Building on Zoltán Dörnyei's authoritative work in the field of learner motivation, this book introduces a new conceptualization-Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs)-and sets out the defining aspects of what they are, what they are not, and how they are related to language learning motivation. Going beyond focused behavior in a single activity, DMCs concern intensive long-term motivation. The dis

In contexts of transnational migration, language skills provide the key to employability and successful integration into host country societies. To enhance the learning process, and facilitate transitions into the workforce, integrated programs of L2 learning have been developed in several Nordic countries. In these undertakings, language learning, vocational education, and workplace practice are

This article describes two inter-related research projects concerned with the teaching and learning of English in contemporary contexts, where English is changing its status from being the first language of specific groups of speakers to becoming a global lingua franca. Focussing respectively on learners of English as a second language (L2 users) in the Netherlands and Sweden, and on native speake

Identity is of increasing interest in teacher education. Crucial for resilience, the development of a coherent professional identity has been characterized as emerging from tensions between multiple and sometimes conflicting conceptions of what it means to be someone who teaches (Akkerman & Meijer, 2011). While light is being shed on these often antagonistic relations, less is known about the

Currently, the inner dynamics of teacher identity transformations remain a “black box.” Conceptualizing preservice teacher identity as a complex dynamic system, and the notion of “being someone who teaches” in dialogical terms as involving shifts between different teacher voices, the study investigates the dynamical processes at play when transitions between identities occur. Using a single-case d

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, with English being the greatest source of such int

In this chapter I will suggest that in cultural contexts such as Sweden where English is an integral part of young people’s everyday lives and is encountered and used in a range of out-of-school domains, a particular challenge facing teachers is not so much generating motivation to succeed in long-term competency goals, but rather engaging students in day-to-day classroom activities. Based on the

Transcultural flows of capital, culture and communication have created conditions for the widespread movement of people around the globe, leading to increasing diversity in countries of destination. In contexts of global migration lingua franca English is indispensable in initial and survival communication. For migrants to northern European countries where lingua franca English functions as a 'con

In this Swedish case study of four upper secondary students engaged in simultaneous L2 (English) and L3 (Spanish, French and Russian) learning, a possible selves approach was used to investigate the impact of English on L3 motivation. Using a maximum variation sampling strategy, participants were selected from a larger dataset (n=101). Semi-structured interviews were conducted using Interpretive P

Along with aptitude, motivation is the primary determiner of learning outcomes in second language (L2) learning. Widely regarded as an activity especially suited to girls, empirical studies from different sociocultural contexts have, with few exceptions, revealed systematic gender differences in L2 motivation. In particular, gender differences are most apparent in relation to establishing an affin

By tradition, L2 motivation research has a monolingual bias – the motivational systems of a learner’s different languages conceptualized as separate entities rather than as cognitively interconnected. At a time when multilingualism has become a new world order (Douglas Fir Group, ) and where there is evidence of powerful identity experiences connected to speaking several languages (Pavlenko, ) thi

The purpose of this thesis was to study secondary school students' motivation to learn a second foreign language in addition to English. In addition to the empirical investigation of L3 motivation over a program of study and the testing of the widely-held assumption that L2 English impacts negatively on L3 motivation, the aim was also to contribute to the conceptual development of self-based motiv