3.3.1. Introduction

Williams & Burden articulate contemporary views on learning when they state that education "must focus on the learner” (1997:205), emphasising learner participation in the learning process as joint course-designer, decision-maker, and evaluator, but also as a developing individual making sense of and constructing meaning in his/her own world (Piaget 1973; Kamii, Lewis & Jones 1991). In this model, the learner is an individual with affective needs and reactions, and these must "be considered as an integral part of learning, as also must the particular life contexts of those who are involved in the teaching-learning process” (Williams & Burden 1997:28). Promotion of such concepts shows not only a desire (on the part of researchers and practitioners) to examine and adopt ideas from other disciplines (e.g. psychology, sociology and philosophy), but also an awareness of the expanding role of EFL/ESL as a vehicle of education and of "learning" per se. In this light, the work of humanists such as C. R. Rogers has become increasingly relevant to a discipline that recognises the importance of affect on the learning situation and sees each learner as an individual " ... in a continually changing world of which he is the center” (Rogers 1951:483), reacting to events as they are experienced and perceived: "this perceptual field is, for the individual, reality” (Rogers 1951:484). Skehan (1998:166) therefore speaks of the need for teachers to pay attention to students' cognitive and affective natures and needs, not simply to help them to live more satisfying lives and to be responsible members of society, but also in order to improve language teaching and education in the process.

Stern's claim that "the affective component contributes at least as much and often more to language learning than the cognitive skills” (1983:386), is supported by a large body of recent cross-disciplinary research showing that affective variables have significant influence on language achievement (e.g. Gardner 1985; Skehan 1989; Spolsky 1989; Gardner & MacIntyre 1992; 1993a;). Damasio (1994) shows that emotions are a part of reason on the neurobiological level, and LeDoux sees emotion and cognition as partners: "minds without emotions are not really minds at all” (1996:25). The study of affect has thus become increasingly popular in the 1980s and 1990s, to the extent that Stevick warns against viewing it as the latest "philosopher's stone” (1999:43) which will solve all learning and teaching problems. Given the over-readiness of the teaching profession to accept previous "trends” to the exclusion of all that has gone before, this warning is timely, and a symbiotic balance of the cognitive and the non-rational in the classroom seems an appropriate result to strive for, rather than any excessive reaction to the "emotional illiteracy" of Western education, as described by Dickinson (1987:25) and Goleman (1995).

J. H. Schumann (1975) offers an excellent review of early literature on affective factors and the problem of age in SLA research, and Arnold & Brown (1999) provide a more contemporary perspective from the view of the language learner as an individual (anxiety, inhibition, extroversion/introversion, self-esteem, motivation [extrinsic/intrinsic], learner styles) and as a participant in a socio-cultural situation (empathy, classroom transactions, cross-cultural processes). These two articles will be used here as the basis for discussion and the reader is referred to them for a more detailed examination of the issues.

3.3.1.1. Affect: definitions

Arnold (Ed. 1999) defines affect in terms of "aspects of emotion, feeling, mood or attitude which condition behaviour", while Dickinson (1987:25) describes it as being concerned with the learner's attitude towards the target language and users of it, and with his/her emotional responses. Stevick (1999:44) follows Dulay et al.(1982):

one's 'affect' towards a particular thing or action or situation or experience is how that thing or that action or that situation or that experience fits in with one's needs or purposes, and its resulting effect on one's emotions ... affect is a term that refers to the purposive and emotional sides of a person's reactions to what is going on. (Stevick 1999:55)

This review of affect in second language learning follows and extends Stern's (1983:383) three major concepts of affect (attitudes, motivation and personality), to include beliefs, anxiety, learning styles (personality) and the learning environment.

3.3.2. Motivation

3.3.2.1. Introduction

Most researchers and educators would agree that motivation "is a very important, if not the most important factor in language learning" (Van Lier 1996:98), without which even 'gifted' individuals cannot accomplish long-term goals, whatever the curricula and whoever the teacher. Thus the concept of language learning motivation has become central to a number of theories of L2 acquisition (e.g. Clément 1980; Krashen 1981; Gardner 1985; Spolsky 1985), and motivation has been widely accepted by teachers and researchers as one of the key factors influencing the rate and success of second/foreign language (L2) learning (cf. Gardner 1985; Ely 1986a; 1986b; Dörnyei 1994; 1998:117; Scarcella & Oxford 1992; Tremblay & Gardner 1995; Oxford & Shearin 1996; Williams & Burden, 1997), often compensating for deficiencies in language aptitude and learning (Tremblay & Gardner 1995:505). It could be said that all other factors involved in L2 acquisition presuppose motivation to some extent. 

Two articles form the basis of this section: i) Oxford's (1996b [Ed.]) survey of research on motivation; and ii) Dörnyei's (1998) key article examining trends in the 1990s, such as Dörnyei's extended framework (1994), Williams & Burden's extended framework (1997), Tremblay & Gardner's extended model (1995), and Schumann's neurobiological model (1998). Dörnyei also looks at mainstream psychological research in terms of attitudes of behaviour, expectancy-value theories, expectancy of success, value, goal theories, and self-determination theory.

3.3.2.2 History of Research

Early positivist approaches to motivation in the first half of the 20^th century were based on 'push-pull' theories (Kelly 1955), in which motivation is seen as an element essentially outside our control, and usually subject to basic biological needs (cf. Murray's [1938] drive reduction theories [cf. Hull 1943] and Freud's concept of unconscious motivation). Atkinson's (1964) achievement motivation was also unconscious, being based on the fundamental principle of homeostasis[1]. However, in 1950, Berlyne published results of studies that showed that monkeys (and rats) exhibited curiosity-related behaviours purely for the enjoyment of these behaviours themselves (cf. Harlow 1950; Hunt 1971), and this finding led to work on constructs such as locus of control[2] and causality orientations (important aspects in studies of intrinsic motivation). The Freudian concept of 'ego energy' and the influence of Montessori, Piaget, Maslow, and others who put motivation central in their pedagogical writings (e.g. Dewey 1938 ['growth motivation'], White 1959 ['competence motivation'], Hunt 1971 ['intrinsic motivation']) also contributed to a renewal of interest in a more organismic account of motivation.

In the field of second language learning, Gardner & Lambert (1959) pioneered work on motivation, proposing an integrative-instrumental duality (Gardner et al. 1976:199), which became widely accepted and confirmed by a number of studies (cf. Gardner 1985 for a review). Their ten-year-long research program (1972) in which they found that success in language attainment was dependent on the learner's affective reactions toward the target linguistic-cultural group (in addition to aptitude) gave validity to the study of motivation in SLA[3], though some investigations did not support the model, either by not producing a strong integrative factor, or by coming up with insignificant or contradictory results (cf. Clément & Kruidenier 1983; Au 1988, for reviews). Dörnyei (1990) also points out that Gardner and others worked in ESL situations, and that in EFL "affective predispositions toward the target language community are unlikely to explain a great proportion of the variance in language attainment" (1990:49).

In the 1980s the learning situation itself received more attention (Gardner & Smythe 1980;  Clément & Kruidenier 1985; Gardner 1985; Ely 1986a; 1986b; Gardner, Lalonde, Moorcroft & Evers 1987; Skehan 1989; Dörnyei 1990; Ramage 1990; Crookes et al. 1991; Julkunen 1991; Gardner & MacIntyre 1991; Brown 1994) and three sets of motivational components were identified (Dörnyei 1994:276): i) course-specific motivational components (syllabus, teaching materials, teaching method, learning task); ii) teacher-specific motivational components (teacher personality, teaching feedback, relationship with the students); and iii) group-specific motivational components (dynamics of the learning group, goal-orientedness, norm and reward system, group cohesion, classroom goal structures). Some studies have attempted to extend Gardner's construct by adding new components, such as intrinsic/extrinsic motivation (Brown 1994), intellectual curiosity (Laine 1981), attribution about past successes/failures (Skehan 1989; Dörnyei 1990), need for achievement (Dörnyei 1990), self-confidence (Clément 1980; Clément &  Kruidenier 1985) and classroom goal structures (Julkunen 1991), and other situation-specific variables such as classroom events and tasks, classroom climate and group cohesion, course content and teaching materials, teacher feedback, and grades and rewards (Brown 1981; 1994; Laine 1981; Skehan 1989; Dörnyei 1990; Ramage 1990; Crookes et al. 1991; Julkunen 1991; McGroarty 1993). More recently, Tremblay & Gardner (1995:505), Crookes & Schmidt (1991), Oxford & Shearin (1994) and Dörnyei (1994) have proposed that researchers consider non-L2 approaches to motivation (e.g. general, industrial, educational, cognitive developmental, and sociocultural psychology), but without empirical evidence that these are important components of L2 learning.

3.3.2.3. Motivation: definitions

Heckhausen (cited in Tremblay & Gardner 1995:505-6) offers a broad definition of motivation:

The observed goal-directedness of the behaviour, the inception and completion of a coherent behavioural unit, its resumption after an interruption, the transition to a new behavioural sequence, the conflict between various goals and its resolution, all of these represent issues in motivation. (Heckhausen 1991:9)

Van Lier (1996:100), however, points out that the meaning of motivation depends on the perception of human nature that is used, in which context Deci & Ryan (1985) distinguish between mechanistic and organismic theories, the former seeing the human organism as passive (e.g. behaviourism), and the latter seeing it as active (being volitional and initiating behaviours). Recent educational theory has tended toward the second interpretation, with Gardner (1985) defining motivation to learn an L2 as "the extent to which the individual works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction experienced in this activity" (1985:10). This definition includes i) effort expended to achieve a goal; ii) a desire to learn the language; and iii) satisfaction with the task of learning the language.

Gardner & Smythe's (1975:222) original model of motivation (cf. Stern 1983:384) contains four main components (cf. figure 10, below): i) group-specific attitudes; ii) learners' motives for learning the target language; iii) affective factors (Stern's 'Generalized Attitudes'); and iv) extrinsic and instrinsic motivation (Stern's "Attitudes towards the learning situation"):  

This model was subsequently expanded in Gardner's (1985) socio-educational model of the ways in which motivation for foreign language learning operates in educational settings (Au 1988; Gardner 1988), and has been summarised in terms of five hypotheses:

1. The integrative motive hypothesis: Integrative motivation is positively associated with second language achievement.
2. The cultural belief hypothesis: Cultural beliefs influence the development of the integrative motive and the degree to which integrativeness and achievement are related.
3. The active learner hypothesis: integratively motivated learners are successful because they are active learners.
4. The causality hypothesis: Integrative motivation is a cause; second language achievement, the effect.
5. The two process hypothesis: Aptitude and integrative motivation are independent factors in second language learning.

Keller (1983:389) sees the individual as consciously aware, with motivation referring to "the choices people make as to what experiences or goals they will approach or avoid, and the degree of effort they will exert in that respect" (cited in Crookes & Schmidt 1991:389). Williams & Burden (1997:94) describe a "state of temporary or prolonged goal-oriented behaviour which individuals actively choose to engage in", this state being context bound, but also amenable to change. Paris & Oka's (1986) "the skill and will to learn" and Snow & Farr's (1983) "purposeful striving" continue the focus on conscious choice and on applied awareness (attention) in the individual, a theme made more explicit by Kanfer & Ackerman (1989), who define motivation as:

The direction of attentional effort, the proportion of total attentional effort directed to the task (intensity), and the extent to which attentional effort toward the task is maintained over time (persistence). (1989:661)

Tremblay & Gardner (1995:507) also see motivation in terms of effort, attention and persistence, whereas Van Lier (1996:103), based on work by Vygotsky (1962; 1978) and Keller (1983), lists intentionality, affect, and effort (cf. Ryle 1949:81ff; Sullivan and Conway 1989; Dennett 1991:45; Chafe 1994). Ford (1992) also identifies three motivational factors (personal goals, emotional arousal processes, and personal agency [beliefs]) which "direct, energize, and regulate goal-directed activity" (1992:3). Dörnyei (1998) suggests seven main motivational dimensions:

1. the affective/integrative dimension;
• integrative motives;
• affective motives;
• language attitudes;
• intrinsic motives/attitudes towards L2 learning/enjoyment/interest;
2. the instrumental/pragmatic dimension;
3. the macro-context-related dimension (multi-cultural/intergroup/ethnolinguistic relations);
4. the self-concept-related dimension (generalised/trait-like personality factors);
• self-concept;
• confidence/self-efficacy;
• anxiety/inhibitions;
• success/failure-related (attributional) factor;
• expectancy;
• need for achievement;
5. the goal-related dimension;
6. the educational context-related dimension (learning/classroom/school environment);
7. the significant others-related dimension (parents, family, friends).

Continue to read this literature review ... Intrinsic/extrinsic motivation

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[1] i.e. animals and humans "prefer not to be in a state of arousal and are constantly seeking to be in a more settled state” (Hebb 1966)
[2] Perceptions relating to who has control over, and responsibility for, the learner's life events.
[3] SLA = Second Language Acquisition.
[4] Integrative motivation: "Interest in foreign languages,” "desire to learn the target language,” "attitudes towards learning the target language,” "attitudes toward the learning situation,” and "desire to interact with the target language community” (Gardner 1982).
[5] Instrumental motivation: The practical benefits of language proficiency