Ideal L2 Selves of Japanese English Learners at Different Motivational Level (original) (raw)
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329-Ideal L 2 Selves of Japanese English Learners at Different Motivational Level
2012
Introduction For half a century, Gardner and Lambert’s (1959) theory dominated a central role in second language (L2) motivation and identity study. Through their quantitative research, the researchers proposed that integrativeness, or the intensity of the learner’s desire to be closer to the target community members, determines the degree of L2 acquisition and motivation to learn the target language (Gardner & Lambert, 1959). Recently, however, critical remarks against this theory’s generalizability to the actual English learning contexts have been widely asserted. As many researchers have argued, due to the new role of English as a common global language, the target community with which the learners identify English to is quite obscure (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2009, Lamb, 2004, 2009; Norton, 1997; Shimizu, Yashima, & Zenuk-Nishide, 2004). Also, integration is not a realistic reason for many English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners to acquire English proficiency (Csizér, & Dörnyei, 20...
Identity, Motivation and English Learning in a Japanese Context
World Journal of English Language, 2017
Founded upon motivation, identity and self theories, this qualitative case study explored the motivational self systemand identities of Japanese EFL learners and their influence on motivation and English language learning. Data wascollected through online surveys among 22 graduate and undergraduate university students. The survey resultsindicated high motivation, international orientation and positive attitudes toward English language learning. Thethematic analysis of students’ detailed responses to the open-ended questions showed a stronger instrumentalmotivation and lack of desire to join and identify with the English communities and culture. International orientationappeared to be a better measure of motivation as opposed to integrative motivation. Moreover, the learners hadinhibitory factors operating against English learning motivation and speaking practices such as anxiety and lowlinguistic self-confidence. Resistance to new cultural identities or identity conflicts resulted f...
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.
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 Learning in Higher Education, 2018
Since the 1990s, many researchers in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) have become focused on second/foreign language learners' motivation to learn a language, and the role in motivation in determining future success. However, much of the research agenda has revolved around the acquisition of English as an Additional Language, and target languages other than English have been under-researched. This paper reports on a survey study designed to investigate the motivation of 84 beginner learners of Japanese learning the language in a university language centre evening programme. Examining the relationship between learners' intended effort and six motivational orientations commonly used in SLA motivational studies using multiple linear regression, this study found that integrativeness was the only variable that contributed to learning motivation. This finding is distinct contrast to studies focused on English learning where the ideal L2 self has often been found to be the best predictor of motivation. While it is far from sufficient to draw a conclusion that Japanese learning motivation is different from that of English by one single study, the current study does point to the key role of cultural identification in second/foreign language motivation, consistent with a small group of other motivational studies conducted in the context of Languages Other than English (LOTEs).
Models and Theories of Second Language Motivation: English Language Teachers Respond
TESOL Quarterly, 2020
A s one of the initial research topics in the history of the second language acquisition (SLA) literature, motivation has always generated strong interest among language scholars and practitioners. In this article, we respond as classroom practitioners with varied teaching experiences to the common implications and insights offered by the majority of the models and theories of second language (L2) motivation that have guided the praxis in the TESOL field. In particular, we aim to explain motivation in the English language classroom through an intersectionality framework and pedagogy (e.g., Case, 2017) that we adopt in our own classrooms. We conclude with teaching implications for practitioners who teach English as a global language. BACKGROUND A considerable amount of research has been done on L2 motivation since the 1960s. Early work on motivation by numerous influential scholars (e.g., Boo, D€ ornyei, & Ryan, 2015; Deci & Ryan, 1985; D€ ornyei, 1994; Gardner, 1985) have identified different types and dimensions of learner motivation in the classroom. A significant contribution to L2 motivation literature has been made by Bonny Norton, who, in her research (Norton-Pierce, 1995) on five immigrant language learners in Canada, asserted that learner identity be considered
2019
This paper attempts to establish that there is a correlation between the sociolinguistic identities of high school students and their productive English-speaking abilities. The paper initially explains the basic concept of sociolinguistic identity and refers to various aspects of research into Japanese national identity to analyse how these may influence the learning of English in Japan. Secondly, the participants’ specific context is detailed and reasoning for the relevance of the two tasks that are put to them is provided. Following on from this, the methods of data collection and analysis are described. Results posit that learners with a greater interest in English-speaking cultures are more likely to interact competently, and in turn, having stronger productive skills correlates positively with the rejection of an anti-English sentiment. The paper ends with a brief discussion on how cultural constraints in Japan affect English expression and the importance of emerging trends suc...
Interpreting unwillingness to speak L2 English by Japanese EFL learners
Open Linguistics, 2023
This article reports on an empirical study investigating what makes Japanese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) unwilling to speak English, regardless of their learning period, proficiency level, and location of the communication. The current study focuses on the self-perception of second language (L2) English abilities, anxiety, and interlocutors as possible causes of their unwillingness to speak L2 English, compared with first language (L1) Japanese. An online questionnaire was administered to 27 Japanese undergraduate students (age: 19-22) with non-English majors at a national university in Tokyo, Japan. The results show that the elements depressing the self-perception and willingness to speak are fundamental to managing human relationships in speaking situations, which have more impact on L2 English than L1 Japanese contexts. This is attributable to other-directedness, which has been discussed as being characteristic of Japanese and Chinese EFL learners. Furthermore, it appears plausible to assume that the other-directedness derives more from "considerations for others" than "face-saving." Future work will further investigate what constitutes Japanese other-directedness, compared with Chinese EFL learners'.
This study explores how theories of motivation and the attitude of second language learners come together to explain L2 learner identity construction in a target language. Through in-depth interviews with a L2 learner of Korean, this study shows that the participant’s experience of learning Korean is consistent with Gardner’s notion of integrativeness (2001). The interview data indicates that the kind of integrative motivation certainly contributes not only to negotiating sociopragmatic competence but also to shaping the learner’s personal identity as it is oriented toward the target culture. Moreover, the participant’s feelings about her own national culture appears to “be a powerful motivator…to reduce the discrepancy between the actual self and ideal self” (Dornyei et al., 2006, p. 145).