제2언어 자아와 영어 학습 동기: 면담법을 통한 사례 연구

L2 self and English learning motivation: A case study using interview methods

In this paper, the author highlights Korean EFL learners’ L2 self and its relationship with English learning motivation. To date, most research on L2 learning motivation has adopted a large scale survey method, which resulted in the lack of in-depth qualitative analysis of it. By analyzing six Korean elementary and secondary school students and two English teachers, this paper investigates their perceptions of English learning motivation: its origin, maintenance, and potential challenges of maintaining it. Particularly, Dörnyei’s (2009) concepts of the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self are closely compared with the participants’ comments on their motivation. The interview results indicated that Korean students created the ought-to L2 self and amotivation more than the ideal L2 self, and this reflects the parental and societal pressure on the English learners in Korea. This means that students have not internalized the necessity to learn English at a personal level yet, and their comments on motivation are in fact a motive or a less-internalized psychological construct dissociated from concrete learning goals and from their sense of participation in L2 communities. Teacher interview results showed that English teachers in Korea acquiesce to the determining power of College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and they are not active in supporting students’ creating long-term, future L2 self.