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Elementary School Students' Foreign Language Learning Demotivation: A Mixed Methods Study Of Korean Efl Context, Tae-Young Kim Dr., Hyo--Sun Seo

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

This mixed methods study investigates Korean elementary school students’ foreign language learning demotivation and their teachers’ perception of student demotivation. A questionnaire was conducted with 6,301 elementary school students from Grades 3 to 6 to examine their motivational changes. This revealed a decrease in all motivational constructs – instrumental, intrinsic, integrative, parental/academic extrinsic motivations – as the students advanced throughout the school grades. The findings were further analyzed by using interviews and open-ended questionnaires with 17 English teachers. They attributed the students’ demotivation to three elements: 1) the negative impact of the English teacher such as incongruence with students’ needs, …

The L2 Motivational Self System Of Korean Efl Students: Cross-Grade Survey Analysis, Tae-Young Kim

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

Due to the increase in international trade, mass transportation, and information technology, the role of English as a global language has changed, and conventional EFL/ESL motivation needs paradigmatic reconstruction. This study compares Dörnyei’s (2009) recent proposal of a second language (L2) motivational self-system with Gardner’s (1985) socio-educational model by investigating 2,783 Korean students’ English learning motivation from Grades 3 through 12 in 14 different schools. The cross-grade survey results indicated that Korean EFL learners’ motivational intensity showed a curvilinear pattern, which means their motivation consistently decreased until Grade 9 but increased from Grades 10 to 12. A series of regression …

Korean Secondary School Students' L2 Learning Motivation: Comparing L2 Motivational Self-System With Socio-Educational Model, Yoon-Kyoung Kim, Tae-Young Kim

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

In order to confirm ecological validity of Dörnyei’s second language motivational self, the present study investigated 495 South Korean secondary school students’ L2 learning motivation and motivated behavior by using a questionnaire survey. The participants’ ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, integrativeness, and instrumentality were examined and compared to identify which motivational factor had the most effect on their motivated L2 learning behavior. Among Korean secondary school students, the concept of integrativeness was replaced with the ideal L2 self as a more appropriate concept for understanding Korean secondary school students’ L2 learning motivation. As for instrumentality, promotional aspects demonstrated a …

Korean Efl Students' Amotivation To Learn English: An Activity Theory Analysis, Tae-Young Kim

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

By using Dörnyei’s (2009) L2 motivational self-system, this qualitative study investigates 39 Korean EFL students’ amotivation of English learning, or the lack of motivation. Theoretically, the study was guided by Leont’ev’s (1978) activity theory, which emphasizes the unique mediation between the individual (as an active agent representing ontogenetic human development) and the social domain. I argue that an AT perspective can coherently explain students’ amotivation by paying attention to the students’ socioeducational contexts. Particularly, hakbul, or degreeocracy widespread among students and parents in Korea, is attributed to be the major reason for student amotivated but sustained English learning.

The research …