Learner agency and investment in a basic language program

Abstract

Agency and investment are important components that determine learners’ engagement with languages and language learning. Much research on language learner agency and investment to date has focused on students in their positions as classroom-based learners, or in terms of their extracurricular learning. This study seeks to establish a more holistic picture of learner agency and investment by exploring the interplay between participants’ classroom learning experiences and their wider engagement with language learning. This research focuses on the experiences of learners in a basic language program (beginning sequence of language courses, sometimes part of educational requirements in US postsecondary education), exploring how learners in this context make decisions about their language learning for the classroom and beyond. The current study explores language learners’ engagement with learning German through survey results, classroom assignment submissions, and semi-structured interviews. Using an ecological understanding of learners’ contexts, this research examines learners’ expressions of agency and investment by analyzing the choices they make regarding language learning, as well as the capital they draw upon or hope to develop through these choices.