Third language learning motivation: empirical evidence of association with proficiency levels and chosen L3

Over the last few decades, motivation has become recognized as crucial in language learning success. Researchers have conducted numerous of studies which have sought to explain why people select, perform, and continue to learn a language. The results and findings of these studies allow us a greater understanding of second language (L2) learning motivation. However, one area of language learning motivation research that has not received as much attention is the temporal aspect of motivational fluctuations. In recent years, there have been calls for a more widespread adoption of qualitative research methods to investigate what Dornyei and Ushioda (2011) describe as the dynamic processes of a learner’s’ motivational development. This thesis is a response to those calls. This thesis attempts to discover perceptions of language learning motivation. In particular, the research reported in this thesis is an attempt to develop a greater understanding of temporal motivational fluctuations of Japanese university L2 learners. As such, the overall aim of this longitudinal qualitative study is to explore the temporal progression of the motivational thinking of three different age groups of Japanese university learners. More specifically, this research sheds light on the motivations of L2 learners in a medium-sized university in Japan, discovers similarities and differences in language learning motivation between different age groups of university learners, and determines how their language learning motivation fluctuates over the period of an academic year. The tools of inquiry used in this qualitative research project were interviews and diaries. Three sets of interviews were conducted with 23 learners in a Japanese university over the course of an academic year. Seven of the participants were freshmen students and seven were in their second year. The remaining nine were in the third grade. Participants completed and submitted a total of seven diary entries at regular intervals throughout the study and these were used to inform the second and third rounds of interviews. The overall findings showed that the learners in each grade were influenced by both their sociohistorical and cultural context and their values and goals at the start of the study. During the middle of the academic year, these goals and values were placed on hold as their immediate context seemed to have more motivational influence. Towards the end of the study the values and goals returned to play a more prominent role in their language learning motivation. There were also several subtle differences in the motivation of the three age groups and this could be seen most clearly in the educational context where institutional pressures were stronger for the older students in the study.

Motivation has been considered one of the main contributing factors to academic success, particularly in foreign language learning classes where there is little contact with the target language community. This is because highly motivated students tend to be ready to learn and engage themselves in the lesson, which allows them to receive more input that will help them to succeed in language learning. Hence, motivation is regarded as an internal power that drives students’ abilities to perform well. However, it is worth noting that motivation in foreign language learning is complicated as every language student walks into the class with different levels of motivation, requiring teachers to be creative in designing the lesson to help them meet their needs and goals. This article discusses common types of motivation and their importance, as well as ways to sustain students’ motivation in language learning. The article concludes with a variety of classroom tips that can be useful in keeping students motivated in learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intrinsic motivation in language learning is ideal to attain successful foreign language learning according to experts (Del Castillo, 2010; Gilakjani et al.,2010). In order to measure its impact at university level, this paper shows the results of a quantitative study conducted at KU Leuven during the academic year 2021-2022 on motivation in foreign language learning. A total of 479 students participated in a survey designed for this purpose. The methodology was based on a multivariate analysis using the statistical package SPSS v. 25. The research findings show that university students have essentially instrumental motivation for learning foreign languages (FL), which implies that their desire to acquire a second language (L2) is limited to practical purposes. On the other hand, the study has identified a representative segment of students, referred to as “incidental students”, who are characterised by not having any clear motivation (neither instrumental nor integrative) for FL. The results lead to recommendations for curricular adaptation to enhance intrinsic motivation in foreign language teaching and learning at university level.

Motivation is one of the most important factors in foreign language teaching and learning. It can be defined as the driving force that stimulates and sustains an individual's behavior toward a particular goal or objective. Motivation is a complex construct that can be influenced by various factors, such as personality, cultural background, social environment, and personal experiences. It is essential for language teachers to recognize the importance of motivation in language learning and incorporate motivational strategies into their teaching practices. This can lead to more effective and efficient language learning and a greater sense of engagement and ownership over the learning process for learners. In this paper, we will explore the importance and intricate facets of motivation in foreign language teaching and learning, including the diverse motivational models, types and orientations, and how they affect language proficiency.

Institutions responsible for the training of educators have a duty to ensure that students develop adequate mastery of subject content and pedagogy. This paper investigates the language learning beliefs (LLBs) of pre-service Foundation and Intermediate Phase educators and their alignment with language learning principles from applied linguistics research on second language acquisition (SLA). The study also examines the students’ motives for learning English since motivation plays a part in sustaining language learning. Gardner’s socio-educational model and Dörnyei’s L2 motivational self system are used as theoretical frameworks in addition to the work of scholars such as Horwitz, Griffiths, and Weideman and Lepota on language learning strategies and beliefs. The results of a cross-sectional survey using the Beliefs About Language Learning and Motivation Inventory Modified (BALLMI-M) are analysed. The findings show that students are highly motivated to master English but do not wish to integrate with the English speech community. Furthermore, they lack understanding about the nature of language skills and have conflicting LLBs that should be addressed in futureamendments to the language curriculum.
 Keywords: language learning motivation, additional language teaching, literacy levels of Education students, language learning beliefs, language learning strategies

This study investigates the relationship between student motivation and English language proficiency among high school students. Drawing upon seminal and contemporary models of motivation, including Gardner's Socio-Educational Model, Dörnyei’s Process-Oriented Model and L2 Motivational Self System, as well as the Dynamic Systems Theory, this study underscores the role of motivation in language learning. A total of 450 students aged 16 to 18 completed a modified version of the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) and their English proficiency was assessed using the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The results indicated a strong positive correlation between motivation and English proficiency (r = .68, p < .001), substantiating the claim that high levels of motivation can contribute to improved language proficiency. This study reinforces the importance of fostering motivation in English language teaching and offers valuable insights for educators and researchers in the context of a rapidly evolving language learning landscape.

Motivation is crucial and imperative in positively achieving language learning goals. Learning English as a second language (ESL) is a demanding and challenging task which often makes Chinese students stressed, anxious and consequently unable to perform well in the English language classroom. Recent research into motivation in language learning has revealed that motivation has considerable benefits to facilitating the learning process as a means of improving students’ confidence and promoting class participation. A positive motivation enables language learners to become more focused and proficient in learning the use of another language. This paper critically examines the significance of motivation in English language learning in the Chinese context, and argues that increasing motivation can provide learners with significant advantages in improving confidence and enhancing classroom involvement in the language classroom. It is suggested that motivation, through development of a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, can be harnessed for positive student outcomes.

There are a lot of factors which influence success in language learning. However, one of the most important factors is the learner’s motivation to learn the language in order to be able to use it in real-life situations. Research and experience show that learners with strong motivation can achieve a lot regardless of circumstances. Studies of motivation in second language learning have led to several distinctions, one of which is the distinction between integrative and instrumental motivation. According to this distinction, some learners are motivated to learn the language because they want to integrate into the target language community, while for others the driving force is their desire to achieve personal goals. Another distinction related to motivation is the distinction between extrinsic motivation, which is regulated from an external source, and intrinsic motivation, which is regulated from within. And according to a third distinction, there can be global, situational and task motivation. Even though teachers cannot control all types and aspects of motivation, they can do a lot to help learners develop motivation and interest for learning the language. This paper discusses the importance of motivation, the different types of motivation and the ways of promoting learner motivation and interest.

Motivation in language learning is a critical area of study since motivation greatly impacts second language acquisition. Socio-Educational Model theory explains motivation to learn a second language in two main types: integrative and instrumental motivation. Many studies have explored motivation in language learning, but such studies are deficient in the case of Rwandan EFL learners. This study analyses the motivational types that inspire students during learning and investigates the motivation factors for EFL learning. This descriptive study, which involves a class from a Rwandan high school of Groupe Scolaire Nyamirama, uses both a qualitative and quantitative design. The information was gathered using open-ended questionnaires and closed-ended questionnaires. The results indicated that instrumental and integrative motivation significantly influences students’ EFL learning process. However, it showed that instrumental motivation was major in EFL learning. Additionally, according to the data, twelve motivational factors were identified from students and ten from teachers regarding teaching strategies and teacher-student interactions, all which impact students during the learning process. However, because motivational variables and motivational types rely on context, it is recommended that a study on this topic be conducted in a different setting.

This paper attempts to examine the cognitive processing underlying motivation in second language learning and to identify some interventions represented by the process. Two cognitive elements of motivation are studied: a sense of personal control, which is essential for effective learning to take place; and a sense of ought, which leads the learner to recognize the desirability of studying. The rationale for this approach lies in the assumption that ongoing motivation is critical to learning, and that this motivation is the result of effective interventions that can presumably be taught to any second language learner for positive progress modification. Interventions that have proven successful in modifying a sense of personal control include some cognitive and metacognitive skills, as well as learning techniques. Carefully designed awareness exercises involving the number of ought arguments may be consciously employed to facilitate a sense of ought, encouraging greater diligence in studies.

Research on the relationship between students’ language learning motivation (LLM), language learning strategies (LLS), self-efficacy beliefs (SEB), and achievement in non-European languages has been both limited and overwhelmingly cross-sectional, often with little attention paid to their multilingualism. Combining complex dynamic systems and sociocultural perspectives, this article reports on a study that explored changes in the LLM, LLS, and SEB trajectories of two multilingual students taking Arabic at a university in Norway over two semesters, including how these trajectories, alongside their multilingual competence, related to their achievement in the course. Data were gathered through weekly semi-structured interviews and a rating scale-based log that the participants kept of their LLM and SEB, as well as their exam scores over two semesters. The results indicated that, although their LLS remained fairly consistent or grew more diversified, the participants were not completely successful in maintaining or boosting their LLM, SEB, or achievement. However, the use of more varied digital LLS appeared to prevent their LLM and SEB from further weakening. Moreover, participants’ LLM and SEB trajectories were susceptible to changes based on different timescales in that mesogenetic events had a more pronounced effect on one participant while the other was more sensitive to microgenetic events. Finally, despite both participants being multilingual, they were unable to benefit from their multilingual competence past the first semester, indicating that not all manifestations of multilingual competence are useful over time, especially when such competence does not contain a multilingual morphosyntactic awareness component.

Since the 1960s the focus of research in second language acquisition has shifted from teaching to learning, and language learners become the center of language teaching and learning. As to learners, language learning motivation and language learning strategies are two main research topics. The present study investigates Chinese college students’ motivation types and strategy use as well as the relationships between language learning motivation and language learning strategies. The study aims to show whether motivation is related to learning strategies, and to shed light on the study of learning motivation, learning strategies, and pedagogy. Key Words: language learning motivation; language learning strategies; gender; correlation

The aim of the present study was to understand the beliefs of Iranian EFL learners’ about language learning. This study was an attempt to understand if there was any relationship between gender, proficiency level and further education in language institutes on beliefs about language learning. Accordingly, 369 EFL engineering students studying in Azad University of Tabriz, Iran were selected based on random sampling. Data were collected using two questionnaires: a demographical questionnaire, and the Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI). Data were analyzed using ANOVA, LSD & t-test. The results of the study showed that the highest mean average among the five components of beliefs about language learning was nature of language learning (M=3.91), followed by Foreign Language Aptitude (M=3.85), Difficulty of Language Learning (M=3.42), Learning and Communication Strategies (M=3.35) and Motivation and Expectations (M=3.25). The findings showed that there was a significant difference between learners’ beliefs, gender and further education in language institutes. However, there was not any significant difference between learners’ beliefs and their proficiency level. The study concluded with some pedagogical implications.

The purpose of this research was to find out which model suits best for ‘Language Learning ‘Motivation’ (LLM)’ of students by applying Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in order to examine the relationship between reading habits, student engagement, study skills and learning ‘Motivation’. The descriptive causal research design was adopted, and the study was carried out in the English Language Departments in those universities that are located in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. For the academic year 2023–2024, a stratified random sampling was used to choose a total of 500 students. Electronic surveys of four separate questionnaires were used to gather data from these students. Analysis involves mean, standard deviation, Pearson product-moment correlation, multiple regression analysis. A series of relationships were found between how people read, how became students, how they engaged with their learning, and ‘Language Learning ‘Motivation’ (LLM)’. The ball is found that all three factors, ‘Reading Habits, Study Skills, and Student Engagement’ are rated consistently highly by the respondents. It was found that there were several elements that had a high degree of influence on students’ ‘Motivation’ to learn a language. The most fitting model for understanding of the ‘Language Learning ‘Motivation’ (LLM)’ was model 5 which related to the attitudes towards studying English, the intensity of the ‘Motivation’ and ‘Motivation’ for studying the language. It also identified particular sensations regarding reading behaviors and strategies, for example, key cardinal concepts, processing, ‘study aids’, and time and focus administration. Moreover, also an important aspect for the ‘Motivation’ is the student engagement, considered through behavioral, cognitive and emotional indicators. It is then found that reading habits, study skills and the engagement of students have important roles in the development of ‘Language Learning ‘Motivation’ (LLM)’. Therefore, these factors are important to encourage university students’ ‘Motivation’. However, these findings need to be confirmed through further research and reliability across other educational settings needs to be assessed.

This study aims to validate the applicability of Self-Determination Theory (SDT, hereafter), one of the well-developed motivation theories in psychology, to the study of EFL learner’s motivation. In addition, with the examination of motivating factors, or psychological needs as precursors of motivation, implications for educational practice will be considered with reference to how to motivate learners. The application of SDT was motivated by the gap between what the motivation research has been studying and what EFL practitioners want to know. The focus of much language learning motivation research so far has been placed either on the motivational constructs themselves or on the relationships between language learning motivation and linguistic or non-linguistic outcomes, whereas language educators have been expecting the motivation research to provide strategies to motivate their students, i.e., "motivating factors" that they can foster to motivate language learners. Research needs to address this concern, and SDT has the potential to bridge the gap. SDT is a theory of human motivation concerned with the development and functioning of personality within social contexts. In this theory, what is called basic psychological needs is regarded as the motivating factors for human development and functioning. They are innate, universal, and essential for health and well-being, which means that basic psychological needs are a natural aspect of human beings that apply to all people, regardless of gender, group, or culture. Deci and Ryan (1985) postulate three psychological needs (the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness) as motivating factors which influence human motivation. It is hypothesized that if these psychological needs are met, intrinsic motivation will be enhanced, while, on the other hand, if they are not met, intrinsic motivation will be undermined. The study reported here consists of several parts. First, the validities of two scales developed in a pilot study were examined. A psychological needs scale was designed to assess the constructs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, while a language learning motivation scale was designed to assess the constructs of five types of motivation (i.e., intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, introjected regulation, external regulation, and motivation). These two scales were administered to 275 first- year high school students. Using exploratory factor analysis, the construct structures were verified. Overall, results showed that the construct validities of these two scales were supported and good reliability coefficients were obtained. Based on the results of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory tests of the factor structures were carried out, using confirmatory factor analysis. Results generally provided confirming evidence for the factorial structures of these two scales. Second, a covariance structure analysis, alternatively known as Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to explain the degrees of causal effect from the three psychological needs to several types of motivation. The SEM solution showed the following results: (a) students’ perceptions of their own self-competence had a strong influence on their motivation, (b) in order to enhance intrinsic motivation, the need for relatedness should be fulfilled, and (c) a desire for an autonomous climate in the classroom might affect motivation indirectly through students’ perceptions of being "competent." Some educational implications were obtained. Among them, what seemed most important was that targeting learner’s perceptions of competence and the development of each type of motivation could be a good strategy for effectively enhancing his/her self-determined forms of motivation (i.e., intrinsic motivation) in school settings. Since the act or phenomenon of motivating language learners needs synthesis in cognition and affect, studies like this current study are informative. They clarify "what" enhances language learner’s motivation and "how" language learner’s motivation is enhanced. Such a study offers a useful viewpoint when considering the English educational activities in a classroom because, if motivating factors are made known, it will become a precious source of information for educators. As a result, practitioners are better able to make judgments about motivating strategies in everyday classroom activities. Furthermore, it will also be helpful in providing counseling-advice to various types of language learners. 本稿は、学習者の動機づけが「何によって高まるのか」を自己決定理論の枠組みから考察したものである。予備調査を通じて作成された2つの尺度を用い、英語学習における心理的欲求と動機づけの各タイプの関係が検討された。その結果、(1)学習者の有能性の認知は、動機づけに対して強い影響を与えていること、(2)内発的動機づけを高めるには、他者との関係性の欲求が満たされる必要があること、(3)教室での英語活動に対して、自律的な風土に対する欲求は、有能性の認知を介して間接的に動機づけに影響を与える可能性があることが示された。 学習者を動機づけるという行為、あるいは現象は、認知的・情意的な総合性を持つものである。動機づけのプロセス解明は、日常の教室活動において、教育者が学習過程のどの部分に働きかけたらよいかを教えてくれる貴重な情報源になるものと思われる。