'If I don't do, I lose': A grounded theory study of Chinese adult learners' writing motivation

The question that drives this research is: what are the factors that affect adult learners' motivation and persistence on writing tasks. In this study, I examined a context where Chinese adult learners enrolled in a postgraduate continuing education program strived to meet challenges in writing a research paper. To gain the deep and rich understanding of the context that could yield insight into these learners' motivation, I used grounded theory methodology to study how adult learners were motivated to engage in and persist at writing tasks. Data were collected from seven informants using interview and observation, and data analysis methods included constant comparison and analytic induction. Throughout the processes of theory building, conceptual articulation through memoing greatly enhanced the researcher's theoretical sensitivity.; Motivational concepts derived from the study data provided elaboration for a context-sensitive social cognitive theory of motivation. Cross-case analysis revealed how the learner, the learning task, and the learner's ecology (support systems) were viewed as key motivational factors that interacted to affect learner persistence on task. The discussion section focused on motivational processes within the context-specific environment and described how the dynamic interplay of motivational factors and influencing forces contributed to learners' determination to complete their writing course. The significance of the study lies in the discussion on participant perspectives that provided a better understanding of how adult learners' motivation and persistence on task were influenced by their self-belief systems and support systems to affect performance and effort in language skill-acquisition contexts.