Carol A. Chapelle - The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics

Gardner claims that the reasons for learning a second language show two main orientations. The first one is known as integrative orientation, a term which indicates an interest in the people and culture represented by the other group. The second orientation is instrumental, learning the language for pragmatic or useful purposes such as economic advantages or better job prospects and promotion. These orientations are independent of intelligence and aptitude. Gardner objects to the misinterpretation of his theory as a dichotomy of integrative and instrumental orientation, as this dichotomy is only at the orientation level and is not part of the core motivation component.

Nevertheless, the distinction between the integrative and the instrumental orientation is often hard to define. An integrative motive may have instrumental strands or components, making this dichotomy oversimplistic. This is acknowledged in Dörnyei's model, which redefines these motives in terms of perceptions of the self and the ideal self.

Dörnyei's L2 motivational self system, albeit firmly rooted in L2 research, stems from psychological theories of the self and consists of three components (Dörnyei, 2005, p. 106):

1 Ideal L2 self: If the person we would like to become speaks an L2, the ideal L2 self becomes a powerful motivator to learn the L2. This component encompasses the traditional integrative and internalized instrumental motives.

2 Ought‐to L2 self: This component refers to the attributes one believes one ought to possess (i.e., various duties, obligations, or responsibilities) in order to avoid possible negative outcomes. It includes the most extrinsic (i.e., less internalized) types of instrumental motives.

3 L2 learning experience: The last component concerns situation‐specific motives related to the immediate learning environment and experience (i.e., the influence of the curriculum, the teacher, the peer group, and the experience of success or failure).

In this model, motivation would involve the desire to find harmony between one's current self and the ideal or ought‐to self by reducing discrepancy between our actual and ideal selves. Since young learners cannot consider multiple perspectives of the self, this approach is considered to be appropriate from adolescence onward. It is worth pointing out that this model does not invalidate previous results in the field of L2 motivation research, but rather helps to reframe them.

A special part of motivation theory has recently come to the fore. Researchers are lately interested in understanding the causes and nature of directed motivational currents (DMCs), that is, intense motivational drives that are capable of stimulating and supporting long‐term second language learning. If researchers manage to isolate the conditions that constitute DMCs, they may be able to “use them as components of a framework for effective classroom motivational interventions to promote long‐term learning” (Dörnyei et al., 2016, p. xiii).

Last but not least, it has to be underscored that the language‐learning context and the complexity of the identities of second language learners vary a great deal in different contexts and, subsequently, the role of integrativeness has been challenged. In bilingual education programs where a regional language is included the integrative motivation may exert a greater influence on language proficiency, whereas in bilingual programs in English as a foreign language instrumental motives may play a more central role in the learning of English as L2. Similarly, the explanatory power of the ought‐to self is considered to be weaker than that of the ideal L2 self in English as a lingua franca context where the ought‐to self‐image is usually conceived as rather homogeneous. In minority language contexts, however, the ought‐to may not be as unified but rather more fragmented (as potential conflicts may be found within the ought‐to self), which is why there is a need for more finely tuned instruments and procedures to study motivation in multilingual settings than those hitherto applied to study motivation to learn global English (Dörnyei & Al‐Hoorie, 2017).

The social position of a few minority languages the world over has undergone an enormous change in the last few decades, a period in which, after a mammoth fight to recover their rights, speakers have managed to regain the social representation denied to them for many years. School has thus become one of the main social spaces where minority languages are again taken into account and are playing an active role in preparing the next generation of students. However, the language attitudes held by majority and minority groups have a direct impact on language policy for the minority language.

The importance of institutions' commitment to bilingual education and the latter's impact on language attitudes and motivation is clearly reflected in the case of Basque, a language spoken in two autonomous communities in the north of Spain (Basque Autonomous Community—henceforth BAC—and Navarre) and the south of France (Northern Basque Country, henceforth NBC). There are important differences between the three regions into which the Basque‐speaking community is split and which influence Basque's position in the education system of each of them: Basque is fully co‐official with Spanish throughout the BAC, it is fully co‐official only in the north of Navarre (it has no official status in the center and south), whereas in the NBC only French is identified legally as the official language.

There are remarkable differences between the regions regarding how much support is given to Basque (Basque Government, 2016). Analysis of the 1996–2016 period shows that the BAC government's efforts to normalize the situation of Basque have led to a substantial change in the attitudes of the population. In this normalization process the set of rules governing the balanced use of both Basque and Spanish had been previously established, including the implementation of bilingual programs at schools (for further information see Lasagabaster, 2017). As a result of this, there was an enviable rise of 19% (from 46% to 65%) among those positively disposed, especially among the youngest age group (below 25) due to the positive impact of the bilingual programs available. The situation in the NBC is just the opposite, as the 13.7% decrease in positive attitudes (from 49% to 35.3%) is accompanied by 17.1% of negative attitudes. In Navarre, the situation also appears to have worsened, as 39.1% of Navarrese are still opposed to Basque promotion efforts, whereas the percentage of those who support them (33.3%) has also decreased: a 4.7% decrease since 1996 when they represented 38% of the Navarrese population. Although support for efforts to promote Basque is still 2% higher in the NBC than in Navarre, the drop in positive attitudes over 20 years in the NBC is sharper (13.7% versus 4.7%).

The Basque case clearly demonstrates how important the combination of speakers' and institutions' efforts is not only to maintain, but also to revive and, above all, normalize a minority language. Regarding bilingual education, the conclusion to be drawn is that, if the regional language has high status in the eyes of the students, they will be more motivated to learn it and will harbor more favorable attitudes. Therefore, the political dimension comes to the fore and the psychological merges with the political, so that attitudes become part of a multilayered and dynamic scenario related to identity construction and language ideologies which has individual, group, and societal dimensions. Nowadays there is no doubt that the political dimension of language motivation has to be considered (Lasagabaster, 2017).