Motivation Dynamics and Resilience Construction Among Chinese University Learners of German as a Third Language: A Grounded Theory Study

While the motivational dynamics of second language (L2) learning have been extensively theorized, the nonlinear, cyclical nature of third language (L3) motivation remains empirically underexplored. This study aims to develop a process-oriented model that captures the nonlinear dynamics and resilience mechanisms enabling re-engagement after interruption. Drawing upon Complex Dynamic Systems Theory, this study adopts a qualitative approach informed by constructivist grounded theory principles, rather than a strict constructivist grounded theory design, to investigate motivational dynamics and resilience construction among 30 Chinese university learners of German as a third language (L3), using in-depth narrative accounts and semi-structured interviews with five representative cases. The findings reveal a recurrent nonlinear cycle of engagement, interruption, suspension, re-engagement, and recovery. Interruptions fall into four types: external pressure-induced, internal psychological, passive structural, and rational strategic interruption, the last of which suggests that active withdrawal may itself serve as a form of resilience. Re-engagement relies on the synergy of teacher affective triggers, peer support, external pressure, and meaning restoration, unfolding predominantly as gradual affective accumulation rather than instantaneous insight. Resilience construction emerges from the interplay of five resources: teacher affective guardianship, peer emotional support, meaning reconstruction, small-step accumulation, and pressure-driven persistence. Across repeated cycles, learners may undergo a progressive meaning reconstruction, shifting from utilitarian motives to intrinsic identification. The proposed “Interruption-re-engagement” model offers a process-oriented framework for understanding the phased decline and conditional recovery of L3 motivation, addressing the explanatory gap in mainstream motivation theories regarding nonlinear motivational processes.