An Investigation of the Internal Motivational Structure of ESL Students

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine and empirically test the language learning motivation model used to propose a new theoretical construct, the L2 Motivational Self System, as conceived by Dörnyei et al. (2006), in a different second language (L2) learning context. In addition, the study identified the interrelationships of the following main motivational variables used in Dörnyei et al.'s (2006) model to reconceptualize L2 motivation: Integrativeness, Instrumentality, Attitudes Toward L2 Speakers/ Community, Vitality of L2 Community, Milieu, Self-Confidence, and Cultural Interest; and their impact on Motivated Learning Behavior in a L2 learning context. The participants in the study were 89 students enrolled in English as Second Language (ESL) intermediate- and advanced-level credit courses at a Midwestern community college. The Motivation Questionnaire for ESL Students at the Community College (MQESL), an online survey, was developed to measure each of the eight variables examined in the current research study. Although there were a number of significant regression paths, the results of the path analysis revealed that the hypothesized model appeared to be inconsistent with the empirical data from the study's population sample. The hypothesized model did not demonstrate a satisfactory goodness of fit (GFI). In order to achieve a goodness of fit, the path L2 Community to Cultural Interest was added to the final structural model. As in previous studies, Integrativeness was determined to remain as a mediating variable in the revised model in the sample population. However, Instrumentality did not indicate a significant path to Integrativeness contrary to Dörnyei et al.'s (2006) findings. Therefore, further examination of the L2 model and its motivational variables in different learning contexts is necessary to better understand the internal structure of L2 motivation.