Understanding Interaction Inside and Outside the EFL Self-Concept System: A Case Study of Chinese Learners in Junior High School

This case study on three Chinese EFL learners in junior high school examined the interaction inside and outside learners’ EFL self-concept system, and the findings revealed: (1) inside the self-concept system, the interaction between the global and specific self-concepts is of much complexity; (2) the gap between the global and specific self-concepts would cause imbalance in the self-concept system, and thus trigger efforts to improve learning, while some reconciling elements in the global self-concept may sustain balance in the self-concept system, inhibiting learners’ motivation to improve; and (3) the degree of specificity of learners’ specific selfconcepts that inform learners’ learning efforts contributes considerably to the outcome of these efforts, as does that of learners’ beliefs about EFL learning which mediate the learning efforts.