Recent Advances in EFL (De)Motivation Theory

초록

Since Gardner and Lambert (1959) published their pioneering work, L2 motivation research has enjoyed academic prominence in second language acquisition (SLA). Among individual difference factors in L2 studies, L2 motivation has been the primary area of investigation (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2021). According to Dörnyei and Ryan (2015), from 2009 to 2015, at least seven anthologies on L2 motivation have been published, which reflects “a wider interest in the topic” (p. 73). It is indeed beyond the scope of this book to provide a coherent summary of all L2 motivation theories and related research. The above anthologies have already accomplished this task. Moreover, innovative ideas were actively added by systematic endeavors, often from Dörnyei and his colleagues. For example, various novel approaches in L2 motivation from the complexity theory and dynamic systems theory (DST) perspectives were extensively introduced in an edited volume by Dörnyei et al. (2015b). In addition, directed motivational currents (DMC) defined as “a motivational drive which energises long-term, sustained behaviour” (Muir & Dörnyei, 2013, p. 357) have been explained by Dörnyei et al. (2015a). Moreover, the intricacies of self-determination theory (SDT), often understood as the combination of amotivation and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, and its influence on L2 learners’ motivated engagement have actively been investigated by Noels and her Canadian colleagues (Noels et al., 1999, 2001, 2019). Two excellent L2-teacher resource books to motivate L2 students in the classroom or remotivate teachers’ low level of teaching motivation are also on the market (Dörnyei & Hadfield, 2013; Dörnyei & Kubanyiova, 2014).