motivation and second language aquisition

MotivationandSecondLanguageAcquisition1R.C.GardnerUniversityofWesternOntarioIhavebeenaskedonoccasionwhyIthinktheremustbesomesortofmotivationtolearnasecondlanguage,becausemostpeoplelearnatleastonelanguage,andoftenchildrenfromabilingualhomelearntwolanguages,apparentlywithease.Moreover,thesepeoplespeakthelanguage,theyunderstandthelanguage,andoftentheybothreadandwriteit,sowhyshouldmotivationbeimportant.Myansweristhatgenerallylanguageisanintegralpartofgrowingup(whichprovidesmotivationinitsownright),andisnecessarytocommunicateandparticipateinonesenvironment.Often,thisisnotthecaseforsecondlanguages,[e-mail]rknowingotherlanguagesbuttheyarenotabsolutelynecessary,andasaconsequence,motivation(aswellasability)canplayanimportantroleinlearningasecondlanguage.Andtherearemanythingsthatcanaffectthismotivation.Ihopetodaytoconvinceyouoftheimportanceofmotivationinsecondlanguageacquisitionandtodemonstratethatitismorecomplexthanmerelywantingtolearnthelanguage.Ourresearchforthepast45yearshasbeenconcernedwiththeroleofattitudesandmotivationinsecondlanguageacquisition,andduringthistimewehaveobtainedaconsiderableamountofdataandhavedevelopedamodellinkingattitudesandmotivationtoachievementinthesecondlanguageaswellastoahostofotherbehavioursthatrelatetolanguagelearningandretention.Ratherthanreviewanumberofourstudiesandpresentabunchofstatisticstoday,Iwouldliketofocusontheroleofmotivationandlanguagelearningingeneralanddiscusstheimplicationsofourresearchtolanguageteachingandpedagogy.Inthisvein,Iintendtodirectmyattentiontothefollowingfourpoints:a.Twomotivationalconstructsb.Stagesoflanguageacquisitionc.Culturalandeducationalcontextsd.ResultsfromSpain.1ThismanuscriptwasthebasisofanaddressbytheauthortotheSeminarioSobrePlurilingüismo:LasAportacionesDelCentroEuropeodeLenguasModernasdeGraz,onDecember15,2006attheUniversidaddeAlcalá,Spain.Preparationofthemanuscriptwasfacilitatedbyagrant(410-2002-0810)fromtheSocialSciencesandHumanitiesResearchCouncilofCanada.IwouldliketoexpressmyappreciationtoDr.M.Bernaus,UniversitatAutònomiadeBarcelonaforhercollaborationontheresearchreportedandtoDanKoffforhisassistancepreparingthismanuscript.2Itismyviewthatthesepointsarecentraltounderstandingastudent=sgenerallevelofmotivationtolearnasecondlanguageaswellasthespecificmotivationthatexistsinanylanguageclassorotherlanguagelearningsituation.Ibeginbymakingtheobviousobservationthatmotivationisaverycomplexphenomenonwithmanyfacets.Infact,in1981,KleinginnaandKleinginnapresented102statementsabouttheconstruct.Itreallyisn=tpossibletogiveasimpledefinitionofmotivation,thoughonecanlistmanycharacteristicsofthemotivatedindividual.Forexample,themotivatedindividualisgoaldirected,expendseffort,ispersistent,isattentive,hasdesires(wants),exhibitspositiveaffect,isaroused,hasexpectancies,demonstratesself-confidence(self-efficacy),andhasreasons(motives).Asyoucanseesomeofthesecharacteristicsarecognitiveinnature,someareaffective,andsomearebehavioural.Motivationtolearnasecondlanguageisnotasimpleconstruct.Itcannotbemeasuredbyonescale;perhapsthewholerangeofmotivationcannotbeassessedbyeventhreeorfourscales.Itdefinitelycannotbeassessedbymerelyaskingindividualstogivereasonsforwhytheythinklearningalanguageisimportanttothem.Whenconsideringmotivationandsecondlanguagelearningoracquisition,itispossibletoconsidertwotypesofmotivationalconstructs.Ourresearchhasalwayscontendedthatthereareinessencetwotypesofmotivationthatshouldbeconsideredwhenreferringtosecondlanguageacquisition,andIamnotreferringheretotheintegrative-instrumentaldichotomy(oreventheintrinsic-extrinsicone)thatisoftendiscussedintheresearchliterature.Ireferinsteadtothedistinctionbetweenlanguagelearningmotivationandclassroomlearningmotivation.Bylanguagelearningmotivation,Imeanthemotivationtolearn(andacquire)asecondlanguage.Thistypeofmotivationisconsideredinthesocio-educationalmodelofsecondlanguageacquisition(Gardner,1985),thesocialcontextmodel(Clément,1980),theSelf-determinationmodel(Noels,&Clément,1996),theWillingnesstoCommunicatemodel(MacIntyre,Clément,Dörnyei,&Noels,1998),andtheextendedmotivationalframework(Dörnyei,1994)tonameafew.Itisageneralformofmotivationrelevantinanysecondlanguage-learningcontext.Itisnotatrait,assomeindividualscontend,butitisageneralcharacteristicoftheindividualthatappliestoanyopportunitytolearnthelanguage.Itisrelativelystable,becauseofitspresumedantecedents,butitisamenabletochangeundercertain3conditions.Thevariousmodelsreferredtoaboveallagreethatitasanattributewithsignificantimplicationsfortheindividual;theydifferintermsofitsantecedentsand/orcorrelates,aswellasinhowitmightbeassessed.Thesecondclassofmotivationisclassroomlearningmotivation,specificallythelanguageclassroom.ThisisthetypeofmotivationemphasizedbyHeckhausenandKuhl(1985);itisthetypecharacterizedbyDörnyei=stripartitepre-actional,actionalandpost-actionalmotivation,andiscommontoeducationalpsychologyingeneral.Itisalsorepresentedinthesocio-educationalmodelofsecondlanguageacquisition,thoughitisconsideredanintegralpartofmo