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.

This study conceptualises Chinese language-major undergraduates' motivation to learn a third language (L3) from a self perspective. Two overarching aims were adopted to guide the research: how learners' L3 motivation was formulated and reformulated over the course of one year of learning an L3 and whether classroom intervention could help learners to construct their L3 motivation. This research adopted a longitudinal case study design and was situated in a state university in China. Students who had chosen to learn an L3 as their major and English majors who were required to learn an L3 participated in the research. To achieve the two principal research aims, the data collection process was divided into two phases. The goal of the first phase was to explore the development of my participants' L3 motivation without any intervention. Qualitative research methods were employed during this phase and data were gathered from open questionnaires, interviews, class observation and written journals. In the second phase, an intervention was carried out to explore how to construct my participants' ideal L3 selves. A quasi-experimental design was employed and mixed methods were adopted. Analysis was primarily guided by the L2 Motivational Self System and was carried out at both at class level and individual level. At a class level, findings suggest that both L3 majors' and English majors' L3 motivation was mainly constituted on the basis of their ideal L3 selves, ought-to L3 selves and L3 learning experiences, which were constantly constructed and reconstructed over the course of learning. Notably, learners' motivational trajectories did not display a homogenous pattern at the group level. In total, six different motivational patterns were identified, three from English majors and three from L3 majors. It was also interesting to identify that a few learners developed a type of multilingually oriented motivation during their L3 learning. Data collected at the second phase of fieldwork revealed that the intervention was effective in helping English majors to construct their ideal L3 selves but less useful in the case of L3 majors. At the individual level, six cases were analysed in depth to investigate how the trajectories identified at the group level developed temporally and contextually. The analysis shows that the construction of these learners' L3 motivation involved a complex interplay between their future L3 selves and current L3 learning experience. It was through this process that learners explored the relationship between the L3 and their self-identification, and attempted to develop their personal meaning of learning an L3. On the basis of the empirical evidence, this thesis argues that the construction of learners' L3 motivation hinges on exploration of the position of the L3 in their self-identification, and that class intervention might help learners to realise the importance of learning an L3 by helping them to develop their ideal L3 selves, at least in the case of non-L3-major students. Moreover, this study suggests that it is crucial for L3 learners in China to recognise the value of being multilingual, which plays an essential role in constructing their L3 selves and sustaining their L3 motivation.

Syftet med denna studie är att belysa skillnader i grundskoleelevernas motivationer, i deras studier i moderna språk spanska, mellan två kritiska punkter: när de börjar läsa språket i årskurs 6 till deras sista år på grundskolan i årskurs 9, utifrån elevens perspektiv. De forskningsfrågor som använts för att uppnå syftet är: (i) vad framträder som centralt i elevernas motivation i sina språkstudier för årskurs 6 och 9?, (ii) på vilka sätt och i vilka aspekter kan man se att motivationen skiljer sig mellan de två grupperna? och (iii) vilka pedagogiska konsekvenser leder skillnaden i motivation till för ämnesdidaktiken mellan de båda grupperna? Studien baseras på intervjuer med elever från årskurs 6 och 9, som syftar till att samla information om deras erfarenhet av deras spansklärande, deras förväntningar och mål samt vad som motiverar dem. När det gäller den teoretiska ramen är denna studie grundad på fälten Self-efficacy, Self-determination theory (SDT) och The ideal multilingual self. Det huvudsakliga resultatet av denna studie är att elevernas motivation förändras från årskurs 6 till årskurs 9 från att vila på en inre motivationsgrund till att vila på en yttre motivationsgrund. Från ett ämnespedagogiskt perspektiv indikerar resultatet behovet av att hitta strategier och arbetsmetoder för att stimulera elevernas inre motivation och för att tillsammans skapa elevens L3 Self, som är bilden eleven skapar av sig själv som spansktalande och även som en del av en spansktalande gemenskap. / The purpose of this study is to analyse the differences in students’ motivations in modern language Spanish between two critical points: when they start reading the language in grade 6 and in their last year of compulsory school in grade 9, from the student’s perspective. The research questions used to achieve this purpose are: (i) what appears to be central in the students’ motivation in their language studies for grades 6 and 9?, (ii) in what ways and in what aspects can one see that motivation differs between the two groups? and (iii) what pedagogical consequences does this difference in motivation lead to for subject didactics of Spanish between the two groups? The study is based on semi-structured interviews to students from grade 6 and 9, aiming to collect information regarding their experience in their Spanish learning, their expectations and goals and what motivates them. Regarding the theoretic frame, this study is grounded on the fields of Self-efficacy, Self-determination theory (SDT) and The ideal multilingual self. The main finding of this study is that students’ motivation changes from grade 6 to grade 9 from resting on an intrinsic motivational basis to resting on an extrinsic motivational basis. From a subject didactics perspective, this result indicates the need for finding strategies and working methods to stimulate students’ inner motivation, and to co-create the student’s L3 self, that is the image the student creates of himself as a Spanish speaker and as a part of a Spanish speaking community.

Elevers motivation samt kunskapsmässiga och framtida mål i spanska undersöks utifrån enkätsvar från 77 gymnasieelever i steg 3 och 4 samt intervjuer med två elever i steg 5. Arbetets teoretiska ramverk utgörs av tre motivationsteorier: self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) med begreppen inre och yttre motivation, the socio-educational model (Gardner, 2001) med begreppet integrativ motivation och L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei, 2009) med begreppet ideal L2 self. Resultatet visar att cirka hälften av informanterna känner sig motiverade av att läsa spanska och det är främst på grund av yttre betingad motivation via meritpoäng och betyg. Dock har runt två tredjedelar som mål att resa till spansktalande länder och prata med målspråkstalare, som kan härledas till en integrativ motivation. Drygt hälften av informanterna tror att de kommer kunna bra spanska i framtiden, vilket indikerar en stark framtidsinriktad språklig självbild. / Students’ motivation, knowledge targets and future goals in Spanish are studied based on questionnaires completed by 77 students enrolled in stage 3 and stage 4, as well as interviews with two students in stage 5. The theoretical framework consists of three motivational theories: Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) with the concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, the socio-educational model (Gardner, 2001) with the concept of integrative motivation and L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei, 2009) with the concept of ideal L2 self. The result shows that nearly half of the respondents feel motivated studying Spanish, mainly due to extrinsic motives, such as merit points and grades. Furthermore, about two-thirds aim to travel to Spanish-speaking countries and communicate with target language speakers, which is considered an integrative motivation. About half of the respondents believe that they will speak Spanish well in the future, which indicates a strong future-oriented self-image in their language study.

L2 motivational research may be described as an ongoing quest to identify motivational attributes underlying motivated language learning behaviour. This study employs a novel theoretical and methodological focus in this endeavour: firstly, it applies theories of the self to a motivational exploration of L2 motivation involving first-year students studying towards German degree courses at two major UK universities. Secondly, the study explicitly addresses the time- and context-sensitive nature of motivational attributes. While the majority of L2 motivational studies treat motivational attributes as static and rely heavily on one-off surveys, this study uses a longitudinal mixed-methods approach. Questionnaires were administered at the beginning and at the end of the academic year, and students were interviewed five times over the course of the academic year. Results suggest that the concept of integrative orientation in its traditional sense plays a minor role for these students. The concepts of the ideal L2 self and intrinsic motivation are better suited to capture these students’ motivation for studying German, and together with self-efficacy beliefs they offer a good basis for understanding students’ motivated engagement with language learning throughout the year. However, the data also reveal that considerable changes take place during the course of the year. Importantly, students’ intrinsic motivation significantly decreases and so do self-efficacy beliefs for speaking and listening, a trend concomitant with decreasing effort to engage with language learning. The qualitative data shed light on the motivational changes observed, and provide a detailed and rich picture of the interplay between motivation and contextual factors. Based on the empirical insights gained, a theoretical framework is proposed which links the motivational attributes examined and situates them within multilayered contextual spheres. The thesis concludes by outlining pedagogical suggestions how to counteract decreasing motivation during the first year at university.

The aim of this study is to understand whether Dörnyei’s (2005, 2009) motivational self system fits well with the language learning motivation of the participants in this Turkish university context The study has been carried out in a university in Western Turkey. In order to answer the research questions, the study has adopted a quantitative research design. The study has been conducted using a 109 item Likert scale questionnaire. The total number of participants in the study is 250. The study includes English prep class participants from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, the Department of Environmental Engineering, the Department of English Language Teaching, the Department of English Language and Literature and the Department of Biology. The results of the study show that the motivational self system partially fits well with the language learning motivation of the participants in this Turkish university context. As the results suggest, the model needs some modifications in order to fit within this context. The three main components of the motivational self system (ideal L2 self, ought to L2 self, and attitudes toward learning English) are seen to be related to the intended learning efforts of the participants, and are confirmed as distinct independent constructs that measure the different dimensions of L2 motivation. However, the two standpoints, own and other, overlap in terms of instrumentality promotion, instrumentality prevention and family influence. The contribution of attitudes toward learning English to the intended learning efforts of the participants is higher than the ideal L2 self, and the effect of the ought to L2 self is questionable. In addition to this, the study shows that family influence is related to the ought to L2 self, rather than the ideal L2 self, but, contrary to Dörnyei’s (2005, 2009) model, milieu does not have any significant relationship with the ought to L2 self. The results also show that instrumentality has two foci: instrumentality promotion is related to the ideal L2 self, and instrumentality prevention is related to the ought to L2 self. Furthermore, imagination is found to be related to the ideal L2 self, as shown in the motivational self system. The results also suggest that the international community is important instrumentally for the imagined selves of the participants. This result supports the discussion that the international position of English attracts the participants’ future selves as suggested in the L2MSS. Key words: motivational self system; ideal L2 self; ought to L2 self; attitudes toward learning English; instrumentality promotion; instrumentality prevention.

The shift toward bilingualism and multilingualism in historically monolingual societies resulting from globalization has positioned second/foreign language (L2) learning research as a significant field. Extensive research in L2 motivation over decades has demonstrated motivation to be a significant determiner of L2 learning achievement and has yielded many sound L2 motivation theories and frameworks. The latest L2 motivation framework is the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) offered by Dörnyei (2005, 2009). Numerous studies have been conducted to validate this theory in different English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts (e.g., in China, Iran and Japan: (Taguchi, Magid & Papi, 2009); in Hungary: (Csizér & Kormos, 2009); in Saudi Arabia: (Al-Shehri, 2009); and in Turkey: (Thompson & Erdil-Moody, 2014). Studies have found the theory sufficiently elaborate to explain the multifaceted L2 motivation in its dynamic nature. This study utilized the theoretical framework of L2MSS to examine L2 learners’ motivation. Due to the importance of motivation in L2 learning and achievement, research focusing on EFL instructors’ use of motivation-enhancing strategies has gained significance. To fill a longstanding gap in L2 research for a unified and systematic motivational strategies framework for teachers, Dörnyei (2001) offered the Motivational Teaching Practice in the L2 Classrooms Model (MTP) – which offers various strategies that L2 teachers can use to enhance student motivation. The current study used this MTP theoretical framework to investigate L2 teachers’ motivational teaching practice. However, how the L2MSS could be integrated into the motivational teaching practice has not been adequately studied and requires further examination. Moreover, most language teacher education programs lack motivational teaching practice training for pre-service L2 teachers. Consequently, the present study aims to fill the gap in L2 research by examining a) how to promote EFL instructors’ motivational teaching practice through a training program on motivation-enhancing strategies within the L2MSS framework; b) how L2 teachers’ consistent and systematic use of motivation-enhancing strategies within this framework impact students’ motivated learning behaviors. Another way this study contributes to L2 research is by offering both quantitative and qualitative empirical data in an understudied EFL context, Turkey, concerning the relationship between motivational teaching practice and learner motivation. The study employed a mixed-methods experimental design. The researcher collected data from February 2015 to June 2015, coordinating and delivering the teacher workshops, and analyzing and interpreting the data. The data involve various sources: self-report questionnaires from L2 teachers and students, classroom observations of teachers’ motivational teaching practice and students’ motivated learning behaviors, semi-structured interviews with teachers and students, teachers’ strategy logs and reflective journals. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis procedures were employed to analyze the data. The self-report questionnaire data were analyzed via exploratory factor analyses, Cronbach’s alpha, descriptive statistics, independent and paired samples t-tests; the classroom observation data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA; strategy logs were analyzed using descriptive statistics; and the qualitative data via classroom observations, reflective journals and interviews were analyzed via content analysis. The researcher coded, categorized, themed, and analyzed the data separately. This study intends to a) contribute to the L2 motivation research, b) offer pedagogical recommendations for motivational teaching practice to promote learner motivation within the L2MSS framework, c) contribute to the pre-service L2 teacher training to promote motivational teaching practice. The results showed that instructors’ and students’ perceptions of instructors’ use of motivational strategies demonstrated both differences and similarities, indicating that both groups have varying perceptions in regards to instructors’ motivational teaching practice. An overall analysis of the MTP across 25 different EAP classes showed an average use of motivational strategies excluding any of the recently suggested strategies that enhance the L2 self guides (the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self) of learners grounded in the L2MSS theory. The classroom observation and L2 motivation data that were collected in both experimental and control groups before and after the treatment showed that instructors who received motivational teaching workshop started using more varieties of strategies more often and in a more consistent way compared to the control group instructors who did not receive any treatment. Similarly, experimental group students in the classes where instructors used more consistent and varied motivational strategies demonstrated more motivated classroom behaviors compared to the control group students. Experimental group instructors’ reflective journals and strategy logs also indicated an increased awareness of MTP and more conscious effort in trying to vary their motivational strategy use and develop their own consistent MTP. The interviews with the experimental group instructors showed that instructors were more confident in their MTP, more conscious in their choice of motivation-enhancing strategies and lesson and material design that address learners’ ideal L2 selves. They all expressed that participating in the study including but not limited to taking the MTP workshop, implementing those strategies in their classes, continuous feedback and discussion sessions with the other experimental group instructors and the researcher, writing the reflecting journals and the strategy logs were altogether helped them to a great deal creating a “transformational experience like a wake-up call” in their teaching. Interviews with the students revealed that experimental group students were happier in their EAP class this semester compared to their previous pre-requisite EAP class because they were kept more motivated, engaged and active throughout the semester. They found their instructors as the most motivating factor on their motivation and achievement this semester.

This phenomenographic study examines how imagining a future self as an English speaker and extramural English habits interact and affect the desire to learn English and engagement in the English classroom. The study was carried out in northern Sweden, and used a purposive sample of 23 pupils in the fifth and sixth grade of Swedish compulsory school. Mixed-methods data collection was used which included a questionnaire, an interview, and two linguistic portraits. Findings from this study indicate that in a Swedish compulsory school context young pupils are capable of imagining possible future English selves, and that these imagined future selves are dependent on the pupils’ dreams and aspirations or a view of English as a useful global language. Additionally, while these imagined future English selves are a reason for the pupils to learn English and indirectly affect their desire to learn English, they fail to explain the pupils’ engagement in English class with but a few exceptions.

In this study I investigated foreign language learners' Willingness to Communicate, frequency of L2 communication, and eight individual difference variables hypothesized to influence them: L2 learning anxiety, L2 learning motivation, integrativeness, international posture, ought-to L2 self, ideal L2 self, L2 linguistic self-confidence, and valuing of global English. Based on the concept of possible selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986), Dörnyei (2005) proposed the concept of the ideal L2 self: an idealized self-image involving future linguistic proficiency and professional success through mastery of an L2. In this study, Dörnyei's (2005) hypothesis that Willingness to Communicate is primarily determined by linguistic self-confidence and the ideal L2 self is tested using a structural equation model. A second purpose of this study, tested by comparing alternative structural equation models, was to confirm whether students' self-reported Willingness to Communicate best predicts foreign language use in the classroom. In addition, gender differences in L2 WTC and the ideal L2 self, and the effects of visualization and goal-setting activities on the enhancement of Willingness to Communicate were investigated using multivariate statistical techniques. A total of 662 Japanese university students participated in the study, 373 as core participants and 289 for cross validation. A model was hypothesized based on the WTC model (MacIntyre, 1994), the socioeducational model (Gardner, 1985), and the concept of the L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei, 2005), and tested using questionnaire data collected at the beginning of the university semester. The hypothesized model showed marginal fit to the data (CFI = .902, RMSEA = .081). The path from ideal L2 self to L2 WTC, tested for the first time in this study, was the most substantial predictor of L2 WTC in the model with a path weight of .51. It was also confirmed that self-reported estimates of WTC directly predicted observed L2 use in the classroom, while Motivation and Ideal L2 Self did not. A model specifying a direct path from WTC to L2 Use and indirect paths via WTC for Motivation and Ideal L2 Self showed good fit to the data (CFI = .962; RMSEA = .083). Regarding gender differences, female participants scored higher than males in both L2 WTC and Ideal L2 Self. Concerning whether L2 WTC can be enhanced by classroom tasks such as visualization and goal-setting, the results suggested that the visualization treatment alone was not effective in enhancing learners' L2 WTC over the non-treatment group. The increase in learners' L2 WTC was significantly greater for the When visualization and goal-setting group compared with the visualization group and the non-treatment group. The first implication of this study is that considering the strong impact of ideal L2 self on L2 WTC, there is significant potential for enhancing L2 WTC by applying motivational strategies that enhance or develop second language learners' ideal L2 self. Second, considering the importance of L2 output for developing communicative proficiency, the finding that self-reported L2 WTC predicted actual L2 use in the classroom lends additional credence to such motivational approaches. That finding also supports the validity of other studies that have relied on self-report for measures of L2 WTC. A third implication is that because females generally exhibited higher measures for L2 WTC and Ideal L2 Self, gender diversity is preferable to promote active classroom communication. Finally, for researchers and practitioners interested in designing activities to enhance learners' L2 WTC, connecting the proximal goals in the class to future distal goals (Miller & Brickman, 2004) could be an important aspect for the success of the activities). / Teaching & Learning

Pour cette thèse, notre matériel clinique est principalement constitué des retranscriptions de séances de travail — que nous avons enregistrées — auxquelles nous avons participé deux ans durant avec l’accord d’un collectif d’enseignants élaborant un projet de collège alternatif au sein de l’Éducation nationale. Nous avons aussi pu écouter et recueillir des témoignages de quelques membres d’une autre équipe de professeurs travaillant dans un microlycée, selon des modalités coopératives de fonctionnement, depuis une dizaine d’années pour les plus anciens. Notre objectif étant de nous intéresser à des pratiques coopératives, au désir du faire équipe avec d’autres, aux valeurs qui les sous-tendent, ainsi qu’aux idéaux comme aux fantasmes qui sont actifs à l’insu des sujets. Lors du travail d’écoute de certaines verbalisations, se révélait un fantasme inconscient d’égalité parfaite, chez nombre de membres, ce qui nous a conduites vers l’idée d’un désir particulier soutenu par ce fantasme : le désir-totalité. Or, lorsque ce fantasme et ce désir ne sont pas aperçus, reconnus, élaborés, puis dépassés, ils font entrave, dans la pratique, au plaisir d’être et de coopérer avec les autres. Pour les surmonter, une distanciation avec soi-même est nécessaire, c’est-à-dire, un décentrement d’avec ses propres objets de pensée. Ceci s’est produit pour tous les membres qui sont restés et les nouveaux venus aux fils du temps. / For this thesis, our clinical material consists mainly of audio-transcripts of working sessions - that we recorded - in which we participated for two years with the agreement of a collective of teachers developing an alternative junior high school project within the National Education. We have also been able to listen to and collect testimonials from some members of another team of teachers working in a micro-high school, according to co-operative modalities of functioning, since ten years for older ones. Our goal was to focus on cooperative practices, the desire to team up with others, the values that underlie them, ideals and fantasies that are active without the knowledge of the subjects. During the work of listening to certain verbalizations, an unconscious fantasy of perfect equality was revealed in many members, which led us to the idea of a particular desire supported by this fantasy: desire-totality. Now, when this fantasy and desire are not perceived, recognized, elaborated and then exceeded, they hinder, in practice, the pleasure of being and of cooperating with others. To overcome them, a distancing with oneself is necessary that is to say, a decentering from one's own objects of thought. Over the times, this has happened to all members who have stayed as well as to newcomers.