations (connections) --- can be ‘institutionalized in the form of a tittle of nobility’ (p. 243).

• Cultural capital refers to ‘cultural assets’

• Symbolic capital – when individuals do not perceive the capitals as such

English as linguistic capital

Investment in L2

Imagined identitybased on Anderson’s (1991) imagined community

Investment in the target language ---- investment in a learner’s own identity

• Imagination – which refers to the ‘process of expanding oneself by transcending our time and space and creating new images of the world and ourselves’ (Wenger, 1998).

• Imagined identity is a possible way for learners of a second language to engage themselves with the speech community of the language.

• When individuals learn a second language, they ‘imagine who they might be, and who their communities might be’ (Norton & Toohey, 2011, p. 422).

Investment in L2

Methodology

Qualitative – based on the nature of the research problems and questions (Patton, 2002; Denzin & Lincoln, 2011; Creswell, 2012, 2013; Tracy, 2013).

Critical Ethnography

Method – Interviews and group discussions18 students - interviews

160 students – group discussions (20 sessions)

Why do you learn English?

Methodology

Findings

Interviews

Generally, the students perceived English as an important language to learn not merely because it is a compulsory subject in the school system, but also because they had various views about English.

The students’ views/motives:1. English as an international language (10)

2. English as a language that provides job opportunities (6)

3. English as a language that denotes high social status (5)

4. English as a language that provides access to Western knowledge (4)

5. English as a language which is closely related to globalization/inseparable part of globalization (3)

Findings

‘Because English is an international language… let’s say I want to go to other places, I think it’s going to be difficult for me if I don’t speak English, especially overseas. So, I have to speak English’.

‘It’s because English is an international language. That’s why I learn it. It’s international because it’s used everywhere. People in the world use the language. I mean most of them’.

Why?* The students had various understandings of EIL

The way English is socially constructed in the research context

There is a ‘myth’ of English as an international language.‘a telling of a particular story about English’ (Pennycook, 2004, p. 26)

English as an international language (10)

Excerpts from interviews

‘I see it from a job-related perspective. Well, almost all jobs need English or use English. That’s why I have to learn it…. Because I wan to get a good job. I believe English can help me get a good job’.

‘I think English is important because I need it for my future job. If I can’t [speak/use it], I’m afraid it will be difficult for me to find a good job’.

Why?

• The six students saw English as a linguistic capital which can be converted to economic capital (Bourdieu, 1986).

• English learning is a form of ‘investment’ (Norton Pierce, 1995, 1997; Norton, 2000, 2006, 2011, 2013).

English as a language that provides job opportunities (6)

Excerpts from interviews

‘… because it is a status… status in the society, status for talking with friends. If I talk in English, I am a different person… perhaps, a better one’.

‘… for some, also for me… it is a sign of being different, being more educated. I think if I speak English, it shows what I am, what I learn, what kind of student I am. You know, people will think differently if we speak in English’.

Why?

• There is a belief among the students that English provides them with symbolic profits which position them better in their local society (Bourdieu, 1991).

• English is linguistic capital [which the student believed] can be converted to social capital

• English as a form of capital which is ‘inseparable from the speakers’ position in the social structure’ (Bourdieu, 1977, p. 646). ----- English --- ‘imagined identity’

• So, English --- Language, power, and identity

English as a language that denotes high social status (5)

Excerpts from interviews

This explains…

‘As individuals construct their identities, they position themselves through their language (and non-verbal behaviour), that is, they use language to let others know who they are and what their sociocultural allegiances are.’ (Murray & Christison, 2011, p. 5).

English as a language that denotes high social status (5)

Excerpts from interviews

‘I learn English because if I can use it, read in English, I can read many things from outside Indonesia... not only magazines, but also books, text book, encyclopaedia, many things. English is a door to the knowledge of western countries’.

‘Many products are in English and many good novels are in English or at least translated from English novels. So, we can take the knowledge of the western countries’.

• The students saw ‘the other’ as better – knowledge of ‘the other’ as better • English is access to such knowledge.

• English reflects the sociocultural, economic, and political power of English-speaking countries (Pennycook, 2001) --- power of the speech community

• The students’ perceptions of English have been shaped by such ‘power’

English provides access to Western knowledge (4)

Excerpts from interviews

‘Well, English is globalization. It’s a global language, a language which becomes a bridge for us to communicate with people outside, people from overseas’.

‘It’s globalization and we are here… and because we don’t want to be left behind, left by the modern world’.

Part of the ‘myth’ ‘a telling of a particular story about English’ (Pennycook, 2004, p. 26)

• Sayer (2012) - English is ‘the linguistic engine of globalization’ (p. 2).• Fishman (1998-99) - ‘the continued spread of English today is both a

consequence of and a contributor to globalization’ (p. 27). • Wright (2000) - ‘English is both the vector and the beneficiary of globalising

tendencies (p. 80).

English and globalization (3)

Excerpts from interviews

No different theme generated

Generally, empirical findings from group discussions confirm the findings from interview

The students’ views/motives:

1. English as an international language 2. English as a language that provides job opportunities 3. English as a language that denotes high social status4. English as a language that provides access to Western knowledge5. English as a language which is closely related to globalization/inseparable part of

globalization

Group Discussions

Excerpts from interviews

Some points

English is not merely a school subject; the students had various views about English-

Students’ motivation for learning English is complex and multifaceted(more than integrative and instrumental orientations)

The way individuals perceive a language is shaped/influenced by various factors-

‘acts of desire for capital’ (Pennycook, 1997)

Conclusion

Thank you

Conclusion