Since the work of Gardener and his associates in the 1950s, the role of motivation in learning a second language has continued to interest researchers. Previous studies on L2 motivation, were largely based on product oriented models of motivation, which tends to view motivation as a static phenomenon. Recently, however, there has been a shift in emphasis from a study of L2 motivation as a product to its study as a process. The methodological framework of this study was based on Dörnyei and Otto's (1998) Process Model of L2 Motivation. This model proposed that the construct of motivation is not static and changing in nature and influenced by many internal and external factors during learning process. The previous studies that analyzed the motivational variables in the Saudi EFL settings have not investigated the temporal nature of motivation in L2 learning. Using qualitative methodology, the current study aimed to investigate how motivation in English L2 learning changed over time for Saudi students. The participants were seven Saudi students at a mid-western University in the U.S. They had all first begun learning English in Saudi Arabia and had later come to the U.S to pursue their undergraduate or graduate studies. The participants were interviewed on an individual basis using a semi-structured interview format. They also completed a language history questionnaire. The transcripts of the audio-recorded interviews were analyzed using the tools of thematic analysis. Specifically, the participants' oral narratives were analyzed for emerging themes and patterns relating to the development of their motivation for English language learning. The results of this study revealed the temporal and changing nature of motivation in learning English for Saudi students. The emerging themes/patterns related to motivational fluctuations included the learning environment, the role of teacher, economic factor, standardized English tests (e.g. TOEFL and IELTS) and the role of an effective person in enhancing or ceasing the motivational abilities of students learning English. The thesis concluded by discussing implications for future work in this interesting area of research.

Den nuvarande läroplanen ger lärarna stor frihet att utforma undervisningen iklassrummet, utan att ge några tydliga anvisningar om vilka grammatiska moment somundervisningen bör innehålla. Detta kan leda till att nyblivna lärare kan känna sigöverväldigade när de börjar i yrket. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka ochanalysera hur erfarna högstadie- och gymnasielärare arbetar med grammatik iklassrummet i spanska som modernt språk, för att få en bättre förståelse för de strategiersom lärare använder. Studiens teoretiska grund är Dörnyeis modell för principbaseradkommunikativ språkundervisning som fokuserar på både form och funktion iundervisningen av ett främmande språk. Detta är en kvalitativ studie baserad påicke-deltagande klassrumsobservationer. Studiens resultat visar att grammatik finns medi alla delar av lektionerna. En lärare lade mer fokus på grammatisk korrekthet och attgöra övningar för att klara provet. En annan lärare använde olika strategier, till exempelatt strukturera lektionerna kring ett tema som engagerade eleverna, använda elevernasflerspråkighet som en resurs och erbjuda mycket exponering för målspråket. I studienblev sociokulturella såväl som behavioristiska perspektiv synliga i undervisningen.

This essay investigates the motivation of newly-arrived immigrant students, in the Swedish upper secondary school system, in connection with their simultaneous studies of the Swedish and English language. The essay investigates the students’ motivation as well as their linguistic self-confidence during their simultaneous studies. In order to investigate these factors, this essay uses the operative terms from Gardner and Lambert in their study of student motivation in regards to language learning. These terms codify and structure student motivation into two groups, integrative motivation and instrumental motivation. The former term denoted motivation based on the will to integrative and communicate with native speakers. The latter term instead denoted motivation based on the will to use the language in purely practical terms, for example for advancement in the work force or in educational institutions. This essay also uses the aforementioned term linguistic self-confidence as used by Dörnyei. The term denoted a speaker’s confidence in their own proficiency in a language. The selection process of the study showed that the improvement, of the students’ knowledge, was visible in both languages. However, there was no clear indication as to whether integrative or instrumental motivation had a greater effect on the improvement. Previous research indicates that integrative motivation had been more successful in language learning. The study showed a connection between the students’ linguistic self-confidence and their improvement. This further emphasises the importance for students to recognise their own progress and thus strengthen their linguistic self-confidence, which useful information for language teachers active in a simultaneous language learning situation.

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No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23898 bytes, checksum: e363e809996cf46ada20da1accfcd9c7 (MD5) Dissertacao_FlutuacaoMotivacaoAluno.pdf: 886573 bytes, checksum: 9e0eaf07a1f7242fc1ebbae8df43ae51 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Introdução: A motivação tem sido cada vez mais objeto de estudo no campo da Linguística Aplicada e seu papel no processo de ensino e aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras tem adquirido significativa importância na literatura especializada. Dentre as diversas construções teóricas envolvendo interpretações do processo motivacional e as variáveis que nele atuam, pode-se apontar o Modelo Processual de Motivação de Dörnyei, que apresenta a sequência acional do aprendente e os diferentes aspectos motivacionais presentes em cada uma das fases por que passa: a pré-acional, a acional e a pós-acional. Objetivos: Identificar, com base no Modelo Processual de Motivação de Dörnyei, as influências motivacionais atuantes na fase acional do processo de aprendizagem dos sujeitos de pesquisa, verificar a natureza e as circunstâncias determinantes das flutuações observadas nos alunos e levantar quais estratégias motivacionais para manter ou recuperar o entusiasmo para permanecer no curso. Metodologia: Trata-se de uma pesquisa longitudinal predominantemente qualitativa, cujos dados foram coletados por meio de análise de uma narrativa, três questionários e uma entrevista de oito alunos do curso de Licenciatura em Língua Inglesa da Universidade Federal do Pará, de março de 2010 a junho de 2011. Resultados: Foram observados fatores motivadores e desmotivadores que influenciam o comportamento dos alunos durante a fase acional do processo de aprendizagem, bem como diferentes flutuações em sua resultante motivacional, de acordo com suas características pessoais e o conhecimento e adoção de estratégias de gerenciamento da motivação e automotivação. Conclusão: O Modelo de Motivação de Dörnyei (2011) provou ser bastante útil para amparar a análise dos dados colhidos nesta pesquisa. A motivação é vista como um fenômeno dinâmico, que pode oscilar positiva ou negativamente, dependendo das crenças e percepções de cada aluno e da capacidade de gerenciá-la. Essa característica dinâmica e variável com o tempo pode nortear os agentes da aprendizagem na escolha de estratégias que a fomentem e que impeçam a baixa da maré motivacional do aluno no desenrolar do processo da aprendizagem, levando-os a considerar as influências motivacionais variáveis não só em relação a cada aprendente, mas também em relação à fase do processo de aprendizagem em que cada indivíduo se encontra. / Introduction: The study of motivation and its role in the process of teaching and learning foreign languages has achieved an increasing relevance in the field of Applied Linguistics and in the specialized literature. Dörnyei‟s Process Model of L2 Motivation is one of the several theories based on interpretations of the motivational process and the variables that influence it. It divides the learning process into two dimensions: an actional sequence, composed of the preactional, actional and postactional phases, and the motivational influences that underlie and fuel the learner‟s behavioral process. Objectives: This study aims to identify the motivational influences on the actional phase of the individuals investigated, based on Dörnyei‟s Process Model of L2 Motivation; to examine the nature and the circumstances that determine the fluctuations observed in the subjects; and to point out the motivational strategies to maintain or regain enthusiasm to keep learning. Methodology: This research is longitudinal and predominantly qualitative. Eight undergraduate students from the English Bachelor‟s Degree of the Universidade Federal do Pará were investigated and data were collected from a narrative, three questionnaires and an interview, from March 2010 to June 2011. Results: Motivating and demotivating factors that influence the behavior of students and different fluctuation patterns during the actional phase of their learning process were observed. They all vary according to their personal characteristics, knowledge and use of management strategies on motivation and self-motivation. Conclusion: Dörnyei's Process Model of L2 Motivation (2011) proved to be very useful to support the data analysis in this research. Motivation is seen as a dynamic phenomenon, which may vary positively or negatively, depending on the beliefs and perceptions of each student and their ability to manage it. This variable feature can lead teachers to consider the influences that vary according to the learner him/herself, but also to the moment of the learning process he/she is at, as well as help them select strategies that promote motivation and prevent its ebb tide during the learning process.

Despite the vast research on motivation and foreign language acquisition during the last decades, little is known about the motivational effects of concrete pedagogical activities in the classroom. The work of, among others, Z. Dörnyei shows that imagined reality can have positive effects on language learning outcomes. Foreign language learners with a vivid Ideal Language Self (i.e. the vision of the language user one wants to become) that is regularly maintained and activated will feel more motivated when learning a foreign language than learners with a less vivid view of themselves as future foreign language users. This semi-longitudinal intervention study investigates the effects of three specific classroom activities on the pupils’ Ideal L3 Self and their Intended Effort to continue to learn French. The study was conducted in two Swedish 9th grade classes (n= 30 and n= 15 respectively) and also includes a control class (n=14). The three activities in the experiment classes were a) to compose an Ideal L3 Self stimulating text, b) to interact in an online French-speaking forum and c) to complete a webquest. In order to find out the pupils' level of Ideal L3 Self and Intended Effort before intervention began, an introductory text, a closed-ended questionnaire and a semi-structured interview was used. Data from these three instruments were triangulated to establish a baseline level for each pupil in the three classes. After completion of each classroom activity the same questionnaire, an open-ended questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were used to tap the effects of each activity on the pupils' Ideal L3 Selves and Intended Effort. The results confirm that pupils’ Ideal L3 Self is stimulated when, on the one hand, activities reinforce positive images of the pupils’ view of themselves as future users of French and, on the other hand, when an on-line activity makes the students experience the target cultural context almost as in real life. The results also revealed the importance of including such activities as early as possible in the curriculum. For some of the learners, it was already too late in 9th grade. The findings also include a strong correlation between the learners’ Ideal French Self and their Intended Effort in French, which is another convincing argument as to why teachers should include Ideal Self-stimulating activities in their foreign language classrooms.