An investigation into the language learning motivation of adult ESOL learners in England during the Covid-19 pandemic

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses in the UK are accessed by Asylum Seekers, Refugees, Migrant Workers and immigrants on Spousal or Dependant Visas from all over the world. Despite demand for classes being high, government funding fluctuates on a yearly basis, often resulting in waiting lists for classes growing longer. In the wake of Brexit and the Arab Spring, the number of people requiring ESOL classes is not diminishing. However, their motivation to learn English may be affected by their reasons for coming to this country and the political situation they find themselves living in. A parliamentary report has just advised that migrants should learn English (Peck, 2017) but this is the same government who cut £45 million from ESOL funding in summer 2015 resulting in hundreds of qualified teachers being made redundant and courses being closed.

My PhD study will partly continue the research I completed in my MA dissertation in 2016. In that project, I collected data from 41 intermediate level adult ESOL students on very part-time courses in an FE college in Coventry. I tracked their motivation for six months, using the scale designed by Deci and Ryan (1985) using a questionnaire at the start of the course and focus group interviews after the writing exam to identify exam washback and ultimately any effect on their motivation (Sidaway, 2018).

In March 2020, England went into lockdown and all ESOL courses were transferred online with the exams being cancelled. For my PhD research I had hoped to extend my work on washback, observing classroom interactions, exam preparation and the impact of teacher decisions in this context. However, these plans had to be changed as I was not allowed to visit socially distanced classrooms where students were in bubbles and in September 2020, at the start of my data collection, it was unclear whether the ESOL exams would be reinstated.

Working under new conditions during the pandemic, my research had to be moved online for the safety of both myself and any potential participants. Staying with the topic of language learning motivation of adults at the intermediate level, I conducted two separate yet connected interview studies with students and teachers in this context.

My objectives are to identify:
* what motivates adult intermediate learners to join an ESOL course at this level
* what factors motivate and demotivate learners during an ESOL course in this context
* what impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on these learners' motivation during the 2020/21 academic year

This research will aim to inform the current political debates around English Language teaching to migrants in Britain, whilst also filling the gap in motivation research regarding adult ESOL students (Boo et al., 2015). It will also provide practical recommendations not only to inform teaching and learning but also at the more macro level of government decision making. I will incorporate the views of both students and teachers through questionnaires, interviews and text message data, taking a mixed methods approach. Data collection occurred over an academic year (September to June), with the questionnaires and interview templates having been piloted with teachers and learners in a similar context in the year before the research began to ensure validity and ethical robustness.

In the year following the main data collection I will write up the results and consult ESOL teachers and exam boards regarding how my data can be utilised to improve student satisfaction and motivation.