How much of language is motivated? Recently, cognitive and functional linguists have proposed new solutions to this intriguing question. The thirteen articles collected in this volume cover various aspects of motivation in grammar and in the lexicon. The phenomena discussed in the contributions can be grouped into four types of motivation, which, along with other types, are explicated in the introductory chapter: ecological motivation, i.e. motivation of a linguistic unit due to its place, or "ecological niche," within a system; genetic motivation, i.e. motivation of present-day linguistic behavior or structure due to historical factors; experiential motivation, i.e. motivation that is based on embodied experience; and cognitive motivation, i.e. motivation that is based on human knowledge and cognitive operations such as metonymy and metaphor. The languages studied in some detail include Afrikaans, Croatian, Dutch, English, French, German, Hausa, and Hungarian. This volume makes a strong case for the pervasiveness of motivation in natural language. It will be of interest to teachers, researchers and students of linguistics, especially of functional and cognitive linguistics.

Topics covered in this volume include: extreme subjectification - English tense and modals; schemas and lexical blends; valency and diathesis; functions of the preposition "kuom" in Dholou; and grammaticalization of postpositions in German.

Cultivating motivation is crucial to a language learner's success – and therefore crucial for the language teacher and researcher to understand. The third edition of Teaching and Researching Motivation reflects the dramatic changes in the field of motivation research. With an increased emphasis on dynamic perspectives on motivation and its relations with other individual, social and contextual factors, this book offers ways in which advances in the field can be put to practical use in the classroom and in research. Key new features and material: exploration of the motivation to learn languages other than English (LOTEs); principles for designing L2 motivational studies; discussion of emerging areas of research, including unconscious motivation and language learning mindsets. Providing a clear and comprehensive theory-driven account of motivation, Teaching and Researching Motivation examines how theoretical insights can be used in everyday teaching practice. The final section provides a range of useful resources, including relevant websites, key reference works and an online repository of tools and instruments for researching language learning motivation. Fully revised by pre-eminent researchers in this field, Zoltán Dörnyei and Ema Ushioda, this is an invaluable resource for teachers and researchers alike.

In this thought-provoking book, Ema Ushioda asks why we research language learning motivation, whose interests the research serves, and who ultimately benefits. Examining the major theoretical and research developments in this vibrant field from its origins to the present day, the author interrogates the goals and values driving academic inquiry, and argues for a more socially conscious and socially responsive orientation to researching language learning motivation. The book challenges this research field to contribute to critical movements in applied linguistics to address globally and locally relevant societal issues where language and motivation matter. “Ema Ushioda’s compelling, authoritative and timely book re-writes the story of L2 motivation research through the ethical lens. Her probing reflection is not meant to soothe but to ask difficult questions about why we research and for whom. It is impossible to imagine future L2 motivation scholarship that does not treat them seriously.” Maggie Kubanyiova, Professor of Language Education, University of Leeds Ema Ushioda is a Professor and Head of the Department of Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick Oxford Applied Linguistics Series Advisers: Anne Burns and Diane Larsen-Freeman

One of the most active areas in the field of second language acquisition, language learning motivation is a burgeoning area of research. Yet the plethora of new ideas and research directions can be confusing for newcomers to the discipline to navigate. Offering concise, bite-size overviews of key contemporary research concepts and directions, this book provides an invaluable guide to the contemporary state of the field. Making the discussion of key topics accessible to a wider audience, each chapter is written by a leading expert and reflects on cutting-edge research issues. From well-established concepts, such as engagement and learning goals, to emerging ideas, including contagion and plurilingualism, this book provides easy to understand overviews and analysis of key contemporary themes. Helping readers understand a field which can appear highly technical and overwhelming, Researching Language Learning Motivation provides valuable insights, perspectives and practical applications.

Bringing together motivation-related practical concerns and debates from diverse international contexts and educational settings where English is learned, this book shows how locally produced insights and issues can have wider global significance, resonating with the experiences and concerns of English teachers and learners across the world.

This volume presents the results of the largest ever language attitude/motivation survey in second language studies. The research team gathered data from over 13,000 Hungarian language learners on three successive occasions: in 1993, 1999 and 2004. The examined period covers a particularly prominent time in Hungary’s history, the transition from a closed, Communist society to a western-style democracy that became a member of the European Union in 2004. Thus, the book provides an ‘attitudinal/motivational flow-chart’ describing how significant sociopolitical changes affect the language disposition of a nation. The investigation focused on the appraisal of five target languages – English, German, French, Italian and Russian – and this multi-language design made it also possible to observe the changing status of the different languages in relation to each other over the examined 12-year period. Thus, the authors were in an ideal position to investigate the ongoing impact of language globalisation in a context where for various political/historical reasons certain transformation processes took place with unusual intensity and speed. The result is a unique blueprint of how and why language globalisation takes place in an actual language learning environment.

This handbook offers an authoritative, one-stop reference work for the dynamic and expanding field of language learning motivation. The 32 chapters have been specially commissioned from the field’s most influential researchers and writers. Together they present a compelling picture of the motivations people have for learning languages, the diverse ways we can research motivation, and the implications for promoting and sustaining learners’ motivation. The first section outlines the main theoretical approaches to language learning motivation; the next section presents ways in which motivation theory has been applied in practice; the third section showcases examples of motivation research in particular contexts and with particular types of language learners; and the final section describes the exciting directions that contemporary research is taking, promising important new insights for academics and practitioners alike.

This landmark volume offers a collection of conceptual papers and empirical research studies that investigate the dynamics of language learning motivation from a complex dynamic systems perspective. The contributors include some of the most well-established scholars from three continents, all addressing the question of how we can understand motivation if we perceive it as continuously changing and evolving rather than as a fixed learner trait. The data-based studies also provide useful research models and templates for graduate students and scholars in the fields of applied linguistics and SLA who are interested in engaging with the intriguing area of examining language learning in a dynamic vein.

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,3, University of Duisburg-Essen (Department of Anglophone Studies), language: English, abstract: "The limits of my language are the limits of my world." Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Wittgenstein was a philosopher of the 19th century; his quotation underlines the importance of second language acquisition. We live in a globalised world where language is the most important way of communication. People all over the world share their cultures and beliefs through their language and interact with each other. Aside from social factors, language plays an important economic role. Nowadays it is not enough to speak one language; many employers prefer employees, who are multilingual. Moreover, many children are growing up multilingual, which is regarded as a huge advantage. In larger terms, they are seen as positive result of our globalised world. Besides this, English is the world language and connects the world. Many schools in foreign countries started offering English lessons in primary schools to increase the number of fluent English speakers. According to this, many teachers try to optimise their lessons and way of teaching. Second language acquisition has become a huge field for further research.Theories and models are getting improved in order to create better learning environments and help teachers to use authentic and optimised methods in their lessons. Many theories and models underline the significance of motivation during language acquiring processes. But how important is motivation in second language acquisition and what effect does it have while acquiring a new language? This term paper will give a brief definition of the term motivation. Then it will present some important and influential motivation theories in order to discuss the influences on second language acquisition. Finally, it will answer the question what teachers can do to increase the motivation in language classrooms. [...]