Motivation, Autonomy and Emotions in Foreign Language Learning: A Multi-Perspective Investigation in Hungary(27 Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching)

This book highlights the roles of several individual difference (ID) variables on the language learning process, exploring them from both the students’ and the teachers’ perspectives. It presents the results of a large-scale, mixed-methods investigation which was conducted with secondary school pupils and their teachers in Hungary. The quantitative questionnaire data is used to analyze the English language learners’ motivation, autonomy and self-efficacy beliefs, and to examine the relationships between these and a wide range of positive and negative emotions. The qualitative data, consisting of interviews with teachers, gives voice not only to an understanding of student-related ID variables but also to teachers’ reflections on their own cognitive, affective and behavioral processes. Taken together, the contrastive analysis of these two datasets yields interactional results that provide fresh insights into the language learning process and practical classroom applications.

Table of Contents:
Tables Acknowledgments Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. The Context and the Research Study  Chapter 3. The Theoretical Background of the Study Chapter 4. Methods       Chapter 5. Results and Discussion: Dispositions and Views of Participants           Chapter 6. Results and Discussion: Teachers’ Views of the Individual Chapter 7. Results and Discussion: Student Profiles Chapter 8. Results and Discussion: The Comparative Analysis of Student and Teacher Perspectives   Chapter 9. Conclusion    Appendices References Index

About the Author :
Kata Csizér is Professor at Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary. Her research focuses on foreign language learning motivation, and she is Associate Editor of the Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching journal and Co-Editor of the monograph series Applied Linguistics in the 21st Century, published by Akadémiai Kiadó. Dávid Smid is Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Graz, Austria. His research interests include language learner psychology, teacher psychology and positive psychology, and he is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal for the Psychology of Language Learning. Anna Zólyomi is Assistant Professor at ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary. Her research explores individual differences, implicit and explicit learning and differentiated instruction, and she is Section Editor at GiLE Journal of Skills Development. Ágnes Albert is Assistant Professor at ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary. Her research focuses on task-based language learning, foreign language learning-related emotions and flow, and she is Associate Editor of the Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching journal.

Review :
This book presents a large-scale rigorously designed and executed mixed-methods project, giving insights into hitherto unexplored areas of individual differences. Based on the intriguing results of the survey and the teacher interview data, the authors offer hands-on pedagogical suggestions that are relevant far beyond the Hungarian context. The volume is a must-have for research students, scholars and practitioners interested in individual differences and the methods that can be applied to study them. Using data from foreign language learners and teachers in Hungarian secondary schools, the authors do a superb job of painting an intriguing picture of the interplay of motivation, autonomy and self-efficacy, as well as positive and negative emotions. Their findings offer crucial insights that extend far beyond one specific context. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in the role of individual variation in learning additional languages. This exemplary large-scale study is a mixed-methods research gem. Readers interested in motivation and emotions will discover a series of interrelated findings presented with clarity, in detailed and nuanced ways. This book inspires thoughtful consideration of similarities and differences between teacher and learner psychology and how they change over time.