A Review of L2 Learning Motivation Research Using L2 Motivational Self System

Abstract

Since the initiation of Dörnyei’s (2009) L2 Motivational Self System model (L2MSS) in 2009, research on the second language (L2) learning motivation has witnessed unprecedented achievements. This recent study offered a brief review of significant research findings on L2 motivation that drew on the L2MSS framework from 2009 to 2021. Studies included in this review were categorized by two universal research approaches: quantitative and qualitative. Besides main research results that contributed to the L2 learners’ learning motivational profiles and the theoretical refinements of the L2MSS, brief descriptions of research instruments employed were included to provide insight into research methodologies currently used in L2 motivation and L2MSS studies. The reviewed research findings showed that while the quantitative paradigm remained dominant among studies that employed L2MSS, qualitative studies offered a deeper understanding of L2 motivation and emergent themes of the framework obtained by narrative data. The review provided theoretical and practical implications for future L2 motivation research drawn on the L2MSS.