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EXTRAMURAL ENGLISH ACTIVITIES AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNER DIFFERENCES
5.5.6.1 L2 learning motivation and its related concepts
The means and standard deviations of the scales related to L2 learning motiva¬
tion are presented in this section. The means and standard deviations in Table
23 show that students are aware of the importance of the English language
globally (M=4.46, SD=.67), which confirms the results of previous research
(Csizér—Lukacs 2010, Crystal 2003, De Wilde et al. 2019, Djigunovic 2018,
Sauer—Ellis 2019, Sayer—Ban 2014, Sundqvist—Sylvén 2014, Sylven-Sundgvist
2012).
Table 23. The mean scores and standard deviations
of the scales measuring L2 learning motivation and its closely related concepts
Scales M SD
Perceived importance of the English language 4.46 .67
Intercultural orientation 4.20 .76
Ideal L2 self 4.10 .81
Language learning experience 3.73 .95
Ought-to L2 self 2.75 .87
Besides, participants are also open to using English as a lingua franca
(M=4.20, SD=.76) when communicating with others having a different L1 than
Hungarian. These results are also in line with the results of previous research
that intercultural orientation and the knowledge of a particular L2 may enable
a learner to make new connections and friends, which is a motivating factor
for learning the given L2 (Csizer-Kormos 2009, Clement-Kruidenier 1983,
Root 1999, Young 1994). Intercultural orientation is also important as in cer¬
tain L2 learning contexts, such as the Hungarian context, learners have very
little opportunity for direct contact with the given target language, so theycan
access it through indirect intercultural contact (e.g., talking to others using
English) as wellas L2 media content, such as films, music, etc. (Csizer-Dörnyei
2005, Csizer-Kormos 2009, Kormos-Csizer 2007). Therefore, the role of EE
activities and intercultural orientation and openness, in general, is increas¬
ingly important and useful in EFL learning (Sundqvist—Sylvén 2016).
As for the components of Dornyei’s (2005) Motivational Self System, the
average of the participants’ responses in the case of the Ideal L2 Self is high
(M=4.10, SD=.76), which means that participants attribute an important role
to the English language in their own future. In contrast, the lower average
(M=2.75, SD=.87) for the Ought-to L2 Self indicates that participants do not
consider EFL learning important because of their teachers, parents, or other
external expectations. As the Ideal L2 Self is more internalized than the
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