L2 Motivational Self System and L2 achievement: A study of Indonesian EAP learners

Abstract

This study was conducted to find the relationship between learners’ L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS), consisting of Ideal L2 Self, ought-to L2 Self, and L2 Learning Experience and their achievement. The participants of this quantitative study were 56 Indonesian undergraduate students who were taking English for Biotechnology class, an English for Academic Purpose (EAP) class. This study was conducted based on several rationales. Despite many researchers’ support on L2MSS’ strength in predicting L2 learning, they have not conclusively established the extent to which learners’ motivation measured with their L2MSS influences their achievements and to date, there have only been few studies investigating the relationships between L2MSS and actual learning achievements. Besides, despite L2MSS’ growing popularity in the field of motivational research, motivational studies using L2MSS in the Indonesian university context are generally still very rare. Hence, this study can serve to pave a way for further motivational studies using L2MSS in the context. The study found that in general learners had high a level of motivation as measured with L2MSS questionnaires. The study further found several results which were rather surprising. First, Ideal L2 Self and L2 Learning Experience did not have significant relationships with achievement. Even ought-to L2 Self and achievement correlated negatively. It was also found that, despite many experts’ support on L2MSS’s strength in predicting L2 learning, the participants’ L2MSS could not be a strong predictor of their achievement. Based on the results, discussions on possible contributing factors were presented along with the implications of this study results in the field of motivational studies. Based on the possible limitations of the study, furthermore, some directions for future studies are also presented.

University English Teachers’ Challenges in Handling Unmotivated Learners: A Case Study

“…Motivation is one of the aspects of individual differences affecting learners' ultimate success in the second language (L2) learning (Dornyei, 2005;Subekti, 2018). Derived from a Latin word "movere", meaning "to move", motivation is believed to be what moves a person to make certain choices, to engage in action, as well as to show efforts and persistence in that action (Dornyei & Ushioda, 2011).…”

“…Due to this important role, there have been numerous studies conducted in the field of motivation (e.g. : Moskovsky et al, 2016;Papi, 2010;Subekti, 2017Subekti, , 2018Taguchi et al, 2009). However, despite the reiterated benefits of motivation, results of motivational studies seem to be inconclusive.…”

“…However, despite the reiterated benefits of motivation, results of motivational studies seem to be inconclusive. For example, whilst Papi (2010) found that motivation significantly contributed to learners' intended learning efforts, Moskovsky et al's (2016) and Subekti's (2018) studies found that motivation had little effect on learners' actual L2 achievement. These findings may suggest that there may be other factors affecting learners' success in L2 learning that need to be further investigated.…”

Feared L2 self as an emerging component of the reconceptualized L2 motivational self system

“…Overall, L2MSS and R-L2MSS were adopted by many researchers and utilized as a component of larger models such as in many structural equation models or path models along with certain concepts, including academic buoyancy (Toprak-Celen, 2020), pronunciation anxiety (Tekten, 2020), translanguaging practices (Özkaynak, 2020), bullying victimization (Peker, 2016), willingness to communicate (Bursali & Öz, 2017), L2 proficiency (Moskovsky et al, 2016), and L2 achievement (Ayhan, 2020;Subekti, 2018;Toprak-Celen, 2020). However, R-L2MSS has never been measured as a single system without interacting with other constructs or variables, and especially FL2S has never been examined as a component of R-L2MSS all alone.…”

“Don’t You Reckon That Being a Multilingual Person Is Cool?”—Investigating the L3 Learning Motivation of Chinese University Learners

“…In recent years there has been considerable interest in L2MSS (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). A growing body of literature concerning L2 motivation is under the theoretical framework of L2MSS (Islam, Lamb, & Chambers, 2013;Subekti, 2018). Since the L2MSS supplies a theoretical foundation to dynamically re-theorize language motivation (Wang & Liu, 2017), it is adopted to investigate L3 motivation in this study.…”