David Smid
Eötvös Loránd University
About
David Smid has a PhD in Educational Sciences (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary). His research interests include L2 learner and L2 teacher psychology, L2 teacher education, motivation. In his doctoral dissertation, he explored the motivation of pre-service English teachers in Hungary using a mixed-methods research design. He has presented his research on three continents (Europe, Asia, Australia) at various international conferences and co-organized the 1st International Conference on Sociolinguistics (Budapest, Hungary). He has taught at tertiary level in Hungary and Japan. Currently, with his research team, he is working on a book entitled Motivation, autonomy, and emotions in foreign language learning: A nation-wide multi-perspective investigation in Hungary, to be published by Multilingual Matters.Sessions
Learner Development The motivational profiles of high school EFL learners in Hungary more
Sun, Jul 10, 15:05-15:30 Asia/Tokyo
In recent years, L2 learning motivation has witnessed renewed interest due to the emotional dimension of the L2 learning experience, a key component of Dörnyei’s (2009) L2 Motivational Self-System. Still, few studies have focused on exploring potential subgroups of L2 learners; thus, the aim of this study is to explore students’ dispositions as to their L2 learning motivation and to investigate group-related differences. We conducted a large-scale questionnaire study (N = 1152) involving high school English learners (mean age: 16, mean age of onset for learning English: 9) from all over Hungary. The questionnaire – written in Hungarian, the participants’ L1 – included 90 items. The data were subjected to combined cluster analysis. The results showed that there were four latent subgroups underlying our sample. The members of Group 1 were more internally motivated, Group 2 was the least motivated, Group 3 was the most motivated, and the students of Group 4 had the most ambivalent level of motivation. We did not only find significant differences among the members of the four groups with respect to their motivation, but emotional experiences as well. Given the context-dependence of motivation and emotions, our study has important pedagogical implications for L2 teaching professionals.