Based on Vygotskian sociocultural theory, this study aims to investigate the longitudinal changes in English as a second language (ESL) learning, especially on motivation and learner beliefs for two recent Korean immigrants to Toronto. For 10 months, the researcher interviewed the two participants who shared similarities in age, previous work experiences, and perceived socio-economic status. Their comments were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by using NVivo, a qualitative data analysis software program. The findings indicate that Korean immigrants' ESL learning motivation was comprised of six constructs: job motivation, communicative need, heuristic motivation, context-specific motivation, self-satisfactory motivation, and demotivation/amotivation. Despite the two participants' external similarities, their monthly changes in ESL learning motivation showed drastic differences. An L2 learner belief of the positive relation between English proficiency and increased job opportunity was identified as a major explanatory factor for this difference between the two participants. This study suggests that L2 learner's beliefs may function as mediational tools from the perspective of sociocultural theory, with the learner's belief influencing job motivation.

The purpose of this paper is to present a potentially useful interview template for longitudinal, qualitative ESL motivation research. For this purpose, I recruited 10 Korean ESL learners in Toronto, Canada to investigate the differential effects of three types of interviews (i.e., open-ended, semi-structured, and structured interviews) for eliciting learners’ comments on ESL learning motivation. Each participant was interviewed two or three times over four months. The interviews were audio-taped and transcribed. Thematic analyses based on Ratner’s (2002) meaning unit indicated that for initial exploratory purposes, open-ended formats are the most appropriate; whereas for subsequent investigations, semi-structured formats are the most effective. The beneficial washback experienced as a result of the interviews strongly supports the use of these methods, not only as research tools but as learning tools for enhancing learners’ metacognitive awareness of their own ESL learning and for their emotional stabilization.