Early research in this field investigated the influence that role models have on learning in a broader sense (Bandura, 1965 Lewis & Williams, 1994). Role models in general “can exert considerable influence in shaping our values, attitudes, and beliefs” (Muir et al., 2019, p. It was these issues that motivated the research project reported in this paper in the Japanese high school context in which one of the authors works.Īn important factor that is thought to increase L2 motivation is the identification and use of positive role models. Nonetheless, understanding more about L2 learner motivation will give L2 teachers and educators a greater practical understanding of, for example, how long a learner will continue to make the effort, and how much effort they are willing to exert. After all, it is like trying to explain “nothing less than why humans think and behave as they do, and it is very doubtful that the complexity of this issue can be accounted for by a single theory” (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011, p.4). It is therefore also very challenging to evaluate and understand from a research and theoretical perspective. While we may seek to understand motivation, how it operates and how it is triggered, it is a multi-faceted concept, difficult to explore both theoretically and empirically. Engagement is intrinsically linked to motivation and “what motivates a person to make certain choices, to engage in action, and to persist in action” (Ushioda, 2008, p.19). Finally, we propose a pedagogy that utilizes the influence of L2 role models and motivators in the classroom and highlight areas for future research in this area.Īs teachers, we constantly seek ways in which to engage our language learners, both within the classroom and in related learning environments. On the other hand, teachers, famous people, and peers were shown to have a more important role, in terms of actual language acquisition, over the participants’ motivation in relation to English language learning in the school context. The results showed that parents were salient L2 motivators, although they did not, for the most part, act as L2 role models in a linguistic sense, as many of them did not speak English. A thematic analysis of their responses was conducted to examine the extent to which the role models and motivators they mentioned had an influence on their L2 motivation. As part of a larger project, we investigated the presence of L2 (second language) role models and motivators among 12 Japanese high school students (aged between 15 and 18), who took part in one-to-one interviews with the researcher. Role models and motivators can influence young people in a general sense and have a significant effect on their values and beliefs. Ethical Standards for Authors and Reviewers.
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