Abstract

This comparative case study looked closely at the language learning motivation and identity construction of Indonesian and Thai university students in multilingual contexts. In this study, 158 Indonesian and 113 Thai university students from 19 universities were voluntarily recruited. Informed by a mixed-methods design, data were collected through a close-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews and then analysed using inferential statistics and thematic content analysis. The main findings identified include (1) the predictive roles of L2 motivation and the social environment in the identity construction of Indonesian and Thai university students; (2) the predictive role of the social environment in sustaining Indonesian and Thai students’ motivation to learn English; and (3) multiple dimensions of English language learning. The implication of this study is that language teachers should provide meaningful learning environments promoting sustained motivation and identity construction among language learners.