FACTORS AFFECTING MOTIVATION TO SECOND AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF URBAN ASIANS LEARNING EUROPEAN LANGUAGES

Second and foreign language acquisition in adolescents and adults is a conscious process that primarily depends on the motivation to learn the language. The construct of motivation to learn languages and acquisition of second language has been analyzed through the lenses of psychology, teaching, neuroscience, linguistics, etc. But not many studies have been reported through the lens of a student evolving into a teacher. An attempt was made to understand the various factors that motivate second language acquisition through different researcher positioning-student and teacher. Between February 2010 and November 2015, an ethnographic approach was used to understand these factors through learning (French, Spanish and Russian) and teaching (French, Spanish and English). A mixed method approach: In-depth interviews, Key informant interviews, participant observational studies (field and reflective notes), informal interactions and Meta analytic reviews were used to inform a model in motivation in second and foreign language learning. We observed that the factors were organized into a social-interpersonal-personal model that influenced the motivation construct to learn the second language. This paper discusses this model and implications in second language teaching.