Motivation

“Going to a country where you don’t speak the language is like wading into the sea when you can’t swim – it’s intimidating at first, not impossible, and ultimately manageable.”

Stewart Stafford

There are many factors that play a role in the language learning process, including both external factors, such as opportunities for learning the language either in a school setting or in a natural environment where the language is spoken, and internal factors, which are the individual differences that may have an impact on the outcomes of our learning process. Examples of individual differences are age, gender, personality aptitude, learning style preferences, and attitudes and motivation. In this post, I will discuss the issue of motivation and how it is one of the most important variables in achieving success in learning another language.

Early research in motivation, for example by Gardner and Lambert during the 60’s and 70’s, pointed to two types of motivation: integrative–or the desire to connect closely to another culture– and instrumental–or the interest in fulfilling a specific goal. If you have an integrative motivation, you are seeking to become part of the other culture, while with an instrumental motivation, you use the language to gain an advantage, such as a job promotion or passing an examination. In addition, motivation can be extrinsic–or motivated by rewards and punishment from others (for example, a grade from your teachers)–and intrinsic–or being motivated by the learning situation itself (for example, being excited about participating in a study abroad program). However, these binary distinctions are now considered somewhat simplistic as motivation is a complex and dynamic process.

A more recent perspective on motivation is discussed by Zoltan Dornyei, an SLA researcher based in the UK, who proposed the “L2 (second language) motivational self system.” This system consists of: 1) the “Ideal L2 self”–which represents the ideal image of oneself and includes both instrumental and integrative motives; 2) “The Ought-to L2 self”–which includes the attributes you should have to meet your expectations; and 3) the “L2 learning experience”–which takes into account the immediate learning environment, such as the impact of your teacher, the curriculum, and your experiences with your peers. In other words, your motivation includes your own ultimate goals that you hope to attain and the ways in which you plan to go about getting there, and this is also affected by the immediate context in which your learning takes place. To draw a parallel, imagine you want to lose a certain amount of weight and imagine your future self as being at that ideal weight which would allow you to, let’s say, buy a bathing suit for a summer vacation. That then requires you to take certain actions, like eat less or exercise more, to attain those goals. However, your goals are affected by your immediate environment, and if you have roommates who buy pizza every other day, that will impact your ability to attain your goals. This model is helpful for us in setting our goals, understanding what personal attributes and actions might help get us there, yet realizing that there are outside factors that may impact the ultimate outcomes. Remember that motivation is one of the strongest predictors of success in language learning!

For an excellent introduction to second language acquisition and more detailed information about individual differences, I would recommend the book by Nina Spada and Patsy Lightbown, “How languages are learned.”