Motivation as ethical self-formation in learning te reo Māori as a second language

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the motivation of non-Māori learners of te reo Māori as an L2. Inspired by calls for contextualised investigations of the L2 motivation of learners of LOTEs, our study utilises an ethical self-formation framework [Hennig, B. B. 2010a. “Language Learning and the Self: Exploring Hong Kong Students’ Motivation for Learning German as a Third Language from a Foucauldian Ethical Perspective.” Doctoral diss., University of Hong Kong. https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/tc/bibs/fdb173c8] to analyse data from semi-structured interviews with 10 learners enrolled in a voluntary course of Māori language for staff at a New Zealand university. Through a discussion of findings associated with three of the framework’s axes (ethical substance, mode of subjection and telos), we offer an interpretation of the learners’ L2 motivation as linked to a self-directed process aimed at achieving an improved version of themselves, and of this process of self-formation as rooted in personal belief systems about the value of te reo Māori in their personal and professional lives and for New Zealand as a whole. Overall, the ethical self-formation framework emerges as a useful lens for highlighting the links between the learners’ L2 motivation, their personal connections with te reo Māori and their sense of membership in an ideal collective New Zealand identity, and for exploring dimensions of the convergence of the personal and the societal in L2 motivation.