Previous research on the L2 motivational self system

The previous sections summarized the main ideas and main theories of past research on motivation to learn languages. Gardner and his socio-educational model dominated the research for several decades, and the most modern theory, the L2 motivational self system, is therefore a fairly new concept that has not been used as a framework for that many studies yet. This section will briefly summarize some previous research that have based on the L2 motivational self system. The previous studies will be presented so that two studies that were conducted in the much used context of Hungary will be presented first. The second study compared different age groups, and therefore it is followed by a summary of a similar study conducted in a different context. The fourth study deals with the relation between integrativeness and the L2 motivational self system. It is followed by two studies that have emphasized the role of imagination in language learning. The last study was conducted in Finland, and therefore it might give insights into the present study that was also conducted in the Finnish context.

Csizér and Lukács (2010) compared the motivational dispositions of students who learnt both English and German in Hungary. The data consisted of a total of 237 teenagers aged at 16 and 17. The main idea of the study was to compare the motivational dispositions of students who learned English as a second language (L2) and German as a third language (L3) with students who learned German as L2 and German as L3. The study used the L2 motivational self system and its variables as a framework, but also other variables such as language learning anxiety, cultural interest, direct contact, and parental encouragement were added to the research. The participants answered a questionnaire consisting of both Likert-scale questions and open-ended questions. The main finding of the study was that the participants’ ideal selves were proven to be the most significant variable in predicting motivated behavior. It was the same for both English and German regardless of the status of the language (L2 or L3). In general, however, the attitudinal and motivational dispositions were significantly higher for English; the participants had more vivid ideal selves concerning English, their motivated behavior was stronger for English, and they had more positive learning experiences regarding English.

Another study that was also conducted in Hungary investigated the variables of the L2 motivational self system among three different groups of learners: secondary school, college, and university students (Csizér and Kormos 2009). The study had a total of 432 participants. The results reinforce the results of the study reviewed above; also in this study the ideal L2 self was found to contribute to motivated learning behavior significantly in all of the different learner groups. Furthermore, also the role of L2 learning experiences affected the motivated behavior in a positive way. The ought-to L2 self, on the other hand, was found to have a more limited role in predicting motivated behavior in all of the three groups.

In a very recent study, Papi and Teimouri (2012) compared the motivational dispositions regarding the L2 motivational self system between learners from different age groups: secondary school, high school and university students. This study was conducted in Iran and it included 1,041 Iranian learners of English. The participants’

ideal selves and their learning experiences were found to be powerful motivators in all of the different age groups. However, the roles of the ideal L2 self and the learning

experience variables in affecting motivation improved until the participants entered university, when the rates for these variables dramatically dropped. On the other hand, the motivational effects of the ought-to L2 selves declined with age, which could be explained by the increased independence. All in all, in this study high school learners were found to be the most motivated age group among the Iranian learners of English, and in this age group the motivational role of ideal L2 selves developed rapidly, and the role of the ought-to L2 selves in affecting the motivated behavior was still strong.

Ryan (2009) studied the concept of ideal L2 self in relation to the traditional concept of integrativeness. This study was conducted in Japan, and it had 2,397 participants that studied English as their L2. The data was collected with a questionnaire including a total of 18 different motivational variables (for example, ideal L2 self, self-confidence, travel orientation). The results showed that the concept of integrativeness was equivalent to the ideal L2 self, and therefore it could be included in a larger entity that views the motivation from the perspective of the self. In this study, the ideal L2 self represented a better predictor of motivated behavior than the traditionally defined concept of integrativeness. Furthermore, this study indicated no gender bias in the results, and therefore it is claimed that by using the concept of ideal L2 selves in research instead of integrativeness might remove the common perception that foreign languages are feminine subjects, a result that has been reported by several previous studies.

Al Shehri (2009) investigated the relationship between imagery, ideal selves and motivation. The quantitative study was conducted in Saudi Arabia in two phases, and it included 200 participants. Al Shehri (2009: 164) hypothesized that “learners with a marked visual learning style preference are likely to exhibit a strong capacity for visual imagery and imagination, and […] therefore such learners are likely to develop a more potent ideal language self”. This hypothesis was found to be correct, as strong correlations between visual learning style and ideal L2 self were found in the study.

The ideal L2 self was found to be a major motivating factor also in this study, and the learners who were able to develop vivid ideal selves were proven to be the most motivated.

Also a study by Yashima (2009) emphasizes the ability to visualize. This study was conducted in Japan, and it considered the Japanese context where learners are very task and achievement focused. Therefore it was claimed that imagination is needed in order to make the Japanese learners think about their ideal communicating selves.

International posture was a central concept in this study. It is the general attitude towards the international community rather than some specific target culture. The international posture was found to be a factor that affected ideal L2 selves: those students who show higher levels of international posture are more likely to develop vivid ideal L2 selves.

The L2 motivational self system has also been used in research in the Finnish context.

A recent study by Toivakka (2010) considered different future self-state representations of 97 high school learners, and compared the responses between first-year and third-first-year students, by gender, and by proficiency. The variables that were used in this study were, for example, ideal L2 self, feared L2 self, and ought-to L2 self.

There were no major differences in the self-state representations between the grades. A majority of the participants saw themselves as people who knew English in the future, but the ideal L2 selves were stronger among the high proficiency group. Both the low and the high proficiency groups, however, saw English as a necessary skill in the future, and the participants’ ought-to L2 selves had no significant differences. When comparing the results between genders, there were both differences and similarities.

The girls’ ideal L2 selves were stronger, whereas the boys on average were more uncertain about their ideal future scenarios. The responses for the ought-to L2 self varied between the genders; the girls thought that knowing English was a prerequisite for things they want to do in the future, whereas the boys could envision a future where they could do the things they wanted without needing English. However, both girls and boys thought that in general English was a required skill in the future.

As can be seen from the previous studies reviewed above, the role of the ideal L2 self, in particular, has proven to be vital in motivation to learn languages. Even though research using the L2 motivational self system is still rather new, based on the convergent findings of the studies it can be claimed that the ideal L2 self is a major factor affecting motivation. The roles of the other two variables, the ought-to L2 self and the L2 learning experience, are more limited, but they have also not been studied

as much as the ideal L2 self component. The next section will continue with previous research, but the focus is on athletes.