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The introduction of positive psychology to the SLA domain triggered a bulk of research on how learners can thrive and flourish in the language classroom emphasizing the role that character strengths play in the achievement of goals. In this study, we examined character strengths in the context of second language (L2) learning and their role in a critical goal of L2 learning - the Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in the target language. Specifically, we examined the impact of L2 grit, Ideal L2 Self (ILS), and growth language mindset (growth LM) as complex direct and indirect predictors of WTC. Data was collected from 450 Iranian EFL learners with diverse language proficiencies. The predictor of L2 grit, the possible mediators of ILS and Growth LM, and the outcome variable of WTC were modeled in a double latent mediation model. Results indicated that ILS and growth LM fully mediated the relationship between L2 grit and WTC. As such, the study highlighted the role of personal strengths such as grittiness, self-motivation, and a growth LM in the L2 learning context. Finally, future research avenues are suggested based on the findings of this study. • Ideal L2 Self (ILS) and growth language mindset (LM) fully mediated the relationship between L2 grit and willingness to communicate (WTC). • ILS was the stronger mediator explaining the relative priority of having a positive picture of oneself using English. • This study supported character strengths (L2 grit, growth LM, and ILS) as individual predictors of WTC. • Personal strengths such as grittiness, self-motivation, and a growth LM play a key role in the L2 learning context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In researching second language (L2) learners' motivation, the traditional Gardnerian concept of integrativeness was readily applicable in a world where discrete L2 communities were often clearly identifiable. However, the growing dominance of global English has rendered this construct less relevant for the ever-increasing numbers of L2-English learners for whom there is no geographically-defined L2 community with which to integrate. This transformation of the language learning landscape has seen integrativeness reinterpreted as a concept more aligned with individuals' self-identification and future visions as L2 users. The demand for English teachers worldwide has led to large numbers of first-language English speakers finding such work outside their own countries, but their motivation to learn the languages of their host nations remains unexplored. Based on interviews with 14 English as Foreign Language (EFL) instructors in South Korea, the present study found that most lacked the clear future L2 self visions required to drive motivation. In such cases, the traditional concept of integrativeness also retains its explanatory value, particularly as participants tended to attribute their lack of motivation to elements of the broader society in which they were living. These findings have implications for research on similar cohorts operating in a globalized marketplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This research investigates the study abroad experiences of eight Japanese university students through a longitudinal study of changes in the second language (L2) self. Semi-structured interviews and photo narrative journals were used to explore short-term and long-term changes in the participants' L2 motivational self systems and the effects of these changes on motivation, study goals and learning behaviours. Three distinct patterns emerged, each of which appeared to have a significant influence on motivation and study behaviours in the short and long-term. For the first group, positive L2 experiences made much clearer the discrepancies between current and desired states, creating an empowering sense of moving closer to the ideal L2 self. For the second group, individuals' self images became characterised by both an ideal self and a complementary ought-to self. The third group comprised those participants who described a feared self which they linked to their perceived inability to engage with the target language community in ways that they had hoped. Overall, our findings demonstrate the power of short-term study abroad to provide an opportunity for individuals to experience possible futures, with sustained effects on the clarity and availability of their future self visions and motivated language learning behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the role of motivation in the acquisition of second language (L2) writing skills in a Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) context. More specifically, the purpose of the current study was twofold: 1) to examine if vision-inspired instruction can enhance the L2 motivational self-system (L2MSS, ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and learning experience) of L2 students in a CALL context, and 2) to investigate whether the changes, if any, that may occur in the students' L2MSS can also indirectly affect writing. Pretest and posttest writing tasks and questionnaire scales were used in a quasi-experimental design to measure 51 upper-intermediate L2 students' motivation for writing. ANCOVA results suggested that the ideal L2-self and learning experience of the students in the experimental group,exposed to the vision-inspired instruction,improved significantly, compared with the control group. However, the ought-to L2 self of the control group underwent a significant increase, compared with the experimental group. Furthermore, the results suggested that the vision-inspired L2MSS instruction resulted in significantly higher writing gains. Overall, the findings highlight the important role of L2MSS vision-inspired instruction in L2 students' motivation and writing achievement in a CALL context. • L2MSS vision-inspired instruction improved L2 learners' ideal L2 self. • L2MSS vision-inspired instruction enriched L2 learners' learning experience. • L2MSS vision-inspired instruction decreased L2 learners' ought-to self. • L2MSS vision-inspired instruction enhanced L2 learners' writing skills. • L2MSS vision-inspired instruction led to better L2 learning in a CALL environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research was set to test a model of willingness to communicate (WTC) based on ideal L2 self, foreign language enjoyment (FLE), and intercultural communicative competence (ICC) among English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. To this end, 601 intermediate EFL learners volunteered to take part in an online survey by completing the scales of the four latent constructs. A two-stage structural equation modelling was used to analyze the collected data. Results of the data analysis indicated that ideal L2 self, ICC, and FLE directly predicted L2 WTC. Additionally, ICC and FLE mediated the relationships between ideal L2 self and L2 WTC. Also, FLE had a direct influence on ICC. These findings may provide important implications for EFL teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines a group of Vietnamese ethnic minority students' language attitudes in relation to their identity and minority language (L1) maintenance by focusing on three languages—their L1, Vietnamese and English—in terms of integrative/instrumental orientations and ideal/ought-to language selves. Multiple semi-structured interviews with eight college-age minority students were the main source of the data. The students were found to have displayed the integrative orientation in valuing their L1, and the instrumental orientation in valuing Vietnamese and English. However, the integrative and instrumental orientations appeared to be ambiguous, which may not contribute to a comprehensive understanding of their language attitudes. A combination of integrative and instrumental orientations and ideal and ought-to language selves appeared more relevant to understand the students' language attitudes and identity. As the students' attitudes were influenced, to a large extent, by the utility of languages, it is argued that positive attitudes alone are not enough to ensure L1 maintenance or identity empowerment. Institutional support is necessary to promote the use of minority languages for their maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the ideal L2 self as the proposed key driver of self-motivation in L2 learning has received considerable scholarly attention over the past ten years, the conditions for its motivational capacity remain largely unexplored in empirical studies. This article details a quantitative measure that operationalizes the ideal L2 self in terms of specific properties that have been associated with its motivating capacity and links these with effort expended towards its attainment. The results of a study into the properties of the ideal L2 selves of 97 German upper-intermediate to advanced learners of English are discussed, in which levels of self-motivation to attain a specific ideal L2 self were most strongly associated with how frequently the ideal L2 self was envisioned, followed by the perceived present-future self-discrepancy and the extent to which this ideal L2 self was desired. Although the perceived plausibility of a specific ideal L2 self was also positively associated with effort expended towards its attainment, its unique contribution to predicting effort did not reach significance when the variance explained by the other properties was controlled for. The implications of these findings for researchers and language educators are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that motivation is one of the most important individual differences (Dörnyei, 2005), there have been few attempts to examine what impact it has on studying English in Poland. This study aims to find out the general motivational properties of Polish students aged 15-16, focussing on the role of language learning goals, self-constructs, the influence of parents, peers and language learning anxiety. The second aim is to investigate which variables contribute significantly to students' self-regulated behaviour. To answer these questions, the researcher used a mixed methods approach, in which 236 students enrolled in compulsory education in southern Poland completed a motivational questionnaire and nine motivated learners participated in an interview. The quantitative data from the questionnaire was analysed using SPSS and the interviews were transcribed, coded and analysed qualitatively. The findings suggest that the students endorsed a number of language learning goals, such as knowledge orientation, international orientation and instrumental orientation. The role of parental encouragement, peer group pressure and language learning anxiety was limited. Although the questionnaire pointed to moderate levels of self-constructs, this was different for motivated learners who reported positive self-evaluations. Regression analysis showed that motivated behaviour, intrinsic motivation and the ideal L2 self influenced self-regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This action research study reports results from students (449 in phase one; 341 in phase two) in conversation-based, EFL classrooms. In phase one, we asked students, "Please describe a group of classmates that you could learn English well with. What would you all do to help each other learn better and more enjoyably?" Then in phase two, we coded their answers into 16 general descriptors and returned these to students, asking them to respond to three Likert questions: (a) this is important, (b) my classmates are doing this, and (c) I am doing this. We found that sharing these descriptors of Ideal L2 Classmates among and across classrooms enabled students to imagine further how they could help their classmates' learning. Quantitative and qualitative results indicate a resonating group-framed motivation effect in which students tend to become more helpful and resourceful for each other. We hypothesize this effect occurs through first formulating ideals about others and then identifying self-reflexively with these ideals, which we call reciprocal idealizing. Findings suggest that pedagogical applications of possible selves theory would do well to include active participation of imaginings within a lived experience, proximal peers and environments, past and present self guides, and possible others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article explores 59 university students' motivation for learning German as a foreign language over the course of one academic year. It sheds light on the role of the ideal L2 self, integrative and instrumental orientations, and task-based self-efficacy for students' motivation and pays particular attention to the relationship between the ideal L2 self and self-efficacy beliefs. With the exception of integrative orientation, all variables were significantly correlated with self-perceived effort and thus appeared to play a role in students' motivation to engage with language learning. While students could well imagine becoming proficient users of German, task based self-efficacy to deal with the specific language tasks required at university was relatively low at the beginning of the year, and self-efficacy beliefs for speaking and listening further declined over the course of the year. Given the significant correlations between the ideal L2 self and task based self-efficacy, it is proposed that attending to students' self-efficacy beliefs may also nourish students' ideal L2 self. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reports a study of Pakistani undergraduate students' motivation to learn English, using Dörnyei's (2009) L2 Motivational Self System as the main theoretical framework, while including some context-specific factors. The purpose of the study was both to contribute to the ongoing validation of Dörnyei's model for describing contemporary L2 motivation and to capture motivational factors which were salient in this under-researched global context. A survey was designed and administered to over 1000 undergraduates in various institutions in the Pakistani province of Punjab. Correlation and regression analyses of the data provide considerable empirical support for the validity of the L2 Motivational Self System and its relevance in the Pakistani context, with attitudes to the learning experience and the Ideal L2 self again found to be the strongest predictors of learning effort. However, a proposed new construct – National Interest – made a strong contribution to the Ideal L2 self, highlighting the need to understand the association of English with the national identities and interests of learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The study on which this article is based investigated reasons for learning a foreign language at university in a predominantly English-speaking environment (the UK). It examined the relative importance of motivational variables as theorised in the field of second language (L2) motivation, and the effect of first language (L1) and linguistic background (English only versus other), country of birth (the UK versus other), choice of target language (French versus Spanish) and centre of study (specialist language department versus language centre). Despite the ‘monoglot culture’ that prevails in many English-speaking countries, having an English-only profile and especially being born in the UK proved to be important motivating factors in the participants'' decision to learn a foreign language. Few significant differences were found between learners of French and Spanish, which were both deemed to have continued instrumental value despite the dominance of English in the world today. The notion of ideal L2 self proved potentially more useful than traditional motivational constructs. However, it is argued that the concept would benefit from further research in particular amongst non-specialist language learners, who appear to have been largely neglected by L2 motivation theory to date, despite possibly representing the future of foreign language learning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present study takes the initiative to test a theoretical model that subsumes the ideal L2 self, the ought-to L2 self, and the L2 learning experience in L2 motivational self system, as well as English anxiety and intended effort to learn English. A number of 1011 Iranian high school students completed a questionnaire survey specifically developed to be used in the context of Iran. Using AMOS version 16.0, structural equation modeling was run to analyze the proposed model. Based on several goodness-of-fit criteria, the results confirmed the validity of the anticipated construct. It was found that all the variables in the model significantly contributed to intended effort; however, while the ideal L2 self and the L2 learning experience decreased students’ English anxiety, the ought-to L2 self significantly made them more anxious. The results are discussed based on the socio-educational context of Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The research reported in this paper investigates how the motivational and attitudinal dispositions of students who learnt both English and German simultaneously at the time of data collection differ for the two foreign languages. The study is based on data gathered with the help of a standardised questionnaire from 237 16/17-year-old learners of English and German. Based on L2 Motivational System, it can be concluded that students’ Ideal L2 self proved to be the most significant component of predicting motivated learning behaviour for both English and German as a first or second foreign language. However, only English as a first foreign language (as opposed to as a second foreign language) was appraised with solely positive attitudes and dispositions by the students. For German (either first or second foreign language) and English as a second foreign language, the negative effects of the motivational dimensions related to the other foreign language cannot be neglected. In order to explain the complex results, they will be discussed within the framework of the Dynamic Systems Theory (DST; ). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of this study is to deepen our understanding of psychological processes involved in learning an additional language, particularly the associations between ideal L2 self and L2 willingness to communicate (L2 WTC). For this purpose, a moderated mediation model is proposed that incorporates grit and psychological shyness. Drawing on the L2 Motivational Self System framework, this study proposes that ideal L2 self would be positively related to L2 WTC and that grit would mediate the association between the two constructs. We also posit that this mediated association would be moderated by psychological shyness. The data for this multi-university study were collected across three cities in China from 842 (N = 842) undergraduate students majoring in Business English and English for Educational Purposes. Robust analytical techniques were employed to analyze the data. The findings suggested that ideal L2 self was positively related to L2 WTC and that grit mediated the relationship between these two constructs. Additionally, the link between ideal L2 self and grit was found to be moderated by psychological shyness. Furthermore, the strength of this mediated effect increased alongside the level of shyness. These findings hold some notable pedagogical implications. • a moderated mediation relationship between L2 Ideal Self and Willingness to Communicate in English (L2 WTC) was examined. • Grit was a mediating variable and psychological shyness was a moderator variable in the model (Ideal L2 Self → Grit → L2 WTC) • Grit was found to mediate the relationship between L2 Ideal Self and L2 WTC. • The Ideal L2 Self–Grit nexus was moderated by psychological shyness. • The strength of the mediated effect increased in tandem with the level of shyness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media hold great potential for language learning since language learning is closely intertwined with socialization. However, previous studies have primarily examined social media experience as a whole, without taking into consideration of the differential influences of different types of social media activities. This study examined how different social media activities impacted language learning motivation through analyzing survey responses from 565 secondary school south and southeast Asian students in Hong Kong. The structural equation modeling analysis revealed that passive consumption of social media contents and active contribution of social media contents both contributed positively to language learning motivation via both cultural identification and ideal L2 self. However, the two types of social media activities were associated with cultural identification differently, where passive consumption predicted bicultural harmony and active contribution predicted bicultural blendedness. The findings confirm the value of both types of social media activities and suggest capitalizing on the motivational impact of everyday social media activities for language learning. The findings call for in-depth research into the differential impacts of different social media activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]