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.

This study employed the L2 Motivational Self-System (Dörnyei, 2005) as a framework to compare differences in the types of motivation reported by Chinese learners of English in a foreign language context (China) and a second language context (USA). It followed up on studies by Taguchi, Magid, and Papi (2009) and You and Dörnyei (2016). The participants consisted of 61 current students at an American university who come from Mainland China. This study adopted a mixed-method approach, using an internet-based questionnaire followed by an individual interview. The investigation aimed to explore what types of English learning motivation Chinese students have in different contexts, as well as to compare the shift in Chinese students' motivation when they move from an EFL (China) to an ESL (USA) context. A recent study conducted by You & Dörnyei (2016), provided a solid empirical description of the main features of language learning motivation in China. The detailed information presented in You & Dörnyei's study serves as a baseline to further explore the differences in English learner motivation in different settings. The findings of this study can be used as a reference to align English language learners' motivational self-system with their own pattern of development.

One of the most perplexing problems in the psychology of aging is whether there are characteristic changes in aspects of personality over the life course. This study attempts to address issues relating to changes in the self-system believed to take place as individuals grow older. Of particular interest is what age differences exist in the four components of the objective self described by Atchley (1982): the ideal self, self-concept, self-esteem, and self-evaluation. In order to examine the differences in these components of the self between younger and older adults the following predictions are made: 1) the ideal self for older adults will be more highly interrelated to their present self-concept than will that of younger adults, 2) issues of self-esteem will be more salient in older versus younger adults, and 3) issues of self-evaluation will be more salient in older than in younger adults. A questionnaire developed by Dittmann-Kohli, (1990) containing 30 incomplete sentences asking for fears, desires, goals, time perspective, self-evaluation, and self-description was given to 110 individuals ranging in age from 17-43 and 89 persons ranging in age from 61-96. Results indicate only partial support for age changes in the self-system.

This research paper aims to investigate if the incorporation of students’ extramural English (EE) activities, such as watching movies or playing computer games, into the English classroom affect their motivation. This research was inspired by The School Inspectorate’s (Skolinspektionen, 2011) conclusion that too many Swedish students find English lessons un-motivating as well as boring. Partly to blame for this problem is the lack of perceived authenticity in the English classroom when compared to the activities that the students are engaged in outside of school (EE). Since this gap between school English and out-of-school English is creating un-motivated students in the classroom, this paper aims to describe learner motivation towards the English language, and whether incorporating students EE activities can increase their motivation. This is done with the support of different theories of motivation as well as the current globalized landscape, with English being considered a global language. One teacher and 25 of her students were interviewed to hear their thoughts on whether the incorporation of extramural English activities into the classroom would increase motivation. The study came to the conclusion that students wanted to learn English in order to become participants in the globalized world. Also, both teacher and students wanted to incorporate extramural English activities into the classroom and stated that this would increase their motivation in school. However, they also explained that it had to be incorporated, or ‘schoolified’, in a way that increased the students’ knowledge and proficiency, and was in line with the curriculum and its knowledge requirements.

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 present study sets out to explore the impact Swedish upper secondary students' present learning environments have on their motivation to learn English as a second language. More specifically, we aim to investigate student opinions on how their learning situation and their teachers’ approach to leadership and pedagogy affects their motivation in L2 English. The study is performed with the third component of Dörnyei’s (2005) L2 Motivation Self-System, the L2 Learning Experience, as a theoretical point of departure. The L2 Learning Experience emphasizes the motives connected to the immediate learning environment through course-specific, teacher-specific, and group-specific aspects. A quantitative study including four qualitative questions was carried out by a self-report questionnaire to four different Swedish upper secondary schools. The results showed that the students’ learning environment was positive for their motivation across all schools. Moreover, it was found that students seem to consider the teacher’s role to be an important factor in their motivation and learning in L2. A teacher’s mood, spontaneity, and flexibility all seem to be influential aspects of the students’ motivation. This demonstrates the importance of making room for creating meaningful teaching situations and relationships with the students. We conclude that if the motivation was emphasized explicitly in the Swedish curriculum, then teachers would perhaps receive the time and the tools to achieve Skolverket’s goal of stimulating a lifelong desire to learn.

English as a foreign language (EFL) is considered one of the most important subjects within the Swedish school system, and a passing grade is crucial for students’ graduation from secondary school. However, many schools have found that this English requirement proves a challenge for some newly arrived teenagers. This thesis aims to look at how the motivation to study EFL compares between newly arrived students, with little or no knowledge of English at arrival in Sweden, and Swedish‐speaking students who began the study of English in primary school. Qualitative interviews with newly arrived, and Swedish-born students in upper secondary school show that though there are similarities when it comes to motivating factors between the two groups, several differences can be identified. The newly arrived students connect more negative emotions to the obligation to learn English than their Swedish-born peers, as well as show less connection to English as an important part of Swedish society. The findings indicate a need for 1) policy change, 2) a review of teachers’ motivational strategies when working with newly arrived students struggling with learning EFL, and 3) further research within the field of motivation connected to EFL for newly arrived students, within a Swedish context.

In Swedish schools the education should stimulate students’ creativity, curiosity and self-confidence, as well as provide security and generate the will and desire to learn. Therefore, the aim of this case study is to investigate the area of motivation and how motivation is affected by the usage of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). Initially, the theoretical foundation for the research, including scaffolding and important theories of second language learner motivation, are outlined and defined. The Process Motivational Model (PMM), is used as a framework to investigate key aspects of motivation in language learning by using two different pedagogical approaches. Our findings show a rise in key aspects of motivation when using CLIL. The learning environment changes positively, and the learner engagement increases when the content of the lesson is fun and authentic. The major conclusions from the results of the case study are that (i) the students were more intrinsically motivated during CLIL-lessons and the L2 learners efforts improved, (ii) the combination of the curricular subject matter Geography and English increased the interest to learn, (iii) the motivation of the students that were passive or interruptive during the non-CLIL lessons increased significantly during the CLIL-lessons (iiii) and the feelings of competence and self-worth increased after the CLIL-lessons. This study is a qualitative case study based on observations, focus groups and a teacher interview in an elementary school in Sweden.

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.

This project explored aspects of English-related out-of-class time use by Japanese university students. The aim was to identify the salient temporal and motivational features of the episodes. The study had three parts, two longitudinal components and one cross-sectional component. Data from these three components consisted of out-of-class English time use information collected through a time diary (8,838 episodes). The episode data was collected from longitudinal study participants (n = 125) and cross-sectional study participants (n = 642) who maintained the time diary for at least one week. Data also include interviews with longitudinal participants (n = 40) about their time use and motivation and motivational information collected through an L2 motivational self system survey administered to cross-sectional study participants (n = 1,399) that was modeled after the survey developed by Taguchi, Magid, and Papi (2009). Two sets of time use and interview data were collected longitudinally (one semester per dataset) through Longitudinal Study 1 (ninitial = 66, nfinal = 15), which included participants from three universities in Western Japan, followed by Longitudinal Study 2 (ninitial = 59, nfinal = 25), which included participants from two universities in Western Japan. Interviews were with participants from these studies. Participants maintained a record of their out-of-class English-related time use during the semester. These data provide an overview of the out-of-class time use of Japanese university students during a full Japanese academic year. Longitudinal Study 1 data were collected during the fall semester, the second term at Japanese universities. Longitudinal Study 2 data were collected during the spring term, the initial term. Longitudinal Study 1 participants reported 2,529 episodes and Longitudinal Study 2 participants reported 3,322 episodes of out-of-class English access during the study period. One interview was held with the Longitudinal Study 1 participants (n = 15), at the end of fall semester. Two interviews were held with Longitudinal Study 2 participants (n = 25), one during the term and one following summer holiday. Data were examined for their temporal patterns and the contextual and affective features of the time use episodes. The cross-sectional component collected data from participants (n = 1,399) at 11 universities in Western Japan. These participants provided data for the motivational survey (n = 1,399) and at least one week of out-of-class English time use (n = 642) data. The participants in the cross-sectional study reported 2,987 out-of-class English access episodes. Episode data for all three components (K = 8,838) and the motivational survey data (n = 1,399) were analyzed at the person, group, and amalgamated episode levels for the patterns of participants' time use using ANOVA and nonparametric procedures. The data were also examined using nonparametric procedures (Kruskal-Wallis) to exam the affective variables (anxiety, enjoyment) by the contextual variables (purpose, location, persons present) of that time use. The episode data regarding participants' (n = 1,399) time use and motivational survey data were analyzed using ANOVA, factor, Rasch, multiple regression analyses, and structural equation modeling. The analyses of the time use data considered the temporal features of the episodes (time of day, day of week, hebdomadal pattern), the contextual features of the episodes (purpose, location, persons with), and the affective features of the time use (enjoyment, anxiety). The analyses of the motivational data considered two models of the L2 motivational self system, an intention to learn model (ILM) and a time use model (TUM). The ILM replicates the model found in the final solution proposed by Taguchi et al. (2009) for their model of the L2 motivational self system. In this model, the outcome factor is Intention to Learn, a factor labeled Criterion Measures by Taguchi et al. In the TUM, the outcome factor of Intention to Learn is replaced by actual time use on out-of-class English access. Time use results from all three components of this study indicated most out-of-class episodes occur when the participant is alone at home either studying or listening to English music. The most typical episode was listening to music, either alone at home or while commuting. A similar pattern of out-of-class English access was found for participants in all three components of this study. Study-related episodes were not considered enjoyable but also were not seen as causing anxiety. The amount of out-of-class time varied widely between participants, with one longitudinal study participant devoting 40 hours per week to English outside of class. For longitudinal study participants, the time use episode data, along with interviews, indicated that habit was a primary driver of out-of-class English access, with participants showing stable patterns of time use, whether for enjoyment or study, during the term. For the most part, once participants in the longitudinal components for this project had established a routine it remained fairly consistent during the term. The interviews clarified the initial motivators and drivers of the participants' English-related out-of-class time use. Interviews also confirmed the importance of habit in out-of-class time use patterns. Moreover, the interviews also indicated that the participants' L2 motivation was set in junior high school, though initial interest may have begun much earlier. Moreover, results from the three components showed that none of the participants met the time requirements of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Sports, Technology and Culture (MEXT, 2002, 2009b) for out-of-class time allocated to study for their English courses, a 2:1 ration, for every week that they participated in the study. Only a few of the participants met this requirement for out-of-class English access during any week of the study and only if all purposes, including enjoyment, were considered. This study also addresses the call that Dörnyei (2000) made for research examining the links between motivation and behavior in L2 learning. One unique aspect of this study is the use of a behavioral variable, Time Use, in addition to the survey-assessed latent trait, Intention to Learn, to explore the links between motivational profile and actual behavior. Motivational results show limited support for Taguchi et al.'s (2009) structural model following the same paths that they used in their model of the L2 motivational self system. More informative is the difference in the loading of the motivational profile factors on the outcome variable, Intention to Learn, which was the Criterion variable in Taguchi et al.'s final model, and the loading of the motivational profile factors on the measure of actual out-of-class time accessing English. Results show that Ideal L2 Self loaded strongly (.94) on the criterion, Intention to Learn, but much less strongly (.35) on actual out-of-class time use. However, the confirmatory factor analysis also indicated only a marginal fit to the model. Of importance, however, is that participants who rated highly on their Ideal L2 Self rated highly on the Intention to Learn, but not nearly as highly on actual time use on English. This suggests that responses on surveys of motivation to learn a second language are measures of intention and should not be used to predict or explain actual language learning behaviors. Like the results found by M. P. Eccles et al. (2012), who looked at intention and behavior in medical intervention studies and concluded that surveys targeting intention did not indicate actual behavior, language researchers might need to take a more critical approach to any interpretation of survey-based results as explaining actual learner behavior. This study set out to begin the process of understanding language learners' out-of-class time to language learning and exploring the links between out-of-class behavior and the learners' motivations. Through the longitudinal and the cross-sectional components, the study clarified the ways in which language learners use their out-of-class time allocated to second language access, the amount of time that they allocate, and the characteristics of this time use. It examined the connections between motivation and behavior and began the process of linking motivational studies with actual behaviors called for by Dörnyei (2000). If, as this study has suggested, there is little connection between the level of motivation and the type of motivated behavior that is being targeted, then researchers need to reconsider the current construction of such instruments and search for alternative ways to include actual measures of behavior in L2 motivational surveys. Given the large body of research on motivation in language learning, the results of this study indicate that researchers might want to consider ways include a measure of actual behavior or interpret results of surveys more conservatively when making claims of links between motivation and actual intention. / Teaching & Learning