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THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
EE activities, therefore, may serve the purpose of motivating learners to
learn English by affecting their Ideal L2 Self. Weger (2013) refers to Yashima
(2002) when claiming that English language films, film series, and video games,
for instance, may provide learners with a feeling of integrativeness; thus, to
some extent, learners gain "access to international communities" (Weger 2013:
89), where English has an important role. Mori and Gobel (2006: 205) also
claimed that integrativeness in the case of English encompasses the “interest
in traveling and studying overseas, rather than a desire to integrate into the
target language community.” These findings led to cultural interest being one
of the dimensions of motivation, which required the reformation of the concept
of integrativeness, ultimately resulting in Dornyei (2005) reconceptualizing
L2 learning motivation into his L2 Motivational Self System.
Cultural interest is included in the present research project as it is believed
that learners partly consume EE for their cultural interest in anglophone cul¬
ture as well as the intercultural communities using the English language, thus
motivating Hungarian EFL learners to learn English.
2.3.2.4 Friendship orientation and intercultural contact
There is consensus in the literature that the influence of friends, peers and
acquaintances on learners’ attitudes to language learning has an important
impact on learners’ motivation (D6rnyei 2001). Young (1994: 86), for instance,
held the view that “learner perceptions and experience of peer attitudes con¬
cerning school, education, foreign language learning in general or the learning
of a particular language in question may exert considerable influence on the
individual’s own L2 learning orientation, attitudes and motivation.” In addi¬
tion, Clément and Kruidenier (1983) point out that the idea that the knowledge
of a particular L2 may enable a learner to make new connections and friends
is a motivating factor for learning the given L2. Root (1999) carried out a lon¬
gitudinal study where it was found that peers and, more precisely, friends can
maintain learners’ motivation to learn a particular L2.
Kormos and Csizér (2007) point out that as Hungary is a predominantly
monolingual country, the most common type of contact with the target lan¬
guage and culture was not in person but through the Internet and media.
Similarly, Sundqvist and Olin-Scheller (2013) underline that in extramural
contexts, such as online video games, learners engage in authentic learner—
learner interactions and collaborate with one another (e.g., fighting a common
enemy), and they emphasize that these environments differ from the classroom
context. In a classroom, there is a less authentic environment for learners,
where even if they follow the teacher’s instruction and cooperate with their
peers, such interactions are not initiated by the learners themselves; rather,
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