Triggers and Supports of International Visiting EFL Teachers’ Directed Motivational Currents

Abstract

This case study examines the factors that trigger and sustain directed motivational current (DMC) experiences, defined as prolonged periods of intense motivational surges (Ibrahim & Al-Hoorie, 2019), among English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers (N = 3 women, ages 30–50) during their study-abroad programs in the United States of America. Multiple interviews (two per person) and a focus group interview (one with all three together) were used to collect qualitative data. The first interviews took place a month before the focus group interview session, and the second interviews were a month after the focus group interview session. A thematic analysis of the data suggested that frustration resulting from professional tensions and opportunities triggered the EFL teachers’ DMC experiences. The enduring, unique periods of motivational flows were supported by the teachers’ perceptions of the feasibility of the goals that they wanted to achieve, the positive influence of others (colleagues, family members, and mentors), and their ardent desire to be successful in their field. The findings of this study imply that visiting EFL teachers can experience DMCs despite the challenges associated with study-abroad programs, such as separation from their families and colonizing ideologies. The intense motivational feelings engendered by the DMC experiences made the participants resilient so that they could take advantage of the emergent opportunities (e.g., networking with experienced colleagues in their fields, publishing scientific articles, etc.) in the study-abroad programs.