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ABriefIntroductionofANewestL2MotivationalConstruct:DirectedMotivationalCurrentAbstract:TheDirectedMotivationalCurrent,whichisproposedbyZoltánDörnyeiandChristineMuir,canbedescribedasanintensemotivationaldrivecapableofbothstimulatingandsupportinglong-termbehavior,suchaslearningaforeignlanguage.Visionandgoalsarethecriticalcentralcomponentswithintheconstruct.Manymotivationtheoriessuchasdynamicsystemstheory,visiontheory,futuretimeperspectiveandespeciallytheL2MotivationalSelfSystemhasexploredthegreatpowerthatcreatingeffectivevisioncanharness.Inthispaper,wefirstdiscussthecurrentunderstandingofvisionandDirectedMotivationalCurrents,thenanalyzehowtheyemployedtocreateeffectivemotivationalpathwayinlanguageleaningenvironment(Dörnyei﹠Muir,2014).Intheend,wediscusswherethefutureresearchisnecessarytodevelop.Keywords:DirectedMotivationalCurrent,L2Motivationalselfsystem,vision,motivation1.IntroductionVision,canbedefinedas“theimitativerepresentationofrealorhypotheticalevents”(pham﹠Taylor,1999,p.250),occurring“whenarepresentationofthetypecreatedduringtheinitialphasesofperceptionispresentbutthestimulusisnotactuallybeenperceived”(Kosslyn,Thompson,﹠Ganis,2006,p.4).Thetermhasbeenusedsowidelyindiverseareainthesocialsciences.In1990,VanDerHelmclassifiedseventypesofvision,buthefinallyarguedthatthecoremeaningoftheconceptislargelyuniform,capturingthefuture,theidealandthedesirefordeliberatechange.Withinthecontextofpossiblelanguageselves,visioncanbeviewedasthesensoryexperienceofafuturegoalstate,orinotherwords,apersonalizedgoalthatthelearnerhasmadehisorherownbyaddingtoittheimaginedrealityofthegoalexperience’(Dörnyei﹠Chan,2013,pp.454-55).Actually,thebrainhasdifficultyindistinguishingwhetheraneventoccursinrealityorfromadetailedvision(Cox,2012)andsomescholarssuggestthatitisduetothisthatmentalsimulationsgaintheirmotivationalpower;byfunctioningwithintheconstraintsofrealityweareabletobelievethemtobegenuinepossibilities(Dörnyei﹠Muir,2014).Suchimaginedrealitiescanproducestrongemotionalreactions,allowingindividualstopreparecopingandotherstrategiesinadvanceoftheeventitself,whichmeansinthisway,creatingeffectivevisioncaninspiredthemotivationalactionsothatpushusontoachievebecauseinourvisionswehavealreadyseenandexperiencedourselvessucceed.Currently,visionisattheforefrontofthemotivationalinnovation,andinrecentyearsithasbeenseenincreasinglymoreofteninthemotivationaltoolkitofpracticinglanguageteachers.TheoriessuchasDörnyei’sL2motivationalselfsystemhaveexploredthepowerthatcreatingeffectivepowercanharnessandwhenviewedinconjunctionwithothercurrentresearchavenuesuchasfuturetimeperspectiveanddynamicsystemstheory,visionoffersexcitingpotentials.ADirectedMotivationalCurrentisanewmotivationalconstructthatsuggestsiscapableofintegratingmanycurrenttheoreticalstrandswithvision:Itcanbedescribedasamotivationaldrivewhichenergizeslong-term,sustainedbehavior,andthroughplacingvisionandgoalsascriticalcentralcomponetswithinthisconstruct(Dörnyei﹠Muir,2014).Suchapowerfulcurrentofmotivationhasalsobeendescribedinnon-language-relatedresearch,forexample,byHarber,ZimbardoandBoyd(2003,p.262)asa“fasttrack,”whichwasevidencedinfuture-orientedstudentswhencomparedtothosewhoweremoreorientedtowardsthepresent.2.DirectedMotivationalCurrents(DMCs)2.1OriginsofDMCA'DirectedMotivationalCurrent'canbedescribedasanintensemotivationaldrivecapableofbothstimulatingandsupportinglongtermbehavior,suchaslearning.Itdrawsfromseveralprominentstrandsofcurrentmotivationalunderstanding,includingTheL2MotivationalSelfSystem,visionanddynamicsystemstheory.Asmentionedinthefirstsectionabove,avisionaryinterventionisabletoallowuspreparingstrategiesbeforetheeventreallyhappens.However,anisolatedvisioniseasiertobecomeamerefantasythaninspiringthemotivationalaction.Itonlycanworkbycombiningapotentvisionoffutureselfwithahighlystructuredbehavioralsequence,thenwemaybeabletoconsciouslycreateamotivationalsurgeofenergythatcanfocusactiontowardsaspecifictargetinthefuture.Onceitiscorrectlysetup,suchamotivationalcurrentmayinfactbecomeself-propellingjustlikeakindofmotivationalautopilotcomingintoforce(Dörnyei﹠Muir,2014)whenthereisanintricatestructureofsub-goalslaidoutalongaclearpathtowardsawell-definedvision,thelevelofmotivationfuellingactionwillbekeptonacontinuouslyhighplane,therebyfacilitatingongoingmomentum.ThisphenomenoniscalledaDirectedMotivationalCurrent(定向动机流).Therefore,wecanthinkofvisionasthe“D”ofaDirectedMotivationalCurrent,directingandfocusingthemotivationalendeavorlikeafuel.2.2MakeupofDMCAlthoughvisioncangovernourbehaviorinmanyways,itdoesn’talwaysleadtoimmediateactionanditmayliedormantfordecadeswaitingforanappropriatetimetoemerge.Incontrast,avisioncanalsoactivateaspecialkindofmotivational“fasttrack”.Forexample,imaginethatauniversitystudentfinishingafinaldissertation;intheweeksleadinguptothedeadline,hemightdeclineoffersofhangingoutwithfriendsandworkharderinordertosucceedinproducingapieceofworkwhichshowedtheirabilities,thusensuringtheymaybeofferedadreamjob—thevisionwhichfuelstheDMC(Dörnyei&Muir,2014).ADMCisrepresentativeofthiskind