Rather than a static, fixed end point, I envisage that one outcome of this research is the development of new emergent possibilities. These new possibilities interconnect with and owe a great deal to previous research enterprises. I recognise that my interpretations and understandings are part of human knowing that is ever pushing into the ‘adjacent possible’ through ceaseless novelty (Kauffman, 2008). As Kauffman (2008: 127) argues, however, ‘salients are almost certainly created in specific “directions” in the space of possibilities, which in turn govern where the system can flow next into its new adjacent possible’. Although the previous chapters have also included discussion of the analysis with reference to existing literature, this and the following chapter aim to draw together my experience of the research process with a discussion of the theoretical, pedagogical and methodological implications of the study as a whole. While presenting a brief overview of results, in this chapter I introduce some of the ‘salients’ emergent from my study that contribute new possibilities for motivation theory. Through this discussion, I hope to encourage movement towards a richer, holistic exploration of the complexities of classroom motivation.

Two of the fundamental aims of my research were related to developing a more complex understanding of my students’ motivation for English learning by exploring the influence of their ideas of an English-using self. In what follows I examine the ways in which my findings suggest classroom language learning motivation to be integrally founded on interactions between self-ideas, perceptions of experience by individual language learners and the co-constructed class environment.

Individualised, Dynamic English-using Self Ideas

One of the primary findings from the present study is that, far from being disinterested ‘blank slates’, the self-representations of these adolescents were filled with highly elaborate, individualised detail that emerged over the course of the study.