The Dynamics of Self-Determined Motivation over the Language Course

Recent research on language motivation emphasizes the central role of the self and the importance of taking a temporal perspective on the dynamics of motivational systems. Research suggests that students engage more intensely in language learning to the extent that they have self-relevant goals and/or enjoy the process of mastering a new language. These orientations are fostered when learners feel that they have a sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness with other people in their learning environment. Drawing from two longitudinal studies of university-level language learners, this research examines the dynamics of self-determined motivation over the duration of a language course to examine the hypothesized causal link between feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, on the one hand, and self-determined orientations and engagement, on the other hand.  Consistent with expectation, autoregression analyses indicated that greater perceived competence at the beginning of the semester predicted more self-determined motivation by mid-semester.  Contrary to expectation, effortful engagement was more predictive of self-determined orientations by the mid-term (than vice versa), although these orientations marginally predicted greater engagement at the end of the semester.  The second study extended this work by assessing whether students who think their teachers support their autonomy, competence and relatedness earlier in the term later report more self-determined motivational orientations and increased intensity of engagement. The results showed that those students who are more self-determined perceive their teacher to be more autonomy-supportive at the midterm, and these perceptions in turn predict more self-determined motivational orientations at the end of the term.  Consistent with the first study, the relations between study variables became stronger and reciprocal over the semester, in line with the notion that the relations between interpersonal and motivational systems stabilized over time.  This study furthers understanding of the interplay between social and psychological systems, and provides insight into ways teachers can foster their students’ self-determination for greater motivation and academic success.