L2 motivation and students' engagement with digital media: An empirically-grounded account

L2 motivation research has an abundance of constructs explaining learners' goals and motivational dispositions. Theoretical conceptualizations of the emergence of motivation in learning situations are far fewer. Drawing on data from the MoTiSSE project (Henry et al., 2018), and adopting a grounded theory ethnography approach, the purpose of this paper is to examine motivation that emerges when students use and produce digital media online.

Using a multiple-case design, 16 teachers with a practice responsive to students' out-of-school English experiences were identified from a randomly-drawn sample of EFL teachers in Sweden (N=253). Ethnographic observations were carried out in these teachers' classrooms (N=258), and interviews were conducted with the teachers and their students. In this data, examples of motivation arising in situations involving digital media were identified.

Situations where motivation emerges in students' interactions with digital media often involved opportunities for creativity and personal expression. Drawing on specific examples, and adopting perspectives involving culturally-responsiveness and genre-authenticity, we offer a conceptual account of how the use and creation of online media can generate motivation and provide the impetus for engagement in classroom activities. Based on these insights, we discuss ways that language teachers can capitalize on the motivational affordances of digital media.

Reference

Henry, A., Korp, H., Sundqvist, P. & Thorsen, C. (2018). Motivational strategies and the reframing of English: Activity design and challenges for teachers in contexts of extensive extramural encounters. TESOL Quarterly 52 (2) 247-273. doi:10.1002/ tesq.394.