Specialized learning institutions (SLIs) feature organizational cultures, learning environments, and Postgraduation expectations that typically differ from traditional 4-year universities. For students pursuing foreign language (FL) study within an SLI, coursework is frequently accompanied by a range of nonacademic tasks that are required for…

Although motivation is an extensively discussed topic, minor languages deserve more research attention. This qualitative multiple case study explores motivation to learn Czech as a second language in Beginners' Czech language courses for Erasmus students in the Czech Republic through the lens of the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS), searching…

Due to its accessibility and popularity, anime has been explored as a motivation for learning Japanese and as a pedagogical tool linking Japanese-as-a-foreign-language (JFL) literacy practices inside and outside of the classroom. However, JFL learners' actual practices in anime-mediated self-directed learning have not been fully investigated.…

In a world where English has achieved global dominance, it is unsurprising that the instrumental value of learning a language other than English (LOTE) for those already fluent in English is increasingly deemed unnecessary. There are significant enrollment declines postcompulsory second language (L2) learning in all English-speaking countries. To…

Motivation, a major contributor to the acquisition of language skills, can be promoted consciously through principled methods. This study investigated the impact of cooperative learning (CL) on foreign language (FL) learners' motivation in Iran. Both quantitative and qualitative measures were applied to pursue the aims of this study. The…

This article describes the development of a new questionnaire for assessing L2 learners' language attitudes. Drawing on theoretical work in the fields of social psychology and applied linguistics, the author reviewed the concept of (language) attitudes and contrasted them with the concept of (language) motivation. This thorough literature review,…

Most students take language courses at university, but only a fraction go beyond the introductory and intermediate levels despite the fact that continued study is likely necessary to achieve full communicative competence in the target language. By shedding light on the motivational pathways that predict language learning effort, persistence, and…

Recent years have seen a growing research interest in the notion of directed motivational currents (DMCs) that defines highly intense motivational surges oriented to a much-desired goal of personal significance. However, the learner characteristics that induce individual-level variability in DMCs have yet to be explored. In particular, the role of…

Hundreds of millions of language learners around the globe study a second language with popular apps such as Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, Busuu, and Babbel. This study examined the effectiveness of one app, Babbel, for developing both receptive linguistic knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, as well as oral communicative ability in Spanish as a second…

While previous work has shown a relationship between pronunciation attitudes and pronunciation performance, the connection between language learning motivation and pronunciation attitudes has been underexplored. This study investigated the relationship between 195 foreign language learners' attitudes toward pronunciation, the foreign languages…

This article examines the relationship between global competence and second language learning motivation in critical language classrooms. Data were collected from 137 participants who were studying critical languages (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Persian) at two universities on the East and West Coasts of the United States, using a 30-item…

A nine-week empirical study of 25 adults in a second language (L2) Spanish phonetics course explored whether students' participation in service-learning language exchange sessions with native Spanish speakers outside of class influenced learners' (1) motivation for foreign language learning and (2) phonemic perception in Spanish. Divided…

Multiple studies conducted over the past decade have suggested the motivational and proficiency-related benefits of commencing language instruction at an early age. Limitations in many of these studies, however, have prevented their results from being applied to the teaching of foreign languages in the United States. In response to calls for…

Many scholars have argued that an intercultural approach to foreign language instruction best reflects the inherent interconnectedness of language and culture. However, abundant evidence of the effectiveness of such an approach is lacking, particularly at the secondary level. This two-year curricular experiment, which took place in two public high…

This study explores second/foreign language (L2) learners' attitudes toward task-based language learning (TBLL) and how these attitudes relate to selected learner variables, namely anxiety, integrated motivation, instrumental motivation, and self-efficacy. Ninety-one college students of Korean as a foreign language, who received task-based…