Another look at temporal variation in language learning motivation: Results of a study

Abstract

According to Dörnyei (2005), research into second language learning motivation has entered what could be labeled as the process-oriented period, in which the emphasis has been shifted from the investigation of learners’ motives and the magnitude of their efforts to the study of how these change in the course of time. There are still few studies, however, that have attempted to look at motivational change, particularly such that would tap into fluctuations in learners’ interest, engagement and effort over the course of a language lesson or a sequence of successive lessons. The present chapter aims to extend our scant knowledge in these areas by reporting the findings of a study which sought to explore motivational evolution in 38 vocational senior high school learners of English, looking both at their reasons for learning, longer-term involvement and engagement in four lessons, and, as such, it can be viewed as a follow-up on the research project undertaken by Pawlak (2012). The data were collected by means of multiple tools, namely: (1) detailed lesson plans, (2) interviews with selected participants conducted twice over the period of the study, (3) motivation grids filled out at fiveminute intervals during a specific class, and (4) teachers’ and learners’ evaluations of the lessons involved. The data were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analyses which revealed that motivation is indeed in a state of flux and identified some factors potentially responsible for such temporal variation.