Open Collections

Motivation and the language learner : a re-examination

University of British Columbia

This thesis questions Gardner and Lambert's (1959) and Gardner's (1975) assumptions concerned with motivation in Second Language Acquisition (SLA), and explores the possibility of alternative conceptions of motivation located within a qualitative, multiple case study approach. In contrast to Gardner's standard taxonomies and indices of motivation orientations correlated with language aptitude, this study instead examines those affective orientations described and contextualized by individual learners within their ever-changing learning context(s). Gardner's model, as well as many subsequent SLA models of affective variables, have been located within traditional second language teaching/learning environments. This study, however, looks at Japanese university students learning English within an Integrated Language and Content programme (ILC) at a North American University. In SLA theory, the dominant approach to motivation has been Gardner and Lambert's quantitative model of integrative and instrumental motivation (1959). They argued that language aptitude and integrative motivation were directly related to achievement in SLA. Since then, the majority of SLA studies of affective variables have been causal frameworks. Working within a positivist frame of reference, Gardner views learners as "subjects" rather than persons (Secord, 1990), that is to say, the learners' behaviours are determined by internal and external influences over which the learner has no control. Also excluding Harre, Clarke and De Carlo's outline of a human agent learner (1985), Gardner does not attribute learners with having their own learning agendas, learning priorities, nor choices in the learning process. A multiple case study approach (Yin, 1994) is applied in this study in order to focus on each individual with respect to her/his own reality and learning context(s). A collaborative research approach, with feedback from the four learners (co-investigators) is carried on through out the research process. Data is triangulated from the following sources: individual debriefings, focus group discussions, and journal studies . Using this approach it was possible to explore the learner's own definitions and lived experiences of motivation, frustration, anxiety, and other "affective variables", establishing multiple meanings in variable contexts, and partial instead of global "truths" The data collected in this study suggest the following: learners are motivated by reasons for action, motivation is a dynamic process—goal directed action, reflection and revision, motivation reflects individual differences in learners, motivation is related to language socialisation, cooperative research plays an important role in the study of motivation, and Gardner's orientation model has no room for human agency.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-03-11

For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/5927

Language and Literacy Education

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace