Research Strategies in Educational Sciences

Research Strategies in Educational Sciences

Modeling the Relationships among Motivation, Education, Technology and Ethno-linguistic Identity in L2 Learners: Bilingualism as a Mediator

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 English Department,, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran
2 Department of Sociology, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran
3 English Department, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran
4 Department of Counseling, University of Shahrekord, Shahrekord, Iran
5 Department of English, University of Shahrekord, Shahrekord, Iran
10.22034/jrses.2026.593068.1134
Abstract
Many sociolinguistic, psychological, and educational factors, such as education, technology, and motivation, interact in a complex manner that leads individuals in society toward bilingualism, which is the ability to be competent in at least two languages. Focusing on factors that affect bilingualism among second language undergraduate and graduate students of English and their identities, this study examined the relationships between dominant sociolinguistic, psychological, and educational factors (i.e., motivation, technology, cyberspace, and education) and the bilingualism of English students. Moreover, it investigated whether bilingualism affects the ethnolinguistic identities of English students. The statistical population consisted of undergraduate and graduate students majoring in English translation and teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) at Shahrekord University (N = 237) in Iran, selected via convenience sampling. To collect the data, the participants completed a researcher-made questionnaire. The results of multiple regression tests and structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that bilingualism of English students predicted their ethnolinguistic identity. Model fit has been confirmed using multiple model fit indices (e.g., CMIN/DF and RMSEA). Implications of these findings for language planning, policy, and reforming foreign language teaching curricula (e.g., English), and future research directions are presented as suggestions for teachers of English as a foreign language.
Keywords