In this chapter I will suggest that in cultural contexts such as Sweden where English is an integral part of young people’s everyday lives and is encountered and used in a range of out-of-school domains, a particular challenge facing teachers is not so much generating motivation to succeed in long-term competency goals, but rather engaging students in day-to-day classroom activities. Based on the

Transcultural flows of capital, culture and communication have created conditions for the widespread movement of people around the globe, leading to increasing diversity in countries of destination. In contexts of global migration lingua franca English is indispensable in initial and survival communication. For migrants to northern European countries where lingua franca English functions as a 'con

In this Swedish case study of four upper secondary students engaged in simultaneous L2 (English) and L3 (Spanish, French and Russian) learning, a possible selves approach was used to investigate the impact of English on L3 motivation. Using a maximum variation sampling strategy, participants were selected from a larger dataset (n=101). Semi-structured interviews were conducted using Interpretive P

Along with aptitude, motivation is the primary determiner of learning outcomes in second language (L2) learning. Widely regarded as an activity especially suited to girls, empirical studies from different sociocultural contexts have, with few exceptions, revealed systematic gender differences in L2 motivation. In particular, gender differences are most apparent in relation to establishing an affin

By tradition, L2 motivation research has a monolingual bias – the motivational systems of a learner’s different languages conceptualized as separate entities rather than as cognitively interconnected. At a time when multilingualism has become a new world order (Douglas Fir Group, ) and where there is evidence of powerful identity experiences connected to speaking several languages (Pavlenko, ) thi

The purpose of this thesis was to study secondary school students' motivation to learn a second foreign language in addition to English. In addition to the empirical investigation of L3 motivation over a program of study and the testing of the widely-held assumption that L2 English impacts negatively on L3 motivation, the aim was also to contribute to the conceptual development of self-based motiv

Multiple language learning has been largely neglected in L2 motivation research. Recently, complexity principles have been used to model multilingual motivation. In this work, multilingual self-guides are conceptualised as emergent from interactions between the motivation systems of different languages. Motivational systems and their emergent properties are also influenced by the contexts in which

With roots in social psychology, second language (L2) motivation has largely been investigated using self-report techniques. Studies drawing on observational data gathered in contexts where learning takes place are rare, and understandings of how motivation evolves in classroom interactions remain limited (Boo, Dörnyei, & Ryan, 2015). In a position paper in Language Teaching, Ushioda (2016) ma

Language teaching is all about relationships. As Earl Stevick famously put it, success in learning a language “depends less on materials, techniques and linguistic analyses, and more on what goes on inside and between the people in the classroom” (1980 p. 4). For the teacher, getting students engaged in learning activities, and involved in developing communicative competence, requires interpersona

Digital technologies are increasingly common in language learning. Online media creation provides scope for agency and spaces for identity construction, but empirically grounded conceptualizations of the influences on learners' motivation are lacking and the digital technology–second language motivation interface remains largely unexplored. Using a grounded theory ethnographic approach (Charmaz,20

Mental time travel lies at the frontier of research into motivational persistence in language learning (Dörnyei, 2020). This article introduces the theory of episodic future thinking (D’Argembeau, 2016, 2020), and examines the key components of autobiographical knowledge and personally important goals. With findings on the long-term goals and career aspirations of preservice English teachers as a

In order to reinstate interest and motivation for learning foreign languages (FLs) other than English, the Swedish government has recently reformed the admissions system to higher education. Upper secondary students who continue with the FL learnt in secondary school are rewarded with extra credits that considerably enhance their grade point average (GPA). The purpose of this interview-based study

In many contexts of contemporary ELT, the L2 can be widely encountered beyond the classroom. In these settings, teachers need to maximize opportunities for meaningful participation. Digital video production (DVP) provides one such opportunity. Little, however, is known about the types of DVP common in particular contexts of ELT, the extent to which DVP functions as a motivational resource, or how

Patterns of transmigration emerging as a consequence of globalization are creating new and complex markets for communicative resources in which languages and language varieties are differently valued. In a Swedish context, where lingua franca English can facilitate communication but where monolingual norms prevail and Swedish is positioned as the key to 'integration', the purpose of this study is

In Sweden students’ encounters with English in and out of school are very different. Spending around 20 hours per week in English-mediated environments outside of school, they are often engaged in richly meaningful activities. Consequently, many young people believe they learn as much of their English as a result of participation in English-mediated leisure time activities as they do from textbook

Learning a third language (TL) brings with it particular pedagogical demands. In the pedagogy of TL learning now emerging, the development of students' metalinguistic and crosslinguistic awareness is of central importance. In particular, emphasis is placed on the benefits of cross-referencing with supporter languages. While comparisons with supporter languages have been shown to facilitate L3 prod

Goal self-concordance has been shown to have enduring influences on behavior. It predicts sustained effort and increased goal-attainment. Compared to goals that lack self-concordance, self-concordant goals generate greater satisfaction and increased well-being. One research strand where vision and goal self-concordance have been studied as integrated dimensions in behavior-steering processes is wo