Contemporary Language Motivation Theory

60 Years Since Gardner and Lambert (1959)

Ali H. Al-Hoorie, Peter D. MacIntyre, Ali H. Al-Hoorie, Peter D. MacIntyre

• Publisher: Multilingual Matters
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781788925211
• Topic: Filología
• Subtopic: Psicolingüística

This book brings together contributions from the leaders of the language learning motivation field. The varied chapters demonstrate how Gardner's work remains integral to a diverse range of contemporary theoretical issues underlying the psychology of language, even today, 60 years after the publication of Gardner and Lambert's seminal 1959 paper. The chapters cover a wide selection of topics related to applied linguistics, second language acquisition, social psychology, sociology, methodology and historical issues. The book advances thinking on cutting-edge topics in these diverse areas, providing a wealth of information for both students and established scholars that show the continuing and future importance of Gardner and Lambert's ideas.

Part 1

Second Language Development/Applied Linguistics

1 Extending Gardner’s Socio-Educational Model to Learner Well-Being: Research Propositions Linking Integrative Motivation and the PERMA Framework

Tammy Gregersen, Peter D. MacIntyre and Jessica Ross

Chapter Overview

This chapter takes a theoretical approach to exploring connections between Gardner’s integrative motivation and Seligman’s PERMA framework of well-being. The integrative motive is a well-known approach to conceptualizing motivation in second language acquisition. PERMA, encompassing positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment, is also well known in the domain of positive psychology as a basis for understanding happiness and well-being. Our analysis demonstrates that Gardner’s integrative motive and the PERMA framework share at least three key attributes. The first notable attribute is that each theory reflects a multidimensional collection of cohesive, mutually-reinforcing elements that function together to create a unified and meaningful whole. Second, both place strong value on research support and empirical testing of relationships. Finally, both are applied outside educational contexts. We propose a testable hypothesis concerning the relative contributions of each PERMA dimension to each of integrativeness, attitudes towards the learning situation and motivation. The chapter concludes with three specific research propositions for empirically testing the relationship between integrative motivation and PERMA.

Introduction

In this chapter, we take a theoretical approach to examining connections between Gardner’s work with integrative motivation (IntegM) and the recently developed field of positive psychology, specifically Seligman’s PERMA framework of well-being, which encompasses positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment (Seligman, 2011).¹ Positive psychology is being advanced as a source of novel research topics in language learning, foreign-, second- or target-language (collectively TL) acquisition (MacIntyre, 2016). A close examination of Gardner’s work shows that multiple connections between positive psychology and the socio-educational model (SE model) are possible. Although Gardner and Lambert’s (1959) original work predates the introduction of positive psychology by some 40 years (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000), Gardner’s approach is remarkably consistent with both the principles and approach taken by positive psychology in general (see Peterson, 2006), an approach quickly gaining recognition for potential applications in second language acquisition (SLA) (Gabryś-Barker & Gałajda, 2016; MacIntyre et al., 2016; 2019). In outlining connections between Gardner’s core concept of IntegM and Seligman’s more general PERMA framework of well-being, we will limit our discussion to those two theories, but we certainly acknowledge that researchers have examined concepts such as motivation, engagement, attitudes, relationships, meaning, etc., from many other perspectives. Within the confines of PERMA and IntegM, this chapter works towards research propositions that may lead to future developments in the theory and practice of language learning motivation. The chapter is organized to address the following topics: (1) background of the SE model and related work by Clément and others; (2) background of positive psychology; (3) components of PERMA; (4) how components from Gardner’s model overlap with PERMA or incorporate positive psychology concepts; and (5) research propositions that might serve as directions for specific studies in the future.

At its outset, the SE model of TL learning (Gardner, 1985) replaced a relatively context-free, aptitude/intelligence focus on learning with a theory that integrated affective variables and the surrounding learning milieu, including the intercultural context. According to MacIntyre (2010: 375), it arose in a time in history

when animal learning models (e.g. instincts) or ‘cold cognition’ (i.e. without contribution from emotion) dominated discussions of motivation in psychology. By considering the multiple social, cognitive, and affective forces that produce both linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes that feedback on each other, the socio-educational model could plausibly be proposed in the current zeitgeist as a brand new way to do research.

In an era when theories of language were dominated by behaviourist, and later by cognitive approaches, Gardner seamlessly combined affective variables with a focus on attitudes as well as emotional and behavioral components into his conceptual framework. Whereas today’s applied linguists often recognize the dynamism of multiple interacting variables in TL acquisition (Dörnyei et al., 2015), such was not the case during most of Gardner’s career. His individual differences research, recognizing both approach and avoidance processes emerging from the cultural milieu, positive and negative attitudes, motivation and anxiety, was cutting edge for an extended period. Furthermore, Gardner’s SE model placed the learning context – including both formal and informal learning – front and centre. Gardner’s model includes attitudes and motivation, situation-specific language anxiety, stable personal traits and identity processes, and the context in which emotions and character traits play out – including the language classroom and the social milieu. That approach led to decades of research that has examined the emotional, affective and contextual components at play during TL acquisition.

Richard Clément, one of Gardner’s long-time collaborators, elaborated the SE model with a focus on the social context of language learning and a strong emphasis on psychological differences between being part of a linguistic majority versus minority group (see Rubenfeld & Clément, this volume). Clément’s (1980, 1986) socio-contextual model, an adaptation and extension of Gardner’s socio-educational model, examined adjustment and identity during the development and use of a TL. Clément proposed a primary motivational process particularly prominent among minority group members learning the language of a majority group, wherein IntegM exists in tension with fear of assimilation, which is a process that might bring the loss of one’s native language and identity. Individuals learning a TL can have negative orientations towards the TL community when they feel their native language and identity are under threat. This fear can lower motivation to learn the TL, and lead to less competence when using it (Rubenfeld & Clément, this volume). Clément proposed a secondary motivational process, reflecting a tension between developing linguistic competence and the anxiety associated with communicating in the TL, jointly labelled L2 confidence. Clément et al. (2001) showed that while experiencing identity incongruity as a result of discrimination, those who have L2 confidence are able to show resilience, as it buffers the discrimination and the impact of stress.

The relationship between potentially adverse mental or psychological states and learning/speaking a TL has been a topic of interest for several decades. Damji et al. (1996) studied how identity affects psychological adjustment. They examined the level and variability of identification among 259 Anglophone students and found that when identity was not stable across situations, those identified as exclusively Anglophones tended to experience lower self-esteem as well as higher levels of stress and depression. Another recent study focusing on the relationship between stress and TL learning has shown that stress levels increase for those who demonstrate linguistic biases while in the face of intergroup threat (Sampasivam et al., 2018).

Language anxiety, a potentially strong adverse reaction to language learning/use, has been widely studied (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014), generating a rich research tradition of its own (Horwitz & Young, 1991; Gkonou et al., 2017). Originally, however, this approach began as part of the work on the SE model which incorporated the notion that attitudes underpin motivation (Gardner, 1985). Both Horwitz et al. (1986) and Gardner (1985) argued convincingly that the conceptualization and measurement of anxiety in SLA had to be oriented around the concept of an emotional reaction to language situations. Gardner (1985: 34) suggested that ‘a construct of anxiety which is not general but instead is specific to the language acquisition context is related to second language achievement’. Language anxiety has been associated with lower willingness to communicate (WTC) in a TL (MacIntyre et al., 2003) as well as lower perceived TL competence (Clément, 1986; MacIntyre, 2017). The arousal of anxiety may be a signal that well-being is potentially under threat.

Although language anxiety has developed its own research tradition independent of the SE model, other emotions have not been as widely studied. Although major TL motivation models such as Gardner’s (1985, 2010) integrative motive have mentioned both positive and negative emotions, the emphasis on positive emotions as focal concepts has been noticeably lacking. However, recent research has concentrated on the role of positive emotions in SLA, largely inspired by work in positive psychology (Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015; Dewaele et al., 2017; Gabryś-Barker & Gałajda, 2016; MacIntyre & Vincze, 2017; MacIntyre et al., 2016, 2019).

Positive Psychology and the Socio-Educational Model

Positive psychology, a relatively new subfield of psychology, was founded around the turn of the century. Seligman (1998) argued that the majority of scientific research in psychology had not given sufficient attention to the examination of human well-being and that which made people flourish, instead focusing heavily on a disease- and disorder-oriented model of human nature that characterized people as ‘flawed and fragile’ and as ‘victims’ in need of remedies and therapies (Peterson, 2006: 5). Positive psychology was presented as a means to address this imbalance; rather than concentrating on weakness, positive psychologists concentrate on studying strength.

According to Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000), positive psychology’s foundation rests on three pillars: positive subjective experiences (such as happiness and gratitude), positive individual traits (including character strengths and values) and positive institutions (for example, families and schools). The authors suggested that institutions can encourage the promotion and presentation of positive traits, which lead to positive subjective experience; the three pillars are interconnected (Park & Peterson, 2003). In their seminal article, Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000: 5) state:

(t)he field of positive psychology at the subjective level is about valued subjective experiences; well-being, contentment, and satisfaction (in the past); hope and optimism (for the future); and flow and happiness (in the present). At the individual level, it is about positive individual traits; the capacity for love and vocation, courage, interpersonal skill, aesthetic sensibility, perseverance, forgiveness, originality, future mindedness, spirituality, high talent, and wisdom. At the group level, it is about the civic virtues and the institutions that move individuals toward better citizenship: responsibility, nurturance, altruism, civility, moderation, tolerance, and work ethic.

Gardner’s (1985) SE model reflects the three pillars of positive psychology in significant ways. With respect to the first pillar, subjective experience, Gardner and Lambert (1959) first demonstrated that affective variables are relevant in SLA, in addition to aptitude and intelligence, as elements that promote language learning success. These and subsequent findings paved the way for the social-psychological approach to investigating SLA, with a focus on affective variables. The SE model (1985) merged affective and cognitive influences in one motivational paradigm and unveiled an exclusively human drive for language learning (MacIntyre, 2010). Gardner (1985) made specific mention of variables such as ‘attitudes’, ‘aptitude’, ‘personality’, ‘field dependence’, ‘sociability’, ‘anxiety’ and ‘empathy’, among others – all of which would later be addressed by positive psychologists.

Gardner’s (1985, 2010) SE model and positive psychology theories such as Seligman’s (2011) PERMA also share a concern for factors that facilitate success. One of the variables emphasized by both perspectives is ‘persistence’. Gardner (2010: 202) gave it particular prominence:

Integrative motivation facilitates second language acquisition because it supports the persistence so important to develop proficiency in a second language, it accounts for active searching to find opportunities to use and strengthen the language, it provides the affective backdrop to make other-language contacts enjoyable and satisfying, etc.

That is to say, for Gardner, a successful language learner exhibits numerous affective features made up of a flexible and accepting orientation towards the TL group: positive attitudes towards the language learning circumstances and elevated motivation. A learner showing each of these features can be described as ‘integratively motivated’ (Gardner, 2010: 202), and it is this integrative motivation that sustains the behavioural persistence necessary to improve language proficiency.

Likewise, for positive psychologists, persistence and related concepts such as perseverance, grit, buoyancy and resiliency play a prominent role in the second pillar of positive psychology: individual traits and strengths. Peterson and Seligman (2004: 229) defined persistence as the ‘voluntary continuation of a goal-directed action in spite of obstacles, difficulties, or discouragement’, which was listed as one of the character strengths in the values in action (VIA) classification of ubiquitously valued individual character strengths (Peterson, 2006). The VIA classification identifies 24 cross-culturally valued character strengths, including persistence, that have received considerable research support (see Niemiec, 2013; Park & Peterson, 2009; Park et al., 2004, 2006).

Positive psychology’s third pillar, positive institutions, recognizes that ‘people and experiences are embedded in a social context’ (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000: 8), and that institutions, similar to the individuals who populate them, possess unique, multidimensional and dynamic personalities. At a broad level, positive psychology advocates that institutions be structured in way...