Language learning motivation: Applying the L2 Motivational Self System

Dörnyei (2005) reconceptualized language learning motivation by positing it to be connected to a language learner’s identity. To reflect this notion, he constructed the L2 Motivational Self System, which examines the learner’s self as a second language user. Because identity is often of central concern to double and returnee children in Japan, it was thought that Dörnyei’s model could effectively explain the English learning motivation of an adolescent bicultural bilingual double girl in Japan who had previously lived in the U.S. Research conducted via multiple semi-structured interviews before, during, and after a 9-day trip to the U.S. had revealed her to claim to possess 2 distinct English “voices.” To make sense of these voices, Dörnyei’s model was then applied to the girl’s case, with special attention paid to the model’s Ideal L2 Self component, as her voices appeared to be related to her motivation. Results found the model useful in explaining her desires to improve at English, for her 2 voices represented her current and future L2 selves and her motivation came from her desire to merge her 2 voices into a single voice. However, the peculiarities of the girl’s case highlight the areas of the model that require modification.