Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
English Language and Literature Department, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran
Abstract
Drawing on qualitative research, this study explored, from a complex dynamic systems theory perspective, the motivation of Burundi junior high school students simultaneously learning L2 French, L3s English and Kiswahili. It aimed to fill the gap in research on (1) changes in motivational dynamics and factors responsible for any fluctuations in the levels of motivation over time and (2) complex interactions between different learner variables among multiple language learners. Twelve school pupils who were all Kirundi native speakers participated in this study. Retrospective interviews were used to collect data relating to the students’ multilingual learning experiences over the period of their formal education. The findings indicated that the intensity of learning each target language fluctuated over time, with English generally enjoying the highest increase and Kiswahili the lowest and that different factors were responsible for such dynamic changes. Besides, complex interactions between the students’ L1, L2, and L3s linguistic knowledge and their foreign language learning motivations were revealed. These results indeed highlight the complex and dynamic nature of motivation in learning multiple languages. In light of these findings, practical implications are discussed based on the Burundi educational context.
Keywords
- Motivation
- Complex Dynamic Systems Theory
- Changes in motivation
- Motivational factors
- Multilingualism
Main Subjects
Belt, L. (2010). How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: The position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura. Researching Africa, 26, 76-88.
Bigirimana, C. (2018). Enseignement des langues: représentations et construction identitaire [Language teaching: representations and identity construction]. Synergies Afrique Des Grands Lacs 7, 15–28.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.
Bui, G., & Teng, F. (2019). Exploring complexity in L2 and L3 motivational systems: A dynamic systems theory perspective. The Language Learning Journal, 49 (3), 302-317.
De Angelis, G. (2007). Third or additional language acquisition (Vol. 24). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
de Bot, K., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (2011). Researching second language development from a dynamic systems theory perspective. In M. Verspoor, K. de Bot, & W. Lowie (Eds.), A Dynamic Approach to Second Language Development: Methods and Techniques (pp. 5–24). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Djigunović, M. J., & Nikolov, M. (2019). Motivation of young learners of foreign languages. In M. Lamb, K. Csizér, A. Henry & S. Ryan (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of motivation for language learning (pp. 515-533). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research Methods in Applied Linguistics: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methodologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The psychology of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dörnyei, Z. & Otto´, I. (1998). Motivation in action: a process model of L2 motivation. Working Papers in Applied Linguistics (Thames Valley University, London) 4, 43–69.
Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (2011). Teaching and researching motivation (2nd ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education.
Dörnyei, Z., Csizér, K., & Németh, N. (2006). Motivation, language attitudes and globalization: A Hungarian perspective. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Dörnyei, Z., Henry, A., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2015). Motivational dynamics in language learning (Vol. 81). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Ellis, N. C., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (2006). Language emergence: Implications for applied linguistics-Introduction to the special issue. Applied Linguistics, 27(4), 558–589.
Fukui, H., & Yashima, T. (2021). Exploring evolving motivation to learn two languages simultaneously in a study‐abroad context. The Modern Language Journal, 105(1), 267-293.
Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W. E. (1959). Motivational variables in second-language acquisition. Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue Canadienne de Psychologie, 13(4), 266.
Gardner, R. C. & Lambert, W. E. (1972). Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning. Rowley: Newbury House.
Ghanizadeh, A., & Jahedizadeh, S. (2017). Directed motivational currents: The Implementation of the dynamic web-based Persian scale among Iranian EFL learners. Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly (Formerly Journal of Teaching Language Skills), 36(1), 27-56.
Gunawan J. (2015). Ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research. Belitung Nursing Journal, 1(1):10-11.
Henry, A. (2011). Examining the impact of L2 English on L3 selves: A case study. International Journal of Multilingualism, 8(3), 235–255.
Henry, A. (2015). The dynamics of possible selves. In Z. Dörnyei, P. D. MacIntyre, & A. Henry (Eds.), Motivational dynamics in language learning (Vol. 83, pp. 83–94). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Herdina, P., & Jessner, U. (2000). Multilingualism as an ecological system. The case for language maintenance. In B. Kettemann and H. Penz (eds.), ECOnstructing Language, Nature and Society: The Ecolinguistic Project Revisited, Essays in Honour of Alwin Fill (pp. 131–144). Tübingen: Stauffenburg.
Hiver, P., & Larsen–Freeman, D. (2020). Motivation: It is a relational system. Contemporary language motivation theory, 60, 285-303.
Hiver, P., & Papi, M. (2019). Complexity theory and L2 motivation. In M. Lamb, K. Csizér, A. Henry & S. Ryan (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of motivation for language learning (pp. 117-137). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Irakoze, S. J. (2015). The impact of English on Kirundi and French in Burundi: Use and attitudes among Burundian students. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Tlemcen, Tlemcen, Algeria.
Irankeje, F., & Nduwamahoro, A. (2022). Negative impact of multiculturality on the use of standard Kiswahili in Burundi. Journal of African History, Culture and Arts, 2(4), 234-247.
Jessner, U. (2008). A DST model of multilingualism and the role of metalinguistic awareness. The Modern Language Journal, 92(2), 270–283.
Jessner, U. (2012). Complexity in multilingual systems. In C.A. Chapelle (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (pp. 802-807). New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
Kellerman, E. (1983). Now you see it, now you don’t. In S. Gass and L. Selinker (eds.) Language Transfer in Language Learning (pp. 112-134). Rowley: Newbury House.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (1997). Chaos/complexity science and second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 18(2), 141–165.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2015). Complexity Theory. In B. VanPatten & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in Second Language Acquisition: An Introduction (2nd ed., pp. 227–244). New York: Routledge.
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Cameron, L. (2008). Complex systems and applied linguistics. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 17(2), 226–239.
Lemke, J. (2000). Across the scales of time: Artefacts, activities and meaning in ecosocial systems. Mind, Culture and Activity 7 (4), 273–290.
Mendoza, A., & Phung, H. (2019). Motivation to learn languages other than English: A critical research synthesis. Foreign Language Annals, 52(1), 121-140.
Moiinvaziri, M., & Razmjoo, S. A. (2014). Demotivating factors affecting undergraduate learners of non-English majors studying general English: A case of Iranian EFL context. Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly (Formerly Journal of Teaching Language Skills), 32(4), 41-61.
Nizigama, E., Fazilatfar, A.M. & Jabbari, A.A. (2023). Junior secondary school students’ motivation for learning multiple foreign languages in Burundi: a cross-sectional study. IJREE, 8 (2), 30-46.
Rashidi, N., Rahimi, M., & Alimorad, Z. (2013). Discursive motivation construction: A case of two Iranian EFL learners. Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly (Formerly Journal of Teaching Language Skills), 5(2), 91-111.
République du Burundi (2019). Décret No 100/078 du 22/05/2019 portant fixation des langues d'enseignement et échelonnement des langues enseignées à l'école fondamentale [Decree No 100/078 of 05/22/2019 determining languages of instruction and gradual introduction of languages taught at basic school]. Bujumbura, Burundi: Cabinet du Président.
Sikogukira, M. (1993) Influence of languages other than the L1 on a foreign language: a case of transfer from L2 to L3. Edinburgh Working Papers in Applied Linguistics 4, 110–132.
Siridetkoon, P., & Dewaele, J.-M. (2017). Ideal self and ought-to self of simultaneous learners of multiple foreign languages. International Journal of Multilingualism, 15(4), 313-328.
Song, B., & Kim, T. Y. (2017). The dynamics of demotivation and remotivation among Korean high school EFL students. System, 65, 90-103.
Thomas, D. R. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American journal of evaluation, 27(2), 237-246.
Ushioda, E. (1996). Developing a dynamic concept of L2 motivation. In Hickey, T. & Williams, J. (eds), Language, Education and Society in a Changing World (pp. 239– 45). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Ushioda, E. (2009). A person-in-context relational view of emergent motivation, self and identity. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language Identity and the L2 self (pp. 215–228). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Ushioda, E. (2015). Context and complex dynamic systems theory. In Z. Dörnyei, A. Henry, A., & P. D MacIntyre (Eds.), Motivational dynamics in language learning (pp. 47-54) (Vol.81). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Ushioda, E. (2019). Researching L2 motivation: Past, present and future. In M. Lamb, K. Csizér, A. Henry, & S. Ryan (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Motivation for Language Learning (pp. 661–682). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Wang, T. & Liu, Y. (2017): Dynamic L3 selves: a longitudinal study of five university L3 learners’ motivational trajectories in China, The Language Learning Journal, 48(2), 201-212.
Waninge, F., Dornyei, Z., & de Bot, K. (2014). Motivational dynamics in language learning: Change, stability and context. The Modern Language Journal, 98(3), 704-723.
Williams, M. & Burden, R.L. (1997). Psychology for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
World Bank. (2018). Burundi-Addressing the challenges and opportunities in basic education. Washington DC: The World Bank.
', './data/jtls/coversheet/cover_en.jpg'))