A Motivation-Appraisal Model for Japanese EFL Learners : The Role of Orientations as Motivational Antecedents

抄録

The present study applies social psychological constructs to the acquisition of English in the Japanese EFL context, and attempts to determine the relationship between two theoretical frameworks and their corresponding sets of variables that approach the topic of motivation from conventional viewpoints. The first framework of variables, described by Clement and Kruidenier (1983), comes from the social sciences and humanities research. The second psychological framework is Gardener (1985) socio-educational model, which proposes that motivation is based on intergroup attitudes and an attraction to the target language and culture. The current research is conducted in an attempt to combine the orientations described by Clement and Kruidenier (1983) with the intergroup constructs discussed by Gardner (1985) for a better understanding of the development of particular orientations and their role in language learning motivation. Furthermore, structural equation modeling, a relatively recent procedure which allows researchers to test cause-effect relations based on correlational data, can have an excellent fit, and all the predicted paths in a path diagram can be significant, and yet it is still quite possible that other patterns of causality could work equally well or better. These results are discussed with respect to the influence of the Japanese EFL context on orientations and in terms of their implications for further studies.