L2 Self Research Articles

Where's the vision? Rescuing integrativeness to understand the language learning motivation of English-speaking EFL instructors living in South Korea

In researching second language (L2) learners' motivation, the traditional Gardnerian concept of integrativeness was readily applicable in a world where discrete L2 communities were often clearly identifiable. However, the growing dominance of global English has rendered this construct less relevant for the ever-increasing numbers of L2-English learners for whom there is no geographically-defined L2 community with which to integrate. This transformation of the language learning landscape has seen integrativeness reinterpreted as a concept more aligned with individuals’ self-identification and future visions as L2 users. The demand for English teachers worldwide has led to large numbers of first-language English speakers finding such work outside their own countries, but their motivation to learn the languages of their host nations remains unexplored. Based on interviews with 14 English as Foreign Language (EFL) instructors in South Korea, the present study found that most lacked the clear future L2 self visions required to drive motivation. In such cases, the traditional concept of integrativeness also retains its explanatory value, particularly as participants tended to attribute their lack of motivation to elements of the broader society in which they were living. These findings have implications for research on similar cohorts operating in a globalized marketplace.

The role of parental factors and the self in predicting positive L2 outcomes among Japanese learners of English

ABSTRACTThe current study had two objectives: (a) to quantitatively investigate whether Japanese language learners of English have inclusive second language (L2) self-related motivations, and how inclusive L2 self-related motivations contribute to English learning effort and self-rated English ability, and (b) to qualitatively examine how Japanese learners of English incorporate parental expectations and values about English into their L2 self during each stage of their English learning experience, and how higher and lower English proficiency learners incorporate parental values and opinions into their L2 self. We found that an inclusive L2 self-related motivation explained the interaction between social/contextual factors and English learning effort or self-rated English ability. A gap was observed between higher and lower English proficiency groups regarding the degree of incorporating parental expectations, values, and feelings about English into their sense of L2 self. Having an inclusive L2 self successfully introduces different viewpoints into current self-related motivational frameworks within language learning contexts, which to date have only emphasised individual levels of self perspectives to the exclusion of inclusive self figures derived from social surroundings.

Understanding motivation for learning languages other than English: Life domains of L2 self

With the formation of a multilingual and multicultural world, there is a growing demand for second language (L2) motivation research, which has primarily focused on learners of English, for re-examining the theoretical frameworks to adequately explain motivation for learning languages other than English (LOTEs). This article responds to the call by introducing the concept of domain of L2 self. In doing so, it first investigates three developments in psychology, multilingualism, and linguistic philosophy: domain of possible selves (Oyserman & Markus, 1990), complementarity principle (Grosjean, 2010), and speech genres (Bakhtin, 1986). Through the analysis of interview data collected from two undergraduate Japanese language learners, it also explains how their ideal L2 selves (future self-images as competent L2 users), linked to particular life domains (e.g. interpersonal, leisure, education, career), developed through their learning of the domain-specific speech genres of the language. The conclusion suggests that especially in situations of LOTE learning, examining various domains of learners’ ideal L2 selves, as well as speech genres used in the domains, would be beneficial for understanding their motivation to learn the target language as well as their bi/multilingual visions.

Editorial

Due to the emergence of the self in foreign/second language (L2) motivation theory and research following the introduction of the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009), the past decade has witnessed a surge of attention devoted to the two self dimensions: the Ideal L2 Self, and the Ought-to L2 self of the model (Boo, Dörnyei, & Ryan, 2015). The third core component, however, the L2 Learning Experience has become undeservedly marginalized. We think that such relative neglect has been brought about by two phenomena. On the one hand, the L2 Learning Experience, has so far been underconceptualized, and, as such, its intangible, amorphous nature has undermined its applicability in research on a similar scale that a more elaborate theorization of the other two future self-guides has enabled. On the other hand, by incorporating Markus and Nurius’ (1986) possible selves theory into L2 motivation research, Dörnyei was able to import adaptable and novel concepts to the field, which set the course of the research agenda for years to come.

The impact of semester-abroad experiences on post-sojourn L2 motivation

Numerous studies have examined sojourners’ L2 motivation during their stay abroad. Much remains unknown about the impact of study abroad (SA) experiences on their L2 motivation after they return to the home environment. This study tracked the English learning motivation of three Chinese university students from immediately after their semester-long exchange program in an English-speaking country until six months after the sojourn. The participants were requested to complete a questionnaire and took part in an interview immediately following their re-entry and another interview six months later. The participants’ post-sojourn English learning motivation was influenced by their L2 selves and the context they were situated in. The motivational capacity of SA experiences was manifested in its profound impact on the participants’ ideal L2 self-images. Satisfactory SA experiences contributed to an ideal L2 self with higher L2 proficiency and international posture, whereas unsatisfactory experiences led to a lessening role of L2 in the participants’ future work and life. The findings also reveal that the participants’ understandings of both their positive and negative SA experiences became fossilized after the sojourn. Some practical implications were discussed for higher education institutions to optimize the post-sojourn motivational impact of SA programs.

Motivation and demotivation over two years: A case study of English language learners in Japan

This paper is about four Japanese university students majoring in international studies, who participated in a two-year study examining changes in their motivation. Using monthly interviews and a 29-item questionnaire on Dörnyei’s (2005) L2 motivational self system that was administered alongside each interview, the trajectories of learner motivation were investigated, based on both quantitative and qualitative data. First, changes in the participants’ motivation were identified using quantitative data. Next, a variety of motivators and demotivators that learners experienced both inside and outside of their classrooms were analyzed using the qualitative data. With the data obtained, this study focuses on how four learners’ language learning motivation and contexts adapt to each other, and how the dynamics of the four learners’ motivation changes due to their learning experiences. Each learner was different in their trajectory of motivation and the kinds of motivators and demotivators that they experienced in their particular contexts. The four learners underwent unique motivators and demotivators, and reacted differently. While participants identified their ideal L2 selves, or ought-to L2 selves, these self-guides were not strengthened by their L2 experiences over time. Based on these findings, the importance of studying the rich experiences of language learners in motivation research is discussed.

Undergraduate students' motivation to learn and attitudes towards English in multilingual Pakistan: A look at shifts in English as a world language

We investigated undergraduate students' motivation to learn English in Pakistan using Dörnyei’s (2009) L2 Motivational Self System as the theoretical framework. We additionally investigated the attitudes of the participants, and how they felt about the status of English as the official language of Pakistan and as the medium of competitive examinations. We did this because attitude is part of Dörnyei’s (2003) choice motivation, and choice motivation helps explain why a person begins and then sustains language learning. The participants were undergraduate students in three public universities in Pakistan. We employed mixed methods. The first author collected the motivation and attitude data by using a 54-item structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, and analyzed the data using descriptive and inferential statistics. The interview data was analyzed by thematic analysis. The findings suggest that the participants reported Attitudes to Learning English, Ought-to L2 self, International Posture, Instrumentality-promotion, Milieu, Ideal L2 Self, and Instrumentality-prevention as the most important motivational factors for learning English in Pakistan. The results indicate that Dörnyei's (2009) L2 Motivational Self System is valid in the English-language learning context of Pakistan. The participants mostly favored English as the official language of Pakistan and as the medium of competitive examinations.

Language learning motivation and gender: The case of Poland

Gender differences in language learning motivation have not been extensively examined. Thus, this survey study explores gender differences in the population of 599 Polish learners of English aged 14–16. Unlike other studies, it not only compares means but investigates whether there are gender differences in the way the variables interact with each other. Findings show that females scored higher than males on scales of international orientation, ideal L2 self and self‐regulation. No gender differences were observed on instrumentality, self‐efficacy beliefs, English self‐concept and intrinsic motivation. There is also a significant difference in the strength of links between self‐regulation and instrumentality, self‐efficacy beliefs as well as English self‐concept. Thus, gender effects appear more extensive than previous research has shown.

The effects of experience abroad, English self-efficacy, and proficiency on the L2 motivational selves: a study of Korean EFL university students

ABSTRACTThe present study aims to explore the relationships between the variables – experience abroad, self-efficacy, and self-perceived proficiency – and the self-concept in the L2 Motivational System and identify which of these variables contribute more to its explanation. Research data on 197 Korean university students majoring in English related studies were collected and analyzed using simple and hierarchical multiple regressions. This study re-confirms ideal L2 self as being more influential on motivated learning behavior than ought-to L2 self, which is consistent with many previous studies. It was also found that experience abroad is statistically related to ideal L2 self, but not to ought-to L2 self, which means, as experience abroad increases, ideal L2 self is likely to be enhanced. The results also identified the crucial role of self-efficacy in the formation of ideal L2 self while taking experience abroad into account. Additionally, the students’ ideal L2 self was found to be more readily explained by their proficiency in communicative skills than that of academic skills.

Self-guide distinctions and episodic memory in L2 motivation: The case of Arabic in the United States

The L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei, 2009) has offered a model of second language (L2) motivation that considers the role of possible self-guides. This study examined an expanded version of this model by incorporating a distinction in the ought-to L2 self: ought-to L2 self/own and ought-to L2 self/others. Also, it examined the relationship between memory and L2 self-guides. A questionnaire was administered to L2 Arabic learners to capture core constructs of L2 motivation and memories of past experiences, known as episodic memory. The results indicated that L2 learning experience had the strongest direct effect and ideal L2 self had the strongest indirect effect on intended effort. L2 self-guides were most influential when mediated by L2 learning experience or ideal L2 self. However, ought-to L2 self/own and ought-to L2 self/others exhibited dichotomous behavior, in which ought-to L2 self/own had a positive effect and ought-to L2 self/others had a negative effect on intended effort. Importantly, associations between episodic memory and L2 self-guides were found but selective, driven presumably by shared emotional and self-relevant content. The study concludes that L2 self-guide distinctions exhibit different effects on L2 motivation in the target language context. Also, it concludes that L2 self-guides exhibit particular associations with episodic memory.

A Multidimensional View of L2 Motivation in Southeast Spain: Through the ‘Ideal Selves’ Looking Glass

This article presents the main quantitative findings in a study that applied the tenets of Zoltán Dörnyei’s (2005, 2009) L2 Motivational Self-System (L2MSS) to explore the L2 motivation of over 500 undergraduate students in the Region of Murcia, Spain. We used the lens of the ideal and ought L2 selves to gain insight into participants’ intentions to invest effort in learning the L2, the variables affecting their decision and their current involvement in L2 acquisition. We also explored the role of the somewhat fuzzy concept of the L2 learning experience within the L2MSS distinguishing past from present learning experiences. The ideal L2 self emerged as the strongest variable in relation to intentions to learn across the sample. Regarding external influences on the self, instrumentality pre-vention appears to be more relevant to motivated behavior than an ought L2 self. Quite negative past learning experiences were detected in the sample along with a lack of parental encouragement in learning the L2 leading us to conclude that these factors may have had a detrimental effect on English learning and acquisition among the sample observed.

An ideal second language self intervention: Development of possible selves in an English as a Foreign Language classroom context

This study analyses the effects of a specifically-designed Ideal L2 self intervention based on the principles outlined in Dörnyei’s (2005, 2009) proposal of the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS). Activities designed to enhance and develop the Ideal L2 self were conducted with intact groups (N = 47) of learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in a university language school in Barcelona, Spain. The intervention, conducted over a 12-week period, employed visualisation techniques and strategy training to develop learners' Ideal L2 self vision. Findings indicate that the intervention activities effected not only the participants ability to articulate an Ideal L2 self vision but also the type of vision produced, when compared with control groups (N = 51) taught by the same teachers over the same period. Qualitative interview data suggest that the participants' L2 vision may enhance and focus learner motivation but this is mediated by factors such as previous learning experience and learner attitudes.

Motivation of ideal Chinese L2 self and global competence

Abstract This article probes the motivation of ideal L2 self and perceptions of global competence of Chinese language learners taking high-level Chinese courses to fulfill degree requirements at a university on the East Coast of the United States. The results show that the students envision an ideal L2 self with high speaking fluency, which they believe can develop their intercultural communication skills and promote their future careers. It was also found that integrative motivation, in the past found predominant among second language learners, is also a prominent form of motivation for foreign language learners in the 21st century. The study provides evidence that the students’ perceptions of global competence still need to improve, but that learning Chinese has contributed to the development of their global competence. The study demonstrates that motivation of ideal L2 self and global competence complement each other. Informed by the results, the researcher suggests some pedagogical implications about maintaining learner motivation, developing learners’ intercultural communication competence and perceptions of global competence, and encouraging students to take higher-level language courses.

The L2 motivational self system: A meta-analysis

This article reports the first meta-analysis of the L2 motivational self system (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009). A total of 32 research reports, involving 39 unique samples and 32,078 language learners, were meta-analyzed. The results showed that the three components of the L2 motivational self system (the ideal L2 self, the ought-to L2 self, and the L2 learning experience) were significant predictors of subjective intended effort (rs = .61, .38, and .41, respectively), though weaker predictors of objective measures of achievement (rs = .20, -.05, and .17). Substantial heterogeneity was also observed in most of these correlations. The results also suggest that the strong correlation between the L2 learning experience and intended effort reported in the literature is, due to substantial wording overlap, partly an artifact of lack of discriminant validity between these two scales. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.

Exploring the L2 selves of senior secondary students in English private tutoring in Hong Kong

Based on Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS), this study explored senior secondary students' multiple L2 selves when they enrolled in English private tutoring (EPT) courses. Through narrative inquiry, this paper analysed 18 Hong Kong Secondary Six (Grade 12) students' English learning experiences and their motivation for learning English and subscribing to EPT. Each participant completed a questionnaire, wrote three pieces of reflective writing and responded to six individual interviews throughout the year of study. The findings indicated that language learning converged from diverse activities to examination drilling at senior secondary school years. The learners possessed insecure actual L2 selves, revealing a discrepancy with their future L2 selves consisting of dominant ought-to L2 selves and suppressed ideal L2 selves. This study contributes to research in language learning by unveiling EPT learners' formation of L2 selves in a context of high-stakes testing. The findings contribute to the development of the L2MSS by operationalising the actual L2 self, its discrepancy with possible L2 selves, and the interrelationship between ideal and ought-to L2 selves. The study calls for further research to bridge the fields of shadow education and language learning given the significant role EPT plays in shaping learners' out-of-school L2 learning experiences.

Motivation to learn Japanese as a foreign language in an English speaking country: An exploratory case study in New Zealand

The conceptualization of L2 motivation has largely involved survey-only studies of English, a growing global language, in English as foreign language (EFL) contexts. There has been less consideration of languages other than English, such as Japanese. This study aims to understand the motivation types and learning experiences of Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) learners in New Zealand, where foreign language learning is neither required nor widely valued, and where JFL learner numbers have declined at universities. This small-scale exploratory semester-long study examines different motivational constructs through qualitative data from an open-ended questionnaires and quantitative data from an L2 motivation survey. Analysis of the data indicated that integrativeness was the major initial reason for choosing to learn Japanese, but as students engaged in JFL learning and with the L2 community, they developed ideal L2 selves. Positive L2 learning experiences, often related to intrinsic orientation to learning, sustained their JFL learning. This study draws a different picture to previous EFL motivation research about future self-images, showing that different target languages and diverse reasons for learning should be considered in analyzing L2 motivation.

Relations Among L2 Learning Motivation, Language Learning Anxiety, Self-efficacy and Family Influence: A Structual Equation Model

The L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) has been widely researched and used to explain L2 learners’ motivational behaviors. However, important factors such as language learning anxiety, self-efficay and possible family influence need to be scrutizized in relation to L2MSS in order to expand our understanding of the second language learning process. This study used a structural eauation modeling approach to test a hypothesized model that contained the L2 Motivational Self System, family influence, L2 learning anxiety, and self-efficacy as the latent variables in a context of foreign language learning. A total of 473 Taiwanese high school students participated in the study. With Amos version 22.0, the current study analyzed the proposed model. The results assured the validity of the hyposized model among these students. This model revealed that family influence played a significant role in affecting learners’ future self guides. Self guides served as a good predictor for the L2 learners’ self-efficacy. In addition, the ought-to L2 self contributed to a higher level of anxiety while the ideal L2 self and L2 learning experience both lowered the level of English learning anxiety.

Interactions between medium of instruction and language learning motivation

ABSTRACT Models of education delivering content teaching through learners’ second language have rapidly increased in recent decades and are thought to offer a ‘naturally’ motivating context for learners to use and learn the medium of instruction (MoI). However, the relationship between MoI and language learning motivation (LLM) specifically is under-explored. In light of calls for contextually responsive theorizations of LLM, this study examines interactions between English language learning motivation (ELLM) and micro (MoI classrooms) and macro (schools) contexts in Hong Kong. ELLM measures were administered to Hong Kong secondary school learners of English (N = 3854), aged 11–14, studying in English, Chinese and Mixed mode of instruction schools. ANOVA results indicate higher levels of ELLM among EMI students on most measures and effects of MoI on three LLM constructs. The results support the relevance of a required orientation in explaining participants’ ELLM and challenge the applicability of the ideal L2 self, which may be attributable to context rather than cultural difference. Implications are discussed for existing understandings of the MoI-LLM relationship, as well as discussions around culturally relevant theorizations of LLM.

Motivational Orientations of Secondary School EFL Learners toward Language Learning

This study aimed to examine to what extent Turkish EFL learners’ L2 motivational dispositions which are ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self and language learning experiences predict their intended effort for language learning. The study was designed from a quantitative perspective in which the participants were given a composite instrument. The study was conducted at a state run secondary school in Turkey and the participants were 254 students including 5 th , 6 th , 7 th and 8 th graders. The results indicated that secondary level Turkish EFL students have high scores on all of the L2 motivation variables. However, the statistical analyses suggested that the participants’ level of ought-to L2 self was significantly higher than their level of ideal L2 self. It was also seen that when the participants got older, their levels of ought-to L2 self appeared to indicate a decreasing trend. Besides, the results asserted that the secondary school students’ intended effort for learning a language was found to be predicted mostly by language learning experiences, then ought-to L2 self and lastly ideal L2 self, according to hierarchical multiple regression analysis. The results were discussed in line with L2 motivational self system studies in the literature and it was concluded that the results in favor of ought-to L2 self might imply the existence of peer or community pressure in language learning process of secondary school EFL students in Turkish context.

Ideal L2 Self, Visual Learning Styles, and L2 Self Confidence in predicting Language Proficiency and L2WTC: A Structural Equation Modeling

This study intends to identify the interrelationships between motivation, perceptual learning styles, cognitive variables, and language proficiency in a single framework. In particular, the role of the Ideal L2 self, visual learning styles, and L2 confidence for predicting learners’ language proficiency and their willingness to communicate in real life were investigated. The results revealed that visual learning styles have a positive effect on the Ideal L2 self and are indirectly associated with L2 proficiency through the mediating function of motivation. These relationships provide evidence that learners with more vivid images of the distance between their actual and Ideal L2 selves find learning a goal-oriented activity and as a result, are encouraged to make more endeavors to reach higher levels of proficiency. The desire to bridge the gap between their current and ideal selves helps learners reduce anxious arousals and feel more competent to accomplish L2 tasks, which in turn helps learners be more prepared and willing to communicate. Finally, implications for language teachers and policy makers to inspire learners to become more engaged in L2 activities are discussed.