Long-term motivations for L2 learning: a biographical study from a situated learning perspective

ABSTRACT

To understand long-term motivations for second language (L2) learning/socialisation, this study analyses the biographical narratives of 30 Hong Kong Chinese who are proficient in Japanese by using ethnographic interviews. From a situated learning perspective, our research findings originate in the participants’ transformational episodes and centre on the following three dimensions of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP): (1) gaining legitimate access to L2 socialisation in Japanese-speaking communities of practice, (2) evolving processes from LPP to fuller participation in Japanese-speaking communities, and (3) constructing identities as L2 users of Japanese. Participants gained legitimate access to L2 socialisation relatively easily in Hong Kong, where interests in Japanese popular culture tended to initiate motivation. This accessibility increased owing to the internet, particularly online social networking services, leading to ongoing motivation development. Due to perceived cultural homologies between China and Japan, participants’ motivations were found to be fuelled by a sense of ownership regarding social ethics and other aspects of Japanese culture as part of their cultural identities as Chinese. The study concludes with useful implications for both classroom teaching and future research on long-term L2 motivations.

KEYWORDS:

• L2 motivation
• Japanese
• language socialisation
• biographical method
• legitimate peripheral participation
• cultural identity

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Isaac Gagné, Nana Gagné, Andy Gao, Kayoko Hashimoto, Shin Kataoka, Hiroaki Kodama, Icy Lee, Takako Mochizuki, Lynne Nakano, Thomas Tse, and Jeremy Yellen for their insightful comments. All usual disclaimers apply.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Kazuyuki Nomura http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0604-4392

Notes

1 ‘Chinese’ language in Hong Kong means both Cantonese – the dominant language of the region – and Mandarin – the national language since the handover to China in 1997; both are official languages, alongside English.

2 A recently published trade book in Hong Kong is entitled Learning Manners from Japanese (Su 2016).

3 However, these three individuals travel frequently to Japan (four or more times annually).

4 This may reflect the ‘ultra-utilitarianism’ (Choi 2003) in Hong Kong’s educational culture.

5 These may include social ethics and morality (see Maruyama [1974] on influences of Confucian morality on Japanese culture especially in the Edo period).

6 Similar enquiries are anticipated within other language-learning contexts (e.g., Chinese learning Korean, Arabs learning Persian).