The desire to learn is often related to the concept of motivation. Motivation is the most-used concept for explaining the failure or success of a language learner. Second language (L2) refers to a language an individual learns that is not his/her mother tongue, but is of use in the area of the individual. (It is not the same as a foreign language, which is a language learned that is not generally spoken in the individual's area.) Research on motivation can treat the concept of motivation as an internal process that gives behavior energy, direction and persistence (in other words, motivation gives behavior strength, purpose, and sustainability). Learning a new language takes time and dedication. Once achieved, fluency in a second language offers numerous benefits and opportunities. Learning a second language is exciting and beneficial at all ages. It offers practical, intellectual and many aspirational benefits. In learning a language, there can be one or more goals – such as mastery of the language or communicative competence – that vary from person to person. There are a number of language learner motivation models that were developed and postulated in fields such as linguistics and sociolinguistics, with relations to second-language acquisition in a classroom setting. The different perspectives on L2 motivation can be divided into three distinct phases: the social psychological period, the cognitive-situated period and the process-oriented period.
The social psychological period Social psychological perspectives on L2 learning motivation emphasize the role of the individuals’ social context and social interactions. The social psychological period in L2 motivation research flourished in the bilingual context of Canada from 1959 through 1990 (Dörnyei, 2005; Ushioda, 2012). During this period, Gardner developed the socio-educational model while Clément and colleagues explored the theory of linguistic self-confidence.
The socio-educational model R.C. Gardner formulated the socio-educational model suggesting that learning an L2 cannot be solely explained by people's aptitude or their competency to acquire as many languages. He asserted that individual differences were key factors affecting L2 acquisition such that in understanding how the L2 learning process and outcomes work, it is important to consider the cultural contexts, which influence people's attitude and motivation in learning another culturally distinct language. By simply regarding aptitude as the only factor, researchers dismiss the social, contextual and pragmatic reasons that drive people to learn other languages. The original socio-educational model (1979) proposed that there are two main factors that influence L2 performance: aptitude, and motivation in learning. The model, however, placed more emphasis on the motivation factor because Gardner was interested in how people succeeded in acquiring L2 even when it seemed that their competency/aptitude is below average. This meant that motivation played a bigger role in driving those people to learn an L2. The model then attempted to explain that these motivational factors took place in the sites where L2 learning occurs: the formal site (i.e. the educational context), and the informal site (i.e. the cultural context). Gardner argued that these two contexts play distinct roles in boosting the learner's L2 performance in that the educational context became a place where explicit instruction and correction occurs, whereas the cultural context was an area allowing the learners to become immersed in the other culture without placing any specific rules or instructions. Both ways, the learners become increasingly knowledgeable and more confident with the social and cultural settings behind the L2, and these motivate them to learn L2 even more. Upon this transition, linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes emerge. In the linguistic component, learners tend to develop L2 proficiency and fluency, whereas in the non-linguistic outcomes, they undergo changes in attitudes towards the culture where the L2 came from. The process of L2 acquisition starts from the social milieu where learners have initial attitudes towards the culture behind the L2; these preset beliefs were acquired from their own cultures. The social milieu, in turn, influences the strategies, which individuals use in acquiring the L2. After knowing the individual differences in L2 acquisition, it is important to consider the context of learning (i.e. educational or cultural) because they improve L2 performance through direct (i.e. explicit instruction) and indirect (i.e. cultural immersion) means. Finally, when the learners have already acquired experience and knowledge of the L2, they gain varying positive outcomes such as fluency and appreciation of the other culture.
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