L2 Motivational Self System

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 5 claims (4 for, 1 mixed) · 4 studies (3 associational, 1 qualitative), q2 · 1 of 4 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study

Description

The L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) was proposed by Dörnyei (2005) to reconceptualise second-language learning motivation within a "self" framework. The articles present it as "a natural progression from Gardner's theory": dissatisfaction with integrativeness grew when a large Hungarian survey found integrativeness to be the strongest motivational component in a country with practically no English-speaking community for learners to join. Drawing on possible selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986) and Higgins's (1987) self-discrepancy theory, the L2MSS treats motivation as the wish to reduce the gap between one's current self and a self-guide.

It has three components. The ideal L2 self is "the L2-specific facet of one's ideal self": if the person one would like to become speaks the L2, the desire to close the gap motivates learning, and traditional integrative and internalised instrumental motives belong here. It has a promotion focus. The ought-to L2 self is the set of attributes one believes one ought to possess "to meet expectations and to avoid possible negative outcomes", a less internalised, prevention-focused instrumental motive. The L2 learning experience covers situated, "executive" motives in the immediate environment (teacher, curriculum, peer group, experience of success). The articles note it is conceptualised at a different level from the two self-guides, as a bottom-up addition, and Dörnyei (2019) called it "the Cinderella" of the system. Tangkiengsirisin et al. (2026) set the L2MSS, "which emphasizes the future self of language learners", against process-oriented self-determination theory.

The articles disagree about how well the system works. Roshandel et al. (2018) state that the studies testing it "have provided confirmation of the proposed self-system". Takahashi and Im (2020) report that the ought-to L2 self has had low reliability and a negligible link to effort in some studies but motivational power in others, especially in Asian exam-driven contexts. Teimouri (2017) split it into ought-to L2 self/own and /others. In Takahashi and Im's Japanese sample, the ideal L2 self predicted intended effort "much weaker than the L2 learning experience, unlike what is argued in the theory". Their suggested reason is that the ideal-self items asked about a distant future while the learning-experience items asked about current study. They also map the system onto SDT's internalisation continuum: ideal L2 self with identified regulation, ought-to L2 self with introjected regulation, L2 learning experience with intrinsic motivation.

Implications

Context

• The theory was motivated by foreign-language settings with no salient L2 community, where integrativeness is hard to interpret.
• The ought-to L2 self's motivational power appears to depend on context. It was stronger in some Asian exam-driven settings and weak in others.

Target Learners

• The fetched evidence comes from Iranian EFL learners in language institutes and universities, first-year Japanese university students, and Thai undergraduates. None of these samples is specifically adult learners outside formal education.
• For learners at the start of a programme, future self-images may be too distant to drive effort (Takahashi & Im, 2020).

Target Learning Objectives

• Intended learning effort, which is the usual criterion measure.
• L2 proficiency, reached indirectly through effort.
• L2 self-efficacy.

Claims

• Learners of Italian report ideal-self motivation rather than instrumental motivation, while their teachers assume the reverse. [+M]
• In the L2MSS, the L2 learning experience predicts intended effort most strongly, while the ideal L2 self is weaker than the theory argues [~M]
• Intended learning effort predicts L2 proficiency with a modest standardized coefficient of .20 in all three models [+M]
• Ideal L2 self positively and significantly predicts student self-efficacy, generalizing prior qualitative findings quantitatively [+M]
• All ten sub-factors of the L2 motivational self-system correlate significantly and positively with L2 self-efficacy [+M]

The evidence by question

• Which part of the L2 motivational self system (the ideal L2 self, the ought-to L2 self or the learning experience) best predicts learners' effort, self-efficacy and proficiency? In the L2MSS, the L2 learning experience predicts intended effort most strongly, while the ideal L2 self is weaker than the theory argues [~M]

Related Theories

• Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System as a three-component framework for L2 learning motivation — source-framed variant (Roshandel et al., 2018)
• Internalization-based mapping between SDT motivation types and L2MSS self constructs — source-framed variant (Takahashi & Im, 2020)
• Gardner's Integrative-Instrumental model and its context-dependence — the model the L2MSS was proposed to move beyond
• Self-determination theory framework of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations for L2 learning — neighbouring L2 motivation framework
• Self-Determination Theory
• Heritage-language motivation framework for indigenous HL2 learners: revitalisation, identity, and cultural participation
• Willingness to Communicate in a Second Language

Examples

• Foster learners' enjoyment and accumulated L2 learning experience to motivate effort
• Teachers should identify students' motivating factors and design interesting, challenging activities to build L2 self-efficacy

Key Sources

• Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The L2 motivational self system. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 9–42). Multilingual Matters. doi:10.21832/9781847691293-003
• Dörnyei, Z. (2019). Towards a better understanding of the L2 Learning Experience, the Cinderella of the L2 Motivational Self System. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 9(1), 19–30. doi:10.14746/ssllt.2019.9.1.2
• Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94(3), 319–340. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.94.3.319
• Markus, H. R., & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41(9), 954–969. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.41.9.954

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	theory
title	L2 Motivational Self System
description	Dörnyei's account of second-language motivation as the pull of an ideal L2 self, the pressure of an ought-to L2 self, and the learner's immediate L2 learning experience.
status	review
canonical	True
generated	by claude/unspecified on 2026-09-30
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content

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