The purpose of this study was to study how L2 motivations in both Dörnyei’s (2005, 2009) L2 Motivational Self System and Gardner’s (1985) socio-educational model were related to intrinsic and extrinsic subscales in the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) in Korean college contexts. This study investigated the relationships among the motivational variables by the use of the correlation method and the effects of L2 motivations on motivated behavior through multiple regression analysis. The findings showed Gardner’s (1985) integrativeness and ideal L2 self were strongly correlated with the more self-determined types of motivations, while L2 learning experience and ought-to L2 self were associated with the less self-determined ones in the self-determination theory. In addition, Dörnyei’s (2005, 2009) L2 Motivational Self System and the extrinsic motivation subscales, identified regulation and external regulation, explained Korean college students’ motivated behavior better than Gardner’s (1985) integrativeness. The theoretic discussions are made at the conclusion.

This study examines the relationship between students’ perceptions of learning contexts and motivation to learn English in Korea. Three categories of contexts were operationalized: the transnational context as learners’ international interest including study-abroad desires, the national context as awareness of English learning to prepare for CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) and their classroom experience as the last category. A total of 433 high school students were assessed on measures of L2 learning goals, perception of contexts, self-reported L2 proficiency and motivational intention in the questionnaire, followed by focal participants’ interviews and essays. The statistical analyses show that transitional and classroom categories are statistically correlated with motivational intention. However, the national context is negatively correlated with actual motivation. Multiple regression analyses found that the transnational category is the best predictor for motivational intention, while the national category involves the least significant predictor. The students’ classroom experience is also a meaningful, milder than transnational, predictor. Synthesized results of both quantitative and qualitative data suggest that L2 motivation is more of a sociolinguistic construct that should be construed in relation to multiple social contexts. Findings also suggest Dörnyei’s (2005, 2009) notion of the ideal L2 self can better explain the complexity of L2 learning motivation, whereby the integrative-instrumental dichotomy loses its explanatory power.

The primary objective of this study was to explore the relationship between L2 reading motivation and L2 reading strategy use. 283 Chinese college EFL students participated in this study. They answered a questionnaire with 65 items that measured the three constructs of reading motivation, reading strategy use and their self-perceived reading proficiency. Confirmatory factor analyses were applied to check the validity of each construct. Based on their motivation scores, the subjects were divided into different clusters; 22.6% of the subjects to the most highly motivated cluster; 34.4% to the moderately motivated cluster; 43.1% to the least motivated cluster. Discriminant analysis showed that such variables as advanced comprehension strategies, repetition and comprehension enhancing strategies were statistically significant variables that distinguished the three groups from each other. These results imply that EFL learners may be instructed to be aware of the importance of L2 reading motivation and L2 reading strategies for improving their L2 reading proficiency.