Learners of English as a Second Language in Australia: Their Perceptions of Learning Environment and Factors Affecting Their Motivation

Abstract

This is a preliminary case study on students from a university in Japan learning English as a second language (L2). Three students volunteered to report weekly their motivational changes through a four-week English course provided by a language institute in Australia and to be interviewed twice at the beginning and the end of the course. The results show that learning experience in a new environment could help them develop the "L2 Selves"; however, the same factor they experience both inside and outside the classroom class could affect either positively or negatively their motivation. Also, their motivational intensity does not exhibit a significant change through the course. The study discusses the participants' actual experience of the primary difference in the contents of the English class between Japan and Australia may work positively their learning due to their desire to develop the English proficiency. However, the relationship between their perceptions of environmental factors reflected on their prior learning experiences and their motivational intensity could be more complex than we imagine. There may be a gap between learners' general perception of motivational factors and its influence on the deterioration and the development of motivation to learn.