A visual model of L2 motivation as a complex dynamic system

Abstract

Abstract Learner motivation is an essential ingredient for successful language learning. This article investigates the motivating and demotivating factors affecting the motivation of fifty-eight EAP learners’ L2 learning. Guided by complex dynamic systems theory, with a dual focus on both what factors are important and what role these play in the L2 motivational system, this exploratory study utilized network analysis to map out how motivational factors connect to each other and form a L2 motivation factor network. It was found that motivating and demotivating factors, through the connections they share, exert an influence not only on each other, but on the whole motivational system. Based on the findings, suggestions are provided for classroom teachers for how they might steer learners’ motivational systems towards more motivated states, including introducing new factors into the system, enhancing connectivity, and increasing learners’ awareness of the complex and dynamic nature of motivation.