“I Was All Fired Up:” Understanding Novice Language Teachers' Directed Motivational Currents ( <scp>DMCs</scp> ) Through Lesson Study

Abstract Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs) have garnered increasing attention in the field of applied linguistics as a cognitive‐affective construct that captures the intense surge of motivations experienced by individuals. While existing studies have predominantly focused on language learners, the emergence and influence of DMCs on language teachers' professional practice and development remain underexplored. This gap in the literature provides the impetus for the present inquiry, which investigates the DMCs of two language teachers through their participation in a lesson study project informed by the pedagogical framework of big ideas in the Chinese context. Utilizing data from multiple sources, including interviews, observational notes, and relevant documents, the findings elucidate the historical, multi‐dimensional, and evolving nature of language teachers' DMCs and illustrate their transformative impacts on cognitive and emotional engagements. A notable contribution of this study is the explication of the role of negative emotions, which can exert an activating and sustaining impact on DMCs. Practical implications for language teachers and teacher educators are discussed based on the research findings.