This study conceptualises Chinese language-major undergraduates' motivation to learn a third language (L3) from a self perspective. Two overarching aims were adopted to guide the research: how learners' L3 motivation was formulated and reformulated over the course of one year of learning an L3 and whether classroom intervention could help learners to construct their L3 motivation. This research adopted a longitudinal case study design and was situated in a state university in China. Students who had chosen to learn an L3 as their major and English majors who were required to learn an L3 participated in the research. To achieve the two principal research aims, the data collection process was divided into two phases. The goal of the first phase was to explore the development of my participants' L3 motivation without any intervention. Qualitative research methods were employed during this phase and data were gathered from open questionnaires, interviews, class observation and written journals. In the second phase, an intervention was carried out to explore how to construct my participants' ideal L3 selves. A quasi-experimental design was employed and mixed methods were adopted. Analysis was primarily guided by the L2 Motivational Self System and was carried out at both at class level and individual level. At a class level, findings suggest that both L3 majors' and English majors' L3 motivation was mainly constituted on the basis of their ideal L3 selves, ought-to L3 selves and L3 learning experiences, which were constantly constructed and reconstructed over the course of learning. Notably, learners' motivational trajectories did not display a homogenous pattern at the group level. In total, six different motivational patterns were identified, three from English majors and three from L3 majors. It was also interesting to identify that a few learners developed a type of multilingually oriented motivation during their L3 learning. Data collected at the second phase of fieldwork revealed that the intervention was effective in helping English majors to construct their ideal L3 selves but less useful in the case of L3 majors. At the individual level, six cases were analysed in depth to investigate how the trajectories identified at the group level developed temporally and contextually. The analysis shows that the construction of these learners' L3 motivation involved a complex interplay between their future L3 selves and current L3 learning experience. It was through this process that learners explored the relationship between the L3 and their self-identification, and attempted to develop their personal meaning of learning an L3. On the basis of the empirical evidence, this thesis argues that the construction of learners' L3 motivation hinges on exploration of the position of the L3 in their self-identification, and that class intervention might help learners to realise the importance of learning an L3 by helping them to develop their ideal L3 selves, at least in the case of non-L3-major students. Moreover, this study suggests that it is crucial for L3 learners in China to recognise the value of being multilingual, which plays an essential role in constructing their L3 selves and sustaining their L3 motivation.

The purpose of this study is to examine the challenges faced by adults completing Swedish secondary school who are learning English and Swedish as second language simultaneously. The study was carried out among teachers and pupils in adult secondary education in central Sweden. Three sets of data were used: the grades of those who had studied both English and Swedish as a second language, a student questionnaire and semi-structured interviews of five English teachers in adult education. The data was analysed using a qualitative method and from the theoretical standpoint that languages demand both time and energy which results in a competition occurring between the languages (Csizér & Dörnyei 2005; Herdina & Jessner 2000). The results indicate that motivation is the key factor affecting language acquisition, while other factors include learning technique, educational background, and proficiency in L1 and L2.

Syftet med den här studien var att kvalitativt undersöka L3-motivation hos vuxna invandrare som läser engelska (L3) på komvux i Sverige. Motivation undersöktes i relation till samspelet mellan målgruppens behov och mål, det svenska samhället och engelskans globala status. Den metodologiska utgångspunkten togs först och främst i Dörnyeis L2-motivationssjälvbildssystem (2005) och anpassades till studiens kulturella och sociala ramar. Resultaten indikerar att det är en stor sannolikhet att L3-motivation formas och starkt påverkas av vuxna invandrares invandrarskap och bikulturella identitet som har utvecklats i samband med integration i det svenska samhället. Detta framgår av att det svenska samhället och invandrarskapet ofta uppträder som normgivande när det gäller vuxna invandrares studier i engelska. Deras L3-motivationssjälvbildssystem indikerar dessutom att vuxna invandrares syn på den ideala språkliga självbilden är i kongruens med majoritetssamhällets förväntningar och kunskapsvillkor. Resultaten behöver dock valideras i framtiden genom fler studier och större elevpopulationer. / The purpose of this study is to by a qualitative method investigate L3 motivation in adult immigrants who study English (L3) in Sweden. Motivation was investigated in relation to the interplay between the target group’s needs and goals, the Swedish society, and the global status of English. The methodological framework was based on Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (2005) and it was adapted to the cultural and social context of the study. The results indicate that there is a probability that immigrant identity (Swe. invandrarskap) and a sort of bicultural identity, which have developed in adult immigrants as side effect in the integrational process in the Swedish society, shape and strongly affect L3-motivation. This is supported by the informants’ interview data in which the Swedish society and the immigrant identity often appear as a normative referent for adult immigrants’ English studies. In addition, their L3 motivational self system indicates that adult immigrants’ perception of the ideal language self is in congruity with the majority society’s expectations on knowledge. However, the results need to be validated through more studies and larger student populations in the future.