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.

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.

Syftet med den här studien var att kvalitativt undersöka L3-motivation hos vuxna invandrare som läser engelska (L3) på komvux i Sverige. Motivation undersöktes i relation till samspelet mellan målgruppens behov och mål, det svenska samhället och engelskans globala status. Den metodologiska utgångspunkten togs först och främst i Dörnyeis L2-motivationssjälvbildssystem (2005) och anpassades till studiens kulturella och sociala ramar. Resultaten indikerar att det är en stor sannolikhet att L3-motivation formas och starkt påverkas av vuxna invandrares invandrarskap och bikulturella identitet som har utvecklats i samband med integration i det svenska samhället. Detta framgår av att det svenska samhället och invandrarskapet ofta uppträder som normgivande när det gäller vuxna invandrares studier i engelska. Deras L3-motivationssjälvbildssystem indikerar dessutom att vuxna invandrares syn på den ideala språkliga självbilden är i kongruens med majoritetssamhällets förväntningar och kunskapsvillkor. Resultaten behöver dock valideras i framtiden genom fler studier och större elevpopulationer. / The purpose of this study is to by a qualitative method investigate L3 motivation in adult immigrants who study English (L3) in Sweden. Motivation was investigated in relation to the interplay between the target group’s needs and goals, the Swedish society, and the global status of English. The methodological framework was based on Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (2005) and it was adapted to the cultural and social context of the study. The results indicate that there is a probability that immigrant identity (Swe. invandrarskap) and a sort of bicultural identity, which have developed in adult immigrants as side effect in the integrational process in the Swedish society, shape and strongly affect L3-motivation. This is supported by the informants’ interview data in which the Swedish society and the immigrant identity often appear as a normative referent for adult immigrants’ English studies. In addition, their L3 motivational self system indicates that adult immigrants’ perception of the ideal language self is in congruity with the majority society’s expectations on knowledge. However, the results need to be validated through more studies and larger student populations in the future.