The relationship between L2 motivational self system (L2MSS) and L2 achievement : a mixed-methods study of Chinese EFL learners at HKU

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between Dörnyei’s (2005; 2009) L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) and L2 achievement among Chinese EFL learners. It also aims to explore students’ motivational types when attending an English for General Academic Purpose (EGAP) course at one top-ranked university in Hong Kong. 67 undergraduate year 1 students (L1 = Chinese) taking an EGAP course were recruited into this mix-methods research. Participants (N=67) responded to an online questionnaire relating to three main components of L2MSS, namely ideal-L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experience (L2LE), and their L2 proficiency levels were measured deploying the grades in the EGAP course. Four of them attended the follow-up interviews to explore more in-depth information about their perceptions when taking the course. The results show that only ought-to L2 self had a positive relationship with L2 achievement, while the other two dimensions failed to achieve statistical significance. It was also found that the three components of L2MSS only had a weak predicting power for the ultimate L2 proficiency, explaining only 7% of its variance. As for the motivational types when attending this language course, participants in this context expressed positive attitudes towards future academic language use and found that practical benefit was the significant motivator for them to invest efforts, especially the desire to minimize the bridge between secondary English and academic English. The findings of the current research provide some pedagogical implications for the EGAP course at this university in Hong Kong.