Managing resistance and desire in language learning: a basic developmental and motivational process

Overview & Synopsis

This article highlights the complex and inseparable relation between desire and resistance in foreign language learning. An exploratory study based on semi-directive interviews with non-literary undergraduate students confirm that language learning is a highly subjective phenomenon. The results show that the way students learn to manage the “desire ↔ resistance relation” in their L2 learning has a decisive impact on their motivational and linguistic development.