Abstract:
This study explores the English language learning engagement of two Japanese students, Yuki and Sakura, examining their perezhivaniya and how these relate to changing patterns of engagement. Data collection included a 60-minute semi-structured interview, qualitative unobtrusive observations (45-60 minutes each) during tutorials and online activities, follow-up 10-minute informal interviews after each observation, and students' posts on a course blog.
The study reveals that these students’ perezhivaniya were imbued with strong emotions, intricately connected to their cognitions and actions. Both students experienced engagement struggles associated with mixed emotions when learning English in school and at the university, which they dealt with through deliberate acts of refraction. Their lived experiences played a critical role in instigating a change process, setting off new goals (cognition) and engagement responses in learning (action). For instance, Yuki’s mixed feelings about using English as a medium of verbal communication (feeling both excited and worried) prompted her to enrol in a conversational course (action) to achieve her career goal of using English for work purposes (cognition). Similarly, Sakura’s contrasting feelings about the tutorial (feeling controlled) and the chatroom (feeling free) were associated with her differentiated engagement (action), as she affirmed her valuing of conversational English (cognition) over mechanical language tasks.
This study is significant, as it adds to the literature of language learning engagement an experiential perspective, drawing attention to students’ perezhivaniya in language learning and how dynamic influences derived from the person, the context and complex transactions between these realms affect students’ learning experiences and engagement.
The study reveals that these students’ perezhivaniya were imbued with strong emotions, intricately connected to their cognitions and actions. Both students experienced engagement struggles associated with mixed emotions when learning English in school and at the university, which they dealt with through deliberate acts of refraction. Their lived experiences played a critical role in instigating a change process, setting off new goals (cognition) and engagement responses in learning (action). For instance, Yuki’s mixed feelings about using English as a medium of verbal communication (feeling both excited and worried) prompted her to enrol in a conversational course (action) to achieve her career goal of using English for work purposes (cognition). Similarly, Sakura’s contrasting feelings about the tutorial (feeling controlled) and the chatroom (feeling free) were associated with her differentiated engagement (action), as she affirmed her valuing of conversational English (cognition) over mechanical language tasks.
This study is significant, as it adds to the literature of language learning engagement an experiential perspective, drawing attention to students’ perezhivaniya in language learning and how dynamic influences derived from the person, the context and complex transactions between these realms affect students’ learning experiences and engagement.