L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS)

The importance of motivation in second language (L2) learning (L2 motivation) is

widely acknowledged to be as significant as other psychological aspects such as language
aptitude (Gardner, 1985). The term ‘motivation’ has been commonly used in the
educational research field. It has flourished within L2 studies, promoting numerous books
and hundreds of articles dedicated to this subject since the 1960s (Dörnyei, 2005).
‘Motivation’ is defined in many different ways since different scholars propose
different perspectives. In Gardner (1985)'s motivation theory, he introduced two types of
motivation, one of which was integrative motivation. When learners have integrative
motivation, they are interested in understanding and connecting with the people, culture,
and lifestyle of the language-speaking community. In this term, ‘integrativeness’’ is
introduced as a subcomponent. ‘Integrativeness’’ reflects the attraction of individuals to
foreign languages, and their perspectives on L2 community (Gadner & MacIntyre,
1993a). Dörnyei (2005), however, emphasized the importance of rephrasing
‘integrativeness’ as the ideal L2 self, which did not contradict Gardner’s theory, since
“there were many questions about its validity and relevance” (Dörnyei, 2005, pp. 95,
103). The reason is that English has become a lingua franca, meaning the global
language. It is not only used to communicate with native speakers but also speakers from
non-English speaking nations. Studies from Japan (McClelland, 2000; Yashima, 2000;
Irie, 2003), Taiwan (Warden & Lin, 2000), and Indonesia (Lamb, 2004) reported that they
avoided labeling 'ïntegrativeness' in their L2 motivation research conducted in their
countries because it “failed to detect a motive that could be labeled as "integrative" in
Gardner’s original sense.” (Dörnyei, 2005, pp. 96). Therefore, the theory needed
extension to associate with different research contexts.
In the study of Markus & Nurius (1986), the concept of ‘Possible Self Theory' was
introduced in their psychological theory. In the context of L2 motivation, this theory
suggests that individuals’ motivation to learn is influenced by how they imagine their
future identities connected to that language. It analyzes the thoughts and feelings of
individuals easier while they pursue a goal. Possible selves give shape and direction to
our hopes and threats, in which the more vivid they are, the more motivationally effective
they become. Although this theory is not directly focused on L2 motivation, it has
broader implications for understanding motivation applied in second language learning.
On the other hand, Higgin (1987)’s motivational theory mentioned the ideal self
and ought self (Calvo, 2015). Whereas the ideal self refers to the qualities and
characteristics individuals desire to possess, the ought self represents the attributes that
ones believe they should own based on their sense of duty, obligations, or responsibilities
(Dörnyei, 2005).
With the need to address the limitations of existing motivation theories and to offer
a more comprehensive perspective between motivation and self-concept, Dörnyei (2005)
proposed L2 Motivational Self System. This theory is put together by the act of
reinterpretation of ‘integrativeness’ ' (Gardner, 1979, 1985) and the integration of the
Possible Self (Markus & Nurius, 1986) and The Ideal Self (Higgin, 1987).
L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) (Dörnyei, 2005,2009) assumes that the gap
between the learners’ actual self and their ideal self will motivate them to take action to
idealize their aiming self. Based on the synthesis of Ushioda’s (2001) and Noels’ (2003)
concepts, there are three proposed essential components of L2MSS: ideal L2 self, ought-
to L2 self and L2 learning experience.
Ideal L2 self, “referring to the L2-specific facet of one’s ideal self.” (Dörnyei,
2005, pp. 105). It represents the ideal image a learner would like to become in the future
(Dörnyei, 2005). Ought-to L2 self, “referring to the attributes that one believes one ought
to possess (i.e., various duties, obligations, or responsibilities, which control this
attribute) to avoid possible negative outcomes.” (Dörnyei, 2005, pp. 105). It represents
the standards and expectations that one should meet. L2 learning experience, concerning
situation-specific motives as regards the immediate learning environment and experience.
(Dörnyei, 2005, pp. 106). Situation-specific motives can be the curriculum, the second
language teacher, the peer group, and the teaching materials, which can significantly
impact one's motivated behavior (Papi, 2010).
 Discussion
Several studies have been conducted on the relationship between L2MSS and
intended learning effort since they both aim to offer practical insights to language
learners, ultimately leading to more effective language learning experiences and
outcomes. Among the three components of L2MSS, the ideal L2 self and L2 learning
experience have consistently emerged as a strong indicators of learners’ intended learning
effort. In contrast, the impact of the ought-to L2 self appears to be comparatively less
influential to the intended learning effort. Since the ought-to L2 self is often associated
with external factors such as family or societal expectations, learners may not develop a
deep emotional connection to the language. Such misalignment between the ought-to L2
self and learners' values and interests can result in less effective goal pursuit.
Very little research was conducted to investigate the relationship between L2MSS
and writing achievement. Such limitation may result from the challenges when collecting
and analyzing writing achievement data. Academic writing achievement data is
quantitative, while motivational studies are more qualitative. Unlike quantitative
approaches that depend on numerical measurements, qualitative observation aims to
capture qualitative data, which refers to non-numerical information such as thoughts,
emotions, perceptions, and social interactions. Therefore, researchers find it hard to
measure learners’ L2MSS with academic writing achievement.
In terms of the relationship between each element of L2MSS and writing
achievement, the potential for a positive prediction of writing achievement lies within the
concept of an ideal L2 self (Tahmouresi et al., 2021). Regarding the other two elements,
there is not much research to evaluate their relationship with writing achievement.
On the other hand, much research have evaluated the relationship between the
ought-to L2 self and writing outcomes and provided that it had limited effects, primarily
influencing writing learning behaviors (Csizér & Kormos, 2009). In a study by Jang and
Lee (2019), they found that people who felt they should improve in a second language
(ought-to L2 self) tended to use more revision strategies when writing. However, this did
not necessarily lead to better writing results.
L2 intended learning effort appears to have little impact on the writing
achievement when a well-designed action plan (Bybee &Terry, 2006; Oyserman, 2008),
Dörnyei, 2008),, which outlines detailed steps required for success, is provided.
Additionally, when learners have clear goals, their ideal L2 self positively impacts their
writing proficiency (Masgoret and Gardner,2003; Ushioda, 2009).
Moreover, it is worth considering the impact of L2MSS on learners’ academic
achievement is influenced by some factors such as teachers’ behaviors, the learning
environment they create, and the goals they set. These conditions appear to shape the
extent to which L2MSS contributes to learners’ academic achievement.