EFL University Instructors’ And Students’ Perceptions Of International Posture, L2 Motivational Self And Imagined Communities
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Abstract
In English language teaching, there are various notions that impact on learners’ motivation to learn English and on teachers’ motivation to teach English such as international posture, ideal L2 motivational self and imagined communities. An examination of teachers’ and students’ perspectives on these notions in the same EFL context is a significant research issue is as it is indispensable for both to construct a personal and professional L2 identity in relation to the current sociocultural profile of English speakers in their language education context. Therefore, this paper investigates the perceptions of university instructors working at an obligatory English preparatory program and of students who study at different departments of a state university in terms of these three constructs both psychologically and socioculturally important in the process of language speaker/ teacher identity (re)construction. An open-ended questionnaire was utilised to gain an in-depth understanding of EFL instructors’ and students’ experiences of English language learning/ teaching through a qualitative case study research design. The results of the content analysis revealed that the teachers pass on their experiences to the students and that the socio-economic factors that influence their motivation to teach correlate with the motivational variables that play a role in the students’ desire to improve their English.
Keywords
Abstract
In English language teaching, there are various notions that impact on learners’ motivation to learn English and on teachers’ motivation to teach English such as international posture, ideal L2 motivational self and imagined communities. An examination of teachers’ and students’ perspectives on these notions in the same EFL context is a significant research issue is as it is indispensable for both to construct a personal and professional L2 identity in relation to the current sociocultural profile of English speakers in their language education context. Therefore, this paper investigates the perceptions of university instructors working at an obligatory English preparatory program and of students who study at different departments of a state university in terms of these three constructs both psychologically and socioculturally important in the process of language speaker/ teacher identity (re)construction. An open-ended questionnaire was utilised to gain an in-depth understanding of EFL instructors’ and students’ experiences of English language learning/ teaching through a qualitative case study research design. The results of the content analysis revealed that the teachers pass on their experiences to the students and that the socio-economic factors that influence their motivation to teach correlate with the motivational variables that play a role in the students’ desire to improve their English.