Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Multilingualism and persistence in multiple language learning

Henry, Alastair LU (2023) In Modern Language Journal 107(1). p.183-201
Abstract

For language learners who aspire to become multilingual, commitment involves a personal journey. Defining persistence as a preoccupation with goal-focused action directed to a desired future state and drawing on research from cognitive psychology and the mental time travel paradigm, this article presents an identity-based framework of persistence in multiple language learning. In the framework, persistence is supported through the operation of 3 interconnecting processes: (a) the generation of personally meaningful goals aimed at becoming multilingual, (b) the conjuring of mental images that represent states, events, and values associated with being multilingual, and (c) the integration of representations of multilingualism within an... (More)

For language learners who aspire to become multilingual, commitment involves a personal journey. Defining persistence as a preoccupation with goal-focused action directed to a desired future state and drawing on research from cognitive psychology and the mental time travel paradigm, this article presents an identity-based framework of persistence in multiple language learning. In the framework, persistence is supported through the operation of 3 interconnecting processes: (a) the generation of personally meaningful goals aimed at becoming multilingual, (b) the conjuring of mental images that represent states, events, and values associated with being multilingual, and (c) the integration of representations of multilingualism within an unfolding personal history. To illustrate these processes, data from online sources and research literature exploring language learners’ narrative biographies is used. The relevance of the framework is critically assessed in relation to (a) the development of interventions supporting motivation for foreign language learning, (b) the exploration of motivational processes through narrative-based inquiry, and (c) the varying linguistic, social, and societal contexts in which multiple language learning takes place.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
goal self-concordance, linguistic biographies, mental time travel, multilingual identities, multilingualism, persistence
in
Modern Language Journal
volume
107
issue
1
pages
183 - 201
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85150841865
ISSN
0026-7902
DOI
10.1111/modl.12826
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0d267369-0eda-456d-bd24-45dcfd1bafa0
date added to LUP
2023-05-26 14:11:39
date last changed
2023-10-26 14:47:42
@article{0d267369-0eda-456d-bd24-45dcfd1bafa0,
  abstract     = {{<p>For language learners who aspire to become multilingual, commitment involves a personal journey. Defining persistence as a preoccupation with goal-focused action directed to a desired future state and drawing on research from cognitive psychology and the mental time travel paradigm, this article presents an identity-based framework of persistence in multiple language learning. In the framework, persistence is supported through the operation of 3 interconnecting processes: (a) the generation of personally meaningful goals aimed at becoming multilingual, (b) the conjuring of mental images that represent states, events, and values associated with being multilingual, and (c) the integration of representations of multilingualism within an unfolding personal history. To illustrate these processes, data from online sources and research literature exploring language learners’ narrative biographies is used. The relevance of the framework is critically assessed in relation to (a) the development of interventions supporting motivation for foreign language learning, (b) the exploration of motivational processes through narrative-based inquiry, and (c) the varying linguistic, social, and societal contexts in which multiple language learning takes place.</p>}},
  author       = {{Henry, Alastair}},
  issn         = {{0026-7902}},
  keywords     = {{goal self-concordance; linguistic biographies; mental time travel; multilingual identities; multilingualism; persistence}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{183--201}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Modern Language Journal}},
  title        = {{Multilingualism and persistence in multiple language learning}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/modl.12826}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/modl.12826}},
  volume       = {{107}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}