Exploring the dynamics of LOTE self-guides in a minor language context: a longitudinal study of Chinese learners majoring in Portuguese

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Research on LOTE motivation has highlighted important contrasts between LOTE and English self-guides. However, empirical studies focusing on the mechanisms shaping LOTE self-guides over time remain scarce, particularly in ‘minor language’ contexts. Contributing to addressing these gaps, this study investigates the motivational dynamics of four second-year Chinese undergraduates majoring in Portuguese, a major none of them had initially chosen but entered through score-based allocation. Using a longitudinal qualitative design that combines purposive L2MSS-based sampling, semi-structured interviews, and interval-contingent weekly journals, we examine how their motivation evolves over one semester through interactions between self-guides and ongoing learning experiences. The findings suggest that: (i) positive learning experiences influence motivation through differentiated mechanisms, strengthening particular self-guides while also increasing coherence across them; (ii) participants’ LOTE self-guides were shaped by self-images formed in other life domains; (iii) fragmented ought-to selves elicited both motivational decline and psychosomatic symptoms, and (iv) agentic re-signification of past negative experiences, enabled by cumulative positive learning events, created conditions for the emergence of an ideal multilingual self.