Recent research into L2/FL motivation has entered the socio-dynamics period, characterized by a concern with the contextual interactions, the dynamics of change, and the time-scale variations. We present findings from a longitudinal study into three EFL learners’ listening development over time in relation to the “Directed Motivation Currents”.
Autonomy has become a goal in the field of foreign and second language education. Research demonstrates that teacher autonomy depends substantially on the achievement and exercise of teacher agency to construct teacher identity. Despite the wealth of literature on teacher identity, agency and autonomy among pre-service, novice, and in-service teachers, there has been scant research on synthesizing the three notions in exploring how particularly in-service teachers maintain their work momentum after they survive their initial years of teaching; how their agency and identity work is afforded or constrained by the socio-institutional contexts in which they are engaged; how they create spaces to exercise personal agency in their day-to-day teaching; and how they construct a professional teacher identity to take greater control over their teaching. Shenzhen and Hong Kong, separated by a river, are similar in their geographical locations and rapid economic growth, and yet different in their socio-political systems. It is against this background that this comparative study, interpretative qualitative in nature, is carried out. The study adopts a longitudinal multiple case-study approach to investigate the teaching lives of six English teachers respectively in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, focusing on how these teachers perceive affordances (opportunities, possibilities) and constraints in their teaching and how they respond to the perceived affordances and constraints, in the time of complexity in a changing world. Data sources include interviews, teaching journals, school visits, and school documents. A close examination and comparison of two groups of in-service teachers in two different socio-political and educational contexts extends our understanding of the complexities of teacher development, as well as the interconnected relationships between teacher agency, teacher identity, and teacher autonomy in such contexts. Such a comparative study also provides valuable insights into in-service language teacher education practices for teacher educators, institutional administrators, and policy makers.
