Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (May 2020)
Life after Language Immersion: Two Very Different Stories
Abstract
In this case study, we investigated motivation dynamics of two graduates from a Russian immersion program in the United States: in retrospect (before and immediately after the program) and several years after the program. Drawing upon the data from a motivation survey, interviews, and written work tagged to three timeframes, we explored why (L2) learners may continue with or stop using Russian. Dörnyei’s (2009) L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) complemented by the concept of anti-ought-to L2 self (Thompson, 2017a) was used as the framework for the study. Our focal participants, Katia and Yana, had drastically different experiences with Russian. While Katia has fully immersed herself within the language and currently lives in a Russian-speaking country, Yana, an American undergraduate student, no longer uses Russian. By exploring the participants’ self-visions and their experiences, we outlined implications for immersion programs and motivation research in the area of less commonly taught languages (LCTLs).
