Motivation to Learn Multiple Languages in Japan

Chika Takahashi is Associate Professor at Ehime University, Japan. Her research interests include L2 motivation, LOTE motivation and L2 self-instruction, and she has recently published articles in The Language Learning Journal and Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching.

• Tables and FiguresAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsPart 1: Contextualizing the StudyChapter 1. Introduction         Chapter 2. Theoretical BackgroundChapter 3. Growing Body of LOTE Motivation ResearchChapter 4. English and LOTE Education in JapanPart 2: The Empirical StudyChapter 5. The StudyChapter 6. The Early Days: English Self-Instruction Using Radio Materials in High SchoolChapter 7. Broadening the Horizons: (Re-)Starting LOTE Learning at University         Chapter 8. Pursuing Multilingualism or Not? Language and Academic StudiesChapter 9. What Does Language Mean to the Interviewees, in the End? Language Learning beyond Formal EducationPart 3: Concluding Thoughts Chapter 10. Reflecting on the Method: Advantages and Challenges of Longitudinal Case Studies Utilizing InterviewsChapter 11. ConclusionAfterwordAppendicesReferencesIndex

This book is riveting and illuminating! Readers will be fascinated by the nuanced analyses of the ebbs and flows in the multilingual motivational trajectories of two Japanese learners of multiple languages as they successfully but differently negotiate context and agency over nine years. Takahashi’s new construct of enduring translingual transcultural orientation truly pushes the boundaries of the field of L2 motivation.