Multilingual Selves and Motivations for Learning Languages other than English in Asian Contexts

First book to explore language learners’ motivation for LOTE learning in a variety of Asian contexts

This book focuses on individuals learning languages other than English in a range of under-researched Asian contexts. The chapters explore learners’ motivational trajectories, multilingual identities and conceptualisations of the 'ideal multilingual self'.

This edited volume focuses on the experiences of individuals learning languages other than English (LOTEs) in a range of Asian contexts that have traditionally been under-represented in the literature. Aligning with the 'multilingual turn' in SLA, it views learners as individuals of a multilingual society with unique, complex, heterogenous and dynamic identities. The chapters explore the learners’ motivational trajectories, multilingual identities and their conceptualisations of the 'ideal multilingual self'. This volume enhances our critical understanding of language learning motivation through empirical findings and conceptual insights from studies of motivation in specific regions in Asia, including Greater China, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan and Syria. Providing insight into the multilingual identities of individuals learning LOTEs, it will appeal to students and scholars in second language acquisition, researchers in language learning motivation and policymakers in language education.