New Themes and Approaches in Second Language Motivation Research

Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (2001) 21, 43 59.
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3. NEW THEMES AND APPR OACHES IN SECOND LANGU AGE

MOTIVATION RESEARCH
Zoltán Dörnyei
The study of L2 m otivation has reac hed an exciting turning po int in the
1990s, with a variety of new mo dels and app roaches p ropose d in the
literature, resulting in what Gardner and Tremblay (1994) have called a
motivational renaissance. In this chapter I provide an overview of some
of the current themes and research directions that I find particularly novel
or forward-loo king. The summary is divided into three sections:
theoretical ad vances, new a pproac hes in research m ethodology, and
emerging new motivational themes. I argue that the initial research
inspiration and standard-setting empirical work on L2 motivation
originating from Canada has borne fruit by educating a new generation of
international scholars w ho, together w ith the pioneers of the field, have
applied their expertise in diverse contexts and in creative ways, thereby
creating a colorful mixture of approaches comparable to the multi-faceted
are na o f ma inst rea m m otivat ional p sych olo gy.
The first three decades of L2 motivation research until about the

early 1990s was largely inspired and fuelled by the pioneering work of
social psychologists in Canada, most notably Robert Gardner, Wallace
Lambert, Richard Clément, and their associates. Applying versions of a
standardized motivation test developed by Robert Gardner s research
group at the University of Western Ontario, the Attitude/Motivation Test
Battery (AMTB; for a complete version, see Gardner, 1985), a great deal
of empirical research during this period was directed at measuring the
association between various aspects of motivation and L2 learning
achievement. The emerging body of research studies established
motivation as a principal determinant of second language acquisition,
43
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44 ZOLTÁN DÖRNYEI
comparable in its impact to another well-researched learner variable,

language aptitude.
During these first decades of research, motivation was primarily
seen as a relatively stable learner trait that was, to a large extent, a
function of (a) the learner s social perceptions of the L2 and its speakers,
as reflected by various language attitudes; (b) generalized attitudes toward
the L2 learning situation, such as the appraisal of the course or the teacher;
and (c) interethnic contact and the resulting degree of linguistic self-
confidence. The 1990s extended this conception by adding a number of
cognitive and situation-specific variables to the existing paradigm (e.g.,
attributions and group cohesiveness), and there was a shift by some
toward viewing motivation as a more dynamic factor that is in a
continuous process of evolution and change according to the various
internal and external influences the learner is exposed to (for a recent
review, see Dörnyei, 2001). The traditional approach of computing
correlations between motivational and achievement factors gradually gave
way to more complex, often qualitative, analyses of motivational
antecedents and consequences, resulting in a colorful spectrum of new
research directions. This chapter is intended to survey these recent
developments and highlight some potentially fruitful areas for future
research. First I summarize some general theoretical and research
methodological advances, then I describe a number of novel motivational
themes emerging in the literature.
Theoretical Advances
The 1990s brought an extraordinary boom in L2 motivation

research: Dörnyei (1998a) reviewed over 80 relevant L2 studies from the
period, including more than ten newly designed theoretical motivation
constructs. The extent of the shift in thinking is probably best
characterized by the fact that a new motivation model developed by
Robert Gardner s research laboratory (Tremblay & Gardner, 1995) in
response to calls for the adoption of a wider vision of motivation (p.
505), did not actually include Gardner s best known motivational
component, the integrative motive. Approaching the new millennium,
the boundaries of L2 motivation were pushed even further, with
researchers adopting varied and increasingly complex perspectives. A
good cross-section of the emerging new wave of motivational thinking
was provided by a colloquium at the annual conference of the American
Association for Applied Linguistics in March, 2000 (Vancouver), and by
an edited volume partly based on the colloquium proceedings which
contains 20 chapters written by researchers from over ten different
countries in Asia, Europe, and the Americas (Dörnyei & Schmidt, 2001).
From the point of view of their theoretical novelty, the following

five motivational areas appear particularly interesting: social motivation;

NEW THEMES AND APPROACHES IN L2 MOTIVATION RESEARCH 45
motivation from a process-oriented perspective; the neurobiological basis

of motivation (see also Schumann, this volume); L2 motivation and self-
determination theory; and task motivation.
Social Motivation
In an article deliberating upon the future of applied linguistics,

McGroarty (1998) has argued that in order to be able to address the most
intellectually challenging and practically significant aspects of language
learning and teaching (p. 592), applied linguists need to understand better
how the social contexts surrounding language acquisition affect the
learning process. This view accords with the recent emergence of a
broader perspective in the whole of the social sciences sometimes
referred to as an ongoing second cognitive revolution (Hickey, 1997, p.
183) that emphasizes the sociocultural roots of learning and cognition in
general. Motivational psychology has not remained immune to the new
spirit: in a pioneering article, Bernard Weiner (1994) set out to
conceptualize social motivation, involving the complex of motivational
influences that stem from the sociocultural environment rather than from
the individual. During the past five years, social goals have been the
subject of a great deal of research in psychology (cf., Juvonen & Nishina,
1997; Wentzel, 1999).
Because of the inherently social nature of L2 acquisition, the study

of the linguistic impact of various sociocultural factors has, in fact, had a
relatively long history in the L2 field. In addition to Gardner s motivation
theory, social determinants of L2 learning were the focus of Giles and
Byrne s (1982) intergroup model, Schumann s (1978) acculturation
theory, and Clément and Noels s (1992; Noels & Clément, 1996) situated
language identity theory, although these theories were not always
expressed explicitly in motivational terms. In the light of the increasing
social awareness in motivational psychology, this line of inquiry is of
particular significance and, as emphasized by Clément and Gardner (in
press), Dörnyei (in press-a), and McGroarty (2001), L2 motivation as a
situated construct will undoubtedly be one of the main targets of future
motivation research.
Motivation fr om a Proc ess-Orien ted Perspe ctive
A recent line of investigation that I have been actively involved in

has examined the temporal dimension of motivation, that is, the way in
which motivational processes happen in time. This question is, I believe,
particularly important when the target of interest is a sustained learning
process, such as the mastery of an L2, that can take several years to be
successfully accomplished. During the course of such a lengthy process,
student motivation does not remain constant but undergoes continuous

46 ZOLTÁN DÖRNYEI
changes; as Ushioda (1996, p. 240) summarizes, within the context of

institutionalized learning especially, the common experience would seem
to be motivational flux rather than stability. In view of this, the study of
the dynamics of motivational change and the
identification of typical sequential patterns and developmental aspects is
likely to be a fruitful area for future research. Examples of a process-
oriented conception in L2 motivation research include the separation of
the initiation of motivation from the process of sustaining motivation by
Williams and Burden (1997) and Ushioda s (1998, 2001) analysis of how
new motivational orientations evolve while the learner is engaged in the
L2 learning process.
The most complex process-oriented construct in the L2 field has

been put forward by Dörnyei and Ottó (1998; cf. also Dörnyei, 2001), who
devised a process model of L2 motivation which organizes the various
motivational influences along a sequence of discrete actional events in the
chain of instigating and enacting motivated behavior. The model details
how initial wishes and desires are first transformed into goals and then
into operationalized intentions, which are seen as the immediate
antecedents of action; after action has been initiated, an appraisal and an
action control process mediate executive motivation, leading (hopefully)
to the accomplishment of the goal and concluded by the final evaluation of
the process. In a recent paper summarizing theoretical and practical
implications of the process-oriented approach, I have argued (Dörnyei,
2000) that focusing on the temporal aspect of motivation is particularly
useful because it allows researchers to discuss both preactional choice
motivation (i.e., the motives leading to selecting goals and forming
intentions) and volitional/executive factors during the actional phase (i.e.,
motives affecting ongoing learning behaviors) in a unified framework.
Although this research perspective is still relatively new, during the past
decade it has been adopted by a growing number of scholars within the
field of educational psychology (cf., Snow, Corno, & Jackson, 1996),
partly driven by recognition that, by accounting for the dynamic evolution
of motivation, we can fully accommodate the learner s active role in
controlling and shaping the affective foundation of the learning process.
This perspective fits in well with the recent emphasis placed on the study
of student self-regulation.
A Neurobiological Explanation of Motivation
A novel line of research that has the potential to revolutionarize

the study of L2 motivation has been pursued by John Schumann (1998,
1999, this volume), who has examined second language acquisition from a
neurobiological perspective. This work has been one of the first attempts
in the L2 field to incorporate the findings of neuroscience and to link the
study of language to this particularly dynamically developing discipline

within cognitive sciences. The key constituent of Schumann s theory is

stimulus appraisal, which occurs in the brain along five dimensions:
novelty (degree of unexpectedness/familiarity); pleasantness
(attractiveness); goal/need significance (whether the stimulus is
instrumental in satisfying needs or achieving goals); coping potential
(whether the individual expects to be able to cope with the event); and self
and social image (whether the
event is compatible with social norms and the individual s self-concept).
These appraisals become part of the person s overall value system through
a special memory for value and are largely responsible for providing the
affective foundation of human action. Recently, Schumann (2001) has
broadened his theory by outlining a conception of learning as a form of
mental foraging (i.e., foraging for knowledge), which engages the same
neural systems as the ones used by organisms when foraging to feed or
mate, and which is generated by an incentive motive and potentiated by
the stimulus appraisal system.
Motivation and Self-D etermination Theory
One of the most influential paradigms in mainstream motivational

psychology has been offered by self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan,
1985; Vallerand, 1997), which includes the well-known distinction
between intrinsic motivation (i.e., performing a behavior for its own sake
in order to experience pleasure and satisfaction such as the joy of doing a
particular activity or satisfying one s curiosity) and extrinsic motivation
(i.e., performing a behavior as a means to an end, that is, to receive some
extrinsic reward such as good grades or a raise in salary, or alternatively to
avoid punishment). The theory places the various types of regulations on
a continuum between self-determined (intrinsic) and controlled (extrinsic)
forms of motivation, depending on how internalized they are, that is,
how much the regulation has been transferred from outside to inside the
individual. Five distinct categories along this continuum have been
identified: external regulation (i.e., motivation coming entirely from
external sources such as rewards or threats); introjected regulation (i.e.,
externally imposed rules that students accept as norms they should follow
in order not to feel guilty); identified regulation (i.e., engaging in an
activity because the individual highly values it and sees its usefulness);
integrated regulation (i.e., involving choiceful behavior that is fully
assimilated with the individual s other values, needs, and identity); and
pure intrinsic regulation.
Because learning an L2 almost always contains a combination of

external and internal regulatory factors, Noels and her colleagues (Noels,
2001; Noels, Clément, & Pelletier, 1999; Noels, Pelletier, Clément, &
Vallerand, 2000) set out to explore how the orientations proposed by self-
determination theory relate to various orientations that have traditionally

48 ZOLTÁN DÖRNYEI
been identified in the L2 field (e.g., instrumental and integrative

orientations). Noels argues that applying the intrinsic/extrinsic continuum
can be helpful in organizing language learning goals systematically; she
notes, further, that the paradigm is particularly useful for analyzing the
classroom climate and the L2 teacher in terms of how much they promote
either control or autonomy, a dimension of contrast which has immediate
practical implications for educating autonomous, self-regulated L2
learners.
Task Motivation
While it is true that certain motivational perceptions and attributes

are generalized across learning situations and remain fairly fixed once
established, it is also clear that other motivational factors show
considerable variation according to the particular learning event with
which they are associated, as evidenced by the varying degrees of interest
and commitment students demonstrate toward different learning tasks.
This duality of generalized and situation-specific motives was explicitly
addressed by Tremblay, Goldberg, and Gardner (1995) when they
distinguished trait and state motivation, the former involving stable and
enduring dispositions, the latter transitory and temporary responses or
conditions. The potential usefulness of such a distinction lies in its
capacity to explain learners situational and task preferences. Indeed,
from a pedagogical point of view, it would be very beneficial to identify
components of task motivation, because it would allow curriculum
designers and language teachers to systematically select and administer
tasks in a motivating manner, thus increasing learner engagement.
In a recent theoretical discussion of task motivation, Julkunen

(2001) argues that students task behavior is fuelled by a combination of
generalized and situation-specific motives according to the specific task
characteristics, a position in line with Tremblay et al. s (1995) conclusion
that trait motivation influences state motivation. In a study focusing on
the motivational background of student engagement in communicative L2
tasks, Dörnyei and Kormos (2000) found that the learner s overall
disposition toward task performance has at least three distinct layers: (a)
generalized motives (e.g., integrativeness), (b) course-specific motives
(i.e., the appraisal of the L2 course), and (c) task-specific motives (i.e.,
attitudes toward the particular task). The need to distinguish between the
latter two aspects which have traditionally been lumped together under the
situation-specific category was highlighted by the finding that, among
the learners in our study who displayed low task-attitudes, those who had
a favorable disposition toward the course in general participated more
actively than those who had unfavorable attitudes toward both the course
and the task. Furthermore, in discussing task motivation from a process-
oriented perspective, I have argued elsewhere (Dörnyei, 2000) that in

many learning situations there are various levels of increasingly focused

task engagement (e.g., taking up studies in general, enrolling in a
particular course, attending a particular lesson or carrying out a particular
learning task) and that the resulting action-oriented contingencies, or mind
sets, interact with each other in an as yet unspecified manner.
Finally, a further feature of task motivation which makes it a

particularly intriguing research domain is the fact tha thet motivation of
task participants is not independent of each other. It is easy to see that if
one is paired up with a highly motivated or unmotivated partner, this
pairing affects the person s own disposition toward the task; in other
words, task motivation is co-constructed by the participants. I have found
two sources of empirical evidence to support this claim in a follow-up to
the Dörnyei and Kormos (2000) study (Dörnyei, in press-b): First,
students with low task attitudes performed significantly better when their
partner demonstrated high task attitudes. Second, correlations of the
individual students attitudes toward the course and the task with their task
engagement index were .32 and .39, respectively, whereas the same
correlations computed for the dyads joint performance were .59 and .52,
respectively. That is, when the two task participants merged motivational
and performance indices were correlated, the positive association was
significantly higher.
New Approaches in Research Methodology
L2 motivation research has traditionally followed the principles of

quantitative social psychology, making extensive use of the various rating
scales developed for the measurement of attitudes. Data obtained by such
scales have been typically processed by means of inferential statistical
procedures, such as correlation or factor analysis. While this research
tradition is still strong and some particularly large scale investigations
have been reported on recently (e.g., Dörnyei & Clément, 2001: 4,765
primary school pupils in Hungary; Schmidt & Watanabe, 2001: 2,089
university students in Hawaii; Inbar, Donitsa-Schmidt, & Shohamy, 2001:
1,690 secondary school students in Israel), I consider it a significant step
in motivation research that traditional quantitative research methodologies
have been increasingly complemented by qualitative approaches.
Interpretive techniques such as in-depth interviews or case studies are in
many ways better suited to explore the internal dynamics of the intricate
and multilevel construct of student motivation than quantitative methods,
and the richness of qualitative data may also provide new slants on old
questions (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996). The potential of qualitative
research methodology is well evidenced by a series of recent studies in
this vein by Ushioda (1998, 2001), Williams and Burden and colleagues
(1999, 2001), Nikolov (1999, 2001), and Syed (2001), focusing on issues

50 ZOLTÁN DÖRNYEI
as diverse as attributions, motivational development, classroom motives,

self-motivation, and the motivational impact of the learner s self-concept.
Quantitative research methodology has not remained unchanged

either: the most significant advance in this area has probably been the
increasing application of structural equation modeling (SEM) to interpret
large, multivariate datasets. Although LISREL models have been used in
L2 motivation research since the early 1980s, the past five years have seen
an increase in the utilization of the procedure, partly because SEM
programs have become easier to handle and more readily available (e.g.,
as part of SPSS). Recent studies employing SEM techniques include
Gardner, Masgoret and Tremblay (1999), Gardner, Tremblay, and
Masgoret (1997), Laine (1995), Masgoret and Gardner (1999), and
Yamashiro & McLaughlin (2000). Paul Tremblay (2001) offers a very
useful methodological overview of how to apply the procedure to best
effect.
Emerging New Motivational Themes
In the final section of this chapter, I would like to highlight a

number of particularly interesting new research topics that have received
attention during the past few years. This selection is necessarily
subjective and the coverage of the various topics will be brief.
Teacher Motivation
Although there is ample indirect evidence that the teacher s own

level of motivation is infectious, that is, it has a significant impact on the
students learning commitment, hardly any research has been done in the
past to explore this relationship. Recently, however, a number of
theoretical and empirical studies have addressed the issue, providing a
firm foundation for future research. Drawing largely on the (limited)
work in mainstream psychology and the pioneering research in the L2
field by Pennington (1995) and Doyle and Kim (1999), I devoted a whole
chapter in my general overview of L2 motivation (Dörnyei, 2001)
conceptualizing and analyzing teacher motivation. During the past 18
months, some further data-based studies have contributed to our
understanding of what makes teachers motivated and how this motivation
is reflected in their students achievement in work by Jacques (2001),
Kassabgy, Boraie, and Schmidt (2001), and Masgoret, Bernaus, and
Gardner (2000).
Motivation and Learning Strategy Use
The relationship between learning strategy use and student

motivation has been an issue of interest in educational psychology for a

decade. Learning strategies are techniques that students apply of their

own free will to enhance the effectiveness of their learning; in this sense,
strategy use, by definition, constitutes instances of motivated learning
behavior. This close relationship between learning strategies and student
motivation has been reflected by the fact that a well-known motivation
test in educational psychology, the Motivated Strategies for Learning
Questionnaire (MSLQ; Pintrich, Smith, & McKeachie, 1989) provides a
combined measure of university students motivational orientations and
their use of different learning strategies. Recently Brown, Cunha, Frota,
and Ferreira (2001) have produced a Portuguese version of the test for the
purpose of administering it in Brazil. In the L2 field, the systematic study
of the interrelationship between motivation and learning strategy use was
initiated in the mid-1990s by Schmidt, MacIntyre, and colleagues (e.g.,
MacIntyre & Noels, 1996; Schmidt, Boraie, & Kassabgy, 1996); building
on these results, Schmidt and Watanabe (2001) have recently further
investigated the topic by obtaining data from over 2,000 university
students.
Demotivation
Motivation research typically conceptualizes a motive as a kind

of inducement, that is, as a positive force whose strength ranges on a
continuum from zero to strong. However, very little is usually said about
motivational influences that have a detrimental rather than a positive
effect on motivation, that is, which instead of energizing action, de-
energize it. This gap is all the more surprising because in educational
contexts demotivation is a regrettably common phenomenon. In a
review of the few relevant L2 studies available (Chambers, 1993; Dörnyei,
1998b; Oxford, 1998; and Ushioda, 1998), I have concluded that
demotivation is a salient phenomenon in L2 learning and that teachers
have a considerable responsibility in this respect (Dörnyei, 2001). Of
course, when interpreting demotivated student responses, we need to bear
in mind Chambers s warning that we are living in an age when it is not
cool for students to show enthusiasm for anything and Boredom is in
(p. 14). In any case, much further research is needed to do this important
motivational factor justice.
Willingness To Communicate (WTC)
A recent extension of motivation research with both theoretical

and practical potential involves the study of the L2 speakers willingness
to engage in the act of L2 communication. Originally inspired by research
in L1 communication studies (e.g., McCroskey & Richmond, 1991),
MacIntyre, Clément, Dörnyei, and Noels (1998) have attempttd to
conceptualize willingness to communicate (WTC) in the L2, thereby
explaining the individual s readiness to enter into discourse at a

52 ZOLTÁN DÖRNYEI
particular time with a specific person or persons, using a L2 (p. 547).

The L2 WTC construct we have conceived is made up of several layers
and subsumes a range of linguistic and psychological variables, including
linguistic self confidence (both state and trait); the desire to affiliate with a
person; interpersonal motivation; intergroup attitudes, motivation and
climate; parameters of the social situation; communicative competence
and experience; and various personality traits. Thus, the model attempts
to draw together a host of learner variables that have been well established
as influences on second language acquisition/use, resulting in a construct
in which psychological and linguistic factors are integrated in an organic
manner. This line of inquiry may well have important educational
implications in that generating a willingness to communicate in the
foreign language is arguably a central if not the most central objective
of modern L2 pedagogy. The study of the nature of WTC is an ongoing
research effort (cf. e.g., MacIntyre, Babin, & Clément, 1999), and the
WTC construct has also been successfully integrated as a predictor
variable accounting for a very significant proportion of the variance in
learner performance in the Dörnyei and Kormos (2000) study already
mentioned.
Motivating Langua ge Learners
From a practicing teacher s point of view, the most pressing

question related to motivation is not what motivation is but rather how it
can be increased. It is an unflattering indication of the detachment of
research from classroom practice that very little work has been done in the
L2 field to devise and test motivational strategies systematically. To be
fair, some practical recommendations have been offered by Alison (1993),
Brown (1994), Chambers (1999), Dörnyei (1994), Oxford and Shearin
(1994), and Williams and Burden (1997), but largely without any firm
theoretical or empirical basis. The neglect of the study of motivational
strategies is due in part to the fact that the experimental research required
to test the effectiveness of a strategy is rather labor-intensive, and as
Gardner and Tremblay (1994) summarize, offers many methodological
pitfalls. The only published empirical study on motivational strategies
that I am aware of in the L2 field is a teacher survey that I conducted with
a colleague (Dörnyei & Csizér, 1998) in which we asked 200 teachers to
rate the importance of a set of 51 strategies and to estimate how often they
used the strategies in their own practice. As a result, we compiled a list of
Ten commandments for motivating language learners. In addition, I
have recently completed a systematic overview of all the major
motivational strategies that have been documented in the educational
psychological and second-language literature and summarized the findings
in a teacher s handbook (Dörnyei, in press-c).

There are two further areas related to the question of how to

motivate learners: the issues of motivational change and motivational self-
regulation. With regard to the former, there have been a number of
empirical studies in L2 motivation research investigating the motivational
effects of bicultural excursion programs, methodological interventions,
intensive language programs, and study trips abroad (for reviews, see
Gardner, 1985: Ch. 5; MacFarlane & Wesche, 1995; Morgan, 1993). Two
recent large-scale investigations conducted in this vein are Inbar,
Shohamy, and Donitsa-Schmidt (1999) and Inbar, Donitsa-Schmidt, and
Shohamy (2001), both examining how the teaching of spoken Arabic
affects the attitudinal/motivational disposition of Israeli school children.
Motivational self-regulation, or self-motivation, is an intriguing

new area within motivational psychology, exploring ways by which we
can endow learners with appropriate knowledge and skills to motivate
themselves. Evidence that this idea is not completely naïve has been
provided by the fact that in certain classrooms, even under adverse
conditions and without any teacher assistance, some learners are more
successful in keeping up their goal commitment than others. How do they
do it? The only answer is that they apply certain self-management skills
to overcome environmental distraction or competing/distracting emotional
or physical needs/states. Ushioda (1997, 2001) analyzes several of the
positive motivational thinking patterns that help someone to keep going.
Based on Kuhl s (1987) and Corno and Kanfer s (1993) pioneering
taxonomies, I have suggested (Dörnyei, in press-c) that self-motivating
strategies are of five main types: commitment control strategies,
metacognitive control strategies, satiation control strategies, emotion
control strategies, and environmental control strategies. Some of the
actual strategies listed under these categories are, in fact, very similar to
the affective learning strategies conceptualized by Oxford (1990) and
O Malley and Chamot (1990).
Conclusion
This brief and necessarily sketchy overview has hopefully

demonstrated that L2 motivation research is currently flourishing. The
pioneers of the field have been joined by a new generation of international
scholars and the scope of motivation research has been extended to cover
a variety of related issues. As a result, we now have a vibrant mixture of
approaches to the understanding of L2 motivation, comparable on a
smaller scale to the multi-faceted motivational arena in psychology
generally. The renewed interest in L2 motivation is at the same time
indicative of a more general trend in applied linguistics whereby an
increasing number of scholars combine psychological/psycholinguistic
and linguistic approaches in order to better understand the complex mental
processes involved in second language acquisition.

54 ZOLTÁN DÖRNYEI
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAP HY
Clément, R., & Gardner, R. C. (In press). Second language mastery. In H.

Giles & W. P. Robinson (Eds.), The new handbook of language
and social psychology (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Gardner and Clément s chapter in the first edition of Handbook of

Language and Social Psychology provided an excellent summary
of the social psychological perspectives on second language
acquisition, and the authors have now completely revised their
chapter for the second edition.
Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Teaching and researching motivation. Harlow,

England: Longman.
This book offers an up-do-date overview of L2 motivation

research from three broad perspectives: (a) theoretical approaches
(both in mainstream psychology and in L2 studies); (b)
pedagogical implications (including motivational strategies,
demotivation, and teacher motivation); and (c) research
methodology. It also contains a section offering a variety of
resources such as lists of relevant databases and actual motivation
questionnaire items successfully used in the past.
Dörnyei, Z., & Schmidt, R. (Eds.) (2001). Motivation and second

language acquisition (Technical report #23). Honolulu, HI:
University of Hawaii, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum
Center.
This edited volume, containing 20 newly written chapters, offers a

representative cross-section of contemporary motivation research
in the L2 field. Authors include some of the field s most
established researchers from over ten different countries in Asia,
Europe, and the Americas.
Eccles, J. S., Wigfield, A. & Schiefele, A. (1998). Motivation to succeed.

In W. Damon & N. Eisenberg (Eds.) Handbook of child
psychology (5th ed.), Vol. 3: Social, emotional, and personality
development (pp. 1017 1095). New York: John Wiley and Sons.
This is a very thorough review of the most recent literature in

mainstream motivational psychology, also covering a number of
cutting-edge research directions, particularly within the area of
social motivation.

Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H. (1996). Motivation in education: Theory,

research, and applications. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill.
This authoritative summary of research on motivation to learn by

two of the leading American experts is a must for anyone
interested in motivation on any sort of professional basis.
Ushioda, E. (2001). Language learning at university: Exploring the role of

motivational thinking. In Z. Dörnyei & R. Schmidt (Eds.)
Motivation and second language acquisition (pp. 91 124).
Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii, Second Language Teaching
and Curriculum Center.
This extensive paper provides evidence of the richness of data that

a qualitative study on motivation can offer. The author presents
some groundbreaking insights into the dynamics of motivational
processes over time as well as into language learners self-
motivating capacity.
UNANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alison, J. (1993). Not bothered? Motivating reluctant language learners

in Key Stage 4. London: Centre for Information on Language
Teaching and Research (CILT).
Brown, H. D. (1994). Teaching by principles. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Brown, J. D., Cunha, M. I. A., Frota, S. F. N., & Ferreira, A. B. F. (2001).
The development and validation of a Portuguese version of the
Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. In Z. Dörnyei & R.
Schmidt (Eds.), Motivation and second language acquisition (pp.
259 272). Honolulu: University of Hawaii, Second Language
Teaching and Curriculum Center.
Chambers, G. N. (1993). Talking the de out of demotivation. Language
Learning Journal, 7, 13 16.
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Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (2001) 21, 43 59.

3. NEW THEMES AND APPR OACHES IN SECOND LANGU AGE

The first three decades of L2 motivation research until about the

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034 Published online by Cambridge University Press

comparable in its impact to another well-researched learner variable,

The 1990s brought an extraordinary boom in L2 motivation

From the point of view of their theoretical novelty, the following

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034 Published online by Cambridge University Press

motivation from a process-oriented perspective; the neurobiological basis

In an article deliberating upon the future of applied linguistics,

Because of the inherently social nature of L2 acquisition, the study

Motivation fr om a Proc ess-Orien ted Perspe ctive

A recent line of investigation that I have been actively involved in

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034 Published online by Cambridge University Press

changes; as Ushioda (1996, p. 240) summarizes, within the context of

The most complex process-oriented construct in the L2 field has

A Neurobiological Explanation of Motivation

A novel line of research that has the potential to revolutionarize

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034 Published online by Cambridge University Press

within cognitive sciences. The key constituent of Schumann s theory is

Motivation and Self-D etermination Theory

One of the most influential paradigms in mainstream motivational

Because learning an L2 almost always contains a combination of

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034 Published online by Cambridge University Press

been identified in the L2 field (e.g., instrumental and integrative

While it is true that certain motivational perceptions and attributes

In a recent theoretical discussion of task motivation, Julkunen

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034 Published online by Cambridge University Press

many learning situations there are various levels of increasingly focused

Finally, a further feature of task motivation which makes it a

New Approaches in Research Methodology

L2 motivation research has traditionally followed the principles of

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034 Published online by Cambridge University Press

as diverse as attributions, motivational development, classroom motives,

Quantitative research methodology has not remained unchanged

Emerging New Motivational Themes

In the final section of this chapter, I would like to highlight a

Although there is ample indirect evidence that the teacher s own

Motivation and Learning Strategy Use

The relationship between learning strategy use and student

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034 Published online by Cambridge University Press

decade. Learning strategies are techniques that students apply of their

Motivation research typically conceptualizes a motive as a kind

Willingness To Communicate (WTC)

A recent extension of motivation research with both theoretical

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034 Published online by Cambridge University Press

particular time with a specific person or persons, using a L2 (p. 547).

Motivating Langua ge Learners

From a practicing teacher s point of view, the most pressing

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034 Published online by Cambridge University Press

There are two further areas related to the question of how to

Motivational self-regulation, or self-motivation, is an intriguing

This brief and necessarily sketchy overview has hopefully

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000034 Published online by Cambridge University Press

Clément, R., & Gardner, R. C. (In press). Second language mastery. In H.

Gardner and Clément s chapter in the first edition of Handbook of

Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Teaching and researching motivation. Harlow,

This book offers an up-do-date overview of L2 motivation

Dörnyei, Z., & Schmidt, R. (Eds.) (2001). Motivation and second