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Article published In: Journal of English-Medium Instruction
Vol. 2:1 (2023) ► pp.79–100

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Motivation and investment

Exploring the choice of English-medium instruction for mid-degree undergraduates in Catalonia

ORCiD logo with link | Universitat Pompeu Fabra
 | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
 | Universitat Pompeu Fabra
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with Pompeu Fabra University.

Published online: 28 November 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jemi.22002.mac
Abstract
The purpose of the present study is to offer insights into how Spanish undergraduates, who were mid-way through an English-medium programme at a university in Catalonia, articulate their past decision to study an academic subject in English. Economics students (34 in total) completed an oral elicitation task and the monologues yielded were analysed using thematic analysis. Three dominant themes emerged: (1) The right fit for me; (2) To practise my English; and (3) English comes with benefits. Each of these themes is presented as a composite description of the students’ ideas about their past choice from the temporal position of the here-and-now, and explored through distinct but complementary social psychological and sociological lenses. The present study finds threads running through the students’ narratives of a near effortlessness to choose to learn in this way, as well as an understanding of the capital value of English. For some, their sole stated motive was to develop and preserve this linguistic asset.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Motivation and investment
    • The L2 self and the L2MSS
    • Identity and the investment model
    • Motivation and investment in an EMI context
  • Method
    • Aim and guiding question
    • Study context and participants
    • Data collection: Instruments and procedure
    • Analysis
  • Findings and discussion
    • Dominant themes
    • The right fit for me (“Aligners”)
    • To practise my English (“Learners”)
    • English comes with benefits (“Valuers”)
    • The past in the present
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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