This paper reports a mixed-methods study that explored the strategy use of a cohort of Chinese as second language learners in mainland China from the perspective of mediation theory. Data sources include a questionnaire survey (N = 189) and a semi-structured interview (N = 12). The findings revealed that the participants orchestrated a repertoire of language learning strategies and frequently used social and meta-cognitive strategies. Analysis of the qualitative data suggested that the participants' strategy use was shaped by the learners' self agentic power (their beliefs and Ideal L2 self), and the socio-cultural environment. Specifically, their strategy use was mediated by a host of socio-cultural factors, including learner beliefs, social agents, cultural artifacts, and learning environment. Considered together, the findings illuminate the socially situated nature of the use of language learning strategy. That is, strategy use of the participants stems from the interplay of learner agency and socio-cultural factors. The findings also imply the necessity of strategy-based instruction and highlight the importance of a Chinese-speaking environment for Chinese learning.

This study reports on the results of a qualitative inquiry on second language (L2) demotivation among 14 Chinese EFL learners from the perspective of Activity Theory. Semi-structured interviews were applied to collect data. Through the qualitative content analysis approach, this study found that L2 demotivation prevailed among the participants, influenced by an array of mediational factors including subject-mediated, rule-mediated, community-mediated, tool-mediated, and labour-of-division-mediated factors. The findings imply that L2 demotivation results from the contradictory relationship among the above mentioned factors in the activity system and is a socially mediational construct. The findings shed light on the formulating mechanism of L2 demotivation and provide insightful implications for overcoming the detrimental effect of demotivation in the Chinese EFL context and beyond.

This paper reports the findings pertinent to the motivational dynamics in learning English for Academic Purposes (EAP), which are a part of a large-scale mixed-methods study. The study was aimed to explore the adaptation of a cohort of Chinese tertiary students when transiting to an English-as-Medium-of-Instruction (EMI) university from Chinese-medium schools in China. Data sources include a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews over a 10-month length of time. Analysis of the quantitative data revealed that the participants became much more strengthened in the overall and dimensional level of motivation after being engaged into EAP learning at the EMI context for two semesters. The qualitative results indicated that the consolidation of the participants’ motivation might result from the newly mediational roles of socio-cultural elements at the EMI environment pertaining to the learning discourses, cultural artifacts, important others and the study of content subjects with the target language. This study crystallizes the situationally constructed disposition of second language (L2) motivation which is responsive to context. The pedagogical implications for EAP teaching are also discussed.

This article reports on a study that took a Dynamic Systems Theory (DST) perspective to second language (L2) motivational self system (L2MSS). More specifically, it investigated the influence of an Intensive English Reading course based on the Production-Oriented Approach (POA) upon the L2MSS of Chinese university English majorsfrom the DST perspective. To this end, two intact classes composed of 50 students were assigned into experimental group (EG) (N = 23) and control group (CG) (N = 27), who responded to an L2MSS scale before and after the one-semester intervention. Eight and five students were respectively selected using the purposive sampling method from the experimental and control groups for follow-up semi-structured interviews. The quantitative results revealed that the overall and dimensional (Ideal L2 Self and L2 Learning Experience) levels of L2MSS were significantly strengthened over time in the EG while kept stable in the CG. The qualitative results suggested that the enhanced Ideal L2 Self of the participants stemmed from an attractor basin that was deepened by a number of attractors encompassing Output Tasks and Peer Performance. The interview results also showed that the increased L2 Learning Experience of the participants pertained to an attractor basin that was consolidated by an array of attractors containing Output Tasks, Teacher Guidance, Group Discussion, and Peer Assessment. The findings indicated that the attractors at the subjective and social dimensions in the POA-based course collectively worked together to cause changes in L2MSS among the participants. The implications for intervening L2 motivation from a POA approach in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms were discussed.