Development of the L2 Motivational Self System: English at a University in Japan (original) (raw)
Related papers
2016
The primary objective of this study is to understand and analyse the English language motivation of a sample of Turkish undergraduate students through the lens of L2 Motivational Self System. In this study, Taguchi et al.’s (2009) Motivational Self System scale was used to collect data. The scale was composed of two parts. The first part was the background information about the knowledge of the participants. They were primarily necessitated to supply their bio-data, such as gender, major, age at which they began to study English. The second involved a questionnaire. The current research was carried out at the Preparatory School of Hasan Kalyoncu University in the spring semester of the 2015-2016 academic years. The quantitative data was collected from 125 learners for the questionnaire, originating in 81 males and 44 females. The data was exposed to descriptive analyses. Moreover, independent samples t-test was used to see the differences in the responses of the respondents with respect to their gender, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine the differences in motivational factors in relation to the sub-groups of the sample based on the variables of L2 motivational self system. The major results include the following: First, the students formed an L2 component in their L2 self as responsible for their efforts to master an L2. With the answers to the statements, it is evident that the students consider themselves as successful L2 learners in the future. Second, the results of quantitative data ascertained a powerful existence of L2 motivational factors relevant to ought-to L2 selves of the participants. Third, students’ overall attitudes towards learning English are positive. Fourth, female learners were more positive towards learning English than male learners. Moreover, according to the t-test result, both Ideal L2 Self and Attitudes towards learning English have highly significant impact. Fifth, the findings revealed that learners who have learned foreign language(s) aside from English enhanced their ideal L2 self which had the strongest effect on learning English. The t-test represents that there was no statistically significant difference. Sixth, living abroad for more than six months experience influenced participants’ motivational selves. The result of independent samples t-test regarding the learners who had lived abroad and those who had not was significant and meaningful in terms of Ought-to L2 Self. Finally, even though the result of one-way ANOVA regarding age showed that learners’ age had no significantly important difference with their L2 Motivational Self, based on the averages of mean scores, it is evident that motivation decreased with age.
English ability and the L2 motivational self among Japanese university students
2011
(SLA) research. This area has been led for many years by Robert Gardner, and more recently Zoltán Dörnyei and his L2 Motivational Self System; a system that suggests learners are motivated best when they have an image of themselves using English in the future to aspire to. In this study of 638 Japanese university students, we used an online survey designed to understand the ideal L2 self to compare students who have intermediate-level English ability with those who have beginner-level English ability. The results indicated that the clarity of a student's images of using English in the future is related to his/her English ability. This in turn, reflects on the student's attitudes to English classes, English native speakers, and the effort he/she make in his/her studies. This has implications for teachers, especially in the early stages of English education where the roots of the ideal L2 self and future motivation for learning are laid.
Language education & technology, 2013
This study describes the overall tendencies shown by Japanese University EFL learners in terrns of intrinsiclextrinsic motivation, L2 ideal selves, L2 ought-to selves, international posture, Can-Do and willingness to communicate, and the relationships between these factors. The results show that students tended to exhibit high identified regulation, perceived relatedness, intrejectedlexternal regulation, and L2 ideal selves, while being low in amotivation. They also indicate that students' L2 ideal selves were highly correlated with intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, international posture and Can-Do. In examining the degree of internalization of learning, L2 ideal selves showed the strongest correlation with intrinsic motivation and were negatively correlated with amotivation. Cluster analysis was conducted to gain a greater understanding of individual differences, enabling a division into fbur groups. To support the quantitative analysis, qualitative data was gathered, allowing the examination of differences among students pertaining to how they perceived the relationship between L2 ideal selves and language learning, and the relative strength of the L2 ideal selfin language learning behavior.
Motivation and demotivation over two years: A case study of English language learners in Japan
Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching
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 demotivator...
When Learning English is Compulsory at School: Fluctuations in L2 Motivational Self System
International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 2014
Research findings highlight the role of motivation in the long-term process of learning a second/foreign language. One's motivation can change even in a short period of time under the influence of multifarious factors. To enrich our understanding of the attitudinal/motivational basis of foreign language learning this study attempts to investigate L2 motivational fluctuation, and the possibility of predicting EFL learners' motivated learning behavior in light of Dörnyei's (2005, 2009) theory of L2 motivational self system. To this end, 1670 junior high and high school students studying English as a compulsory subject in Iran filled out L2 motivational self system questionnaire. Independent samples t-test and regression analyses were applied; and the findings indicated a higher motivational disposition for junior high school students in comparison to high school students, except for their attitudes towards L2 community. For both groups, attitudes towards L2 learning was the best predictor of students motivated learning behavior.
The effects of motivational factors on Japanese learners of English
This paper presents a synopsis of the Japanese educational system and the inherent effects it has on Japanese learners of English as a necessary background for understanding how these learners have been conditioned as they enter their university studies. By replicating a study first performed by Sugita in 2008 on the effects of academic events on the motivations of secondary school "English as a Foreign Language" (EFL) students, this study seeks to shed light on whether or not similar effects can be found in university EFL students. Journal surveys were utilized to collect data concerning students recorded internal and external influences in regards to their English studies. The results showed marked differences between Sugita's secondary students and the university students from this study, namely in the levels of intrinsic motivations with regards to their English study, a reduced role of tests and other academic events as motivators for studying, and an overall lower level of motivational strength regarding English learning despite reporting a similar amount of study time per week as Sugita's secondary students.
Language learning motivation: Applying the L2 Motivational Self System
Kayoko Ishikawa, Meiji University, Japan reconceptualized language learning motivation by positing it to be connected to a language learner's identity. To reflect this notion, he constructed the L2 Motivational Self System, which examines the learner's self as a second language user. Because identity is often of central concern to double and returnee children in Japan, it was thought that Dörnyei's model could effectively explain the English learning motivation of an adolescent bicultural bilingual double girl in Japan who had previously lived in the U.S. Research conducted via multiple semi-structured interviews before, during, and after a 9-day trip to the U.S. had revealed her to claim to possess 2 distinct English "voices." To make sense of these voices, Dörnyei's model was then applied to the girl's case, with special attention paid to the model's Ideal L2 Self component, as her voices appeared to be related to her motivation. Results found the model useful in explaining her desires to improve at English, for her 2 voices represented her current and future L2 selves and her motivation came from her desire to merge her 2 voices into a single voice. However, the peculiarities of the girl's case highlight the areas of the model that require modification.