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…

L2 motivation research has a longstanding monolingual bias. Recently, however, the motivational systems of a multilingual's different languages have been conceptualised as constituting a multilingual motivational system, and it has been suggested that interactions between the ideal Lx self and the ideal Ly self can lead to the emergence of an…

In the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) motivation is conceptualized to be generated by discomfort associated with the learner's experience of a discrepancy between their current L2 self, and their ideal L2 self. However, in the L2MSS model, this discrepancy is not operationalized. A questionnaire containing measures of current L2 selves was…

Although there have been several comparative studies of willingness to communicate in a first language (L1 WTC), there is a dearth of comparative research on L2 WTC, especially between groups with distinct cultural and educational backgrounds. This study synthesises the L2 motivational self system (ideal L2 self and ought-to L2 self) and attitudes…

Demotivation (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011) and non-participation (Norton, 2001) characterize negative responses to classroom practice of a generally chronic nature. In this article, focus is directed to negativity that emerges within the context of a particular language developing activity, and which can be understood as a situated response to the…

English is today learnt in multitudes of settings worldwide, making it difficult to characterize relationships between motivation and context in generalized terms (Ushioda 2013). In settings where students have extensive encounters with English outside school, a reluctance to invest effort in formal learning has been observed. To investigate ways…

Despite the consistency with which gender differences have been found in second language motivation, little systematic research has taken place on motivation and gender to date. Permeating self-concept development, gender impacts not only current selves but also future-oriented possible selves. In construing possible selves, females tend to…

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…

In this Swedish case study of four upper secondary students engaged in simultaneous second language (L2; English) and third language (L3; Spanish, French and Russian) learning, a possible selves perspective was used to investigate the impact of English on L3 motivation. Using a maximum variation sampling strategy, participants were selected from a…

Motivation in simultaneous L2 learning situations is an area of research largely overlooked and studies from contexts where people are engaged in learning more than one L2 are rare. In their large-scale Hungarian research, Dornyei, Csizer and Nemeth found that pupils' positive attitudes to one L2 could cause interferences with attitudes to others,…

Whilst adults in Sweden place great importance on communicative competence in English, interest in learning other FLs and support for multilingualism are low. This is mirrored in the attitudes of pupils in compulsory and post-compulsory education, where English is a popular subject but opt-out and drop-out rates for FLs are high. Whilst…