Directed Motivational Currents in L2: Exploring the Effects on Self and Communication [1st ed.] 978-3-030-05471-7, 978-3-030-05472-4

Table of contents :
Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii
Introduction (Nourollah Zarrinabadi, Saeed Ketabi, Mansoor Tavakoli)....Pages 1-7
Directed Motivational Currents (DMC) in L2 (Nourollah Zarrinabadi, Saeed Ketabi, Mansoor Tavakoli)....Pages 9-17
Willingness to Communicate (WTC) (Nourollah Zarrinabadi, Saeed Ketabi, Mansoor Tavakoli)....Pages 19-32
Language Learner Autonomy, Self-confidence, Self-concept (Nourollah Zarrinabadi, Saeed Ketabi, Mansoor Tavakoli)....Pages 33-47
Methodology (Nourollah Zarrinabadi, Saeed Ketabi, Mansoor Tavakoli)....Pages 49-62
Results (Nourollah Zarrinabadi, Saeed Ketabi, Mansoor Tavakoli)....Pages 63-88
Conclusions (Nourollah Zarrinabadi, Saeed Ketabi, Mansoor Tavakoli)....Pages 89-94
Back Matter ....Pages 95-118

Citation preview

Second Language Learning and Teaching

Nourollah Zarrinabadi Saeed Ketabi Mansoor Tavakoli

Directed Motivational Currents in L2 Exploring the Effects on Self and Communication

Second Language Learning and Teaching Series editor Mirosław Pawlak, Kalisz, Poland

About the Series The series brings together volumes dealing with different aspects of learning and teaching second and foreign languages. The titles included are both monographs and edited collections focusing on a variety of topics ranging from the processes underlying second language acquisition, through various aspects of language learning in instructed and non-instructed settings, to different facets of the teaching process, including syllabus choice, materials design, classroom practices and evaluation. The publications reflect state-of-the-art developments in those areas, they adopt a wide range of theoretical perspectives and follow diverse research paradigms. The intended audience are all those who are interested in naturalistic and classroom second language acquisition, including researchers, methodologists, curriculum and materials designers, teachers and undergraduate and graduate students undertaking empirical investigations of how second languages are learnt and taught.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10129

Nourollah Zarrinabadi Saeed Ketabi Mansoor Tavakoli •

Directed Motivational Currents in L2 Exploring the Effects on Self and Communication

123

Nourollah Zarrinabadi Department of English University of Isfahan Isfahan, Iran

Mansoor Tavakoli University of Isfahan Isfahan, Iran

Saeed Ketabi Department of English University of Isfahan Isfahan, Iran

ISSN 2193-7648 ISSN 2193-7656 (electronic) Second Language Learning and Teaching ISBN 978-3-030-05471-7 ISBN 978-3-030-05472-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05472-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018963987 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

To Pahleh

Acknowledgements

This work would have been impossible without the support of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Isfahan, Iran. The authors admit that this book is the published version of Nourollah Zarrinabadi’s PhD dissertation study conducted under the supervision of Saeed Ketabi and Mansoor Tavakoli in December, 2017. We thank professor Miroslaw Pawlak and the publication office in Springer for their constructive comments on the earlier versions of the book. We are also indebted to the officials who supported the conduct of this study. We particularly wish to thank Mr. Khalilzadeh as the Head of Mousian Office of Education, who granted the necessary permission to conduct the study and introduced the high schools at which we performed the study. We also thank the principals who helped us identify the participants of the study. We are grateful to Mr. Ali Bokhat and Mr. Seyyed Fathollah Mousvi, who helped us identify particularly motivated students and gave us the facilities we needed to conduct the interviews. Finally, we need to particularly thank the participants of the study who shared their stories and patiently answered my questions.

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Contents

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2 Directed Motivational Currents (DMC) in L2 . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 A Brief Overview of L2 Motivation Research . . . . . 2.3 Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs) . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.1 The Core Characteristics of DMCs . . . . . . . 2.3.2 Triggering and Launch of DMCs . . . . . . . . 2.3.3 DMCs and Mainstream Motivation Theories 2.3.4 DMCs and Other Individual Differences . . . 2.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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3 Willingness to Communicate (WTC) . 3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Origin of WTC . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 WTC in L2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.1 Situational Factors . . . . 3.3.2 Stable Factors . . . . . . . 3.4 Research Studies on L2 WTC . . 3.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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4 Language Learner Autonomy, Self-confidence, Self-concept . . . . . . . 4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Language Learner Autonomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Motivation in L2 Learning . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs) . 1.3 The Focus of This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 Objectives of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6 Organization of the Book . . . . . . . . . . .

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6 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Identified Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 Motivational Intensity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 Vision/Goal-Orientedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 A Salient, Facilitative Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5.1 Recurring Behavioral Routines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5.2 Regular Checks Where Subgoals Provided Affirmative Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5.3 Explicit Turning Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5.4 Positive Emotionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.6 Triggering and Launch of DMCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7 Changes to WTC During a DMC Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8 Changes to L2 Self-confidence During a DMC Experience . . . 6.9 Changes to Language Learner Autonomy During a DMC Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Language Learner Autonomy: Theoretical Issues Empirical Research on Language Learner Autonomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . L2 Self-confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3.1 Definition of L2 Self-confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3.2 Research on L2 Self-confidence and SLA . . . . . Language Learner Self-concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4.1 Studies on Language Learners’ Self-concepts . . . Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Setting of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Design of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 Data Collection Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5.1 Motivational Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5.2 Semi-structured Interviews . . . . . . . . . . 5.5.3 Stimulated Recalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5.4 Piloting Interview Questions . . . . . . . . . 5.6 Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis . . . . . . 5.6.1 Preparing and Organizing the Data . . . . 5.6.2 Reducing the Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6.3 Coding and Category Developing . . . . . 5.6.4 Quality Criteria for Qualitative Research 5.6.5 Ethical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6.10 Changes to Self-concept During a DMC Experience . 6.10.1 DMCs Change Certainty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.10.2 DMCs Change Affective Quality . . . . . . . . . 6.10.3 DMCs Change Positivity and Content . . . . . 6.11 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Appendix A: Teachers’ Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Appendix B: DMCs Interview Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Appendix C: WTC, Autonomy, Self-confidence and Self-confidence Interview Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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7 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 Pedagogical Implications . . . . . . 7.2 Directions for Further Research . 7.3 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Appendix D: Informed Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Appendix E: School Permission Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Abbreviations

DMCs ESL EFL L1 L2 WTC

Directed Motivational Currents English as a Second Language English as a Foreign Language First Language Second Language Willingness to Communicate

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List of Figures

Fig. 3.1 Fig. 4.1 Fig. 5.1 Fig. 5.2 Fig. 6.1 Fig. 6.2 Fig. 6.3 Fig. 6.4 Fig. 6.5 Fig. 6.6 Fig. 6.7 Fig. 6.8 Fig. 6.9 Fig. 6.10

MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) pyramid model of L2 WTC . . Components of L2 self-confidence in MacIntyre et al. (1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The schematic representation of different stages of participant recruitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trianguation used in the study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Malek’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amir’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jasem’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Javad’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Asma’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reza’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hamid’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kosar’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ali’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zeinab’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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List of Tables

Table 3.1 Table 3.2 Table 3.3 Table 5.1 Table 5.2

Quantitative research studies on L2 WTC (Zarrinabadi & Tanbakooei, 2016) printed with permission . . Qualitative studies conducted on L2 WTC (Zarrinabadi & Tanbakooei, 2016) printed with permission . . Mixed methods studies conducted on L2 WTC (Zarrinabadi & Tanbakooei, 2016) printed with permission . . Background information of the teachers and their classes . . . . Demographic information of the study participants . . . . . . . . .

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xvii

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1

Motivation in L2 Learning

Motivation is an important aspect of any human endeavour. It is generally believed that, if motivated, individuals will invest more time, energy, and persistence to reach their goals (Atkinson & Raynor, 1974; Elliot, 2008). It is also a common sense notion among people that one has to be motivated in order to achieve goals, something which has been extensively ratified by a voluminous bulk of research in different disciplines (De Volder & Lens, 1982; Dweck, 1985; Elliot, 2008). In more than half of a century, motivation has been the subject of heated debates among language educators and researchers interested in applied linguistics and related fields (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2009, 2011). The advent of this notion to language learning and teaching literature dates back to the seminal work of Gardner and Lambert (1959) who explored the role of motivational factors in second language acquisition (SLA). Gardner and Lambert (1959) tried to present a novel perspective on motivation in a second language (L2 Motivation) which was basically rooted in the axiom that the discipline of language teaching was distinct from teaching other subject matters in that there was a social group of language users. A significant contribution of Gardner and Lambert’s (1959) study was the introduction of the notions of integrative and instrumental motivation (Anisfeld & Lambert, 1964; Gardner, 1960, 1985; Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Lambert, Gardner, Barik, & Tunstall, 1963). As Gardner and Lambert (1972) explain, these clusters of reasons for learning an L2 were instrumental in case the goals of language study related to the more utilitarian value of language achievement, for instance, getting ahead in one’s job. On the contrary, the orientation is integrative if the learner wishes to learn more about the other cultural community because of the fact that he/she is keen on it in an open-minded way, to the state of being accepted as a member of the target group.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 N. Zarrinabadi et al., Directed Motivational Currents in L2, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05472-4_1

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Introduction

Later, the notion of integrative motivation became one of the most studied issues in SLA, and because of its identification the massive majority of research studies have involved this variable as a core one (Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005b). A considerable bulk of empirical studies exploring integrative motivation can be found in the Western settings where it originated (e.g. Clément & Kruidenier, 1983, 1985; Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005b; Gardner, 2012; Gardner, Day, & MacIntyre, 1992; Gardner & MacIntyre, 1991; Hernández, 2006, 2008). Additionally, Gardner’s socio educational framework has been substantiated in diverse contexts all over the world (e.g. Clément, Dörnyei, & Noels, 1994; Dörnyei, 1990; Gardner, 2012; Shaaban & Ghaith, 2000). Empirical studies tended to corroborate the idea that integrative motivation exerts a stronger impact on behaviour and achievement than instrumental motivation (e.g. Gardner & MacIntyre, 1991; Gardner, Masgoret, Tennant, & Mihic, 2004; Lukmani, 1972; Masgoret & Gardner, 2003), though it was nevertheless demonstrated that instrumental motivation plays a pivotal role, especially in a foreign language learning context (e.g. Belmechri & Hummel, 1998; Dörnyei, 1990; Gardner & MacIntyre, 1991; Kraemer, 1993; Warden & Lin, 2000). Afterwards, the field of L2 motivation witnessed emergence and application of different notions and ideas (see Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). The last few decades have witnessed the birth of various L2 motivational theories and viewpoints. With the advent of the cognitive-situated period, diverse cognitive theories were assorted and applied to the understanding of L2 motivation (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). In this period, Noels and her colleagues (Noels, Clément, & Pelletier, 2001; Noels, Pelletier, Clément, & Vallerand, 2000) adapted self-determination theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000) to L2 learning literature. Additionally, several expectancy-value theories which emphasized the role of individual’s expectations on how well they would do on a task and how much value they attached to goal achievement were introduced into L2 motivation research (Weiner, 1985; Williams & Burden, 1999). Motivation as a process, or process-oriented L2 motivating, was a model by Dörnyei and Ottó (1998) which emphasized the role of time and hinged on the ideas of Heckhausen (1991). The third millennium witnessed the birth of new viewpoints into L2 motivation research. In the first decade of the 21th century, Dörnyei and his colleagues proposed the idea of L2 motivational self-system which dealt with possible selves and future self-guides in learning an L2 (Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005a, 2005b; Dörnyei & Csizér, 2002, Dörnyei, Csizér, & Németh, 2006; Kormos & Csizér, 2008). This new viewpoint postulated existence of three possible selves, namely ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and the L2 learning experience and gained strong support from diverse contexts such as Hungary, China, Japan, and Iran (Csizér & Kormos, 2009; Ryan, 2009; Ryan & Dörnyei, 2013; Taguchi, Majid, & Papi, 2009). Another interesting development was the introduction of the tenets of complex dynamic systems (de Bot, Lowie, & Versppor, 2007a, 2007b; Ellis & Larsen-Freeman, 2006; Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008) to L2 motivation research (Dörnyei, MacIntyre, & Henry, 2015). The dynamic view of L2 motivation considered L2 motivation as a continuously changing and evolving entity rather than a fixed and unchanging trait (Dörnyei et al., 2014).

1.2 Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs)

1.2

3

Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs)

One of the most recent developments in the field of L2 motivation research is the idea of Directed Motivational Currents (abbreviated as DMC or DMCs). Dörnyei, Ibrahim, and Muir (2015, p. 98) defined the DMCs as a prolonged period of engagement in a sequence of tasks which are pleasant mainly because they transport the person towards a highly valued goal. Dörnyei and his colleagues (2015; Dörnyei, Henry, & Muir, 2016) consider three main characteristics for DMCs, namely, goal/vision-orientedness, a salient facilitative structure, and positive emotionality. In this motivational framework, goal/vision-orientedness referred to the fact that DMCs are directional in nature and are directed at a well-defined final goal such as being a proficient L2 learner and user. Including a clear goal is necessary for the launch of a DMC and helps the individual to purposefully employ energy and make attempts (Dörnyei, Muir, & Ibrahim, 2014; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). Henry, Davydenko, and Dörnyei (2015) stated that having a goal or vision had a gravitational effect on motivational energy and directs the behaviour toward performing tasks which enhance the possibility of goal achievement. Furthermore, having a goal/vision channels the energy away from events and actions that compete for the individual’s time. A salient recognizable, facilitative structure is the second main feature of DMCs. The structure of a DMC functions as a route map that pinpoints the pathway towards ultimate goal achievement. This structures creates opportunities for feedback and progress checkings that help keep the motivational momentum. Dörnyei et al. (2014, 2016) propose that there is a successful match between the well-defined target goal or vision and an adequately tailored pathway. İn a DMC, adequately tailored pathway denotes the presence of three core components in the structure. These are (a) establishment of recurring behavioral routines, (b) clearly recognizable start/end points, and (c) presence of regular progress checks. When experiencing in a DMC, individuals develop some behavioral routines which reappear in the course of their DMC experience (Dörnyei et al., 2014; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). This means that the individual is involved in doing some regularly recurring activities with no specific volitional control or motivational processing (Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). A DMC also entails clearly identifiable start and end points. Dörnyei et al. (2015) mention that DMCs are consciously and explicitly launched via some specific triggers and do not simply drift into being. Hence, existence of regular progress checks is the second central component of the DMCs salient and facilitative structure (Dörnyei et al., 2014, 2015, 2016; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). The DMC is also accompanied by experiencing supportive and positive feelings. Dörnyei et al. (2016) argue that when individuals make efforts in pursuit of their desired goal/vision, everything that simplifies and facilitates goal achievement becomes favorable and pleasant. They add that this is due to the fact that successfully completed subgoals create positive and favorable emotion which, in turn, cause further energy and push the motivational momentum toward the target goal. Also, Dörnyei et al. (2016) think that engaging in DMCs is accompanied with

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Introduction

positive feelings and emotions owing to the fact that individuals are doing activities which are both useful and meaningful, and of course, helps then attain their ultimate goal. Within the DMC framework, however, the role or the dynamics of other individual differences (ID) factors involved in learning an L2 is not assessed, something which paved the way for doing this study. This rationale is explained in more details in the following subsection.

1.3

The Focus of This Book

Many language instructors have encountered language learners who are unusually motivated to learn an L2 (e.g., English). These learners seem to be intensely motivated, change their studying timetable, develop new routines, and be content with making attempts for their desired ends. Surprisingly, investigation of such times of high and intense motivation in pursuit of a particular goal remained understudied until quite recently (Dörnyei et al., 2014, 2015, 2016; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). Dörnyei and his colleagues (Dörnyei et al., 2014, 2015, 2016; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013) suggested that the DMCs framework could account for such goal-oriented motivational experiences. While an interesting construct with suggestions for language learning and instruction research and practice, the published studies on DMCs have been mainly theoretical (Dörnyei et al., 2014, 2015, 2016; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013), and only a few published works have offered empirical data to reinforce the validity of the construct (Dörnyei et al., 2016; Muir, 2016; Zarrinabadi & Tavakoli, 2016), explore the triggering and launch of a DMC experience, and examine its main characteristics. This study, as such, aimed to investigate the existence of such motivational experience among Iranian EFL learners to understand how a DMC is triggered and launched, and to explore whether the key characteristics of DMCs could be detected in language learners’ experiences in Iran. Furthermore, although Dörnyei et al. (2016) claim that language learners who experience a DMC could have an amalgamation of several positive emotions, they do not present any evidence whether these feelings exert any impact on learners willingness to take part in language learning situations [willingness to communicate (WTC)], their self-confidence to use their L2, their perceptions of their self-concept, and the extent to which they independently try to learn English inside and outside the classroom context (language learner autonomy). The authors believe that the findings of this study could present some new information on motivation and other individual differences (e.g., WTC, self-confidence) which may be useful for both research and practice in the field. The results of this study could be helpful in that they can give us information about intense motivation in short periods of time. Dörnyei et al. (2016) believe that, given more information on nature of DMCs, it is possible to generate DMCs at group level. The results of this study could shed more light on the nature of DMCs, and therefore, provide implications on how to create DMCs in the language classrooms or among groups of language learners.

1.3 The Focus of This Book

5

Moreover, several mainstream individual differences such as autonomy, WTC, self-confidence, and language learner autonomy are examined in the time of a DMC experience. Therefore, the results of this research study may have implications on how to improve learners’ affective variables in definite periods of time. In other words, the findings of this study may provide insights for developing motivational plans that help students to act more independently for learning English both inside and outside the classroom context. Also, this study can provide language teachers with ideas for enhancing their learners’ WTC and self-confidence, two variables that have been found to be strong predictors of amount of L2 communication (Clément, Baker, & MacIntyre, 2003).

1.4

Objectives of the Study

Although some studies have been reported on the theoretical bases of the DMC construct (Dörnyei et al., 2014, 2016), very few ones have aimed to provide empirical data in any systematic way to corroborate the validity of the key ideas of DMCs (Dörnyei et al., 2016; Henry et al., 2015). This study aims to describe high and intense motivational experiences of Iranian EFL language learners, consider the extent to which the key concepts in the DMCs framework proposed by Dörnyei and his colleagues can explain highly motivated EFL learners’ stories, and consequently, assess the validity of DMCs construct. Moreover, this study examines whether experiencing a DMC results in any change in students’ non-linguistic characteristics which involve individual difference variables of WTC, L2 self-confidence, autonomy, and self-concept.

1.5

Key Concepts

The main concepts involved in this study are defined and explained in the following subsections. L2 Motivation Dörnyei and Ottó (1998, p. 85) defined L2 motivation “as the dynamically changing cumulative arousal in a person that initiates, directs, coordinates, amplifies, terminates, and evaluates the cognitive and motor processes whereby initial wishes and desires are selected, prioritised, operationalized and successfully or unsuccessfully acted out”. Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs) A Directed Motivational Current (DMC) is defined as an extended process of engagement in a series of activities or tasks that are rewarding chiefly for they

6

1

Introduction

transport the person towards a highly valued goal (Dörnyei, Henry, & Muir, 2016). In this study, a DMC refers to a sudden burst of motivational energy over a distinct period of time characterized by having a specific target goal, positive emotionality, and salient facilitative structure. Willingness to Communicate (WTC) MacIntyre, Clément, Dörnyei, and Noels (1998) define it as “a readiness to enter into discourse at a particular with a specific person or persons, using a L2’’ (p. 547). In this study, WTC refers to students’ willingness to engage in L2 interactions by both initiating and resuming communication in English. L2 Self-Confidence L2 self-confidence is defined by MacIntyre et al. (1998) as “the overall belief in being able to communicate in the L2 in an adaptive and efficient manner” (p. 551). In this study, L2 self-confidence refers to the students’ confidence for using English. L2 Self-Concept An individual’s self-concept refers to the beliefs one has about oneself and one’s self-perceptions (Mercer, 2011a, 2011b). In this study it refers to the student’s picture of oneself and what one thinks to be true about oneself. Language Learner Autonomy This concept points to learners’ realizing their goals of learning, accepting responsibility for their development, and take part in deciding the goals of learning (Little, 1990). In this study, it refers to the students’ independence and being responsible in learning English as their L2.

1.6

Organization of the Book

The organization of this book is as follows: This chapter presents an introduction to the study. In so doing, the chapter presents a brief background, the statement of the problem, the objectives and the significance of the study, and definition of key terms of the study. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 review the related theoretical underpinnings and the empirical literature related to the study. These chapters refer to the finding of the studies that have already been conducted on motivation, DMCs and ID variables examined within DMC experiences (i.e., WTC, autonomy, self-confidence, and self-concept). In this chapter, the most relevant studies in the Iranian context are reported as well. Chapter 5 presents the methodology of the study. In this chapter, the features of the context and sample of the study, the data collection tools used to gather data, the

1.6 Organization of the Book

7

data gathering procedure are described. The methodological issues related to the specific qualitative approach used in the study are presented in this chapter. Chapter 6 reports the empirical findings of the study. In this chapter the results of the data analyses are reported through giving excerpts of data. Chapter 7 presents the concluding section of the study. In this chapter the finding of the study are discussed in detail and the conclusions are given. Moreover, this chapter presents the implications for further research and practice in the field, as well as the limitations of the study.

Chapter 2

Directed Motivational Currents (DMC) in L2

2.1

Introduction

This chapter presets the theoretical underpinnings on L2 motivation and Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs). First, a brief overview of research on L2 motivation is presented. Then, the DMC construct, its core characteristics, and the theories related to it are explained in detail.

2.2

A Brief Overview of L2 Motivation Research

The study of motivation for learning an L2 started with the work of Gardner and Lambert (1972). This branch of motivation research in language learning was called social-psychological period mainly led by Gardner and his associates (Gardner, 1985, 2001, 2010; Gardner & Lambert, 1972). The main premise of this view was that L2 learning was different from other study topics as it also needed openness to the L2 community and readiness to accept some of its features. This notion was later conceptualized as integrative motivation (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). Based on the studies and criticisms leveled against his idea, Gardner revised his ideas to take the role of affective factors into account as well. He categorized his research on L2 motivation into three phases (Gardner, 2010). The first one was ancient phase, dating from 1945 to 1972, which mainly included his Gardner MA and Ph.D. theses and the work with Lambert (Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Gardner called the second phase as the early history (Gardner, 2010) which occurred in 1970s and early 1980s. During the second phase, Clément, Gardner and Smythe (1980) received financial support to launch a research group and did studies in the Canada context (Al-Hoorie, 2017). Lastly, Gardner named the last period as modern history in which he places the studies done in the 1980s. Gardner and his colleagues, in these three periods, were involved in a drastically prolific research program, leading to © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 N. Zarrinabadi et al., Directed Motivational Currents in L2, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05472-4_2

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2 Directed Motivational Currents (DMC) in L2

the proposal of his socio-educational model (Al-Hoorie, 2017; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011; Gardner, 2010). In the socio-educational model, four main aspects of the learning process including social context (e.g., educational and cultural backgrounds), individual differences (intelligence, anxiety, motivation, aptitude), acquisition settings (formal or informal), and language learning outcomes whether linguistic or nonlinguistic were included (Al-Hoorie, 2017; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011; Gardner, 2010). Empirical research studies following this view examined integrative motivation suggesting that language achievement was affected by factors such as motivation, aptitude, and anxiety (Gardner, 2001, 2010). In these studies, Motivation, was reported to be the “function of integrativeness, attitudes toward the learning situation, and instrumentality” (Al-Hoorie, 2017, p. 2). Moreover, Gardner (2007) categorized the development that occurred in four stages of language acquisition elemental, consolidation, conscious expression, and automaticity and thought. In Gardner’s view, acquisition included making the language as an integral part of the self (Gardner, 2010). While Gardner’s model was disputably the dominant framework during the social-psychological period, some other frameworks were proposed at that time. These frameworks were social context model by Clément (1980), intergroup model by Giles and Byrne (1982), and acculturation model by Schumann (1978). The shared view among all these models was their macro-level examination of the interrelationship among social groups and contextual factors (Al-Hoorie, 2017; Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). The second branch of L2 motivation research was the cognitive situated one. The ideas of Gardner mostly entailed that L2 motivation was stable and not dynamic (MacIntyre, 2002) and that his model describes a process rather than just connecting the variables (Gardner, 2010). However, Gardner (2010, p. 26) adds that: It is not intended to provide explanations to individual teachers as to why or why not some of their students are more or less successful than others, or to give teachers advice on how to motivate their students, or to provide reasons to students to help them understand their own success or lack thereof. It is a model to account for general relationships in a parsimonious and testable structure that is subject to verification and replication.

Gardner’s model was criticized from different views. Dörnyei (1994, 2005) noted that combining effort and motivational intensity with an abstract mental entity like motivation results in conceptual ambiguity (Al-Hoorie, 2017; MacIntyre, 2002, p. 49). Furthermore, Gardner’s model, with the advent of World Englishes, globalization, became less and less meaningful and applicable as the aim of language learning was not to integrate with Anglophones but to use it for international communication (Coetzee-Van Rooy, 2006). The criticisms leveled against the socio-educational model of Gardner paved the way for a new framework called the cognitive-situated period (Dörnyei, 2010; Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). As Gardner’s notion of integrativeness was perceived as an affective variable, Dörnyei (2010) aimed to explore its cognitive foundations by construing it into the ideal L2 self. Dörnyei’s cognitive interpretation of the notion of integrativeness finally led to the introduction of a new

2.2 A Brief Overview of L2 Motivation Research

11

framework called L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009a; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). The L2 Motivational Self System included ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experience as its core elements. In other words, it kept preserving the original three-way conceptualization of the integrative motivation (Al-Hoorie, 2017). The new framework hinged on two key theories of self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987) and possible selves theory (Markus & Nurius, 1986, 1987). To put it more clearly, language learner experiences uneasiness if his/her perceived language proficiency level is different from the level he/she wishes to gain (actual–ideal discrepancy) or from the proficiency level he/she believes one is supposed to meet (actual–ought discrepancy) (Al-Hoorie, 2017; Dörnyei, 2005). Arguably, this psychological uneasiness can function as a motivator to decrease this difference by enhancing L2 proficiency. Alternatively, an elaborate vision of a desired possible self is prone to corroborate one’s motivation as the imagined self becomes a reality through experience tangible to the learner (Dörnyei, 2005). The closest entities to ideal self-image are native speakers of the target language. Students, consequently, might origin from their previous knowledge of L2 speakers to imagine for themselves a desired future that create a motivational impact in the present time. Boo, Dörnyei, and Ryan (2015), based on an empirical study, note that the model is presently the dominant one in the field of L2 motivation. Later and in another empirical study, McEown, Noels, and Chaffee (2014) reported that a considerable number of scholars employed SelfDetermination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000) as their main theoretical model or have used some of its aspects. Also, some scholars have sustained attempting to readjust L2 motivation to psychology of education and to tap other theories not related to L2 including social cognitive theory (Mills, Pajares, & Herron, 2007) or attribution theory (Williams, Burden, Poulet, & Maun, 2004). This innovative movement required that to broaden the methodological stock which, in turn, resulted in a cumulative load of qualitative studies in addition to practical uses of L2 motivation research into L2 classroom (Al-Hoorie, 2017; Boo et al., 2015). In reality, these studies were more concerned with in-class processes to make L2 motivation research more teacher-friendly contrary to the focus on larger image in the social-psychological period (Al-Hoorie, 2017). The last branch of motivation research includes new insights into L2 motivation. The contemporary L2 motivation research has witnessed the introduction of several new ideas into our understanding of motivation in learning a new language. One of these views was that contrary to learning L1, learning an L2 differs significantly in how effective they were in their proficiency level something which provoked research into IDs (Al-Hoorie, 2017; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). Scholars found several ID variables that have the potential to explain this variability (Dörnyei, 2005). Some of these ID variables include aptitude, anxiety, motivation, learning strategies, and learning styles (Dörnyei, 2005; Skehan, 1989). According to Dörnyei and Ryan (2015), this approach can be briefly defined as discovering “why, how long, how hard, how well, how proactively, and in what way the learner engaged in the learning process” (Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015, p. 6). However, it should

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2 Directed Motivational Currents (DMC) in L2

be noted that Dörnyei (2009b) describes it as the individual differences myth since this approach hinges on a group of problematic assumptions. Recently, the emphasis placed on the dynamic nature of language learning (e.g., chaos theory and dynamic system theory, Byrne & Callaghan, 2013; de Bot & Larsen-Freeman, 2011; Dörnyei, 2014; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011; Larsen-Freeman, 2015; Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008; Verspoor, de Bot, & Lowie, 2011) has led motivation scholars to examine this important feature of language teaching and learning from this novel perspective. From the lens of this viewpoint, motivation in L2 is supposed to have sometimes stability, at the other times variability, fluctuation or change, and still have at some other times again stability (De Bot, Lowie, & Verspoor, 2007a, 2007b; Dörnyei, 2014; Dörnyei, MacIntyre, & Henry, 2015). These consecutive sequences of stability, variability, and stability constitute the basics complex and dynamic systems theories (Byrne & Callaghan, 2013; Larsen-Freeman, 1997; Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008; van Geert, 2008, 2011). The overall idea is that no state or entity is stable and fixed forever. Some believe that motivation is not an exception (Dörnyei et al., 2015). Other than being a fixed and constant entity, motivation in L2 has continuous change, variability, and fluidity (Dörnyei, MacIntyre, & Henry, 2015; Larsen-Freeman, 2015; Waninge 2014). Some representative illustrations are highly motivated/demotivated language students at the beginning who, because of internal or external reasons, become demotivated/motivated ones at the end. In a study which tried to examine the temporal progression of motivation over time, Shoaib and Dörnyei (2005) found that L2 motivation is dynamic and changes over time. Shoaib and Dörnyei (2005) found a set of motivational transformational episodes that exerted positive or negative effects on foreign language learning. Moreover, Yanguas (2011) examined motivational change during task performance and noted that the participants’ motivation was dynamic in regards to the tasks. Also, Campbell and Storch (2011) found that learners’ initial and ongoing motivation in Chinese as an L2 was of a dynamic, diverse, and complex nature. In the same vein, Busse and Walter (2013) examined time-sensitive and context-sensitive L2 motivation in learners of German as an L2. Busse reported that contrary to learners’ initial wish for proficiency, their effort to involve in language learning progressively reduced. Busse related this change to the lessening levels of intrinsic motivation. In addition to that, Waninge, Dörnyei, and De Bot (2014) reported that there existed a close and complicated link between spatial and temporal settings and learners’ motivational experience. They also argued that students’ motivation was vulnerable to change even on short-term periods. Waninge et al. (2014) conceptualized change as a temporal, random, and nonlinear one and evolution in a system’s performance. Furthermore, they identified stability as self-organization of a system to favorite attractor states. Moreover, ongoing mutual and multiple effect of diverse components of a system were recognized as the third unique feature of a system’s behavior. Waninge et al. (2014) noted that elements of change, variability, and context influenced classroom L2 motivation.

2.3 Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs)

2.3

13

Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs)

Many language teachers have encountered language students who are particularly motivated to learn an L2 (e.g., English). These students seem to be highly motivated, change their studying timetable, establish new routines, and be happy with making efforts for their ends. Or, as a colleague said, they “are raring to go and bouncing off the walls for learning English.” Not limited to learning a language, it is very likely that every individual has experienced a period of unusually high and especially intense motivation in other aspects of his/her life such as searching for a job or going on a diet. Surprisingly, examination of such periods of high ad intense motivation in pursuit of a specific goal has remained unexplored till recently. Dörnyei and his colleagues (Dörnyei et al., 2014, 2015; Dörnyei, Henry, & Muir, 2016; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013) proposed that the DMC framework can explain such goal-oriented motivational experiences. So, a DMC is defined as “a prolonged process of engagement in a series of tasks which are rewarding primarily because they transport the individual towards a highly valued end” (Dörnyei et al., 2015, p. 98) and argue that a DMC entails a greater sense of urgency and operate similar to an “injection of motivation into the system” (Dörnyei et al., 2014, p. 12). Dörnyei and his colleagues (2014, 2015, 2016) identified some key components for the DMC construct and reported that the new construct has some links with the renowned theories in motivation and psychology science. In the following subsections, first, the key components of DMCs are described and explained. Next, the links between the DMC construct and mainstream motivational theories are described and accounted for.

2.3.1

The Core Characteristics of DMCs

In postulating the construct of DMC, a number of concepts, such as goal/ vision-orientedness, a salient and facilitative structure, and positive emotional loading need to be defined. Dörnyei and his associates (Muir and Dörnyei, 2013; Dörnyei et al., 2016; Dörnyei, Muir, & Ibrahim, 2014; Henry, Davydenko, & Dörnyei, 2015) enumerate three key characteristics for A DMC: goal/visionorientedness, a salient facilitative structure, and positive emotional loading. Goal/vision-orientedness refers to the fact that DMCs are directional in nature and are targeted toward a well-defined ultimate goal such as becoming a proficient L2 user. Having a clear goal prerequisite for the launch of a DMC helps the person to purposefully apply energy and make efforts (Dörnyei et al., 2014; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). Henry et al. (2015) note that having a goal or vision exerts a gravitational impact on motivational energy and channels the behavior toward performing activities which increase the possibility of goal achievement. Also having a goal moves the energy away from activities that compete for the person’s time. They also add that directionality in a DMC involves having a well-defined goal together with a

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2 Directed Motivational Currents (DMC) in L2

vision of its accomplishment. In regards to this goal/vision-orientedness, Dörnyei et al. (2014), make a distinction between goal and vision, and assert that a goal is cognitive and abstract while vision involves a strong sensory image. In other words, vision refers to “the sensory experience of a future goal, in other words, a personalized goal that the learners have made their own by adding to it the imagined reality of the goal experience” (Dörnyei & Chan, 2013, pp. 54–55). Moreover, Muir and Dörnyei (2013), building on previous studies, describe vision as “the imitative representation of real or hypothesized events” (Pham & Taylor, 1999, p. 250) that occurs when “a representation of the type created in initial phases of perception is present but the stimulus is not actually being perceived” (Kosslyn, Thompson, & Ganis, 2006, p. 4). They add that vision, in a DMC, directs the motivational experience and provides a focus for it (Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). This is this visionary quality that impacts the power of the current gives specific intensity to a DMC (Henry et al., 2015; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). A salient identifiable, facilitative structure is the second key feature of a DMC. The structure in a DMC works as a route map that lays out the pathway towards the achievement of the ultimate goal. This structures provides chances for feedback and progress check that help sustain the motivational momentum. Elaborating on the structure of a DMC, Dörnyei et al. (2013, 2014, 2016) suggest that there is a successful match between the clearly defined target goal/ vision with an adequately tailored pathway. An adequately tailored pathway, in their view, refers to presence of three key components in the structure of a DMC: (a) establishment of recurring behavioral routines, (b) clearly recognizable start/ end points, and (c) presence of regular progress checks. When caught up in a DMC, individuals establish some behavioral routines which reappear during their DMC experience (Dörnyei et al., 2014; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). In other words, the person is involved in performing some regularly recurring activities without any specific volitional control or motivational processing (Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). A DMC also has clearly recognizable start and end points. Dörnyei et al. (2015) note that DMCs are consciously and explicitly triggered by some specific stimuli and they do not simply drift into being. Presence of regular progress checks constitutes the second central component of DMCs’ salient facilitative structure (Dörnyei et al., 2014, 2015, 2016; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). Ultimate goal achievement in a DMC occurs by accomplishment of several subgoals. When the persons caught up in a DMC engage in accomplishing these subgoals, they regularly check to see their progress. As Dörnyei and his colleagues (2015, 2016) mention, completing subgoals both presents the individuals positive feedback on their performance and pushes the motivational current toward the achievement of their well-defined target goal. The third core component of a DMC is positive emotional loading. DMC experiences are accompanied by undergoing supportive emotions and positive feelings. Dörnyei et al. (2016) explain that when the persons caught up in a DMC make attempts in pursuit of their target goal/vision, everything that facilitates their goal achievement becomes pleasant. In a DMC framework, successfully completed subgoals produce positive and pleasant emotion which, in turn, lead to further

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energy and propel the motivational experience toward the target goal (Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). Conceptualizing DMCs, Muir and Dörnyei (2013) and Dörnyei et al. (2016) believe that positive emotional loading is sort of a eudaimonic experience (Ryff, 2013; Waterman, 1993). Waterman (1993) proposes that eudaimonic experiences include: (a) an unusually intense involvement in an undertaking, (b) a feeling of a special fit or meshing with an activity that is not characteristic of most daily tasks, (c) a feeling of intensely being alive, (d) a feeling of being complete or fulfilled while engaged in an activity, (e) an impression that this is what the person was meant to do, and (f) a feeling that this is who one really is. (p. 679)

Dörnyei et al. (2016) also believe that engagement in DMCs is associated with positive feelings and emotions because individuals are doing something which is both useful and meaningful, and helps ultimate goal achievement.

2.3.2

Triggering and Launch of DMCs

According to Dörnyei et al. (2016), a complicated launch system including all the necessary conditions exactly in place is required for DMCs. The launch system, to a great extent, influences the longevity and strength of the resulting current. As such, several fundamental criteria should be met in order for a DMC to start into being. Dörnyei et al. (2016) propose that two factors are needed for a successful launch of DMCs: first, alignment of some necessary conditions including contextual, personal, and temporal factors, and second, presence of a particular triggering stimulus. There is a specific triggering stimulus, in a successful DMC, whose success depends on the interplay of related factors present at individual’s overall situation. Moreover, launch of a DMC requires presence of a clear set of goals/visions which strengthen the structure of a DMC by enhancing its directedness and thus create overall cohesion for the motivational momentum. Furthermore, Dörnyei et al. (2106) argue that for a DMC to start, the individual should feel complete ownership of the process and its results. Such a sense of ownership is present only when the person feels that he or she has enough capabilities to perform the action. This goal ownership is accompanied by a challenge-skill balance (Hefferon & Boniwell, 2011) by the individual. A challenge-skill balance means that the person should feel that his or her abilities match the demands of the task (Dörnyei et al., 2016) and that the target goal is not too easy or too difficult but provides enough difficulty level. In a challenge-skill balance, this balance is not the degree of the actual task difficulty or burden or a definite ability level, but it relates to what the individual believes these to be. In summary, Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs), as described above, are characterized by three fundamental components of, a salient facilitative structure, goal-vision oriented, and positive emotional loading. Each of these three factors has a pivotal role in shaping an individual’s motivational energy for performing some purposeful attempts in pursuit of a well-defined goal. Moreover, there is a clear set

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2 Directed Motivational Currents (DMC) in L2

of prerequisite conditions and primary criteria that should exist in order for a DMC to launch into being. Of course, it should be mentioned that in spite of the fact that the idea of DMCs seems to be particularly unique and interesting, the construct is related to mainstream motivational theories in several ways. These links are described in detail in the following subsection.

2.3.3

DMCs and Mainstream Motivation Theories

The reason which makes the DMCs framework an interesting addition to L2 motivation literature is concerned with within the new perspective adopted. This has to do with the limited temporal focus adopted in mainstream motivation theories which have tried to investigate motivation in terms of generalizable factors in cross-sectional research studies (Henry et al., 2015). As Dörnyei et al. (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) mention, while the impact of goal-directed dispositions on one’s action has been extensively discussed, no mainstream motivation framework has yet aimed at connecting such dispositions with specific behavioural processes in the course of time in order to see “how optimal combinations of particular structural features of the behavioural pathway can amplify the overall motivational energy released” (Henry et al., 2015, p. 330). Although an interesting new concept, DMCs exhibit several links with the mainstream motivational theories. Dörnyei et al. (2016), in a detailed account, explain how DMCs relate to motivational theories such as self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), time perspective (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999), perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1991, 2005), flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1988, 1990, 2009), and goal-setting theory (Locke, 1996; Locke & Lathem, 1990, 2006). DMCs, for example, are linked with Locke and Lathem’s (1990) goal-setting theory in that individuals actions are caused by purposes and purposes are translated into goals which individuals have defined for themselves. These are goals that guide attention and effort toward goal-related behaviors, regulate effort expenditure, encourage persistence, and promote the quest for related strategies and plans (Dörnyei et al., 2016). Moreover, in both concepts, proximal, short-term targets lead to the attainment of the distal goals by providing constant progress checks and regular positive feedback. Furthermore, the DMC construct relates to Csikszentmihalyi’s (1988, 1990) Flow Theory on the grounds of being goal-directed, existence of clear feedback, and high levels of engagement and interest. Csikszentmihalyi’s (1988, 1990) flow concept is helpful for understanding DMCs in that elaborates on the state in which a person is optimally engaged in an ongoing task/activity and is fully focused on successful performance of the task/activity. It should, of course, be mentioned that DMCs differs from flow in some grounds. Dörnyei et al. (2015), referring to the main difference between the two concepts, argue that “whereas flow is mainly concerned with absorption in short-term, single tasks, the duration of a DMC can

2.3 Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs)

17

span longer – yet still finite – periods of time” (p. 102). Also, Dörnyei et al. (2016) assert that the feeling of enjoyment in DMCs is not limited to the task/ activity itself and may come from the awareness that the person is approaching one’s well-defined target goal.

2.3.4

DMCs and Other Individual Differences

While the study of L2 motivation in international and Iranian context is not at all a new topic, examining DMCs has remained a rather novel topic. Similar to what was reviewed above, past research on L2 motivation has showed that L2 motivation is related to several factors such as possible selves (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011; Papi, 2010), anxiety (Al-Hoorie, 2017; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011; Papi, 2010), intercultural competence (Mirzaei & Forouzandeh, 2013). However, no study to date has tried to examine the changes in IDs due to experiencing a DMC. As such, this study tried to examine whether DMC experience creates any changes in WTC, autonomy, self-confidence, and self-concept of EFL students.

2.4

Conclusion

This chapter presented a brief overview of research on L2 motivation and introduced the DMC construct, its main components, and motivation theories related to it. As mentioned above, little is known about the ways in which experiencing a DMC might influence self and communication-related variables. In the following chapters, the variables that are investigated during a DMC experience will be introduced.

Chapter 3

Willingness to Communicate (WTC)

3.1

Introduction

Willingness to Communicate (WTC) is one of the highly studied ID variables in language learning and teaching in the past three decades. In this chapter, the origin of WTC is discussed and its introduction to L2 research literature is briefly reviewed. Moreover, empirical studies conducted over the globe are summarized.

3.2

Origin of WTC

The notion of WTC is rooted in the works of McCroskey and his colleagues (McCroskey, 1992; McCroskey & Richmond, 1987, 1990a, 1990b, 1991). In reference to L1 communication and language use, McCroskey conceptualized WTC as “an individual’s predisposition to initiate communication with others”. It was proposed as a personality orientation that explained the reason a person started communication while another did not under similar conditions. The construct of WTC as conceptualized by McCroskey and his associates evolved from the notions of Unwillingness to Communicate (UWTC, Burgoon, 1976), Predisposition toward Verbal Behavior (PTVB, Mortensen, Arnston, & Lustig, 1977), and Shyness. All of these constructs purported to propose a personality factor that was responsible for general orientation toward communication participation. Burgoon (1976) defined UWTC as “a chronic tendency to avoid and/or devalue oral communication” (p. 60). The construct included the factors of ‘approach/ avoidance’ and ‘reward.’ Empirical studies, however, did not support for a general predisposition by correlating only with communication apprehension (Burgoon, 1976). Additionally, Mortensen, Arnston, & Lustig (1977) argued that the more global features of speech that tend to be consistent across social situations.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 N. Zarrinabadi et al., Directed Motivational Currents in L2, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05472-4_3

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They suggested that there was a characteristic predisposition of an individual to talk named predisposition toward verbal behavior. Although, Mortensen, Arnston, & Lustig (1977) dealt with amount of talk, the PTVB construct was heavily dependent on/related to communication apprehension and did not directly relate to a global tendency to approach/avoid communication. Furthermore, McCroskey and Richmond’s the construct of shyness was conceptualized as the tendency of being timid, reserved, and specifically talkless. As with the other two constructs, Shyness operationally and empirically, did not show the characteristics of a general predisposition toward communication. McCroskey and Richmond, based on the ideas gleaned from these previous studies, put forward the WTC construct which accounted for individual’s predisposition to start communication when the choice was given. They defined WTC in first language (L1) as a personality trait which was stable across different situations and with various interlocutors. Past research on L1 WTC has indicated that variables such as anomie (MacIntyre, 1994), self-perceived communication competence (Barraclough, Christophel, & McCroskey, 1988; MacIntyre, 1994; McCroskey et al., 1990; McCroskey & Richmond, 1990a, 1990b; Sallinen-Kuparinen, McCroskey, & Richmond, 1991), verbal aggression (Teven, Richmond, McCroskey, & McCroskey, 2010), introversion (MacIntyre, 1994), communication apprehension (MacIntyre, 1994; McCroskey et al., 1990; Sallinen-Kuparinen, McCroskey, & Richmond, 1991), alienation (MacIntyre, 1994), shyness (Teven et al., 2010), and culture (McCroskey & Richmond, 1990a, 1990b) are related to one’s WTC in L1.

3.3

WTC in L2

WTC in L2 is mainly related to the works of MacIntyre and his colleagues (Baker & MacIntyre, 2003; MacIntyre & Charos, 1996; MacIntyre, Clement, Dörnyei, & Noels, 1998). MacIntyre et al. (1998) defined L2 WTC as “a readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using an L2” (p. 547). They proposed that L2 WTC was prone to be influenced by both situational and factors. MacIntyre et al. (1998) presented a pyramid model of the factors that could affect an individual’s WTC when talking in an L2 (see Fig. 3.1). In their model, as shown in Fig. 3.1 there were situational factors that could exert transient and temporary influences as when as more enduring and stable elements influencing L2 WTC. MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) model is one of the most all-inclusive and widely studied theoretical frameworks on the factors influencing L2 WTC. Their model explained the interrelations among diverse psychological, linguistic, and communication-related elements that could influence L2 WTC. MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) model included six layers in a pyramid shape that explained distal and proximal factors influencing WTC. The first three layers of the model were communication behaviour, behaviour intention, and situated antecedents which encompassed the situational variables impacting L2 WTC at particular moment.

3.3 WTC in L2

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L2 Use

Willingness To Communicate

State Desire to Communicate With Communicative a Specific Pesron Self-Confidence

Interpersonal Motivation

Intergroup Attitude

Intergroup Motivation

Social Situation

L2 Self-Confidence

Communicative Competence

Intergroup Climate

Fig. 3.1 MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) pyramid model of L2 WTC

These situational factors, as MacIntyre et al. (1998) noted, had more evanescent and transient effects and relied on the particular context in which the learner acted at a specific time. The other three layers, namely motivation tendencies, affective-cognitive setting, and the social and individual context, included longstanding properties of the context or the individual that created relatively stable and enduring effects on the process and could probably generalize to any communication situation. This should be noted that, in the model, each layer served as the stage on which the upper layer ad factors in it stood. Moreover, the factors that are closer to the topic of the pyramid and L2 use are the ones which relate to the particular features of the communication context, whereas the variables apart from L2 serve as the platform for L2 use being rather stable and not much related moment-to-moment L2. Given this introductory notes, the situational and stable factors under the two following subsection.

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3.3.1

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Willingness to Communicate (WTC)

Situational Factors

As MacIntyre et al. (1998) believed that the final goal of the language teaching and learning is L2 use, as a result, it was located at the highest layer of the model labelled as communicative behaviour (Layer I). MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) proposal of communicative behaviour comprises authentic communication in L2 which includes activities like using the L2 to write or communicate at work. The goal of L2 authentic communication is “a program that fails to produce students who are willing to use the language is simply a failed course” (MacIntyre et al., 1998, p. 547). Furthermore, it should be noted that an immediate factor which influences communicative use of an L2 is Developing L2 learners’ WTC which constitutes the second layer in the pyramid model. MacIntyre et al. (1998, p. 547) conceptualize WTC as being ready “to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using an L2.” Furthermore, by this definition, MacIntyre et al. (1998) exemplify that if an English teacher asks his/her students a question and they raise their hands to express their willingness to reply, they have committed to communicative action event if a nonverbal one. There are two antecedents for communication in the third layer of MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) model which is the doorway to L2 WTC and use. These two factors include the individual’s desire to communicate with a particular person. It this layer connections and relationship with the interlocutor are of grave importance to the extent that which states that it “may be the most important motive in informal situations with an attractive, L2 speaking interlocutor” (MacIntyre et al. 1998, p. 549). The second variable in this layer is the state communicative self-confidence explained as a temporary feeling of being confident in a specific situation. In other words, it is a person’s feeling which gives one the means to communicate efficiently and effectively in L2 at a specific moment and within a specific situation. MacIntyre et al. (1998) believe that this feeling can be both a trait-like feeling of self-confidence as well as momentary feeling of confidence. Similarly, Clément (1980) suggested that perceived competence and being less anxious are the two important factors for L2 self-confidence. Within this layer, the state of perceived competence contains the feeling about one’s ability to interact effectively at a specific point of time (MacIntyre et al., 1998).

3.3.2

Stable Factors

The fourth layer in the heuristic model of L2 WTC includes motivational propensities that are inclined to be stable and enduring individual factors. This layer provides the fundamental stage for language learners and it encompasses class context and affiliation with classmates as the fundamental elements. The factors that are included in this layer include interpersonal motivation, intergroup motivation,

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and L2 self-confidence. These are motivational tendencies that are closely linked to interpersonal motivation and intergroup motivation which influence an individual’s desire to interact with specific others in the third layer. As MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) note, variables such as interpersonal and intergroup motivations highly depend on the affective and cognitive context in which they occur and eventually impact the individual’s state self-confidence. Moreover, in another study, MacIntyre (2007) claims that learner’s affiliation with a specific community is considered intergroup motivation, whereas interpersonal motives are based on nomination of person’s social roles in the group. There are two important notions in determining the specific interlocutors with whom one interacts: control and affiliation motives. These are closely connected to attitudes and the nature of interaction and relationship among individuals both as people with whom one communicates and as the representatives of target language groups. The fifth layer includes three components of intergroup attitudes, social situation, and communicative competence. These components are, somewhat, departed from certain communication situations. In this layer, intergroup attitudes show a feeling of self-satisfaction and self-fulfilment as one is trying to learn an L2. They also exhibit learners’ desire to interact with members of the L2 community. Furthermore, the social situation comprises of factors such as the people, goal, topic, particular setting, mode and channel of communication, and the speaker’s language proficiency level. MacIntyre et al. (1998) argue that these variables influence one’s level of self-confidence and WTC. In the L2 WTC model, communicative competence is defined as an individual’s proficiency level which is able to affect one’s WTC. Communicative competence together with the speaker’s personality variables decide L2 self-confidence mainly constructed as the perceptions of proficiency and feeling of anxiety and apprehension (MacIntyre et al., 1998). The factors, in the fifth layer, influence L2 students’ WTC circuitously by affecting factors the upper layers. Finally, the last layer contains two key features namely intergroup climate and personality. At this layer, intergroup climate belongs to one’s idea about the L2 community, the value that its users ascribe to it, and the individual’s desire to converge and minimize the social distance between L1 and L2 communities. Personality is theorised to exert an indirect effect on WTC through affective factors such as attitude, confidence, and motivation (MacIntyre et al. 1998). Also, MacIntyre et al. (1998) add that their WTC model takes a holistic opinion to elaborate on a set of influences that have been shown to impact on learning an L2. They believe that the model considers WTC as the final phase of L2 learners getting ready to communicate because it symbolizes the likelihood of an L2 learner’s use of language for the communicative goal if given the chance. Taking the situational perspective toward WTC, some scholars attempted at examining diverse situational factors that influence learners’ WTC in an L2. Several scholars took this perspective and examined WTC in EFL and ESL contexts (Zarrinabadi & Tanbakooei, 2016). Baker and MacIntyre’s (2000) found that instructional context influenced WTC. Additionally, Clément, Baker, and

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MacIntyre (2003) found that WTC was influenced by quality and frequency of L2 communication. Moreover, Kang (2005) defined situational L2 WTC as: An individual’s volitional inclination towards actively engaging in the act of communication in a specific situation, which can vary according to interlocutor(s), topic, and conversational context, among other potential situational variables (p. 291). Kang (2005) found that WTC was affected by three psychological conditions of responsibility, security, and excitement. These psychological states were co-constructed as a result of interaction among situational factors such as the discussion topic, interlocutors, and the setting of language use. Also, Pawlak and Mystkowska-Wiertelak (2015) investigated L2 WTC as a complex dynamic system and reported that WTC was in a state of dynamic change, affected by factors such as planning time, topic, and familiarity with interlocutors, opportunity to express oneself, and the mastery necessary vocabulary. Likewise, in a multiple case study, Cao (2014) investigated the dynamic and situated nature of WTC to find about different social, environmental, and individual variables that influenced WTC and reported that L2 WTC emerged as the interdependence among linguistic, classroom environmental, and individual factors. Cao (2014) also concluded that the outcome of these combinations might differ from one individual to other, being facilitative for some while debilitative for some others.

3.4

Research Studies on L2 WTC

After the L2 WTC model by MacIntyre et al. (1998) was proposed, researchers tried to examine different stable and situational variables that could affect language learners’ L2 WTC. These studies were conducted in diverse EFL or ESL contexts and used different quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method designs (Cao, 2014; Dörnyei, 2005; Mystkowska-Wiertelak & Pawlak, 2014; Pawlak, Mystkowska-Wiertelak, & Bielak, 2016; Zarrinabadi & Tanbakooei, 2016). The earlier studies on L2 WTC were predominantly quantitative ones which employed questionnaires as their major data collection tool. Table 3.1 presents a summary of the most important studies which used quantitative methodology to examine L2 WTC (Zarrinabadi & Tanbakooei, 2016). The information regarding, the participants, data collection tools, and the key findings of the study are given in the table. As can be seen in Table 3.1, these studies showed that factors such as motivation (Hashimoto, 2002; Peng, 2007), self-perceived communication competence (Baker & MacIntyre, 2003), communication apprehension (Baker & MacIntyre, 2003), self-confidence (Clement et al., 2003) influenced trait-like L2 WTC (Mystkowska-Wiertelak & Pawlak, 2017). The second methodological approach toward studying L2 WTC was to use qualitative data collection tools to study L2 learners’ willingness to speak in an L2. Given the situational nature of L2 WTC and vast number of variables prone to

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Table 3.1 Quantitative research studies on L2 WTC (Zarrinabadi & Tanbakooei, 2016) printed with permission Researchers

Purpose of the study

Participants

Data collection tool

Findings

MacIntyre, Baker, Clément, and Conrod (2001)

To investigate the relations among WTC inside and outside the class, social supports, and language learning orientation

79 Canadian junior high school students

Questionnaire

MacIntyre, Baker, Clément, and Donovan (2002)

1. To test the effects of sex, age, and language (L1 and L2) 2. To examine the correlation among the communicative variables To examine the relationships among L2 learning, L2 communication, and socioeducational model 1. To test for differences among students with immersion experience and traditional language instruction experience on WTC 2. To examine correlation among WTC, CA, Perceived competence, and integrative motivation

206 junior high school late French immersion program

Questionnaire

1. Strong correlation was found between WTC inside and outside the class, friendship, knowledge, and school achievement orientations 2. Social supports from friends positively influenced WTC 1. SPCC and CA predicted WTC 2. Age and gender influenced L2 WTC

389 Japanese university students

Questionnaire

L2 communication confidence and international posture influenced WTC

59 Canadian university students

Questionnaire

1. Immersion experience was associated with increased WTC 2. WTC correlated very strongly with motivation among students with immersion experience 3. CA and perceived competence correlated with WTC (continued)

Yashima (2002)

MacIntyre, Baker, Clément, and Donovan (2003)

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Table 3.1 (continued) Researchers

Purpose of the study

Participants

Data collection tool

Findings

Clement et al. (2003)

1. Merging WTC with social context models 2. Examining the differences between two language groups in terms of WTC To examine the relationship between WTC and motivation

378 (248 Francophone and 130 Anglophone)

Questionnaire

1. L2 confidence was related to WTC 2. Franchophones indicated higher WTC than Anglophones did

174 medical college Chinese students average age 18.8 547 non-English major Chinese University students aged 14–21 143 Jewish and Arab 6th grade children

Questionnaire

Motivation was the strongest predictor of WTC

Questionnaire

WTC correlated with FL anxiety and self-rated proficiency

Questionnaire

1. Arab children had more positive attitudes and higher WTC in Hebrew than Jewish children 2. Strong association was found between WTC, various attitude dimensions, and familial and peer influence 1. Hesitation was associated with both higher levels of anxiety and lower perceptions of communication competence 2. WTC correlated with hesitation and volatility 1. Class environment predicted WTC 2. Motivation influenced WTC through confidence (continued)

Peng (2007)

Liu and Jackson (2008)

To examine the relationship among anxiety and UWTC and self-rated English proficiency

Tannenbaum and Taher (2008)

1. To examine the influence of parental and peer attitudes on WTC 2. To investigate the impact of teaching environment on WTC

MacIntyre and Doucette (2010)

To investigate the links among control variables and communication related variables including WTC

238 14–18 high school Canadian students

Questionnaire

Peng and Woodrow (2010)

To investigate the interrelationship of individuals and classroom contextual variables with WTC in English

579 Chinese university students

Questionnaire

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Table 3.1 (continued) Researchers

Purpose of the study

Participants

Data collection tool

Findings

Ghonsooly et al. (2012)

To examine WTC construct and its underlying variables

185 non-English major Iranian university students

Questionnaire

MacIntyre and Blackie (2012)

To examine the association among action control, motivated strategy for learning, integrated motivation, and non-linguistic outcomes.

117 Canadian high school students

Questionnaire

1. Attitude toward international community and L2 self-confidence predicted WTC 2. Openness to experience affected WTC Hesitation played a significant role in predicting WTC

affect it, the researchers used qualitative methods as they could present detailed and in-depth information of the factors at work in an L2 communication situation (Kang, 2005). Zarrinabadi and Tanbakooei (2016) reviewed the key qualitative studies conducted on L2 WTC and reported their core characteristics. The key characteristics of these most importance qualitative studies are presented in Table 3.2. The results of these qualitative studies shed more light on WTC in L2 (Cao & Philp, 2006; Kang, 2005). Variables such as task (Cao & Philp, 2006), interlocutor (Kang, 2005), wait time (Zarrinabadi, 2014) influenced L2 and concluded that L2 WTC was influenced by a range of individual, environment, and socio-cognitive variables (Cao, 2014; Peng, 2012). The final methodological advance in WTC research was to employ mixed methods designs to find about various factors the influenced WTC in L2. Table 3.3 presents a summary of mixed methods studies conducted on L2 WTC. From the findings of different methodological perspective on L2 WTC can be concluded that MacIntyre el al.’s (1998) was confirmed and now most researchers interested in this field believe that L2 WTC is subject to both situational and enduring actors (Kang, 2005). Several follow-up studies have also been conducted on L2 WTC in international the context of this present study. These studies indicated that variables such as visualization (Al-Murtadha, in press), social climate (Joe, Hiver, & Al-Hoorie, 2017), Teachers’ language competence (Aiello, Di Martino, & Di Sabato, 2017) and classroom environment (Khajavy, MacIntyre, & Barabadi, 2018) influenced learners’ L2 WTC. Mohammadzadeh and Jafarigohar (2012), for example, examined the relationship between WTC and multiple intelligences among a group of

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Table 3.2 Qualitative studies conducted on L2 WTC (Zarrinabadi & Tanbakooei, 2016) printed with permission Authors

Objectives

Participants

Instrumentation

Results

Kang (2005)

1. To investigate situational variables affect WTC in L2 in a communication situation 2. How situational WTC is conceptualized changed over the course of communication

Four Korean male students aged 23–25

Semi-structures interview and stimulated recalls

Freiermuth and Jarrell (2006)

To investigate the potential of computer mediated communication to enhance students’ WTC

36 female Japanese university students

Open-ended questionnaire, online and face-to-face tasks

Cao (2011)

1. To examine learners’ perceptions of individual and environmental factors contributing to their WTC 2. How individual and environmental factors jointly create learners’ WTC To describe the dynamics of the processes underlying WTC among immersion students

Six students from an advanced-level EAP class aged 20–30

Stimulated-recall interviews and use of journals

L2 situational WTC emerged from the interaction of excitement, responsibility, and security which were co-constructed by topic, interlocutors, conversational context Online communication produced a more comfortable environment increasing students’ WTC L2 WTC emerged from the joint effects of a group of individual, environmental, and linguistic variables

100 Canadian junior high school student in Grades 7, 8, and 9

Focused essay technique

MacIntyre, Burns, and Jessome (2011)

1. Teachers and peers, error correction, perceived competence, family and friends, and media usage influenced WTC 2. Subtle differences in the communication context can significantly alter WTC 3. Special care should be given to (continued)

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Table 3.2 (continued) Authors

Objectives

Participants

Instrumentation

Peng (2012)

1. To examine individual and contextual factors underlying WTC 2. To what extent an ecological perspective contribute WTC

Four Chinese university students

Semi-structured interviews, non-participant classroom observation, and learning journals

Zarrinabadi (2014)

To investigate the effect of teacher on learner’s WTC

50 undergraduate English students

Focused essay technique

Cao (2014)

1. To examine how WTC is demonstrated in L2 class 2. How individual and contextual factors interact and affect WTC

Six (19-26) Chinese university students in New Zealand

Classroom observation and stimulated-recall interview

Results understanding the ambivalent psychological processes they are going to, and the ways those processes impact L2 communication 1. WTC was synergistically influenced by a range of individual and environmental factors 2. The existence of the meso-, exo-, and macrosystem and their effect on classroom WTC Teacher’s wait time, error correction, teacher’s decision on the topic, and teacher’s support influenced learner’s WTC 1. WTC is a dynamic situational variable 2. WTC resulted from interdependence among individual classroom environmental and linguistic factors

500 EFL learners and reported that multiple intelligences were significantly related to L2 WTC. Also, Birjandi and Amiri (2011) investigated WTC in among Iranian kids. Their study included teaching kids to report their WTC level. Birjandi and Amiri (2011) recorded the learners’ WTC for 12 months and reported that WTC was as a social characteristic and a personality factor which influenced language development.

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Table 3.3 Mixed methods studies conducted on L2 WTC (Zarrinabadi & Tanbakooei, 2016) printed with permission Authors

Objectives

Participants

Instrumentation

Results

Baker and MacIntyre (2000)

To investigate WTC among immersion and non-immersion students

195 immersion and non-immersion Canadian learners aged 14–18

Survey and focused essay technique

Cao and Philp (2006)

1. To examine how setting influenced learner’s WTC 2. To investigate the variables that influenced learner’s WTC in the whole class, group, and dyadic interaction

Eight language students at a university-based private language school in New Zealand

WTC Questionnaire, classroom observation, audio-recording of group and pair work, and interview

De Saint Legér and Storch (2009)

1. To investigate learners’ perception regarding their speaking ability and whole class and small group participation over the course 2. To examine learner’s attitudes to the discussion 1. To study WTC from a dynamic systems approach using an

90 Australian university students

Questionnaire, focused group interview, teacher’s assessment on class participation

1. Immersion students indicated higher WTC 2. WTC was related to age and gender 3. WTC was high when traveling, meeting friends, and giving class presentations 1. No clear correlation was found between learner’s self-report WTC and behavioural WTC 2. The group size, familiarity with interlocutors, interlocutor’s participation, familiarity with topic under discussion, self-confidence, medium of communication, and cultural background Students’ perceptions and attitudes influenced their WTC

Six female university students aged 19–21

Questionnaire, L2 tasks, videotaped interviews, dynamic WTC ratings, and

MacIntyre and Legatto (2011)

1. The results showed both consistency and variation in WTC even among a (continued)

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Table 3.3 (continued) Authors

Tavakoli and Zarrinabadi (in press)

Objectives idiodynamic method 2. To examine the effects of different tasks and the amount of speaking time on WTC 3. To investigate the variation in WTC over time and to use a dynamic systems approach 4. To document changing levels of WTC 5. To examine individual participants’ attributions for increases and decreases in WTC 1. The effect of explicit and implicit corrective feedback on Iranian EFL learners

Participants

Three intact classes including 96 Iranian EFL learners

Instrumentation

Results

researcher’s ratings

relatively homogeneous sample of speakers 2. Vocabulary was identified as a key process affecting WTC 3. WTC is a dynamic system

Questionnaire and semi-structured interviews

Explicit feedback enhances L2 WTC by increasing their linguistic self-confidence

In another study, Alemi, Daftarifard, and Pashmforoosh (2011) studied the relationship of various factors with Iranian EFL learners’ WTC among a sample of 49 non-English majoring students and reported that non-linguistic predictors such as CA and language anxiety are not strong predictors of L2 WTC. Ghonsooly, Khajavy, and Asadpour (2012) examined L2 WTC among 158 non-English majoring university learners in Mashhad, Iran. Ghonsooly et al. (2012) investigated the role of a number of factors such a communication anxiety, approach- avoidance tendency, attitude, openness to experience, interest in foreign affairs, self-confidence, and communication competence on L2 WTC. Employing structural equation modeling, Ghonsooly et al. (2012) reported that L2 self-confidence and attitude toward the international community best predicted L2 WTC in Iran, with L2 self-confidence as the strongest predictor of L2 WTC. In 2012, Khazaei, Moin Zadeh, and Ketabi explored Iranian EFL learners’ WTC across various class sizes and found that the size of the class was a determining factor in predicting L2 WTC. Khazaei et al. (2012) examined 30 male and female EFL learners across three different classes for six weeks and noted that students tended to be higher in WTC

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in classes with small sizes. They also found that language instructors in larger classes should use more communicative strategies to motivate their pupils to take part and get involved in classroom communication. Moreover, Fallah (2014) tested a model of L2 communication which investigated the potential links among L2 WTC and factors such as motivation, shyness, communication self-confidences and teacher immediacy. The participants were a sample of 252 Iranian EFL university students. The results of structural equational modelling (SEM) showed that there was a significant positive paths from motivation and communication self-confidence to L2WTC. Also, significant relationships between immediacy, motivation, self-confidence and negative links between shyness, self-confidence, motivation were reported. Fallah (2014) reported that shyness and teacher immediacy indirectly influenced L2 WTC through the mediating role of self-confidence and motivation. Khajavy, Ghonsooly, Hosseini Fatemi, and Choi (2016) WTC in L2 in the classroom context. To this purpose, they developed an L2 WTC model based on MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) model and previous empirical studies. They investigated inspected the interrelationships among L2 WTC, communication confidence, English language achievement, classroom environment, and attitudes toward learning English. Their proposed SEM model adequately fitted the data collected from 243 students. The findings showed that classroom environment functioned as the strongest predictor of WTC in L2. Also, communication confidence influenced WTC, whereas motivation indirectly impacted WTC by influencing communication confidence. Furthermore, English language proficiency influenced WTC in English through communication confidence with classroom environment having direct impact on attitudes, communication confidence, and motivation.

3.5

Conclusion

As discussed in this chapter, WTC is one of the factors that significantly predicts L2 classroom communication (Zarrinabadi & Tanbakooei, 2016). It is therefore important to examine the variables that exert an impact on L2 WTC and realize the situations in which WTC is fostered or hindered. In this study, the authors aimed to see whether experiencing a DMC has any facilitative or hindering effect on L2 learners’ WTC.

Chapter 4

Language Learner Autonomy, Self-confidence, Self-concept

4.1

Introduction

This study aimed to examine the effect of experiencing a DMC on language learners’ autonomy, self-confidence and self-concept. This chapter deals with the notions of language learner autonomy, self-confidence, and self-concept ad reviews the key ideas related to these topics. Theoretical and empirical studies related to each of these concepts is reviewed separately and the latest developments in research on each variable are discussed.

4.2

Language Learner Autonomy

The denotative definition of autonomy in Collins COBUILD English Language Dictionary (Sinclair, 2000) is the ability to make your own decisions about what to do rather than being influenced by someone else or told what to do. In regards to the scientific definition of autonomy, Holec (1981, p. 3), in his seminal work, defined autonomy as “the ability to take charge of one’s own learning.” Moreover, Holec (1981) stated that an autonomous individual required: to have, and to hold the responsibility for all the decisions concerning all aspects of this learning, i.e. determining the objectives; defining the contents and progressions; selecting methods and techniques to be used; monitoring the procedures of acquisition properly speaking (rhythm, time, place, etc.); evaluating what has been acquired. (Holec, 1981, p. 3)

While in this definition the word ability has been used, words such as ability and taking charge of were later replaced by some others like ‘capacity’ and ‘take responsibility for’ (Ding, 2012). In a highly cited definition, for instance, Little (1990, 1991) proposed autonomy as ‘a capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision making and independent action’ (p. 4). Little (1991) defined learner autonomy by negation to break the following five misconceptions (p. 3): © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 N. Zarrinabadi et al., Directed Motivational Currents in L2, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05472-4_4

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4 Language Learner Autonomy, Self-confidence, Self-concept (a) Autonomy is not synonymous with self-instruction; in other words, it is not limited to learning without a teacher. (b) Autonomy is not something instructors do to learners; in other words, it is not a novel methodology. (c) Autonomy is not a single easily described behaviour. (d) In the classroom context, autonomy does not require the teacher to relinquish all initiative and control. (e) Autonomy is not a stable state attained by different ways.

Apparently, Little (1991) defined language learner autonomy by focusing on psychological issues. Little’s (1991) psychological approach led to several questions about what the most significant elements of autonomy in the field of language teaching and learning. It could be said that learner responsibility connotes that L2 learners were conscious of their own roles that could result in metacognitivefocused interpretations. Analysing autonomy from another angle, Deci and Ryan (1985) referred to an important connection between the mediator’s impact and the learner’s development of autonomy. These developmental psychologists noted that extrinsically motivated activities could be intrinsic and autonomous because of individuals’ natural propensities to internalize and integrate meaningful facets of social environment (Deci & Ryan, 1985, p. 38), this is, of course, a function of a central human need named organismic integration. In their Self-Determination Theory, Deci and Ryan (1985) believe that: People tend naturally to internalize the regulations of socially sanctioned activities to feel related to others and efficacious within the social world, and they tend to integrate those regulatory processes to maximize their experience of autonomy or self-regulation. (p. 38)

In this idea, they propose that humans naturally pursue autonomy, competence, and relatedness to other people through their activities. They also note that the individuals whom learners interact with may reinforce or constrain the advance of autonomy (Nga, 2014). As such, Deci and Ryan suggest that autonomy involves competence and relatedness, as all individuals are social creatures who cannot live alone. Prominently, competence is an essential and vital part of autonomy in general and L2 learner autonomy in particular (Nga, 2014). Furthermore, Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, and Ryan (1991) noted that numerous methods of formal education could have a negative impact on the improvement of autonomous self-regulation. It is, of course, worth noting that, as Deci and Ryan’s ideas suggests, both others in the society and educational mediation can support autonomy and do not just hinder or negatively condition the individuals (Nga, 2014). As such, while Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory presents the conceptual provision for the effect of educational intervention in enhancing L2 learners’ autonomy; however, the factors related to specific methods for teachers to help students undergo self-regulating development remain to be examined (Nga, 2014).

4.2 Language Learner Autonomy

4.2.1

35

Language Learner Autonomy: Theoretical Issues

After the idea of learner autonomy was proposed by Holec (1981), several other researchers tried to present their interpretations of learner autonomy in learning a new language and the notion of language learner autonomy (Benson, 2007; Benson & Voller, 2014; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011; Little, Dam, & Legenhausen, 2017; Nga, 2014). In so doing, by criticizing the notion of learner autonomy as a self-evidently positive goal for L2 learning, Benson (2007) noted that more critical approaches to learner autonomy were needed (Nga, 2014). Enumerating three seminal contributions in the field (Allright, 1988; Holec, 1981; Wenden, 1991), Benson (1996) claimed that a dual division has been produced developed in regards to learner autonomy in an L2. To Benson (1996), this distinction happened when Allwright (1988) and Wenden (1991) introduced the notion of autonomy as something closely connected to other psychological ID factors in L2 learning literature. This view was different from Holec’s conceptualization of autonomy which included political features of education. In other words, Holec’s ideas have functioned as a political standard for self-directed learning at different institutions and practical programs, an institution that has played a leading role for research and practice in the field up to the present day (Nga, 2014; Wenden, 2002). Also, L2 learning projects following the ideas of Holec (1981) constituted one part of the larger socio-political undertaking in which education has to help to the improvement of the quality of life as well as material well-being. Therefore, education has to help every single learner to grow the abilities which “enables him to act more responsibly in running the affairs of the society in which he lives” (Holec, 1981, p. 1). It was based on such a principle that Holec (1981) conceptualized autonomy as “the ability to take charge of one’s own learning” (p. 3) and noted that such an ability comprises of holding the accountability for all the decisions that exist in learning ranging from determining goals to assessing learning outcomes. Holec (1981) suggested that even students still not autonomous should take charge of the whole of their learning. He added that teachers’ chief task should be present support. Besides, Holec emphasized that there has to be a learning environment and structure in which control over the learning can be implemented by the learner (Nga, 2014). According to Benson (1996), Holec’s definition of learner autonomy includes words such as “learning structure” and “to hold responsibility for all the decisions” and the fact that the educator’s role was to lend support to his/her learners’ efforts to learn rather than to teach them, might be construed as the virtual rejection of traditional ways of teaching. However, as Benson (2001) mentioned, Allwright (1988) criticized this idea. Allwright believed that if instructors could inspire autonomous classroom behavior in their learners, there would be several ways to encourage learner autonomy even using traditional whole-class teaching. Arguably, Benson adds that the weaker version of Holec’s original formation of L2 learner autonomy was made better by Wenden (1991) who linked learner

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autonomy with a sub-field in SLA called learner strategy training. Wenden aimed to put the methodology of student training especially learner strategy training within the broader theoretical setting of learner autonomy. In her ideas, however, Wenden equated notions as successful, expert, or intelligent with autonomy in L2 learning (Wenden, 1991). Consequently, Benson noted that Wenden’s (1988) integration of the concept of L2 learner autonomy in learner strategy training encouraged a further weakening of the situational or structural basics of L2 learner autonomy in mainstream TEFL. To sum up, Benson contended that her exclusive importance given to learner behavior and her stillness about the politically-oriented origin of learner autonomy produced an impression that the student’s behavior is an enough criterion for autonomy. Likewise, Benson (1991) referred to the individual and psychological views of learner autonomy in L2 learning and instruction. At the same time, and given the ideas gleaned from the perspective of critical pedagogy (Benesch, 2001; Pennycook, 2001), Benson (1996) claimed that language instruction is closely related to the subject of power and that ignoring this facet of language teaching equals acceptance of the current status. Therefore, Benson’s (1997) critical and political view of learner autonomy aimed to produce learning opportunities in which learners were not responsible for but controlled “the three interrelated levels: control of the learning process, control of resources and control of language” (p. 31). Based on Little (2001), there are two critical factors that contribute to the development of learner autonomy: collaboration and reflection. Among these two, collaboration refers to the external social interaction learners indulge in with their classmates. Collaboration is broadly recognized to be beneficial in regards to cognitive, social, and affective features of learning both in developmental psychology and education (Donato, 2004). Collaborative learning, in this view, is defined as “a situation in which two or more people attempt to learn something together” (Dillenbourgh, 1999, p. 2). It is applied to pedagogical purposes and entails a meaningful core activity and the social relations that are developed as a result of the conjointly constructed goal for the common effort (Dillenbourgh, 1999). Reflection is the internal retrospective accounts of language learning experience. As for reflection, writing and diary-keeping are important to developing learner autonomy (Little, 2000).

4.2.2

Empirical Research on Language Learner Autonomy

Several scholars aimed to examine the links between factors related to language learning and language learner autonomy. The results of these studies indicated that learner autonomy was related to factors such as teacher motivation (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2009; Yeung & Hyland, 2013), learner motivation (Yeung & Hyland, 2013), self-access language learning (Little, 2015), using social media (Chik &

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37

Breidbach, 2014), telecollaborative language learning (Little, 2016), grammar learning, (Pawlak, 2017), metacognitive perspectives (Zhang, 2016), strategy-based instruction (Nguyen & Gu, 2013), and computer-assisted language learning (Jarvis, 2013). Looking at the research done over the past 10 years, it becomes evident that the studies conducted on language learner autonomy fell mainly in one of the two trend. These trends included (a) finding perceptions of language learner autonomy and the factors that influence language learner autonomy and (b) discussing the teaching strategies and curricula that foster autonomy. The considerable bulk of research was conducted on the factors that related to/influenced language learner autonomy. For example, Azimi Mohamad Abadi and Baradaran (2013) examined the association between autonomy and vocabulary learning strategies. Azimi Mohamad Abadi and Baradaran (2013) administered questionnaires to 190 EFL learners. Their results showed that a significant positive correlation existed L2 learner autonomy and using vocabulary learning strategies. Furthermore, their study showed that the more proficient learners were, a stronger positive association there was with their lexical learning strategies. Moreover, Peek (2016) reported that more experienced language learners are likely more autonomous learners since they subscribe to language learning beliefs that are indicative of a more internal locus of control. Balcikanli (2010) examined beliefs about learner autonomy among teachers and learners and noted that teachers were interested in having autonomous and independent students whereas the learners did not wish to foster autonomy in their future teaching profession due to lack of time. Moreover, Shangarfam and Ghazisaeedi examined the links between EFL learners’ L2 autonomy and L1 and L2 essay writing performance. The findings indicated that autonomy was a strong predictor for L1 and L2 essay writing. But, as compared to L1 writing, language learner autonomy scores displayed a stronger correlation with L2. The findings were in line with Bagheri and Aeen (2011) who examined the role of practicing autonomy in improving writing proficiency of Iranian EFL learners. On the other hand, Shakeri and Nosratnia (2013) reported that there were no significant correlation between 106 EFL learners’ scores on an autonomy survey and L2 reading comprehension ability. Shakeri and Nosratnia (2013) believed that although autonomy could be helpful for other language skills, it was not meaningfully related to reading comprehension ability in English. In a quantitative questionnaire research study, Nematipour (2012) examined language learner autonomy level among two hundred EFL learners. The findings revealed that most of the learners’ were moderately autonomous. Furthermore, a significant meaningful correlation was found between L2 autonomy and visual and auditory learning styles. Farahani (2014) explored 405 EFL students’ readiness for autonomous learning and reported a gap between the learners’ perceptions and their real practices. Farahani (2014) found absence of motivation, teacher feedback, and time as the motives behind the gap were among the factors that significantly influenced language learner autonomy. Also, Han (2015), in a theoretical study, discussed the potentials of flipped classroom for language learning and claimed that flipped classroom could increase language learner autonomy. Finally, Borg and

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Alshumaireri (in press) reported that teachers identified learner autonomy primarily with notions of independence and control and viewed it as the capability and motivation to complete tasks. Also, several scholars tried to propose teaching plans and programs which helped increase language learner autonomy in the classroom. Bagheri and Aeen (2011) examined autonomy among 60 Iranian EFL students and reported that learners’ writing proficiency was improved by practicing autonomy. Moreover, Hafner and Miller (2011) discussed that courses designed based on project-based learning and pedagogy of multiliteracies could positively influence language learner autonomy. In another study, Khabiri and Lavasani (2012) employed a collaborative approach to autonomy and examined the impact of an autonomous approach on speaking skill with a control one. They gave the autonomy group the choice to select the learning materials and asked them to select the follow-up tasks and negotiate to perform them. Though in the control one, the instructor chose the material and allocated some tasks for the learners. The findings of the oral interview after the treatment were meaningfully given to the experimental group. Nguyen and Gu (2013) also found that “strategy-based instruction in the form of training learners in task-specific metacognitive self-regulation improved learners’ autonomy in both learning and their writing ability” (p. 9). Moreover, Shams (2013) sought to examine how Iranian EFL learners’ autonomy level increased by attending a vocabulary course. Shams reported that the course enhanced both learners’ autonomy level and their vocabulary knowledge. Moreover, Also, Han (2015), in a theoretical study, discussed the potentials of flipped classroom for language learning and claimed that flipped classroom could increase language learner autonomy.

4.3

L2 Self-confidence

In this section, first, the definition of L2 self-confidence is present and its two key components are described. Then, the research on the links between L2 self-confidence and SLA are reviewed.

4.3.1

Definition of L2 Self-confidence

L2 Self-confidence has been one of the key ID variables studied in the past three decades (Dörnyei, 2005; Kim, 2004). L2 self-confident is defined as “the overall belief in being able to communicate in the L2 in an adaptive and efficient manner” (MacIntyre, Clément, Dörnyei, & Noels, 1998, p. 551). One of the seminal studies in regards to L2-self-confidence was done by Clément (1980) who proposed that self-confidence includes two cognitive factors of perceived self-competence and foreign language anxiety. Later, in the 1980s, Clément and Kruidenier (1983, 1985)

4.3 L2 Self-confidence

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Fig. 4.1 Components of L2 self-confidence in MacIntyre et al. (1998)

included these two elements as two main factors of linguistic self-confidence, an essential part of their model of the socio-motivational elements that affected L2 communicative competence (Clément, 1980; Clément & Kruidenier, 1983, 1985). Later, the scholars elaborated that (MacIntyre et al., 1998) the cognitive component included self-evaluation of language learning skills while the affective one encompassed anxiety and discomfort attached to using an L2 (see Fig. 4.1). A more elaborate definition of the construct was then suggested to be “self-perceptions of communicative competence and concomitant low levels of anxiety in using the second language” (Noels, Pon, & Clément, 1996, p. 248). Clément’s (1980) conceptualization of L2 self-confidence was corroborated by empirical research. Research studies indicated that foreign language anxiety and self-evaluations of L2 ability were significantly related (Clément, Gardner, & Smythe, 1980; Clément & Kruidenier, 1985; MacIntyre, Noels, & Clément, 1997). These studies found that a negative correlation existed between foreign language anxiety and actual and perceived competence in using an L2 (Clément et al., 1980; Clément & Kruidenier, 1985; MacIntyre et al., 1997). Also they found that anxiety decreased as the learners expanded their experience and competence (Gardner, Moorcroft, & Metford, 1989). MacIntyre et al. (1997) referred to a vicious cycle wherein anxiety made students unwilling to talk which caused them to miss chances to reassess their competence and practice language which could eventually enhance their actual competence. Similarly, MacIntyre, Baker, Clément, and Conrod (2001) found that L2 learners’ confidence was not isomorphic anxiety about communicating or perceived competence but the three factors were significantly correlated.

4.3.2

Research on L2 Self-confidence and SLA

Kim (2004) notes that self-confidence is important in SLA it that it has close links with L2 actual performance. Likewise, McCroskey and Richmond claimed that while L2 learner are cognitively cognizant of their perceived L2 competence, they might not be knowledgeable about their actual competence. McCroskey and Richmond added that the L2 learners’ decision to approach or avoid communication

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in L2 was cognitive in nature, therefore, their decision might be influenced more by their perceived competence and less by their actual L2 ability. Yashima (2002), in a study on Japanese university students, tried to examine the relationship between various affective variables and WTC. The results of SEM analysis showed that there was no statistically significant correlation between actual L2 proficiency, as tested by an English test, and L2 communication confidence, whereas L2 communication confidence was meaningfully associated with perceived competence and L2 WTC. MacIntyre et al. (1997) reported that the L2 learner’s perception of L2 communicative competence could be modified by their language anxiety level. Language learners who are more nervous about using an L2 are likely to identify their actual communicative competence negatively and rather than what is observed by others. Additionally, Clément, Dörnyei, and Noels (1994) conducted a research study with 301 secondary school learners aiming to discover social psychological influences that could impact motivational aspects in L2 learning settings. The analysis of the data gathered by questionnaires indicated that less anxious learners tended to rate their proficiency more positively. Clément et al. (1994) also found a positive and meaningful relationship between language achievement, L2 self-confidence, and evaluation of learning contexts. In reference to the links between foreign language anxiety and L2 learning, several scholars believed that L2 anxiety was negatively associated with L2 learning performance and achievement (Clément et al., 1994; Dörnyei, 2005; Ellis, 2008; Gardner, Masgoret, & Tremblay, 1999; Gardner, Masgoret, Tennant, & Mihic, 2004; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; Saito & Samimy, 1996). Some researchers noted that foreign language anxiety is connected to any efforts to improve L2 competence (Gardner, 1991; Horwitz et al., 1986; Kim, 2004; Samimy, 1994). An L2 learner’s performance associated with L2 anxiety might be identified by reactions such as “distortion of sounds, inability to reproduce the intonation and rhythm of the language, ‘freezing up’ when called on to perform, and forgetting words or phrases just learned or simply refusing to speak and remaining silent” (Young, 1991, cited in Samimy, 1994, p. 30) or tendency to abandon the class, avoid having eye contact, unprepared classroom attendance, or being highly competitive (Horwitz et al., 1986; Kim, 2004; Young, 1992). Additionally, language anxiety in L2 is prone to negatively influence three phases of the L2 learning process namely, input, processing, and output. At input level, anxiety can interfere with a language learner’s concentrating on the incoming input which can lead to a decrease in the amount of information registered in the memory (Kim, 2004). Also, it is theorized that if the tasks are relatively easy for a given learner’s competence, L2 anxiety can exert an impact on processing though the influence of language anxiety on processing can increase if the tasks get more and more difficult (Gardner et al., 1989; also Kim, 2004). At output level, L2 anxiety may hamper a learner from recovering previously learned information.

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It means that the more anxious learner is likely to underachieve in L2 language use (Gardner et al., 1999, 2004). In the same vein, MacIntyre and Gardner (1991) examined the influence of dimensions of L2 anxiety on L1 and L2 use with instruments such as Digit Span and Vocabulary tests and found that anxiety was significantly and negatively related to L2 use on the Digit Span and the French Categories test. On the contrary, they found no significant relationship between anxiety and variables relate to L1 use. MacIntyre and Gardner (1991) noted that language anxiety appeared to exert a negative impact on input and output stages of L2 use, whereas language anxiety did not influence any of the L1 production variables. Kim (2004) believed that this can be due to the fact that measures of L1 performance were not difficult for the learners to perform. Also, MacIntyre et al. claimed that L2 anxiety might not interfere with using language on simple cognitive tasks. Also, language anxiety and L2 achievement have been found to be negatively related by a number of L2 scholars (Clément et al., 1994, 1997; Horwitz et al., 1986; Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, & Daley, 2000). Kim (2004) notes that it may discourage learners from taking risks in using their L2, which may lead to underachievement in L2. Similarly, Clément et al. (1997) reported that it is vital for L2 learners to use their target L2 to reassess their L2 communicative competence. Anxious learners reluctant to talk in L2 do less but maintain a vicious cycle in which their L2 anxiety remains high due to their not receiving signs of increasing proficiency that can decrease anxiety. This negative effect can result in a student’s demotivation to participate in L2 communication situations, which may cause their L2 underachievement. Also, Samimy and Tabuse (1992) conducted a research study to examine the potential effect of affective and motivational factors on L2 learning among university learners. To this purpose, 8 scales were used from Ely’s study (1986). Each learners’ level of achievement was assessed using a total of his/her cumulative scores on daily tasks, mid-term and final assessments, and homework projects. The results of stepwise regression showed that there was significant negative correlation between language discomfort which is an index of anxiety and risk-taking. Feeling uncomfortable or nervous in the classroom, learners appeared not to risks in using their L2. In the next phase of the study, the three factors of gender, classroom risk-taking, and learner class status were the strongest predictors of the learners’ grades. Female language learners who were eager to take risks in the L2 got the highest scores. However, the two factors including strength of motivation and L2 spoken at home were the best predictors of the participants’ final scores. Those participants who were motivated to invest their time and energy to learn English, and had chances to use the L2 at home, got higher scores in English. Over the past few decades, previous research has shown that self-confidence is negatively related to language anxiety, whereas positively connected to perceived communicative competence (Kim, 2004; MacIntyre et al., 1997). MacIntyre et al. (1997) did a study with a sample of 37 university French learners so as to examine the relationship among perceived competence, actual L2 competence, and foreign language anxiety. MacIntyre et al. (1997) theorized that perceived communication

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competence and L2 actual competence were significantly correlated, however, the relationship between the factors was not isomorphic. MacIntyre et al. added that both perceived communication competence and actual competence in L2 were negatively related to L2 language anxiety. They used a questionnaire including a language anxiety scale and a scale of self-rated L2 competence. Their results showed that perceived competence was significantly associated with actual L2 competence meaning that the more proficient L2 learners were likely to perceive themselves as more competent. As for the relationship with language anxiety, perceived L2 competence and actual L2 competence were significantly correlated with L2 anxiety (MacIntyre, 1994; MacIntyre et al., 2001; Yashima, 2002). Also, L2 self-confidence is related to other affective variables in L2 learning (Dörnyei, 2005; Kim, 2004; MacIntyre et al., 1998). For example, Ganschow and Sparks (1991) reported that the L2 learners’ self-confidence was a significant variable in predicting their willingness to experience L2 difficulties. Moreover, DeVito (1986) noted that self-confidence evidently improves learner’s ability to reach goals via communication as well as the ability to create mutual satisfaction for interpersonal communication. Clark (1989) believed that “confidence allows a student to develop a desire to communicate” (p. 237). Similarly, Onwuegbuzie et al. (2000) reported that L2 learners with higher self-confidence levels were usually more active in communicating with members of the L2 community. Also, MacIntyre et al. (1998) noted that self-confidence exerts an important role on L2 learners’ L2 WTC. Baker and MacIntyre (2003) reported that L2 self-confidence was significantly related to L2 WTC and L2 motivation. Fallah (2014) also reported that self-confidence was a significant predictor of L2 motivation and L2 WTC in Iran. Also, Ghonsooly, Khajavy, and Asadpour (2012) reported that L2 self-confidence L2 self-confidence was a significant predictor of L2 WTC among non-English students in Mashhad Iran. Further, Papi (2010) found a significant relationship between L2 self-confidence and possible selves (ought-to self, ideal L2 self, and learning experience). In regards to the context of this study, Zare-ee and Asgari Matin (2014) reported that self-confidence changed among language learners over time. They also reported that instrumental orientations were significantly related to L2 self-confidence among Iranian EFL learners. Rezaei, Jafari, and Younas (2014) found that the learners’ L2 writing achievement was significantly influenced by their self-confidence. Meaning that had a positive relationship with their English writing. Kamyabi Gol and Aleleabbas (2016) studied the links between English teachers’ self-confidence level and L2 students’ development of conversational skills. In an experimental design, they used including conversations, role plays, and speaking about pictures to teach conversation skills to two high and low self-confidence level groups. They reported that the high self-confident group significantly outperformed the control one.

4.4 Language Learner Self-concept

4.4

43

Language Learner Self-concept

Self-concept is a person’s beliefs about oneself and one’s self-perceptions (Mercer, 2011b). It refers to the beliefs which students have about themselves (Kehrwald, 2014). Mercer (2011b, 2014) reported that knowing how learners understand and interpret themselves is the prerequisite to find out how they take part in L2 learning activities. This entails taking cognizance of how they think or feel and make sense of themselves and the surrounding world (Mercer, 2011b, 2012, 2014). Learners’ self-concepts involve their beliefs about themselves in various areas such as knowledge, activity, school, family domains, academic, and social domains. The study of self-concept has been prevalent in psychology (Marsh, 1992; Marsh, Scalas, & Nagengast, 2010) and social psychology (Markus & Nurius, 1986; Markus & Wurf, 1987), whereas the research in self-concept is a rather new idea in SLA research. Kehrwald (2014) believed that self-concept is very helpful to understand the intricacies and complexities of L2 learners’ development and their behaviors, attitudes, approaches, and motivations for L2 learning. One of the notions closely tied to self-concept is the notion of identity. The difference between these two notions is difficult to discuss as they are closely interrelated to the extent that they are used interchangeably or synonymously (Kehrwald, 2014). Self-concept refers to the inner psychological sense of self in a specific area or domain (Mercer, 2011a, 2011b). Some scholars note that selfconcept is an inseparable part of identity because it involves both personal and social identities (Oyserman, Bybee, Terry, & Hart-Johnson, 2004). Tajfel (1982) claimed that personal identities are facets of self-concept related to individual characteristics and goals while social identities constitute part of a person’s self-concept stemming from being a member to a social group. However, individuals’ identities are created from social interactions and others’ evaluations. Norton (2000) employed the notion of identity to point to the way in which an individual makes sense of his or her relation with the world, how this relationship is built across time and space, and how the individual comprehends potentials for the future (Norton, 2000, 2001). Also, Norton considerers language is “constitutive of and constituted by a language learner’s social identity” (2000, p. 5) and Mercer (2011b) thinks of them as two interrelated ideas. The social dimension of self-concepts states that self-perceptions change by interaction with others and the surrounding environment, and by interpretations or reflections on such interactions (Kehrwald, 2014; Marsh & Scalas, 2010). This entails that self-concept is a social product as well as a social force. It should be noted that learners’ concepts of self are contextually situated as well as socially mediated (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Self-concepts are dynamic because they grow out of different experiences and the connections individuals make between past, present and future practices (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Giddens (1991) noted that continuous flow of input lead to a constant re-organization of self, shaping a trajectory of growth of self from past experience to the desired future.

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Furthermore, previous researchers reported that self-concept is consisted of cognitive and emotive issues and reflects the emotional reactions to perceptions and to self-related factors such as efficacy, worth or esteem, confidence, and acceptance (Marsh & Scalas, 2010). In the same vein, Markus and Nurius (1986) noted that people can have numerous self-conceptions that involve: The good selves (the ones we remember fondly), the bad selves (the ones we would sooner forget), the hoped for selves, the feared selves, the not-me selves, the ideal selves, the ought selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986, p. 957). Markus and Nurius (1986) also add that these self-concepts can differ in regards to their level of behavioral and cognitive elaborations. Also, every self-conception also contain a specific affect or feeling about self which is related to it. To illustrate, once a negative self-concept is triggered (a failed test), it presents undesirable feelings, functioning as guidelines for interpreting the event or situation which, in turn, could influence following behaviors (Markus & Nurius, 1986), positively (working more in the lab) or negatively (getting disappointed). As such, Emotions influence students’ experiences and exert a significant impact on forming their learning behavior. It is worth noting that broader range of students’ emotions including excitement, joy, anger and satisfaction have remained widely unexplored (Bown & White, 2010). Few studies have addressed the dynamic side of emotions. It other words, they way in which emotions, whether positive or negative, develop and vary over time (Kehrwald, 2014).

4.4.1

Studies on Language Learners’ Self-concepts

A majority of studies conducted on learners’ self-concepts is related to the links between their self-concepts and success in their academic courses studies as assessed by classroom scores or (Kehrwald, 2014). So far, only a limited number of research studies have discovered the notion of self-concept in the field of English as an L2. These studies mainly related to the psycholinguistic tradition and have used Marsh and Scala’s (2010) theoretical model of self-concept to investigate the links between achievements in L2 and L2 learners’ self-concepts. Using the ideas of Shavelson, Hubner, and Stanton (1976), Marsh and Scala (2010) put forward a comprehensive, theoretical model of learner self-concept. Marsh and Scala’s (2010) model theorizes the self-concepts as a hierarchical structure and makes academic self-concept separate from other forms of self-concept like emotional self-concept. Other levels in the structure are involved to show that, self-concept in each field can be divided into minor self-concepts (Kehrwald, 2014). Marsh and Scalas’ (2010) model is very useful as it theorizes students’ academic self-concept as different from their general self-concepts. Additionally, they consider the learners’ self-conceptualizations at the heart of learning. Students’ conceptions of themselves both affect the ways in which they understand new stimuli and form new knowledge as well as their attitudes and approaches toward learning

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new tasks and ideas (Williams & Burden, 1999). Marsh and Scala’s be lived that self-concepts are affected by “evaluations by significant others, reinforcements, and attributions for one’s own behavior” (Marsh & Scala, 2010, p. 660) and have a defining role in person’s motivated behavior. Several studies were conducted with a similar viewpoint among language students. Lau, Yeung, Jin, and Low (1999) conducted a study with 321 advanced level ESL learners in Hong Kong and noted that learners’ self-concepts had a multidimensional and hierarchical nature. They also added that learners global English self-concept subordinated skill related self-concepts. In a similar study, Marsh et al. (2001) reported that Chinese, English and Math achievements exerted a positive influence on matching self-concept while having a negative impact on non-matching ones. Also, Marsh (2006) drew the attention to the both internal and external variables which influenced the formation of self-concept. In these new model Marsh (2006) notes that learners’ perceptions of their actions and performance in an academic area are influenced their perceived performances in another academic areas i.e. internal frame of reference. Such perceptions are shaped with references to the activities other learners in that same domain and external frame of reference or external measures of ability (e.g., age). Although research studies on self-concept reflecting this multi-dimensional, hierarchical model have helped to understand self-concept in L2, the model did not clearly involve studies in L2. In this sense, L2 learning is treated as a domain like mathematics. So, language is considered as a representational and articulatory instrument in construction of self (Kehrwald, 2014). Few studies have examined the associations between self-concept and language students’ motivated behavior. Kormos and Csizér (2010) examined the L2 learning motivations of more than 1000 Hungarian learners with or without dyslexia from English and German by using a large scale questionnaire. The findings showed that the strongest predictor of students’ motivation was their L2 self-concept. Students of English who had a robust L2 self-concept could see themselves as successful learners and users of L2 the future. Kormos and Csizér’s findings showed that L2 students with dyslexia had less positive self-concept than those non-dyslexic ones. These learners found it hard to imagine themselves successful learners and users of the L2 in the future. The study also emphasized the mediating part played by instructors and parents in increasing students’ self-concepts, attitudes, and motivations. In another study, Henry (2009) inspected the relationship between gender and motivation for learning an L2. Specifically, his work focused on the motivation derived from students’ self-concepts as future students and users of L2. An objective of the study was to get more insights into the issue of male learners’ lack of motivation for L2 learning with the goal of developing possible strategies to increase the learners’ L2 learning self-concepts. A group of 169 male and female school learners took part in a survey at two points of time, once when in sixth grade and once when in their ninth and final grade. The results of Henry’s (2009) research show that apart from being stable constructs, self-concepts vary substantially in childhood and early adolescence. Henry’s results indicated that students’

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4 Language Learner Autonomy, Self-confidence, Self-concept

self-concepts might alter over time, as learners get older, referring to the dynamic nature of L2 students’ self-concepts. Also, this is in line with research studies of self-concept that put forward that as students’ experience periods of transitions, there can be a lack of self-concept clarity (Johnson & Nozick, 2011). Contrary to the quantitative approach taken to the above studies, Mercer (2011b) employed a qualitative approach to delve more into the complex and dynamic nature of L2 self-concept as related to individual students. Self-concept in Mercer’s (2011b) this study was affected by studies done in educational psychology, chiefly the studies which investigated motivational and affective aspects of learning in addition to sociocultural understandings of L2 development. In this view, self-concept is considered as a dynamic, multi-faceted psychological notion that affects and is affected by an individual’s social settings and interactions (Mercer, 2011b, 2014). Self-concepts can alter across persons and contexts but that have a level of internal stability (Mercer, 2011b). The findings of Mercer’s (2011b) study showed that there is a possibly strong overlap between internal and external variables influencing construction of L2 learners’ self-concepts. The study showed that there exist a complex and interconnected system of different. Moreover, whereas presenting a more situated understanding considers the importance of external factors in the construction of L2 learners’ self-concepts, Mercer emphasized the significance of considering how self-concepts exist in the learner as a holistic being (Mercer, 2011a, 2011b, 2012). Moreover, Ghonsooly and Elahi Shirvan (2010) examined the impact of self-efficacy and self-concept of Iranian students on their reading ability. The study was conducted among150 sophomore Iranian students English literature students. Ghonsooly and Elahi Shirvan (2010) used a researcher-made scale and found that those with high self-efficacy and self-concept achieved higher scores in reading comprehension test. Amiryousefi (in press) also found that interests predicted L2 WTC. Raoofi, Tan and Chan (2012) investigated the effect of self-efficacy on L2 learning and reported that several factors increased the level of students’ self-efficacy, and self-efficacy was a strong predictor of performance in various language skills and tasks. Erten and Burden (2014) also investigated the associations between classroom test performance, academic self-concept, and causal attribution in the Turkish EFL context. Their results indicated that teachers were the most frequent attribution for test scores. After that ability, long term effort, and interest were other attributions. In addition, Erten and Burden (2014) reported that variables such as academic self-concept, interest and attribution, and instructor attribution were the strongest related factors to test performance. They concluded that knowledge of learner attributions and academic self-concept could present valuable information to English teachers at the level of prediction as well as intervention. Hosseini Fatemi and Vahidnia (2013) also studied the relationship between self-related issues and motivation among 93 Iranian students and found some positive relationship between students’ self-efficacy and their intrinsic motivation. They also noted that amotivation was negatively related to self-concept and self-efficacy beliefs. Finally, Piran (2014) studied the relation between self-related issues (including self-concept) and reading achievement among Iranian EFL

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students. She found that self-concept and self-esteem were significantly related to reading comprehension, whereas the relationship between self-efficacy and reading comprehension score was not.

4.5

Conclusion

The theoretical and empirical issues related to language learner autonomy, self-confidence, and self-concept were presented in this chapter. Apparently, previous research has identified these factors as factors that significantly relate to the quality and quantity language learning and achievement. While there are several studies examining the links between the ID variables discussed in this chapter and L2 motivation, little is known about them when experiencing a DMC. This study therefore aimed to examine whether experiencing a DMC had any effect on self and communication related variables among EFL students.

Chapter 5

Methodology

5.1

Introduction

This chapter presents the methodological information of the study. Following the specific nature of the DMC phenomenon, a qualitative approach was used to address the research questions. As an important aspect of qualitative research is thick description of the context, participant, data collection, and data analysis procedure, detailed information about each of these elements is presented in this chapter. In so doing, first some information is given about the setting of the study, the textbooks used, and teachers of the study. Then, the rationale and the three stages of the systematic approach used to identify instances of a DMC experience are explained in detail. This chapter continues with describing the data collection tools and data analysis procedure. This study aimed to describe high and intense motivational experiences of Iranian EFL language learners, consider the extent to which the key concepts in the DMCs framework proposed by Dörnyei and his colleagues can explain highly motivated EFL learners’ stories, and consequently, assess the validity of DMCs construct. Moreover, this study examines whether experiencing a DMC results in any change in students’ non-linguistic characteristics which involve individual difference variables of WTC, L2 self-confidence, autonomy, and self-concept. To address the objectives of the study, the following research questions were posited: RQ1: To what extent do the core characteristics of the DMC framework explain highly motivated Iranian EFL learners’ stories? RQ2: How are DMCs triggered? RQ3: Are there the necessary conditions for successful launch of DMCs present among Iranian EFL students? RQ4: How does L2 willingness to communicate (WTC) change among Iranian EFL learners who experience a DMC? Why? RQ5: How does L2 self-confidence change among Iranian EFL learners who experience a DMC? Why? © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 N. Zarrinabadi et al., Directed Motivational Currents in L2, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05472-4_5

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RQ6: How does language learner autonomy change among Iranian EFL learners who experience a DMC? Why? RQ7: How does language self-concept change among Iranian EFL learners who experience a DMC? Why?

5.2

Setting of the Study

This study was performed in state high schools in Mousian, a city located in southwest of Iran. Based on the national census in 2002, the city has a population of 17,575. The ethnolinguistic structure of the city involves native speakers of Arabs, Lurs, and Kurds. This study was conducted with high school students. Based on the official information by Education office of Mousian, all of the students in the city were from 13 to 21 years old at the time of data collection. Also, The class size ranged from 10 to 25. Along with national education program, the schools offered different courses from diverse disciplines including Arabic and English as foreign languages. The students took part two 90-min sessions of English instruction per week. Physical Characteristics of the Classrooms The physical form of all the classes was rather similar. The students sat on hard chairs arranged in rows. The students were placed in classes facing their English teacher and the whiteboard or blackboard. Most of the classes had the traditional equipments and the only teaching materials were textbooks, a marker, chalk, and the board. Only 6 classes, out of a total of 22, were equipped with technological and computerized technology including computers, smart boards, or data projectors. Textbooks Features Following the policies of Ministry of Education of Iran, all of the schools used “Prospect Series” (junior high school) and “English for High School Series” (senior high school) for English education. These series offer diverse levels of English course. Following the newly-introduced Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) movement in Iran, the Prospect Series mainly focus on communicative teaching and practice of English so as to enable language learners use English for authentic interaction. English for High School Series, however, employ the Grammar Translation Method to teach English with mainly focusing on teaching grammar and vocabulary. Prospect Series as compared to English for High School Series include an amalgam of reading, writing, pronunciation, grammar and speaking activities. English for High School Series mainly include grammar and reading activities with less focus placed on training listening and speaking skills. İn Prospect Series, the number of listening and speaking exercises in the textbook is by far more in comparison to the number of grammar and writing exercises. Moreover, Prospect

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Series include a workbook, whereas English for High School Series do not. Finally, it should be noted that the schools testing system, in line with the guidelines prescribed by the Ministry of Education, include formative assessment during the semester and a final exam at the end of the term.

5.3

Participants

Teachers A group of eight English teachers worked at the schools participated in the present study. The teachers were either BA or MA holders of English translation or English literature. The demographic information of the English teachers and their class information are presented in Table 5.1. The teachers helped the researcher identify the students with a DMC experience. The classroom activities and teachers’ instructional practices highly resembled each other. This is mostly due to the prescriptions by educational systems in addition to similarities in students’ shared language proficiency level and linguistic background. Learners Not all motivational experiences will have the energy and intensity of DMCs. In order to increase the possibility of identifying students with a DMC-type experience, this study used a systematic participant sampling strategy to investigate the presence of intense goal-oriented motivational experiences among high school EFL students. The participants were recruited in several stages. A schematic representation of different stages taken to identify the participants is shown in Fig. 5.1. As shown in Fig. 5.1, in the first stage, the researcher met the president of the office of education of Mousian city and discussed the purpose of the study to gain necessary permission for finding and obtaining data from the participants.

Table 5.1 Background information of the teachers and their classes Teachers

Sex

Years teaching

Degree

Students levels

Class sizes

Yasin Masoud Hassan Razieh Zahra Zeinab Leili Nader

Male Male Male Female Female Female Female Male

13 6 21 9 8 8 2 7

BA MA BA BA MA BA BA BA

Intermediate Intermediate Intermediate Intermediate Intermediate Intermediate Intermediate Intermediate

12–24 11–21 10–20 10–25 14–23 12–25 13–20 11–21

52 Fig. 5.1 The schematic representation of different stages of participant recruitment

5

Methodology

A ending the Office of Educa on and Talking to authori es to get requisite permission for doing the study

Mee ng the perinicpals of high schools and talking about the purpose of the study

Disucssing the purpose of the study with English teachers in each high schools

Colle ng and inspec ng students mo va onal accounts to iden fy DMC-like experiences

5.3 Participants

53

After receiving written permission from the office, the researcher attended all the high schools in the city and talked to the principals. In separate meetings with each principal, the researcher explained the aims of the study and noted that he needs to hold meetings with the English teachers and the students eventually identified as the informants. The researcher also asked whether it is possible to conduct the meetings at the teachers and students’ high schools. In the third stage, the researcher held one-on-one meetings with the teachers and explained the purpose of the study and the target participants of the study. They were asked to identify those students they had taught in the past 18 month whom they perceived to be particularly motivated. In so doing, they were asked to express whether they have seen such instances. Also, the researcher gave them a checklist to fill for those students whose motivational experience resembled the one explained by the researcher. The checklist given to the teachers is presented as Appendix A. The teachers’ description of each student’s motivational profile was recorded and listened to for three times. The researcher carefully listened to the motivational profiles described by English teachers and inspected the checklist for reach student to see if they resembled a DMC experience. A number of 16 students were identified at this stage. Contacts (by telephone) were made with the principals to get permission for holding one-on-one meetings with each student. 3 from school A, 2 from school B, 3 from school C, 6 from school D, and 2 from school F. All of the students came from same socio-economic status, and were students of grade the first, third, and last year of high school. They came from both genders (10 males and 6 females). Finally, the researcher had face-to-face discussions with the students to identify whether their motivational experience was a DMC experience. At this stage, the three key components of DMCs described by Dörnyei, Henry, and Muir (2016) were considered as the standards for a DMC experience and only those motivational profiles which had the three key characteristics were identified as instances of DMCs. This systematic examination resulted in identifying 10 DMC experiences. The characteristics of the final sample for the study are presented in Table 5.2. The students described in Table 5.2 were those who experienced a DMC motivation. The data required to answer research questions were then collected using the qualitative data techniques described in the following subsections.

5.4

Design of the Study

This study utilized a qualitative research design to examine the phenomenon under study. Qualitative research methods such as Interview (Creswell, 2007; Dörnyei, 2007) Case Study (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005) Phenomenology (Lincoln & Guba, 1985), Interpretive Sequential Analysis (Samata, 2014) and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (Henry, 2011) are used when the aim of the research is to gain in-depth and detailed accounts of the participants’ views and experiences. As common to epistemology of qualitative research, this study tried to explore the

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Table 5.2 Demographic information of the study participants Name

Age

Major

Malek 18 Natural Sciences Amir 17 Mathematics Javad 17 Natural Sciences Jasem 19 Natural Sciences Hamid 14 Accounting Zeinab 17 Math Asma 15 Computer Reza 16 Mathematics Kosar 15 Accounting Ali 16 Natural Sciences Note Pseudonyms are used

Gender

L1

High school

Male Male Male Male Male Female Female Male Female Male

Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Luri Persian Luri Luri Persian Luri

A A C C F D D B D B

participants’ meaning through interpretivism (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The nature of the study and the research questions entailed that the researcher collected in-depth and detailed information about students’ lives and language learning experiences. Qualitative research is mainly experimental in nature (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). It aims to obtain an understanding of underlying facts, reasons, opinions, and attitudes (Patton, 2005). Qualitative research provides insights into the issue under study and helps to produce ideas or hypotheses for potential quantitative studies (Creswell, 2008, 2012). It is also employed to uncover tendencies and trends in thinking and opinions, and delve deeper into the phenomena (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005; Dörnyei, 2007). Data collection methods may vary from unstructured to semi-structured techniques. One of the benefits of qualitative research is that it allows for collecting retrospective information by making people remember and talk about their past experiences which may be related to their whole life or a particular time period or event in their life. In this study, the qualitative methodology included employing semi-structured interviews and simulated recalls to collect data about the participants’ DMC experience and their WTC, self-confidence, self-concept, and autonomy. Doing qualitative research needs that the researchers present detailed accounts of the context, participants, sampling methods, data collection and analysis, and ethical considerations of the study. Each of these elements is described in detail in this chapter.

5.5

Data Collection Methods

The primary tools for data gathering in this study consisted of motivational graphs, semistructured interviews, and stimulated recalls. Each of these data collection tools is described in detail below.

5.5 Data Collection Methods

5.5.1

55

Motivational Graphs

Following recent retrospective studies on motivation (Chan, Dörnyei, & Henry, 2015; Henry, 2015; Henry, Davydenko, & Dörnyei, 2015; Yashima & Arano, 2015), the participants were asked to plot their motivational trajectories as a graph. İn the first interview, the participants were given a graph and were asked to indicate the level of their motivation (on a column ranging from 0 to 100) for reach month in the past one and half a year. This was done to see whether a particular period of unusually intense motivation was experienced. This elicitation device is useful in that it made it possible for students to reflect on changes in their motivational intensity around possible critical junctures (Henry et al., 2015).

5.5.2

Semi-structured Interviews

Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data about the students’ DMC experience and their WTC, self-confidence, self-concept, and autonomy. The benefit of employing semi-structured interview is that this method is useful for investigating phenomena that are not directly observable (Mackey & Gass, 2005) and allows the researcher to learn about participants’ minds and meanings (Merriam, 1998). İn semi-structured interviews, the researcher uses an interview protocol to organize the questions, thereby, eliciting more explanations from the respondents based on their responses (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007; Patton, 2002). İn order to best perform such a qualitative technique, Legard, Keegan, and Ward (2003) proposed that the researcher should (a) be a careful listener and exhibit curiosity and interest in what is mentioned, (b) create a friendly atmosphere and establish rapport with the participants, (c) show composure and tranquility while conducting the interview, and (d) try to understand what the participants say rather than using wisdom and personal knowledge to interpret ideas. The researcher asked the participants to select the language of the interviews. They answered that they liked to be interviewed in Persian. The semi-structured interviews included a variety of questions. The researcher first asked some demographic questions about school education, family, L1 one and so on. The main part of the interviews related to their DMC experience. They were asked to talk about their goal and were required to describe it. Then, they were asked to explain the feelings they had during their DMC experience. Moreover, the researcher asked some questions regarding the role of others (e.g., peers, parents, teachers etc.). The interview protocol used for this part is included as Appendix B. Several probing questions were asked during the interviews. The Interviews were audio-recorded. The third part of the semi-structured interviews dealt with asking questions about the participants’ WTC, self-confidence, self-concept, and language learner autonomy. The interview protocol used for this part is presented as Appendix C. First,

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they were asked about their WTC during the DMC experience. Then, they were asked about their anxiety and linguistic self-confidence. Next, the researcher tried to ask questions on their beliefs about themselves before, during, and after the DMC experience. Finally, the researcher tried to find about any changes in their autonomy level. Each participant was interviewed twice and the conversations were audio-recorded.

5.5.3

Stimulated Recalls

Stimulated recalls comprised the next qualitative technique used for gathering the required data. This is a technique in which the recorded materials are played back for the participants or they are asked to remember an event in the past (Dörnyei, 2007). Then, they are asked to report to narrate what happened at that specific moment (Mackey & Gass, 2005). The stimulated recalls in this study were used to triangulate the data collected in the semi-structured interviews and motivational graphs. At this stage, the researcher gave the motivational graphs to the participants and asked them what happened and how they felt in each time period. As mentioned above, the motivational graphs were used to spot the areas of critical change; however, they were used as the instrument to have them remember their DMC experience and talk about it. Also the participants were asked to narrate specific moments of their motivational experience. The stimulated recalls were used to provide more precision and detail into the participants’ accounts. The stimulated recalls allowed for getting in-depth and detailed information about the ways in which different contextual, personal, physiological, and educational factors triggered or influenced the launch and propelling of DMCs. The participants noted that this technique activated and retrieved their memory about what happened at the time of their DMC experience. İn reference to other ID variables examined in the study, the researcher asked several probing or additional questions to get a clearer picture of their stories. Also, the researcher asked about the reasons of such changes. Sometimes, the researcher presented several angles of the event and asked about different reasons and causes of any particular event. Each participant was interviewed twice at this stage. Like semi-structured interviews, stimulated recalls were conducted in the students’ high schools and were audio-recorded producing 10 h of audio data.

5.5.4

Piloting Interview Questions

İn order to ensure the efficiency of the interview questions, the questions were piloted with two language learners. The goal of this stage was:

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(a) To find about any issues and problem before doing the main study (Mackey & Gass, 2005; Miles & Hubermann, 1994) and to the data collection tools and the data gathering procedures to warrant collection of sufficient and rich data. (b) To inspect the probable codes and categories to make sure that they function explicitly, appropriately, and exhaustively (Miles & Hunermann, 1994). This could give the researcher more assurance on the credibility of coding techniques while working with the actual data of the study. (c) To assess the degree of clarity, relevance and comprehensibility of the instructions, stimulated recall questions, and interview questions. (d) To explore the probing techniques in the semi-structured interviews and stimulated recall-interviews so as to reflect the participants’ views as efficiently as possible. (e) To examine the problems in getting participants’ meanings and attest the feasibility of the data collection tools (Dörnyei, 2005; Mackey & Gass, 2005). İn order to perform the pilot study, two experts familiar with the topic under study and the tenet of qualitative research inspected the interview protocols and suggested revising some of the questions to meet the objectives of the study. During this stage, some interview and stimulated recall questions were found to be confusing the participants. The qualitative questions were piloted at students’ high school. This was done because the respondents pointed out that the place made them feel more comfortable answering the questions. Several comments were given about the semi-structured interviews and the stimulated recalls when the interviewee was required to speak about the different variables in the study. To make the interviewees felt safe and not distracted, the subsequent interviews were performed in the sample place to keep the respondents relaxed. The respondents were allowed to select the language of the interviews (Farsi or English). This was done to minimize potential issues and challenges in understanding learners’ perspectives due to the effect of language. The two informants in the pilot study were good at reflecting and articulating about various questions asked. The pilot study helped the researcher to check his instruments and carefully select the probing questions and clarification questions.

5.6

Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis

The data for the main study were collected in September 2016. The motivational graphs were filled in before each person’s first interview. The interviews and simulated recalls were performed in the students’ school. The interviews and stimulated recalls were conducted by the first researcher. İn this study, qualitative content analysis (Miles & Hubermann, 1994) was used to analyze the qualitative data collected. İt is widely used by researchers for the sake of its flexibility (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005; Miles & Hubermann, 1994). This study uses the conventional type of qualitative content analysis because it targeted the

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data content and aimed to classify it into well-organized themes and categories which include close meanings (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). As noted in the design section in this chapter, the literature on DMCs was not much. This kind of qualitative analysis is used when the phenomenon is not known much or several angles of reality about it are latent to the researcher (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Qualitative content analysis is useful in that it gathers information straight from the informants without imposing predetermined ideas and biases and tries to present an in-depth and detailed account of the phenomenon under study (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). The analysis of the data in this study was done through a systematic stepwise mechanism (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005; Miles & Hubermann, 1994). Each of these stages is described in detail in the following subsections.

5.6.1

Preparing and Organizing the Data

Before conducting the data analysis, the first researcher prepared the data. All the data obtained from semistructured interviews, stimulated recalls, and field notes were transcribed using Microsoft Word 2010 and were printed on A4-sized papers. İn preparing the data, they were labeled based on the participants names (e.g., Malek) and source of data (e.g., stimulated recall). The researcher typed, printed, and labelled the data. Actually, the process of transcription, labelling, and preparing the data was performed by the researcher himself as scholars note that the researcher is an integral and inseparable element of qualitative data analysis and interpretation (Ellis & Barkhuizen, 2005). Moreover, the researcher translated the Persian data into English, but tried to keep the tone of Persian version of the data. İn so doing, the researcher asked a colleague majored in English translation to assist as translator, assess, revise, and validate the translated texts. A portion of the translations were read to the participants for the sake of member-checking.

5.6.2

Reducing the Data

By attending the schools and making himself familiar with the physical and instructional context of the high schools as well as reading and listening to audio-recordings, the researcher could immerse in the data. Familiarity with the context helps the researcher to get a better picture of data as a whole and to facilitate the interpretation process. Once the researcher read the printed transcripts, he commenced the process of coding manually. The coding process started first by data reduction which was the process of transforming a comprehensive bulk of data to smaller and manageable segments to simplify the researcher’s access to the meanings and concepts hidden in the data (Creswell, 2008; Ellis & Barkhuizen, 2005; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Patton, 2002). İn this phase, the qualitative researcher decides on the areas and segments of the qualitative data to be coded

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59

(Creswell, 2008; Miles & Huberman, 1994). While there were certain questions for the study and the data reduction carefully aimed at answering the research questions, the researcher was wary not to miss important information and allowed for novel themes and meanings to emerge (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

5.6.3

Coding and Category Developing

The data obtained from semi-structured interviews and stimulated recalls were coded and the emergent themes were extracted. Data coding was performed inductively which means that the researcher did not approach the data with predetermined biases and thoughts. Coding started by giving each meaningful segment a code. The codes came in the form of a short phrase or sentences that captured the essence of that meaningful segment (Creswell, 2008; Miles & Hubermann, 1994). The codings were inserted using annotations and sometimes the important parts were highlighted with different colours. For example, extracts elaborating on each of DMCs core features were marked with highlighters of different colors: goal-orientedness (green), motivational intensity (pink), salient, facilitative structure (red), positive emotionality (blue), and triggering stimuli and launch of DMCs (yellow). Later, different portions of the data with similarity in meaning were coded using a same title. The next phase in analyzing the data was to form categories of codes. İn this stage, the codes with similar related and similar meaning were merged to form a category. The coding process was iterative in that it was continued and repetitive. Through this process the codes were again inspected irrelevant codes in each category were discarded. The researcher tried to develop the categories by closely examining and constantly reviewing, revising, and synthesizing the data (Creswell, 2008; Miles & Hubermann, 1994). This process resulted in data reduction and production a manageable bulk of data. Peer debriefing was performed with the help of a colleague familiar with the topic of the study and tenets of qualitative research. This was done to examine the appropriateness of the process and soundness of interpretations made based on the data coding (Creswell, 2008; Patton, 2002). The process of peer debriefing resulted in some suggestions for renaming the categories and resolved some ambiguities about the meanings and interepretations. This also helps the researcher to rule out personal interpretations and biases as much as possible. Also, meeting sessions were held with a co-rater familiar with the topic and qualitative research to discuss the questions of the study and to ask him help code and develop categories. As such, he coded the transcripts and tried to develop categories. The co-rater used the same devices (annotations and highlighting) to code the data and merge them to form thought categories. There were cases that the researcher and the co-rater did not agree on suitable category for a code or segment.

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As such, they discussed their reasons and viewed. This eventually resulted in resolving the issue and better categorization. Cohen’s Kappa coefficient was used to assess the inter-rater reliability among the two raters. İn other words, this check was made to the extent to which coding has been performed without bias. The calculation of this index indicated that there was a 0.93 of agreement between the two raters. İt should, of course, be noted that different interpretations are made of Cohen’s Kappa (Landis & Koch, 1977; McHugh, 2012; Miles & Hubermann, 1994). Based on the frames of interpretation mentioned by McHugh (2012) and Landis and Koch (1977), the inter-rater reliability in this study was almost perfect. This paved the way, for the final step in qualitative data analysis which was writing the report and presenting the findings.

5.6.4

Quality Criteria for Qualitative Research

While reliability and validity constitute the two focal quality criteria in quantitative research, credibility and dependability are the two main quality criteria in qualitative research (Creswell, 2008). There are different ways to establish credibility nd dependability in qualitative research. Triangulation is one of the common ways to establish credibility in a qualitative study (Creswell, 2008). As Patton (2002) mentions, triangulation is possible to be performed at data source triangulation, multiple perspectives and investigator triangulation, all of which taken care of in this study. İn his study, triangulation happened by combining different qualitative data collection tools. Also, it was performed by triangulating the interpretations from raters and member-checking by asking the participants’ views about interpretations. The schematic sources of triangulation in this study are presented in Fig. 5.2. Also, in order to establish credibility, the qualitative researcher engaged with the data, the context, and the participants. The researcher tried to become a part of the context, establish rapport, and listen to the participants’ meanings. Moreover, The interactive process data collection and analysis continued till the point of

Data source

Method • interviews • retrospection

• semi-structured interviiew • stimulated recall • motivational graphs • field notes

Fig. 5.2 Trianguation used in the study

Views • par cipants • researchers • teachers

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saturation so that additional data did not appear to add to the understanding of the phenomenon under study. Transferability was another quality criterion that was taken into consideration in the study. Transferability, the equivalent for external validity, is the extent to which the findings of a qualitative research study are applicable to other contexts. One of the ways in which transferability is established is to provide a ‘thick description’ (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, 1989) of the context, participants, data collection tools, procedure of the qualitative study. Thick description also happens at verbatim extracts of the data and presenting the limitations of the study (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, 1989; McKay, 2006). Some other evaluative criteria were taken into consideration while conducting the study. The researcher kept a diary in which he wrote his ideas and the rationales for the descriptions to improve reflexivity and enhance the trustworthiness of the research study (Malterud, 2001). İn addition, the developed codes and categories, various interpretations, and conclusions drawn were negotiated with the study participants during informal interviews so as to provide chances to understand and assess their intended meanings and rule out misinterpretations. İn this informal interviews, the students confirmed the interpretations, while, there were also cases that their comments led to some changes in the interpretations made. Furthermore, an external audit was done by asking an expert in the literature and qualitative research to examine the process and the interpretations. External audit was performed to check the accuracy of data and to assure that the interpretations and conclusions were based in the data and not the researcher’s biases.

5.6.5

Ethical Considerations

Ethics constitute an integral part of doing qualitative research. The research tried to strictly adhere to the ethics in conducting qualitative research. The following ethical considerations were taken into consideration at different stages of the study including before, during, and after data collection and analysis. (a) Before doing the study, the participants were completely informed about the objectives, the nature, and the stages of the study. (b) The study participants were assured about the privacy and anonymity of their information, the researcher told them that their identity would not be revealed, and the information they present would be confidentially reported. The also were informed that what the mention would not influence their course grades. (c) All the participants were asked to fill and sign an informed consent (See Appendix D). (d) The interviewer did his best to establish rapport and friendly relationship with the participants and to create a trustworthy environment. He also tried not to

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intrude into the participants lives and time. The researcher avoided asking sensitive questions and the participants were allowed to select the time of the interview. (e) Written permission were taken from school principals (Appendix E) and were shown to teachers nad students before the meeting sessions. (f) The results of the study were presented to the principals, teachers, and the students. They were informed that the researcher would not report the parts they did not want him to.

5.7

Conclusion

This chapter introduced the methodological issues related to the study. The specific mechanism taken to identify language learners with a DMC experience resulted in finding 10 participants. Qualitative data collection tools were administered to find the answers to the research questions of the study. The findings of the study are presented in the next chapter.

Chapter 6

Results

6.1

Introduction

This chapter presents the results of data analysis performed to answer the research question of the study. In so doing, first results of the systematic approach taken to identify learners with a DMC experience are presented. This included describing each participates’ demographic and educational status as well as explaining the cause of their DMC experience. Next, the participants’ DMC experience is explained in reference to the DMC mode proposed by Dörnyei, Muir, and Ibrahim (2014), Dörnyei, Ibrahim, and Muir (2015), Dörnyei, Henry, and Muir (2016). Finally, the data related to the effect of DMC experience on the participants’ WTC, self-confidence, language learner autonomy, and language learner self-concept.

6.2

Identified Cases

As described in the previous chapter, a systematic method was taken to identify the participants with a DMC motivation. The following participants were identified: Malek (male, 18 years old) was born in the same city the study was conducted in. Malek has just started studying English literature in a university in Iran. Before that, Malek’s experience in learning English was limited to school-level courses. He noted that he has not been to any English-speaking country yet. As he told us, his motivation to learn English started when his English teacher told him about his aptitude in English learning and encouraged him to take part Foreign Language University Entrance Examination, national examination for students interested in studying foreign languages at university level in Iran, and study English in a decent university (see Fig. 6.1 for motivational graph). Amir (male, 17 years old). Amir was the only child of his Iraqi-Iranian parents. He was born in Iran and was completing the last year of high school education. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 N. Zarrinabadi et al., Directed Motivational Currents in L2, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05472-4_6

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Fig. 6.1 Malek’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed)

Fig. 6.2 Amir’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed)

Amir told us that he travels to Iraq to visit his uncles at least twice a year. He also noted that he has not been to an English speaking country. Amir mentioned that his aunt and his uncle lived in Canada. As he recounted, his intense and sustained motivation to learn English started when his aunt and uncle came to visit Iran after 5 years. The motivational graph is shown in Fig. 6.2. Jasem (male, 19 years old). Having just finished his high school education, Jasem was in search of a part time job in the city so that he could continue learning English in private language institute. He told us that he could have a full-time job with a good salary in other cities but decided to stay in his city. Jasem’s language learning experience was limited to high school courses. He told us that he did not attend any foreign countries yet and had no family or extended family members to know some English. As he told us, his motivation to learn English started when he saw a tourist from Belgium. The tourist told him about the benefits of living and

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Fig. 6.3 Jasem’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed)

educating in the United States or the United Kingdom. Jasem told us that he decided to master English so that he could one day travel to an English speaking country and live there. The graph for this participant’s motivation is shown in Fig. 6.3. Javad (male, 17 years old). Highly interested in cinema and watching movies, Javad was completing the third year of high school when he was first interviewed. Javad told us that he regularly attended English classes at a private language institute. Javad was very interested in cinema and watching movies and, as he told us, he aimed to study cinema at university level. As Javad recounted, his intense and sustained motivation to learn English started when he failed to understand a famous series named Big Bang Theory almost a year before the first time he was interviewed. See Fig. 6.4 for Javad’s motivational graph.

Fig. 6.4 Javad’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed)

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Asma (female, 15 years old). Asma was the only daughter of a family with 6 members. She had three brothers and both her parents were teachers at Iranian ministry of education. Asma noted that she suddenly decided to learn English when her cousin, Zeinab, told her about their class at a private language institute. She referred to Zeinab’s speech about the funny and open-minded environment at their class and noted that she always loved to experience that. In addition, she noted that she always was interested in English but Zeinab’s complements about their class triggered her interest and motivational energy (See Fig. 6.5 for Asma’s motivational graph). Reza (male, 16 years old). Reza was the third son of the family. He lost his father in a car accident 14 months before the interview. Reza told us that the sudden demise of his father was a huge shock for him. He spent all the time mourning and regretting the loss of his father when his uncle, also his English teacher at high school, asked him to help tidy up the classes for his newly established private language institute. He said that attending the institute and the friendly decoration and design of the institute as well as his uncle’s encouragement at that day intrigued him to attend the class. Reza’s motivational trajectory and the time of sudden rise in his motivational momentum is presented in Fig. 6.6. Hamid (male, 14 years old). Hamid said that he was very much affected by the behavior and actions of his older brother Saeed. Hamid’s brother knew English very well and encouraged him to learn English. Hamid said that he became suddenly interested when watching a football match on Sky Sports channel. His brother understood and translated what the interpreter said. This made Hamid surprised how his brother was able to do it competently. Hamid noted that he decided to learn English that night so that he enrolled in an English class at a private language institute the day after. Hamid’s motivational trajectory and the time of sudden rise in his motivational momentum is presented in Fig. 6.7.

Fig. 6.5 Asma’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed)

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Fig. 6.6 Reza’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed)

Fig. 6.7 Hamid’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed)

Kosar (female, 15 years old). Kosar was the only daughter of the family. She had only one brother. Her parents were two famous doctors in the city. She noted that her motivation in English suddenly increased when she talked to her classmate about her English classes outside the class. She noted that she was lonely at home for her parents were out for 10 pm. As such, she found going to an English class a useful way to spend her free time. Kosar noted that the first day of attending the class was the start of her high motivation to learn English. She also noted that the competitive environment in the class later escalated her motivation level. Kosar’s motivational trajectory and the time of sudden rise in his motivational momentum is presented in Fig. 6.8.

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Fig. 6.8 Kosar’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed)

Ali (male, 16 years old). Ali was came from a family with a good socio-economic status. With his family, he travelled to different areas of the world. He said that he became interested in English when he went to Dubai for a short holiday. Ali mentioned that he tried to speak to some Australian tourists in Dubai but he almost failed. This failure made him adamant to learn English so that he could speak with others in his future travels. Figure 6.9 shows the motivational changes for Ali. Zeinab (female, 17 years old). Zeinab mentioned that her teacher’s talk in the classroom about the benefits of being good at English for the students’ future university entrance triggered her motivation to intensively study English. She noted that she needed to perform well in the English section of Iranian National

Fig. 6.9 Ali’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed)

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Fig. 6.10 Zeinab’s self-assessed motivational trajectory (Intense sustained motivation ringed)

University Exam; therefore, she decided to study English intensively. The motivational trajectory for Zeinab is shown in Fig. 6.10. In the present section, the motivational trajectories for the participants along with the causes that triggered their DMCs were presented. In the following subsections, the core features of their DMCs are explained in detail. Also, the effect of being caught up in a DMC on their WTC, self-concept, autonomy, self-concept, and self-confidence are presented.

6.3

Motivational Intensity

The data analysis indicated that learning English became the most important preoccupation during the periods of intense and sustained motivation. The participants allotted a totality of their time and energy to achieve their goal. There were plethora of examples of the ways in which participants’ motivational energy was channeled into learning English. Javad, for example, told us that learning English became the paramount activity of his daily life: I thought about learning English most of the time. Everything was related to learning how to speak English. It influenced other life programs. It changed my daily schedule. I cancelled several activities so that I could have more time to learn English. I used to go hiking and climbing with my friends. I told them that I couldn’t come anymore because I wanted to save more time to study English. I also quitted my music class and devoted to practicing English pronunciation.

For Malek, who aimed to study English at the university, motivation to learn English became the sole priority. He described how his life was completely affected by his motivation to learn English:

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6 Results Influenced?!! Hahh! It became the only thing which was important for me. I sacrificed everything to learn English. Honestly, this was the first time I was full of energy and motivation for a goal. I talked about learning English to everyone. I talked to them about my plans. It will make a very long list. If I want to tell you about the activities I quitted allotting the time to learning English. See, I quitted the gym and stopped playing football with friends. Playing football! Oh I love it. But I stopped playing football for a long time and guess what?! I devoted the time to learning English. My mother was really amazed. She couldn’t believe that I have stopped playing football for learning English. It is not an exaggeration if I say that it didn’t became an important part of my life but it became the life itself. I felt my life to be in vain, if I couldn’t speak English.

For both Amir and Jasem, learning English to talk to those who speak English, native or non-native speakers, became a priority over everything. As Malek noted: “It affected all my life. It changed my plans. Time and energy? Yes, I devoted most time and energy to learning English.” Moreover, Amir, referring to similar conditions, mentioned that he thought about different ways to learn English: I spent most of the day reading books, doing grammatical exercises and going to English classes. It became the most important thing in my life. I allotted much time to talking to teachers or searching on the internet to explore new ways of learning.

The participants reported that their motivation not only affected their life but also influenced the lives of family members and even friends. As Ali commented: I used to do different activities such as going to the gym, swimming, and fishing. But when I decided to learn English, I found that I have no tie to do these activities. I devoted the time to learning English.

Similarly, Reza noted that: You know, it was not only my life. I used to go fishing or swimming with my cousins. They complained that I have spoiled their plans. No problem, I needed to devote the time to learning English.

For Kosar and Amir, the motivation to learn English influenced his family life. As they noted: As I told you before, I am the only child of my parents. They love me very much when they saw my motivation they tried to help me achieve my goal. The home became more silent. They cancelled going to parties so that I can have more time to study. My father bought a laptop for me so that I can easily watch English movies or listen to English related MP3 files. (Amir) Yeah! It not only influenced my every day plan but also influenced my family. They tried to help me succeed. This included using their stuff and rooms. Or hanging some invitation or parties so as to let me study more. (Kosar)

Hamid told us that he asked his family to help him to study English there. He mentioned that his motivation to learn English affected his family life in several ways. As he commented:

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You know, it really influenced my family life. I can say it was impossible without their help. Yes, I did a great job. I studied days and nights but my family were very helpful, as well. Silence was the first thing I needed at school. And they gave it to me. My father gave me the money I needed to enroll in classes. (Hamid) I asked them to cancel some parties or invitations so that I could have more time for my studies. Yes, yes, it really influenced my family life. I am really grateful. They helped me a lot. (Hamid)

Like Hamid, Jasem said that his family life was influenced as he asked his father to cancel traveling to Ahvaz and Shoush, two cities in south of Iran, so as to let him have more time to study English. Jasem gave us several examples of the way his motivation affected his sisters’ lives (e.g., taking their room, using their laptop or MP4 player). He also commented: All family members found out that I was very decisive to learn English. They tried to help me. I think I sacrificed many things and my family did so, too. (Jasem)

Others reported the same stories mentioning that their DMC experience dramatically influenced their life. I was really motivated and my motivation influenced others as well. Sometimes, it had them change some plans, turn the TV off, let me watch English channels, or even speak less loudly. (Asma) It was really powerful. If I could be that energetic for everything I would be the most successful person in the world. (Javad)

As seen in the above excerpts of data, the students’ motivational experience was intense and recognizable to others. Moreover, their motivation not only seemed to lead to changes in their lives but also affected the lives of their families, as well. In the next section, the component of being goal-oriented is discussed in detail.

6.4

Vision/Goal-Orientedness

The analysis of the data suggest that all participants had several concrete goals (e.g., getting the highest score, translating a movie, or passing IELTS exam). Moreover, the participants had some superordinate goals to which their motivational energy was directed. Malek, for example, clearly referred to studying English literature was his superordinate goal: My main goal was to enter a good university and study English literature. Of course, there were other advantageous of learning English. For example, it helped me improve my GPA. I got the highest score in English at school. But my main goal was not to get the highest score or to be a top student. I wanted to study English literature at university.

Amir’s goal, though, was from a different nature. He told us that his main goal was to integrate with native English speakers.

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6 Results Oh! Yes, you may think of it as a dream but my main goal is to travel to an English speaking country, maybe England, for I love London, and live there. I learn English to speak to English people, learn their culture, and yes, have a good life with them. I want to be one of them and I’ll do it.

For Jasem, learning English seemed to a long-term goal because of the advantages that learning a language might provide for him. As he commented: My main goal? It’s obvious. I want to learn English because it can make my life…mmm, English people say “pleasant”. I can find a job, travel around the world, and maybe live in the US. I can teach English in my city and make money. I like to say it in English ‘It’s my goal because it creates a better life for me’.

Javad commented that he decided to learn English for he loved English. He elaborated on his long-term goal: My main goal was to master the language. I loved English and I did my best to learn it. That’s all. I am not sure whether it has any financial benefits. I just tried to learn it because I loved it.

For Zeinab, the goal was to improve the chance of performing better at the university exam: I wanted to learn English so that I can perform better in the university entrance exam. Yes, my goal was to have the best performance in the exam.

The analyses of the data also showed that the target goal for Reza, Hamid, Kosar, and Asma was to be fluent at English. They liked to be a competent English user. This could be seen in the following excerpts: My main goal? It’s easy, I wanted to speak and use English to communicate with others. (Asma) I learned English for I wanted to use it. My goal was to use English to talk or chat with foreigners in different social networks or to understand different English channels. (Hamid) When I started to study hard for learning English, I knew that my goal was to use it to talk to others. (Kosar)

The data analysis also showed that the participants had several self-in-future images (Dörnyei, 2009a, 2009b; Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2009, 2011). Dörnyei and his colleagues believe that operation of powerful self-in-future goals characterizes the goals which are able to trigger and propel DMCs. Malek, for example, told us that he frequently had such self-in-future images: Yes, I imagined myself in university sitting in the class and listening to my professors. In my imagination, yes, I asked questions about literature, read English poems, and supposed myself reading Hamlet, or even playing it. You, you may think it silly but it gave me energy to try hard and to achieve my goal.

Self-in-future images the participants seemed to be related to future scenarios in which they imagined themselves visiting or living in English speaking countries. As Amir noted: “Yes, I imagined living in an English speaking country. I talked to people, went to parks, stores, and restaurants in my dreams.” Javad has similar images about living in an English speaking country. In some interesting comments, he referred to the role and power of this self-in-future images on his motivational experience:

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You know, this imaginary situations were like fuel for a car. I sometimes became tired. But when I thought about future. I supposed myself living in England, sitting in Old Trafford stadium and watching Manchester United team, and talking about football with those around me, the energy recovered.

Similarly, Ali said that: I imagined myself talking to tourists from other countries in English. I can say imagination gave me more energy than what it was before. Sometimes, I suddenly found myself smiling and thinking about future.

Also, Jasem, who was very interested in tourism, commented that he imagined visiting different countries talking with people. He said “these thoughts may seem silly for many people but they had a great effect. Different things gave me energy these thoughts were among these sources of energy.” Moreover, Kosar and Reza noted that they always imagined themselves using English fluently. Interestingly, Hamid said that he always dreamed of watching World Cup football matches on English channels. Oh, I always did it. I sometimes considered myself as the reporter of the matches. It was a dream. It was really energizing and pushed me forward.

As seen above, the students’ motivational experiences were directed by a superordinate goal. Moreover, they engaged in some self-in-future imaginations which energized and propelled their DMCs.

6.5

A Salient, Facilitative Structure

As noted above, a DMC includes a “successful match of a goal/vision with an adequately tailored pathway” (Henry, Davydenko, & Dörnyei, 2015). According to Dörnyei and his colleagues, an adequately tailored pathway involves presence of recurring behavioral routines, existence of regular checks where subgoals provide affirmative feedback, and recognizable start and endpoints.

6.5.1

Recurring Behavioral Routines

When individuals experience a DMC, they establish some behavioral routines and goal/vision-oriented activities are done with high level of consistency (Dörnyei et al., 2016; Henry et al., 2015). These routines constitute an integral part of individuals’ motivational experience and occur without volitional control. All of the participants, in this study, stated that they established some routines which became an integral aspect of their everyday life. Malek, for example, told us about the routines he established:

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6 Results Yes, there was a regular schedule. The activities were new to me. I studied grammar on even days from 9 to 12 p.m. I attended English classes in the evenings six times a week, from 5 to 6: 30 p.m. I studied vocabulary on odd days from 8 to 12 p.m. I also specified 3 h to reading comprehension from 1 to 4 p.m. I had to attend my high school classes in the morning. Oh, yes, I reviewed my vocabulary notes in the second break from 9:20 to 9:45 a.m.

Amir referred to attending English classes in the mornings: “I attended English classes at an institute from 6 to 8 p.m. I listened to audios or watched English videos from 10 to 11:30 p.m. in the afternoon, I practiced English speaking with my friend.” Jasem, too, described how he developed routines that helped him sustain his motivation. He also commented that he added more and more routines which made his schedule very regularly: After one or two weeks, I found that I had little time to deal with activities not related to language learning. It was not so in the beginning. The energy and motivation increased more and more which made me omit unrelated activities and give the time to learning English. You may think it unbelievable but I had a plan for every hour. I became like doctors. I had a regular plan which repeated every day.

Similar to others, Javad told us that he established several routines. In an interesting comment, he used the English adjective “automatic” to describe his engagement in these routines: It was not that I was aware of everything. Is it OK? Automatic? I automatically moved from one activity to another. It happened to me for several times that I suddenly understood that it’s 2 p.m. and I was reading grammar. Yes, in the beginning I assigned it consciously but it became automatic after some days. I was doing everything automatically.

Also, other students noted that they established new routines and every day plans. This can be seen in the following excerpts of data. It changed my plan. I had a clear time table for studying and doing other life activities. (Asma) Yes, it automatically changed everything including the hours of studying, cancelling some extra activities, and establishing new routines to learn English. I can say it hanged my life thoroughly. (Kosar)

A perhaps noteworthy finding of this study was the participants’ reaction to the external events that challenged their established routines. While they noted that they engaged in these routines unconsciously and without volitional control, they emphasized that they strongly persisted following the routines whenever an external factor challenged their plans. The participants gave us several examples on this. The data also showed that challenges to established routines aroused a sense of persistence in the participants and made them aware of what was going on against their will. This persistence increased the participants’ motivational energy. As Amir commented: You know, when I was following my activities, I didn’t noticed the plan. I was just doing it unconsciously. But whenever a problem happened, I immediately found that I was not doing what I should. For example, one day, my father caught a bad cold, I spent all the afternoon in the hospital. I was sad. I told myself bad luck! I should be studying at this time. But when it finished, I got back to the plan.

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Moreover, when asked whether he was aware of engaging in the routines two or three days after that event, Amir mentioned that he was not aware of it: “No, I was following my normal activities. I engaged in activities like in the past.” This is interesting in that participants’ ‘motivational autopilot’ described by Dörnyei and his collogues halted when the routines were seriously challenged but it was reactivated soon due to learners persistence in achieving their goal.

6.5.2

Regular Checks Where Subgoals Provided Affirmative Feedback

The existence of sub-goals which provide regular checks constitute the second component of the structure of a DMC. The regular checks make it possible for the individuals to track their progress, therefore, working as proxy targets and criteria for evaluation. These regular checks, thus, help the individual to keep the momentum and continue attempts to achieve the target goal. Subgoals, in this study, were mostly related to completion of a course or getting a good score in English related exams. The main function of these subgoals, as mentioned above, was that they helped the participants keep the momentum and try more. As Malek described: It is like a ladder. You know where your goal is. Every step you make, closer to the top of the ladder you are. The place of your goal! Whenever I completed a course or got the best score, I felt I am closer to the top. So, I tried more and more.

For Amir, Javad, and Jasem, completion of subgoals had a similar value. To help sustain the momentum. Amir referred to subgoals such as completing a course or passing an exam with an excellent score as some assessment criteria to check his progress. As he commented: I needed to know whether my English improved or not. Good scores gave me this information. When I got A in an exam, this meant that I did it perfectly. The good scores pushed me forward and gave me more energy.

The case seemed to be the same for other participants. They noted that performance at pop quizzes and exams or doing other second-level activities provided energy and force to pursue their goal more persistently. This can be seen in the following excerpts of data: Oh, yes! Whenever I got a high score I told myself you are very close to it. Try hard you are close! (Reza) Completion of every activity related to my goal gave me additional energy to pursue my goal. (Ali)

Interestingly, Zeinab noted that she cared particularly to the completion of subgoals. She noted: I paid attention to their completion. Whenever I completed a goal I became more and more decisive. Actually, the goals pushed me forward. (Zeinab)

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The data analysis revealed interesting findings about the nature of regular checks. The data showed that the participants regularly checked the discrepancy between their current state and the desired one. The perceived distance between two states provided another source of energy for sustaining the momentum. The participants regularly checked the difference/distance between current state and the desired one, and any advancement toward the desired state propelled the DMC forward. Malek, for example, clearly referred to this and commented that: I always checked it. I wanted to know how far or close I was from my goal. Whatever useful I did, I considered it as a step toward acceptance in a good university. There were several times I felt close to my goal. I could fell it. The distance between me and my goal became shorter and shorter.

Additionally, Jasem described that he often compared his current state with his desired state, and noted that whenever he found himself closer to the target goal, he became more decisive and energized to achieve the ultimate goal. As he commented: After I completed a course or finished reading a book related to grammar or vocabulary, I felt I was closer to my goal. The comparison gave me energy. I saw myself closer to my goal and I tried more to achieve it.

The data analysis also indicated that feedback from teachers, parents, or classmates played an influential role in keeping the momentum: Whenever my teacher talked to me about my progress in English, I became more and more motivated to achieve my goal. (Ali) My parent’s comments and encouragement were very effective. Their positive comments helped me try hard. The comments told me that I was doing everything right. (Asma) Positive comments from my teacher were very helpful. Actually, the comments pushed me forward, made me try more, and gave me energy. (Hamid) I became very happy whenever my classmates asked me how I improved my English or told me that my English has become better. I heard the comments and became stronger and more persistent to reach my goal. (Javad)

6.5.3

Explicit Turning Points

As Dörnyei et al. (2016) note, a DMC is characterized by presence of explicit turning points. A DMC has a clear stating point in which the unleashing of motivational energy is sudden. All of the participants pointed out that the sudden release of motivational energy was conspicuous to them and people around them. This can be seen in the following comments:

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I remember when it started. It was like a storm. It suddenly came and lasted for some time. It was easy for others, and for myself, to find out that a sudden change has happened. I was full of energy and motivation. (Malek) When? It is not difficult to say when for it happened suddenly and was very forceful. My motivation did not increase gradually but it came into being suddenly with incredible power and energy. My parents told me it was like a miracle. It was sudden, forceful, and effective. (Ali)

The participants’ intense motivation slowed down after some time for all four participants. For Malek, motivation endured until he achieved his goal and was he accepted as a student of English literature in a good university. He pointed that he would continue his education and would teach English afterwards. As he said: “I think I will continue my MA after this course. I want to teach English as well.” The analysis of data indicated that actual or perceived goal achievement caused the motivational momentum to slow down. For others, the motivational momentum slowed down when they perceived that they have learned English. For example, Javad told us that his motivation decreased when he received several signs of mastery in English: I could understand English movies. In chartrooms (on the net) I talked to American people with no problem.

Kosar pointed to a similar feeling and said: I think the energy decreased for achieved the goal. I can’t say completely but I achieved it too much extent. I could speak and use English. I think this is the reason for the decrease in the energy.

Also, Amir and Jasem told us that they thought as if they had attained the goal which was leaning English. Both of them mentioned that their energy slowed down when they could speak English with no problem. As Jasem said “my motivation decreased because I could speak English very well. That was my goal and I had it.”

6.5.4

Positive Emotionality

Caught up in a DMC, individuals experience positive emotions when they are trying to achieve their well-defined goal. All four participants reported that they experienced different positive feelings when they were making efforts to obtain their goal. Jasem, for example, described positive feelings of excitement, enjoyment, and purposefulness: I was excited. It was a very pleasing period. I enjoyed whatever I did to achieve my goal. I was excited to try for my goal.

In the same vein, Hamid noted that: The most important feeling I had was that I had a purpose in my life. It made my life meaningful. I had a goal for which I did my best. I think it’s great to feel that your life is purposeful.

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Malek told us that he experienced different positive feelings from the start till the end of his DMC experience. As he commented: I was happy and full of energy. I was full of hope, joy, and excitement. I enjoyed every step I took toward acceptance in university. I enjoyed getting good scores. Reading for the entrance exam was exciting.

Moreover, Asma told us about her positive feelings and commented that: I can say that I was very hopeful I was optimistic. I told everyone around me that I was hopeful. I was sure I could do it.

For Amir and Javad, positive feelings were in forms of self-efficacy and self-fulfillment. As he commented: I felt I was able to do important jobs. I felt strong and useful. Yes, I was a person who could achieve important goals. (Amir) I was happy. I tried to complete a course and I did it. I wanted the best score and I did it. Yes, I felt I could do everything. I learned English. I felt I was a successful person. (Javad)

As seen in above examples, the participants had different positive feelings about their DMC experience. The feelings were of different types. What was common to all of these feelings was that they pushed the DMC forward by giving positive senses and energy to the person.

6.6

Triggering and Launch of DMCs

As mentioned earlier, one of the aims of this study was to see how a DMC was triggered and launched into existence. In these regards, Dörnyei et al. (2016) note that successful launch of a DMC relies on availability of a specific triggering stimulus and alignment of necessary conditions. Interesting, when asked about stimulus for their motivational experience, all of the participants referred to a specific factor. For Malek, his teacher’s talks about the value of studying English literature at university level was the trigger: It’s easy to say. The main reason was my teacher’s talks about English literature. One day, he told me about the value the importance, and, of course, the joy and prestige of studying English at university. That day, he deeply influenced me.

For Amir, his aunt and uncle’s visit was the triggering stimulus: They came to Iran. They spoke English very well. I tried to say something in English. They told me that you can learn English and encouraged me to lean it. They told me about the advantages of speaking English.

Also, Jasem noted that he became highly motivated to learn English when a tourist from Belgium told him about the advantages of speaking English and living in US or UK. Jasem commented:

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It was the first time I was meeting a foreigner. He knew some Persian and was fluent in speaking in English. He told me about the benefits of speaking English as an international language. That conversation had deep effect. It started my engine. I can say it was the main factor. If I didn’t talk to that tourist, I couldn’t do it.

For Javad, the triggering stimulus did not come from others, but from his failure to understand a series called Big Bang Theory. As he recounted: You know, I am a big fan of cinema and movies. One day, my friend gave me DVDs of Big Bang Theory series. He told me it’s great if you can understand it. You know, I couldn’t understand it. It was very bad. My friend talked about it with joy and I regretted why I couldn’t understand it. I thought…why not learning English. To understand Big Bang Theories. Why not watching movies in English. I didn’t like subtitles anymore.

For Hamid, his brother understanding and interpretation of the football match and the advice he have Hamid for learning English was the trigger. That night we watched a football match. My brother’s understanding and translation of the interpreter’s speech was really interesting. It suddenly increased the motivation to learn English in me. That night, I asked my brother how I can be competent like him and he guided me.

For Asma, Kosar, and Reza the triggers were significant others who stimulated their DMCs by talking to others. This indicates that significant others can play a pivotal role in launching a DMC. For Asma and Kosar, their friends or relatives were the stimulus, whereas for Rea his uncle together with the friendly environment in the institute worked as the triggers. Also, Ali noted that talking to Australian tourists in Dubai was the trigger. He commented that: After that event, I really became motivated to learn and speak English. That day, I decided to learn English when I get back to Iran.

Finally, for Zeinab the teacher’s talk about the benefits of English for getting accepted in a good university was the stimulus. Zeinab noted: Maybe everyone could tell me those words. But, my teacher’s speech was really effective. I became faithful that learning English could help me succeed at university entrance exam.

Additionally, the students noted that there was nothing hindering their attempts or forcing them to avoid learning English. The stimuli were effective because, as they told us, the other factors needed for activation and operation of their motivation was ready. All of the participants referred to their parents’ support, availability of time, and financial resources as factors that facilitated following their goal. This can be seen in Malek’s comments: I think everything else was ready. My parents supported me. I could give enough time to learning English. I had the talent and aptitude for learning English. All conditions were OK. And my teachers’ talks (the stimulus) was switching a car on. I had fuel. I had power. I had wheels.

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Goal Ownership, Goal Demands, and Goal Affordance The data also indicated that the participants perceived that they had full control over the goal. The following comments can be taken as representative examples: It was me who decided whether I could achieve my goal or not. I wanted to achieve it and I did it. (Malek) It depended on me whether to reach my goal or not. I knew that I could do it if I tried. (Amir) I wanted to learn English and I knew what to do in order to be successful. Even my parents told me that. They told me that I could do it if I was hardworking and studious. All depended on me. (Asma)

Furthermore, the analysis of data revealed that the participants believed that they had sufficient capabilities to achieve their goals. This perception about goal affordance was evident in their comments as they told us that they thought about the challenges and believed that if they would be successful if they tried hard. Dörnyei et al. (2016) refer to this as challenge-skill balance and note that if the individual believes in existence of such a match between one’s skills and the challenge, he or she will possible try to achieve the goal. The following can be taken as representative examples of this challenge-skill balance: Malek: I liked it. It was like a game. I couldn’t say whether it was easy or difficult. But, I told myself. If you try hard, you will do it. I knew I had the ability and power to do it but I needed to make that real. Interviewer: was it difficult? I mean doing it? Malek: Not that difficult. It wasn’t easy, too. You could do it if you tried. I had the ability to do it. See, if I gave it your all, it would make it possible. (Malek)

In summary, the analysis of the students’ comments showed that triggers functioned when the other necessary factors were available. Moreover, the students felt complete ownership of the goal and believed that there was a balance between their skills and the challenge.

6.7

Changes to WTC During a DMC Experience

The participants were interviewed to know whether experiencing a DMC has created any changes in their WTC to speak in English. The results of the qualitative data analysis of the interview data are presented in regards to the categories of (a) stress and anxiety (b) positive feelings. The findings indicated that learners who had a DMC-type motivation felt less anxious and stressed out during their intense period of motivational experience. They participants noted that their positive emotions during a DMC experience lowered their anxiety and stress to use English as an L2. For example, Amir commented that:

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In that period I really enjoyed everything. I was really enjoying learning and speaking in English. A major change was that I didn’t felt anxious and stressed like before. I talked with less stress and anxiety. I was willing to speak and use English for I was quite comfortable.

Jasem commented that anxiety was an integral part of learning English for him before but getting caught up in a DMC changed everything. As he mentioned: In this period. I didn’t feel stressed. I liked whatever I did. I was very relaxed and pleased to speak English.

Moreover, other students echoed similar ideas and noted that during their DMC experience, they felt very relaxed and not anxious. This can be seen in the following excerpts of data: I was willing to speak in English because my interest and energy to learn English made me enjoy everything and I was not stressed about making mistakes. (Zahra) I can say I was really willing to speak. I grabbed every chance to use my English. I eagerly tried to speak and enjoy learning it. (Asma) It was a period of being chatty and talkativeness. I liked to speak with everyone who new some English. (Reza).

In addition to less stress and anxiety, the students pointed out that they experienced diverse positive feelings which positively influenced their L2 WTC. The participants’ heightened L2 WTC came as a result of the joint effect of different favorable emotions. For example, Zeinab noted that she was very willing to speak in L2 as she had a plethora of good feelings. As she commented: It is difficult to me exactly what feeling made me more eager to speak in L2. But I can say I was a combination of several good feelings. I enjoyed everything I did in that period. Also, I had a strong sense of doing something useful for my life and being an effectual person. (Zeinab)

Similarly, Ali referred to some positive feelings that made him more willing to speak during his DMC experience. He noted that he perceived a high level of self-satisfaction: I was really satisfied with everything. Among all myself. This sense of satisfaction was me in every moment of my DMC experience. I was content with everything and I think this made me more willing to speak in English. (Ali)

Moreover, other participants referred to different feelings, all of which entailing positive sensations that enhanced their L2 WTC. The following are some representative examples: I can say enjoyment and pleasure that I experienced in doing English activities in this period increased my L2 WTC. (Amir) You know, I can refer to any specific feeling. But I can say that these feelings were positive. It was a combination of various favorable emotions. (Javad)

This can be explained within Dörnyei et al.’s (2016) positive emotionality concept. They noted that learners’ experience an amalgamation of different positive

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feelings when experiencing a DMC. An important finding, here, is that high L2 WTC is a product of a DMC experience. All in all, the data suggest that DMCs in this study created positive feelings that significantly enhance L2 WTC among Iranian EFL learners.

6.8

Changes to L2 Self-confidence During a DMC Experience

The results indicated that experiencing a DMC affected learners’ self-confidence by influencing their perceived linguistic competence and their foreign language anxiety. Linguistic competence and anxiety are the two key factors constructing selfconfidence (Clément, 1980). The study showed that DMCs decreased students’ anxiety to use English and increased their perceived linguistic competence. Asma, for instance, commented that she felt more relax and less stressed during her DMC experience and added: I think that stress and anxiety is an important aspect of learning English. When you have a strong motivation to learn you are less stressed out and more interested. During the period, I was less anxious and was more comfortable with speaking in English. You know, I think high period of motivation gave me more courage and increased my confidence. (Asma)

Another participant noted that experiencing a DMC created a lasting effect on his self-confidence level. He added: Yeah, the experience increased my confidence. You know even now, and after that experience, I am more confident that I am a good language learner and speaker. The experience lowered my anxiety level which made me more confident to learn English. (Malek)

Other participants echoed similar ideas about the effect of DMC motivation on their self-confidence. The following excerpts are representative examples for this: I think my motivation affected my anxiety level. Less anxiety made me more confident in my abilities. It increased my courage and bravery to take difficult actions like speaking in another language. (Ali) The main effect of this level of motivation and interest in English learning was on my belief in my abilities and confidence in myself. (Zahra)

The second way in which getting caught up in a DMC influenced L2 WTC was by affecting their perceived linguistic competence. One corollary of experiencing a DMC was the intense involvement in doing activities that help promote language learning. This intense and higher-level engagement in language learning activities increased the students’ linguistic competence. The participants referred to this and noted that it significantly affected their confidence level. As they commented: You know, it was effective in that it influenced my ideas about my ability. You work hard, you develop new daily plans, and you study more and practice more. These can change your ideas about yourself. This increased my confidence. I said OK you are trying hard and you become better and better. (Reza)

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Oh, why not. Yeah it was very important and influential. I was doing something regularly and with great energy. I allotted a great portion of my daytime to it. So, I could see that my English ability has improved. This improved confidence in what I was doing. It was also energizing. I could see that I was making progress and this pushed me forward. (Zahra) Longtime engagement with English changed my ideas about myself and my language ability. I was become more confident that I can be a successful English learner and user. (Malek)

As seen in the excerpts of interviews, the participants perceptions about their language ability changed positively during the DMC experience. This may have been due to the intense engagement and increased study hours. The participants reported that they studied English extensively and spent many hours trying to improve their grammar, speaking or vocabulary knowledge. As such, the students’ perceived competence might have changed as they understood that their linguistic knowledge is expanding. An interesting finding of this study was that the feedback from others and regular checks that were a salient characteristic of a structure of DMCs worked as a factor that improved learners’ self-confidence. For example, Amir and Jasem noted that the feedback they received about their language learning endeavors remarkably influenced their perceptions about their language competence, and therefore, enhanced their confidence in learning English. Amir commented: My father was very concerned about what I were doing. Actually, he always is. He always commented on what I was doing when I was heavily involved in activities improving my English. His comments and feedback gave me more energy to go ahead. You know, his comments served as a source of evaluation. The comments gave me the feeling that I’m learning and my English is getting better. I become more positive about my English and I become more confident to try more. Even after that time, I can say that I’m more self-confident. (Amir)

Similarly, Jasem commented: The comments and reaction I received from my family and friends really affected my energy and motivation. They told me that I have improved and this made me more confident to continue what I was doing. Honestly, I was not sure if they were true or not but it gave me confidence, energy, and the support I needed. These reactions are directly related to your will, your confidence, and your perseverance. I think their comments were very useful and helped much.

Moreover, other participants referred to the comments from significant others as sources that improved their linguistic competence and self-confidence. The following excerpts are some representative examples. Comment from my classmate, Mina, were really effective. Whenever she talked to me, I became more and more confident about my ability to use and learn English. (Zahra) I became more confident when I talked to my brother in English. He told me that my English has become better. This improved my perception about my language ability. (Hamid)

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As the data suggest, another aspect of DMCs, namely feedback from others, significantly enhanced learners’ perceived competence and, hence, their L2 self-confidence. When the students received positive feedback on their language ability, their perceptions about their language learning ability and language competence positively changed. This, in turn, led to higher L2 self-confidence.

6.9

Changes to Language Learner Autonomy During a DMC Experience

This study also aimed at examining whether experiencing a DMC creates any changes in language learner autonomy of Iranian EL learners. To do so, the students found through the systematic procedure were interviewed to see if DMCs exerted any impact on their language learning autonomy. The analysis of qualitative data revealed that getting caught up in a DMC dramatically influenced learners’ autonomy level. In so doing, experiencing a DMC affected students’ feeling that in order to be successful, they need to try hard. The participants noted that this affected the nature of activities they did outside the class. The following excerpts of data are comments given by the participants: In that period, what I did was beyond classroom requirements or the assignments given by the teacher. I searched for the ways in which I could improve my English independently. (Asma) I moved beyond classroom and institute, I was like an explorer who tried hard to find the closest way to the treasure. (Ali) I found that I should do more to be successful. So, I did many activities and read several books that were not part of the class materials. I think I found the best way to learning myself. And, I personally tried to find the activities, TV channels, or Telegram channels that could help me. (Javad) I did all what I did with interest and love. I didn’t need someone to tell me what to do. I tried to find the ways in which I could improve my English. I searched for them. (Reza)

In the same vein, Zahra referred to some of the independent activities she did to follow her goal. She commented: You know, I think the motivation I had pushed me forward and made I try to find the activities and materials that could help me. For many of them, I did search myself. I actively searched in the libraries or online to find books or listening materials. (Zahra)

Also, Amir pointed out that the fat that he became more independent and active was a great benefit of the motivational experience for him. He commented:

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I always thought I needed someone to guide me and tell me what to do. But during the experience I personally tried to explore the ways in which I could improve my English. It had a deep effect on me and I think even after that motivation, I can do my affairs independently. (Amir)

As such, the results indicated that experiencing a DMC yelled in more independent attempts to find resources, language learning opportunities, books, CDs and so on. In the interviews, the students were also asked about their performance in the class and the extent to which they took part in classroom activities. The participants noted that they become more volunteer to do novel activities in the classroom. For example, they suggested to their teacher that they can do some part of the book activities: That part of the book was always taught and practiced by the teacher. He used to explain that part and speak about it. I do remember that I told the teacher that I could do it and he accepted. I can say that I shared some part of the teacher’s job. I did it and the teacher liked it. (Hamid)

Similarly, Zahra noted that she suggested to the teacher to let her teach some part of the lesson. She commented: Yeah, it was a great day. I used to remain silent in the class but in that period I studied hard and learned many things before we teach them in our school courses. One day, I suggested to the teacher that I could teach some part and she said OK. I taught that part and I was successful. In that period, I was very willing to do things. I was ready to accept new responsibilities in the class. (Zahra)

Other participants echoed the same ideas and pointed out that they worked more independently and autonomously during their DMC experience. This can be seen in the following excerpts of data. During the period, I did many things by myself. I did not wait for the teacher to tell us do the exercises. I did them before when I found them related. (Javad) I was more active inside and outside the classroom. I think I was so because I particularly motivated to achieve my goal. (Malek) I was not dependent on a specific person. Everyone who could help me was my favorite person. (Jasem)

All in all, it can be seen that getting caught up in a DMC significantly enhanced the students’ language learner autonomy. This positive effect was shown in the students’ independent performance of classroom activities and also their independent performance of activities that could help them enhance their L2 proficiency outside the classroom content.

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6.10

Changes to Self-concept During a DMC Experience

Another purpose of this study was to explore whether experiencing a DMC could affect Iranian EFL learners’ self-concepts. In the interviews the participants were required to describe their beliefs and presents self-descriptions before and after the DMC motivational experience. The results showed that experiencing a DMC motivation influenced three aspects of learners’ self-concept including certainty, positivity, and affective quality. Each of these is explained in detail in the following subsections.

6.10.1 DMCs Change Certainty The analysis of qualitative data revealed that getting having a DMC experience dramatically influenced the strength of convictions about learners’ English self-concept. The participants noted that they had any doubts about their English ability and problems they had with English. They, however, expressed that, after the DMC experience, they think English is their language. This can be in the following comments given by the participants. Honestly, I was not sure whether I should say I know English or not. For example, I am sure I’m a good speaker of Arabic and Persian but I was not sure about English. But after that period (DMC experience), I become sure that I’m an English speaker. I improved my English. More importantly, the experience changed my beliefs about my ability and I was more confident that I can use English. (Amir) English was not my language. But now, yeah it’s my language (Jasem) No doubt I am a better English speaker now. Since that time I have become much better. I think the period had a strong effect on me. (Malek) Honestly, I was really disappointed with my language proficiency level. But after that high motivation and practice, I became sure that I can learn English. And also, I think I’m a good English learner now. (Hamid)

The interviews should that the students’ certainty about their English self has significantly improved after experiencing a DMC motivation.

6.10.2 DMCs Change Affective Quality As mentioned by Dörnyei et al. (2016), there are a plethora of positive emotions associated with experiencing a DMC. This seems to be true about the affective dimension associated with the learners’ self-concept. They noted that they experienced a strong and positive affective dimension while learning English. Asma, for example, commented that:

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Changes to Self-concept During a DMC Experience

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I consider at the golden age of my learning. I was happy doing everything. I eagerly learned everything. I wanted to learn more and more. (Asma)

Also, Ali noted that: Let me tell you. I think this was a really good period. Honestly, it wasn’t before. I improved my ability to speak and understand English. I was really please with my English. (Ali)

Reza commented that the period was accompanied with a change in his emotions toward English learning and every achievement in exams or classroom tasks gave him a positive sense about his ability which improved his attitudes about himself and language learning. Another participant described his feeling as: I really had a great period. I was very happy and had great feelings related to my English. I performed perfectly in exams. I spoke with little errors.

When asked to compare his feelings toward his English learning before the DMC experience he commented that: Oh, it’s really obvious. I felt much better. It incomparable. During the time of my high motivation, I was really happy about my exams, classroom participation, and other English related activities. But before that? No! It was no so. I wasn’t that happy. I wasn’t that good.

All in all, the analysis of the data revealed that having a DMC motivational momentum influenced the affective quality of learners’ self-concepts positively.

6.10.3 DMCs Change Positivity and Content The results indicated that experiencing a DMC significantly enhanced the participants’ level of positivity in regards to their language learning. The learners noted that experiencing a DMC increased the level of content and being positive about language learning among them. The following excerpts of data indicate this. Before the experience, I wasn’t that good at English. But during that period I was really happy with my English. I think I am now better at English. (Zahra) Now, I am more positive. I think I am a better learner. I am a good at English. (Hamid)

Also, other participants compared the situation before and after the DMC experience and noted that their motivational experience changed their content with their learning and even life. This can be seen in the following comments by the participants: It was a very special experience. I become very satisfied with myself. I had a particular sense of being effective. I felt that I am a useful person. (Ali) After that, it gave me a very delightful feeling. I was content with what I did. (Asma) Yeah! It gave me a new way of thinking about myself. I was really content with what I did. I felt I’m a better learner. And a more efficient person in life. (Jasem)

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6.11

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Conclusion

This chapter presented results and discussions for the research questions of the study. In summary, the analysis of data showed that experiencing a DMC enhanced language learners’ self-concepts by influencing three facets of content and positivity, affective quality, and certainty. Generally, the data supported the idea that having a DMC motivational experience positively affects language learners’ self-concepts. The findings were discussed in light of the previous research in the field as well.

Chapter 7

Conclusions

This chapter presents the final remarks about the study. First, a brief summary of the findings is presented. Then, the findings of the study are discussed in light of the DMC model (Dörnyei and his associates, 2014, 2015, 2016) and previous related studies. Also, the results of data analyses related to the questions related to the effect of experiencing DMCs on WTC, self-confidence, self-concept, and language learner autonomy are discussed. Then, the conclusions of the study are presented. This chapter also explains different pedagogical implications of the study and suggestions for future research in the field. Finally, the chapter ends with outlining the limitations of the study. The objective of this study was to examine whether the elements that Dörnyei and his colleagues conceptualized as the key features of DMCs could be found in accounts of intense motivational experience by Iranian EFL students, and therefore, assess the validity of the construct. The results of this study bear witness to the fact that long-term goal/vision directed motivational experiences do exist. Moreover, the findings suggest that the DMC construct captures an intense and sustained motivational experience which is characterized by positive emotionality and is supported by a salient facilitative structure. In regards to goal/vision-orientedness, the data analysis showed that there existed some well-defined target goals or outcomes (e.g., studying English literature at university level) at which the participants’ energy and efforts were directed. Interestingly, all four participants described specific versions of self-in-future images, which is a characteristic of individuals caught up in a DMC. They commented that they considered themselves in idealized future situations in which they have achieved their goal (e.g., talking to native speakers or reading Hamlet in a university class). Turning to a salient, facilitative structure of a DMC, the participants established recurring behavioral routines (e.g., assigning hours to studying, going to conversation classes) which were recognizable to themselves and people around them. Moreover, the subgoals such as getting the highest score or completing a course created regular checks that let the participants track their progress. Also positive feedback from parents, peers, and teachers helped them to sustain the momentum. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 N. Zarrinabadi et al., Directed Motivational Currents in L2, Second Language Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05472-4_7

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Furthermore, the participants’ motivational experience had clear turning points. The participants referred to the start of their DMC experiences as well as the time their motivation started to slow down. Additionally, the participants’ motivational experience was accompanied by positive emotional loading. All the participants reported that they had positive feelings such as excitement, happiness, self-efficacy, and elf-fulfillment. This study also sought to examine the start and launch of DMCs. Similar to what Dörnyei, Henry, and Muir (2016) noted, the launch of DMCs in this study was started by specific stimuli working in presence of other necessary personal and contextual conditions. The data suggested that the triggering stimulus can be comments from others such as teachers’ comments (Malek), aunt and uncle’s talks and encouragement (Amir), talking with a tourist (Jasem), or an internal factor such as failure to understand series in English (Javad). The results also confirm Dörnyei et al.’s (2016) idea that in order to catch up in a DMC, an individual should feel complete ownership of the goal and the process. As in participants’ stories, they expressed complete control over their goal. They also noted that perceived that they had sufficient abilities for achieving their goal.. Interestingly, the data confirmed the notion that there should be challenge-skill balance (Hefferon & Boniwell, 2011) for a DMC to launch. The participants explicitly mentioned that their targeted goals were not too easy or too difficult. But provided enough challenge and they thought that they could achieve it if they tried hard. The results also indicated that experiencing a DMC positively influenced the participants L2 WTC. The findings indicated that experiencing a DMC lowered the students’ anxiety which eventually led to higher L2 WTC. This in line with several previous studies on L2 WTC (Cao, 2011, 2014; Baker and MacIntyre, 2003; MacIntyre, 1994; MacIntyre, Baker, Clément, & Conrod, 2001; MacIntyre, Burns, & Jessome, 2011; MacIntyre, Clément, Dörnyei, & Noels, 1998; Peng, 2012, 2014). When learners’ got caught-up in a DMC, they follow their activities with motivation and interest, this lowers their stress and anxiety about communicating in English. Also, the findings indicated that experiencing a DMC was associated with a plethora of positive feelings which enhanced the participants’ L2 WTC. As Khajavy, MacIntyre, and Barabadi (2018) noted positive emotions significantly influence L2 WTC. Also, the findings revealed that the DMC experience created positive changes in the learners’ self-confidence. Experiencing a DMC seemed to enhance learners’ perceived linguistic competence and decrease their foreign language anxiety. The research on L2 self-confidence identifies linguistic competence and anxiety as the two main components of L2 self-confidence (Clément, 1980; Clément, Baker, & MacIntyre, 2003; Noels, Pon, & Clément, 1996). It seems that those who experience a DMC feel the lowest level of anxiety due to the positive emotional loading inherent in a DMC. Moreover, due to high level of engagement and energy, the learners engage more in L2 learning activities and perceive themselves more connected with language learning activities. It should be mentioned that the motivational energy is prone to lead to linguistic development, as well. Because of all these factors, the learners feel more confident to learn an L2.

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In regards to language learner autonomy, the data analysis indicated that DMCs affected language learner autonomy positively. It was found that the learners actively searched for new learning opportunities inside the classroom. As Little (2007) describes it, one aspect of autonomous language learning is that students take charge of their own learning. In this study, the participants noted that during the DMC they did not wait for others to give them instructions for learning. On the contrary, they felt responsible for their learning and searched extensively and intensively to find the ways in which they can improve their English ability. Moreover, the findings revealed that the participants became more autonomous and participating during their DMC experience. Giving the close relationship between autonomy and motivation (Lamb & Reinders, 2008; Little, 2007), it seems tangible that experiencing an intense and powerful motivational energy is prone to escalate learners’ autonomy level. This can also be due to the role of well-defined target goal/vision. When learners have a well-defined distinct and concrete goal they strive more to achieve the goal. As they get closer to the goal they become more active and energetic as they can understand how far or close they are from the goal. Arguably, the participants in this study, become more independent and took charge of their learning as they understood what they needed and tried to establish new routines to accomplish what they aspired. The DMCs were found to positively affect some aspects of the participants’ self-concepts. As Mercer (2011a, 2011b) notes, some aspects of language learners’ self-concepts are dynamic and can change over the course of time or learning. First, the experiencing a DMC influenced the strength of the students’ attitudes about their ability to learn English. Moreover, the positive emotional loading feature of DMCs (Dörnyei et al., 2016; Dörnyei, Ibrahim, & Muir, 2015) improved the affective quality of the learners’ self-concepts. Learners noted that experiencing a DMC motivation, they had more positive feelings toward language learning and progress. It seems that this aspect of learners’ self-concept is closely linked to the positive emotionality component of DMCs (Dörnyei et al., 2015, 2016). In addition to this, the participants were found to have some developments in relation to the positivity and content of their self-concepts. These three components, as by Mercer (2011a, 2011b), are among aspects of language learner self-concept that are prone to change. The results of this study showed that experiencing a DMC can improve some aspect of language learners’ self-concept, something not only attests to the favorable effects of DMCS but also corroborates the dynamic view of self-concept. The construct of DMCs purport to address the phenomenon of sustained intense goal-directed motivational experience. The results of this study confirm that periods of intense and sustained motivation do exist, and three components of the DMC construct, namely, goal/vision-orientedness, salient, facilitative structure, and positive emotionality, do account for explaining such a motivational experience. Moreover, this study confirmed that for a DMC to launch, there needs to be a particular stimulus working in presence of positively aligned necessary personal and contextual conditions. This study also provide empirical evidence in support of the fact that individuals have ownership, control, and affordance for the target goal, and there is a challenge-skill balance for a DMC to start.

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DMCs can have great practical implications for language learning and teaching. As Henry, Davydenko, and Dörnyei (2015) argue, although motivational experiences such as DMCs are uniquely constructed, it is possible to set the conditions so as to facilitate triggering and launch of DMCs. In so doing, Dörnyei and his colleagues refer to the results of studies on emotional and motivational contagion (Barsade, 2002) and note that “enthusiasm and positive emotional leading generated by an activity or project can serve to infuse an entire group with a positive mood” (Henry et al., 2015, p. 343). They also build on Aarts and Custers (2012) goal contagion construct and note that collective group pursuits can be triggered. Particularly, they refer to Csikszentmihalyi’s (1988, 1990) concept of flow and note that it can be extended from individual to group level. Sawyer (2006, p.158) refers group flow as “a property of entire group as a collective unit” and claims that group flow can be generated among groups with a shared goal/intention (Gaggioli, Milani, Mazzoni, & Riva, 2011; Sawyer, 2006; Shernoff, 2013). In this study, one of Malek’s comments provided clues into the contagious of DMCs and hinted that it is possible to induce it in others. Malek told us that when he was accepted as a university student, two or three of his friends who noticed his motivation and attempts told him that they want to do the same job and undergo the same process to participate in next year’s university entrance examination and enter a good university. Dörnyei et al. (2016) claim that DMCs can be generated in group level and suggest several frameworks which can be employed to create DMCs at group level. Moreover, it can be concluded from the study that experiencing a DMC has a positive impact on other affective factors involved in language learning as well. Within the component of positive emotional loading, a learner can experience higher levels of self-confidence characterized by least stress and anxiety and high perceived linguistic competence. Also, within a DMC experience students become more willing to speak in their L2 and independently search for opportunities to use their L2 for communication. Finally, having a DMC motivation improves ones perceptions about self.

7.1

Pedagogical Implications

The overall implications of the study for language learning and teaching seem very promising. The results show that DMCs occur among male and female Iranian EFL learners and are associated with intense energy and commitment. Language teachers can use what Dörnyei et al. (2016) call intensive group projects framework to purposefully and deliberately trigger intense motivational periods among their students. In addition to L2 motivation, the findings of this study show that creating DMCs can increase learners’ willingness to use L2 in the classroom and enhance their self-confidence. The findings also note that DMCs can increase the extent to which learners independently engage in language learning activities and improve

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their self-concepts. Teachers can implement the intensive group project strategies proposed by Dörnyei et al. (2016) to trigger DMCs among their students. Also, it is suggested that teachers be sensitive to particular motivational momentums among their students and try to recognize those DMC-like ones. This way the can provide the feedback and support needed for propelling and movement of the DMC. In addition, EFL teachers are suggested to pave the way for the launch of DMCs in their classrooms. The study showed that if the necessary conditions are provided, the DMCs can be triggered. One way of doing this might be to deliver talks on the benefits of learning English. The results of this study revealed that talks from teachers or significant others might remarkably help in triggering a DMC.

7.2

Directions for Further Research

Dörnyei et al. (2016) note that positive emotionality is one of the key characteristics of DMCs. While this study examine four mainstream affective factors involved in language learning about the potentials of DMCs and the prolonged period of engagement and commitment with the language learning tasks makes it interesting to examine the ways in which DMCs can be identified and fostered in the EFL classrooms. Future research can aim at developing scales, questionnaires, or observation schemes that can help identify learners with a DMC motivation so that teachers can capitalize on their motivation and present them with the work plans, materials, and activities that help them achieve their language learning goal. This study examined the effect of DMCs on non-linguistic aspects of language learning including affective factors of WTC, autonomy, self-confidence, and self-concept. However, this research study did not examine how DMCs might affect achievements in specific language skills such as reading, writing, or grammar. It is, therefore, suggested that future research examine which language skills can be best fostered by creating DMCs. It should be noted that this study examined the DMCs and their effects on WTC, autonomy, self-confidence, and self-concept at individual level and did not tackle group level ones. Further research can also examine how DMCs can occur in group level. One aim of DMCs is to enhance motivation and engagement at classroom level (Dörnyei et al., 2016). In so doing, researchers interested in this area of research can aim to explore natural group level DMCs and study how the components of DMCs function at group level and whether there are any other factors the behaviour of group DMCs. Also, as Dörnyei et al. (2016) suggest, DMCs can be used to produce intensive group projects that make the student try hard to follow a goal in a distinct period of time. The employment of intensive group projects in EFL classrooms and examining group-level motivation have remained rather understudied to date. As such, it is believed that research on group level DMCs presents exciting opportunities for enhancing learner motivation.

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7 Conclusions

Limitations

The results of this study should be interpreted with caution for several reasons. First, the findings of this study are limited to the context in which the study was conducted. The study was conducted in Dehloran, Iran since the study included several high schools and over different time periods. Such issues of availability and access influenced the selection of research site and type of school. Studies of similar nature need to be conducted to consolidate the findings of the present study. Moreover, the results are limited to the methodology used for findings DMCs cases. In this study, the systematic strategy used by Henry et al. (2015) was used. The researcher believes that retrodictive qualitative modelling (Dörnyei, 2014) can also be used to find and analyse DMC experiences among language learners. Additionally, this study was conducted among language learners at school-level age. Further research with among different age groups is needed to gain a better cognizance of the nature and functioning of DMCs. Also, the researcher used interviews and stimulated recalls to delve into the participants’ WTC, self-confidence, self-concepts, and language learner autonomy. As such, the results are limited to the weaknesses of qualitative research. Future research with different types of data would be helpful to corroborate or modify the result of this study.

Appendix A: Teachers’ Checklist

The Motivational Checklist Given to Teachers to Assist Identifying DMC Experiences Name Particular motivational feature

School Yes No

The student was particularly motivated and was in search of a defined goal The student’s goal was important for him/her leading to intense energy and effort investment The student became suddenly and intense motivated The goal caused changes in everyday activities and plans for the student The changes were easily identifiable in students’ motivation to learn English The student designed a new timeplan for learning English The students asked you how he/she could improve in English The student asked you about ways in which he/she can have extra English practice (e.g., software, TV program, private classes, textbooks) The student appeared to study English with great joy and excitement The student asked you about his/her progress Teacher feedback and acclaim seemed to increase the student’s motivation and energy for learning English the student was enjoying learning English and everything related to it seemed to increase his/her motivation The student’s scores in English tests seemed to improve

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Appendix B: DMCs Interview Protocol

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Can you tell me about your motivational experience? How did you feel about it? How was your daily schedule? What was particularly interesting about your experience? What was your goal? Did you achieve it? Was there any change in your daily routines or study plan? How did others influence your motivation in that time? Do you remember when it started? Do you remember what triggered your motivation? When did it start to lessen? What do you feel after that experience? Do you like to have such a motivational experience again?

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Appendix C: WTC, Autonomy, Self-confidence and Self-confidence Interview Protocol

A. WTC 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Did you like to use your English for communication? What factors influenced your willingness to speak in English? How did you feel about communication in that period? Was there any increase or decrease in your willingness to talk in English? Can you tell me how you felt when you used/learned English? Did you speak in class or out of class as well? What was the effect of your motivation on this feeling? Did it have any effects? How?

B. Autonomy 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Can you tell about your participation in classroom activities? Do you need others to give you directions for language learning? Do you like to search for language learning opportunities? How? When? What did happen to this when you were very motivated in that period? How did you find learning materials or instructions in that period? What was the effect of your motivation on this feeling? Did it have any effects? How?

C. Self-confidence 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

How do you feel when using English? Are you anxious when using English? How do you assess/perceive your English level? Do you consider yourself as a self-confident person? Can you tell me whether you felt anxious or stressed out in that period?

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Appendix C: WTC, Autonomy, Self-confidence and Self-confidence Interview Protocol

6. Did you feel any change in your language level in that period? 7. What was the effect of your motivation on this feeling? Did it have any effects? How?

D. Self-concept 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

How was that period? How did you feel about your language before that experience? How did you feel about your language during that period? How did you feel about your language after that period? How do you describe your English before, during and after that motivational experience? How do you feel compared to before that motivation? Has the way you feel about yourself in the language changed during the year? If so, why and in what ways? What kind of ‘key’ experiences have you had during the year and how have they affected you? Is there anything you found particularly useful/inhibiting during your first year of language learning? What affects the way you feel about a specific language?

Appendix D: Informed Consent

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Appendix E: School Permission Form

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