English 730
Literature Review
Dr. Kohn
Moena Mukai
Motivating Japanese EFL students in “motivational wasteland”:
Through developing the ideal L2 self within imagined international communities
Introduction
It is common that language teachers in Japanese EFL classrooms are confounded by a
question from students, usually those who with lower motivation, asking why they have to ever
learn English. Although it may sound easy to answer this question, the teachers often end up
giving them some evasive answers such as “well, studying English will certainly do good for
your future. So, let’s go back to the textbook…” The students claim that if they stay
domestically, their life both in the present and future can be fully satisfied without the English
language, which, in fact, does make sense if considering the nature of the EFL contexts in
which there is little or no immediate need of English and direct as well as daily exposure to the
language.
Reflecting on the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology’s
action plan that states English competence is essential for the development of the country,
Pigott (2010: 544) points out the government policy is “at odds with the lived reality of
contemporary students in Japan”. Once described as “motivational wasteland” (Berwick &
Ross, 1989), it is true that the English educational system in Japan, forces the students to learn
the language without any obvious purposes and consequently has become one of the big causes
for low motivation of the learners (Nakata, 2006; 166). The gap between the ambitious policy
and the real daily life of learners well explains what could elicit the questions like mentioned
above.
As a Japanese learner of English, myself, I have heard a significant number of my peers
in Japan questioning the purpose for studying English and also have seen lots of teachers who
end up telling them that is the way it is. As a pre-service English teacher whose target students
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are in such situations, however, I have been provoked by this recurring question and set up my
ultimate goal in my teaching pathway to provide the students a rich variety of possible answers.
Even in EFL contexts, I have learned the English language can certainly broaden their world
and enrich their opportunities in life through my own English learning experiences. As a matter
of fact, there is no one single right answer for this one of the most challenging questions other
than differences between the present perfect progressive and the simple present perfect; it varies
depends on each teacher’s beliefs, context, and student’s personality. An important role of
language teachers, however, is to help learners find out their own answers and consequently,
develop their learning motivation. In fact, numerous attempts have been made by researchers in
the field to investigate the current situations of second language (L2) learning motivation of
Japanese learners.
Over the several decades, L2 motivation has got much attention of scholars and educators
since it is considered one of the key factors in L2 learning. As early as 1970s, Gardner and
Lambert (1972) advocated the socio-educational concept of integrative orientation, which had a
huge impact on this field even to the present. This classic concept has come gone under the
debate because of its limitations of context-flexibility in the globalized world. A relatively new
concept from a perspective of psychological, proposed by Dörnyei (2005), the L2 Motivational
Self-system, takes over the current mainstream of the L2 motivational with evident supports by
several studies.
The purpose of the paper is to explore ways to motivate Japanese EFL students learning
English for no particular reasons through developing the ideal L2 self in imagined international
communities. Firstly, I will seek for the definition of motivation through reviewing the
remarkable sift in the field of study from the concept of integrativeness (Gardner & Lambert,
1987) to the L2 Motivational Self (Dörnyei, 2005). Based on the theoretical framework of L2
selves, the current situations and its background in Japanese EFL classrooms in which learners
rarely have the well-developed ideal L2 self will be discussed. Thereafter, I will discuss how to
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develop the ideal L2 self of Japanese learners in classrooms referring to Dörnyei’s requirements
for effective motivator (2009) as well as several empirical studies in Japan. In addition,
Yashima’s (2002; 2009) concept of international posture will be integrated intro pedagogical
application for L2 motivation focusing on a learners’ interest in participating in an international
imagined communities. Then, ways to cultivating learners’ international posture and to
visualize imagined international communities will be investigated by reviewing previous
studies in the field. The present paper hypothesized that even in “motivational wasteland”, the
ideal L2 self of Japanese EFL learners will become vivid and realistic through their
international imagined communities, which in turn, motivate them to study and communicate in
English. Finally, I will conclude the present paper by providing limitations and suggestions for
further research in the field.
Defining L2 Motivation: From integrativness to the L2 self concepts
1. Integrative Motivation
Gardner and Lambert (1972) have given contributions of vital importance to the L2
motivational field. Through the process of a research program of 12 years, they have found that
a key to success in L2 learning was directly related to the learners’ affective orientations toward
learning tasks and have come up with two types of orientations, integrative and instrumental,
with a more focus on the former one. Integrative orientation is defined as “reflecting a sincere
and personal interest in the people and culture represented by the other group” (Gardner and
Lambert, 1972: 12), while instrumental motivation as representing “the more utilitarian value of
linguistic achievement, such as getting ahead in one’s occupation” (Gardner and Lambert,
1972: 2). For example, if a learner is very interested in the target culture and its people, and is
willing to integrate oneself into the culture, his or her orientation is namely, integrative. On the
other hand, if the purpose of the learning is for academic success such as passing exams or
promotion in career, the learner is instrumentally oriented. It is added that integrative
motivation reflects a desire of L2 learners “to identify with members of another ethnolinguistic
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group and take on very subtle aspects of their behaviour” (Gardner and Lambert, 1972: 135).
2. Limitations of Integrativeness in EFL contexts
Although this socio-educational construct of integrativeness has certainly and
dominantly gathered much attention in the relevant field, starting from as early as the 1980s, as
Ushioda and Dörnyei (2009) observes, it has gone through much theoretical debate. Not only
that integrative motivation can co-exist with instrumental one rather than being dichotomous,
but also this conceptualization excludes the consideration of EFL contexts. Gardner and
Lambert’s (1972) intensive research took place in Canadian ESL contexts, which is completely
different from EFL contexts especially in terms of its amount of exposure to the target language
and culture and immediate needs of L2 learning. In addition, as it is obvious from their
description of the English and French language as “prestigious”, the setting in which the
concept of integrativeness was established had not yet seen the growing context of world
Englishes. Providing the implied premise of integrativeness, a leaner having a drive to identify
and eventually integrate with the specific target culture, it is hard for Japanese EFL learners to
relate themselves to any particular L2 group especially within the context of English becoming
more powerful and international language with the absence of one specific community
(Yashima, 2009). As far as English is used for communication, what is called the target culture
can be any foreign countries in the world, it does not necessarily have to be a specific
English-speaking country that is commonly tied to fixed locations such as Inner Circle.
Several studies on its efficacy of L2 motivation that is based on integrativeness in EFL
contexts have been done following the precedent one in Hungary.
Dörnyei and Csizer
(2002) ,under the attempts to , has done a quail research on and finds out
Warden and Lin (2000) explore the motivational factors of university students with
non-English majors in Taiwanese EFL contexts. Besides with integrative and instrumental, they
also attempt to investigate the existence of required motivation, which refers to studying for
English simply because it is required in an educational setting and is commonly observed in
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Asian EFL contexts. The results have revealed that while both required and instrumental
motivational factors are found, the integrative ones are interestingly absent. It implies a possible
flaw in the concept of integrativeness in Taiwanese EFL context where instrumental value of
English learning, especially for passing entrance exams, more affects L2 learning.
After his study in junior high school in Indonesian EFL contexts, Lamb (2003) argues
that it is getting harder to tell apart integrative from instrumental motivation toward English
learning in the globalized world; all those aspirations such as using computers, making friends
with foreigners, or pursing an academic success can be instrumental in regarding English as a
tool and simultaneously can be integrative in becoming a member of the international
communities. The author points out, however, that what it seems like integrative motivation in
the study might be better described as “identification process within the individual’s
self-concept” rather than “integration to L2 community” (Lamb, 2003: 14), supporting Dörnyei
and Csizer’s (2002) position.
Finally, in his quantitative study, which adapts Dörnyei and Csizer’s (2002) work with
other Hungarian studies into Japanese context, Ryan (2009) attempts to discover correlations of
carefully selected major motivational factors between those two EFL countries through
Motivational Factors Questionnaire and interviews. One of his noteworthy findings is that
Japanese learners of English regard “the notion of an English-speaking community freed from
the ties of nationality and locality to be amore powerful motivating factor than the static notion
of a target language community implied in conventional interpretations of integrativeness”
(131). He concludes that the concept of integrativeness fails in taking culture-specific variables
into consideration such as Hungarian and Japanese EFL contexts in the globalized world, in
which integrativness might exist only under the broader concept of L2 self.
Therefore, alternative concept, which is universal across language learning contexts, has
been increasingly called for in order to grasp the better understanding of L2 motivational
system. As a result, the past decades experienced the notable sift from the socio-educational
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concept of integrativeness toward a perspective of the more internal identification process in
learners’ self.
3. The L2 Motivational Self-system
Responding to the increasing need for rethinking the concept of integrativeness, the new
conceptualization of L2 motivation, the L2 motivational self-system established by Dörnyei
(2005) has casted a new light on the field. While the former construct of integrativeness is a
part of socio-educational model, the self-based concept of motivation draws upon psychological
models. It is well explained that Dörnyei focuses on learners’ attempt to place themselves closer
to their internal ideal self rather than to some external target community (Sampson, 2012).
In the field of psychology, a concept of possible selves, defined as “a type of
self-knowledge [that] pertains to how individuals think about their potential and about their
future”, includes the selves we “would very much like to become”, “we could become” and “we
are afraid of becoming” (Markus and Nurius, 1986: 954). Similarly, Higgins (1987: 320)
categorizes the domain of the selves as (1) the actual self, which represents the attributes one
thinks she or he actually possess, (2) the ideal self, which refers to the attributes one wishes she
or he ideally has, and finally (3) the ought self, which reflects the attributes one feels you
should or have to have. In addition to the categorization of selves, Higgins (1987) proposes a
theory of self-discrepancy that explains one’s effort to reduce the discrepancy of incompatible
selves, in particular, the actual self and the ideal self and therefore consequents in one’s
motivated behavior. Thus, these psychological concepts suggest a possible but notable link
between an individual’s self-based cognition and motivation.
Dörnyei (2005) draws upon the earlier self-based notions in an effective manner into L2
learning and proposes that motivated behavior is triggered by a learner’s “psychological desire
to reduce the discrepancy between our current and possible future selves” (Ushioda and
Dörnyei, 2009: 4). His new framework, widely known as the L2 motivational self-system,
consists of three primary components. The first one is the ideal L2 self, which represents what a
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learner wishes to become. If the learner wants to speak L2 and approximates the ideal L2 self
and actual self, the image of the ideal L2 self can be a strong motivation. The second
component is followed by the ought-to L2 self, which concerns what a learner feels she or he
ought to have to satisfy external expectations or obligations. These two components are
corresponding to Higgins’ self-domains. It should be noted that the former, the ideal L2 self,
holds the promotion effect to achieve one’s goals while the latter, the ought-to self, has the
preventative nature to avoid negative outcomes. In either way, motivated behavior arises for
two different orientations. In addition to these two central concepts of the L2 motivational
self-framework, Dörnyei includes the L2 learning experience as the third key component,
which is related to the immediate influence of learning environments. For example, classroom
contexts such as teachers or even course curricula have direct impact on student learning
motivation.
Several attempts have been made to show the applicability of the L2 motivational
self-system in various contexts. In his study that is earlier mentioned, Ryan (2009) focuses
specifically on the self-based motivational framework in Japanese EFL context. By
investigating the same motivational variables used in Hungarian data by Dörnyei and Csizer’s
(2002), the study evidently confirms the empirical validation to certain extent along with other
contexts along with studies in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and China. Thus, the theoretical framework of
L2 motivational self has given a much clearer and deeper understanding of L2 motivation,
which in turn, expanded the possibilities of its field, potentially for language teachers in Japan,
once described as “motivational wasteland”, as well.
The following section will take a close look at how this self-concept of L2 learning
motivation can help in understanding motivation of Japanese EFL students as well as
developing ways to motivate them by reviewing several empirical studies.
Motivating Japanese EFL learners
1. The current situations in Japan
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It is necessary to understand the reality, what is currently happening and what is needed
with respect to motivation in Japanese EFL contexts, before getting into an actual discussion on
what to do for the students. As discussed in the introductory part, Japanese students are
somewhat lost in the “motivational wasteland” in which English is a required school subject
while there is no immediate need of it and little direct exposure to the target culture. To learn it
in more detail, Sonda’s study (2011) in Japanese college provides some clear grasp of what the
students think about English itself. The participant of his study, Japanese college students
majoring in various fields, showed their attitudes towards English in the following way:
“English was important for work and study or international activity and that being bilingual was
a beneficial thing, but that English is still irrelevant to their domestic daily life” (Sonda, 2011:
368). It seems like they are trapped in the dilemma between positive views about learning
English regarding their future and uncertainty to its immediate need in their life inside Japan.
Now a question that what Japanese EFL students’ L2 self-based motivation can be like,
under such an environment, need to be answered. In his preliminary study, Pigott (2011)
investigated the strength of the ideal self, the ideal L2 self and the L2 ought-to self among
Japanese female high school students at their first year. Through using a questionnaire
combined Likert scale and open-ended, the study has casted a light on the issues of motivation
in Japanese EFL contexts and strongly suggested the need to be dealt with by educators in the
contexts. One of the major findings is that it is rare for high school students in Japan to have
“well-developed ideal selves, left alone ideal L2 selves” (Pigott, 2011: 543). Even those with
stronger L2 self-images than others viewed English as an instrumental to meet their academic
success or career goals. Another primary result shows that the significant number, 89% of the
participants have a stronger ought-to self than the ideal L2 self. It evidently portrays that the
students are largely motivate by concerns about negative outcomes rather than successful
outcomes. He explains that this no stable ideal L2 self is partly because of their age, which is
considered as the starting point for becoming able to develop solid self-images ( Dörnyei, 2009
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as cited in Pigott, 2011). More importantly, however, he points out that the larger part of the
absent of L2 self images is am English educational system in Japan itself, in which “the
importance of English is undeniably at odds with the lived reality of contemporary students in
Japan” (Pigott, 2011: 543).
Similar results are found in a study of another Asian EFL context. Chen (2012) has
investigated the possible L2 selves among Taiwanese EFL high school students whose contexts
are very similar with that of Japan. The interviews with the participant have shown that the
ideal L2 self of the students were almost internalized into their ought-to self, which seemed to
carry both of the promotion and preventative effects on learners’ learning. Learning English as
a response to high expectations from the parents or someone in the authority and as an
instrument to pass exams are generally common all across Asian EFL classrooms to a certain
extent. As the current situations in Japan being the case, what approaches we teachers can take
to improve this situations, in other words, how to develop their L2 selves in particular and
cultivate their motivation, which the next sections will discuss in detail.
2. Developing the ideal L2 self
The central concept of Dörnyei's framework, ideal L2 self, mainly because of its promotional
nature to achieve positive outcomes in L2 learning, has attracted (and still does) many
researchers and educators, compared to the ought-to L2 self, which is a external factor to the
learner because “it concerns the duties and obligations imposed by friends, parents, and other
authoritative figures” (Dörnyei, 2009: 33). As the previous section have just discussed, however,
the current situation in Japan is that learners hardly possess stronger images of L2 ought-to self,
instead of well-developed ideal L2 selves. Even though the ought-to L2 self surely affects
Japanese learners’ motivation to some extent, the external self “does not lend itself to obvious
motivational strategies” which could imply practical applications (2009: 32). The ideal L2 self,
on the other hand, is internal to the learners and means envisioning to what they hopes language
learning lead them and enhancing the imagery successful self-images. Therefore, it is essential
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to pursue a way to develop the ideal L2 self.
Dörnyei (2009) proposes what make the ideal L2 self an effective motivator. In
discussing actual implications of the L2 motivational self-system, those conditions are
discussed by putting an emphasis on the meaningful word, vision, which he describes as
“having life-changing connotations” and shows “a real attraction” to the self-system he
develops (Dörnyei, 2009: 38). The six requirements for the ideal L2 self being effective
discussed are the following: Creating the vision, strengthening the vision, substantiating the
vision, keeping the vision alive, operationalising the vision, and counter balancing the vision
(Dörnyei, 2009: 33-38). It may be valuable to briefly go over the conditions one by one.
According to Dörnyei (2009), the ideal L2 self is constructed but not generated out of
nothing, which in turn suggests the need for learners having desired L2 self images. It can be
through raising learners’ awareness and offering them possible aspirations and dreams to which
they have previously entertained. One of the examples of classrooms applications for this
aspect he provides is to ask learners to identify words or phrases that describe their target areas
and skills so that they can ultimately define their desires, aspiration and fears for their future as
a part of the whole process in creative ideal-self-generating program (Hock et al, 2006 as cited
in Dörnyei, 2009). He also points out that the ideal-self images should have “a sufficient degree
of elaborateness and vividness” (Dörnyei, 2009: 34). Based on the idea that imagery is one kind
of skills (Gould et al, 2002 as cited in Dörnyei, 2009), the L2 self-images become vivid
elaborate through imagery enhancement training such as athletes strengthening the vision of
victory. Also, the ideal self has to be something plausible especially within the social
environments in which learners place themselves. Dörnyei (2009: 37) draws on expectancy
value theories of motivation which explains that “the greater the perceived likelihood of
goal-attainment, the higher the degree of the individual’s positive motivation”. Imagination and
reality should match to an extent that learners can foresee reasonable estimated futures. After
years and numerous efforts made by language teachers, various kinds of classroom activities
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that exist today are seen as keeping the ideal L2 self alive. He goes even forward proposing that
the ideal self has to be accompanied with step-by-step actions plan that are concrete and
plausible functioning as “a roadmap towards goals” (Dörnyei, 2009: 32). The program by Hock
mentioned above will be a great example for the effective procedures strategies. Finally, he
explains the importance of the dreadful self along with the ideal self. Having the feared self,
which refers to what could happen if the ideal self is not achieved, in mind is necessary to avoid
undesired results.
Based on these conditions of the ideal L2 self for being an effective motivator, Sampson
(2012), being a teacher-researcher, conducted an outstanding action research on self-based
motivation in a Japanese EFL university context, which potentially validated the efficacy of
approaches for developing the ideal L2 self on learners’ motivation. His research has done
within a course in a women’s university in Japan with the first year students majoring in
international communication over a semester. Provided into three cycles in which data was
collected, his research integrated an introductory free essay on ‘best-possible English self’
(BPES) image, a variety of kinds of activities, particularly task-based ones, for “enhancing
explicitly and implicitly the ideal-self concept” (Sampson, 2012: 321), and a student-generated
reflective skit along with a final Learning Experience Questionnaire (LEQ). Each session sets
up a rationale and meta-message that rely on Dörnyei’s (2009) work on practical implications
for developing ideal L2 self.
The first finding that came up in his research was that the students rarely had concrete
images of their future self. Despite of his effort on encouraging the participants to elaborate
their self-images in BPES at the beginning stage, a great majority of them explained their
reasons to study English in a vague way such as “I want to talk with many other country people”
or “I will work in abroad in the future”(Sampson, 2012: 324), while a very few students
provided developed answers, interestingly, using the present tenses. In terms of motivation that
was created in the sessions, the participants gave positive reflections on activities focusing on
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steps towards the ideal self (e.g., sharing learning strategies, making a timeline for the future
selves), on the ideal/ feared self (e.g., awareness-raising on the gaps between the actual self and
the ideal self, sharing the failed selves), and that had a social component (e.g., learning from
peers). The most significant findings of the research would be how the students’ L2 self-image
actually changed after a semester. In the final LEQ, the students admitted that their future self
became more vivid through in-class activities and they noticed the gap between their ideal L2
self and the actual self. In sum, the participants reflected “a more personalized and developed
vision of the future-self emerged” (Sampson, 2012: 331). Taking one quote from the students
who stated that “my studying now isn’t for any other person, it’s for my own future” (Sampson,
2012: 331), his action plans evidently worked out in this Japanese context and ultimately
empowered the students through developing the English-using ideal self in the future.
As discussed so far, developing the ideal L2 self in Japanese EFL contexts is very
potential for motivating the learners. The lack of detail and clear vision about their L2 selves
can be prevalent across English classrooms in Japan but Sampson (2012)’s study has shown
that through classroom activities for fostering their self-images, not only their vision got vivid
and elaborate, but also the meaning of English learning became more than a school subject
matter, but something to do with their idealized futures.
3. Cultivating International Posture within imagined international communities
The ideal L2 self is not the only main motivational concept for Japanese EFL learners.
On the premise that the concept of self holds some keys in motivating Japanese EFL learners
who study English for no particular reasons, Yashima (2009) explores the L2 self-images in
relation to international posture, which is defined as “interest in foreign or international affairs,
willingness to go overseas to stay or work, readiness to interact with intercultural partners, and,
one hopes, openness or a non-ethnocentric attitude toward different cultures, among others”
(Yashima, 2002: 57). This concept is fundamentally an alternative to Gardner’s integrativness,
which concerns a learner’s desire to identify with some specific L2 group. International posture,
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on the other hand, concerns a learner’s tendency to associate oneself with the international
community originally for the purpose of explaining Japanese EFL contexts in which there is no
any specific L2 group in learners’ mind; it is not necessarily that English represents English
speaking-countries.
In her earlier influential study on Japanese university students focusing on Willingness to
Communicate (WTC) in Japanese EFL contexts, she finds out that an attitude toward the
international community, that is, international posture, motivation and therefore L2 proficiency
and communication confidence (Yashima, 2002). In another previous study, she points out the
dichotomous goals of English learning in Japan that is, “immediate goals” such as passing
exams or higher academic performances, and “international-communication goals to be
personally relevant” (Yashima et al, 2004 as cited in Yashima, 2009: 146). When a learner has a
greater deal of the latter goal than the former, the person’s international posture appears to be
strong. In the same study with its participants being Japanese high school students, she firsts
argues that those who are highly concerned with international communication are more likely to
be motivated and willing to learn English (Yashima et al, 2004 as cited in Yashima). The
tendency is explained that it is because the students “visualize ‘English using selves’ clearly”
(Yashima, 2009: 147), which leads her curiosity to answer the following question: “what types
of possible selves are in operation in learners with higher international posture that function as
incentives to study and/ or communicate in English” (Yashima, 2009: 147).
Yashima (2009) points out that it is common that ideal selves of Japanese students are not
accompanied with an L2 component since English is a not necessary skill to stay domestically.
However, international posture can foster their English using possible selves that affect their L2
learning. An example of a Japanese student whose ideal self is to become a doctor is given in
the article describing her ideal self only requires English as a school subject to get higher scores
on tests to enter a prestigious medical school. If the learner can cultivate her international
posture, she can imagine herself using English in international medical conferences or
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collaborating with doctors from other countries, which in turn, motivate her to study English.
Yashima acknowledges when developing their English-using self-images, learners also imagine
the contexts in which they use English. To go back to the example of the learner, in imagining
herself as a doctor using English and developing her international posture, she envisions the
context such as international medical conferences, or hospitals in foreign countries. Her
assumptions that international posture and English-using possible selves represents an interest
in “participating in an ‘imagined international community’” (Yashima, 2009 :148).
The term imagined communities iteself, originally coined by Benedict Anderson (1991),
represent “groups of people, not immediately tangible and accessible, with whom we connect
through the power of imagination” (as cited in Kanno and Norton, 2003). In discussing the
power of English in the globalized world, McKay (2010: 96) describes imagined communities
as incentives for English learning because those communities are in which English learners can
imagine themselves and foresee benefits of “social and intellectual mobility” from learning.
This concept is potential in exploring language learning and learners’ identity and has been
drawing many researchers. According to Kanno and Norton (2003), even if imagined
communities either have not yet existed or completely nonsexist or if being removed from the
reality, the notion still affects learners’ L2 investment and learning trajectories. It is also
important to note that the process of imagination itself should not be something completely
fantasized or far from the reality but rule-governed along with action plans, which reminds us
of Dörnyei’s suggestions for developing the ideal L2 self, that is, to make it plausible, elaborate
and accompanied with action plans. One of the studies introduced in the article is by Norton
and Kamal, who conducted a global community education project in Pakistani middle school
(as cited in Kanno and Norton, 2003). The study has revealed that Pakistani children viewed
English learning as empowering and beneficial for Afghan refugees in their country through
imagining the refugees and themselves as one of the global members within future Pakistan,
which appeared as imagined international communities.
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International imagined communities in the mind of Japanese EFL learners are any kind of
communities they engage in by using English, which does not have to exist or be readily
accessible. Still being not something that is too much fantasized, through making use of the
power of imagination, imagined international communities are in which international posture
grows stronger and the ideal L2 self becomes alive. Upon the potential effectiveness of the
notion, Yashima (2009) concludes as the following:
For ideal L2 selves to develop in an EFL context, where L2 communities do not visibly
exist or are not readily accessible, we might need an educational initiative to help make
an imagined community visible or create one for learners, in which learning new words
and sentences can be linked to an imagined international community (149).
Therefore, the following sections will discuss in what ways teachers can help students in
developing theirs ideal L2 selves by visualizing an imagined international community in actual
classroom situations.
As considering embodied experiences as key factors to cultivating international posture,
Yashima et al 2008 created an imagined international community and brought it into an actual
classroom in Japanese high school. As a part of the school’s content-based instructions, the
Model United Nations, which ask the students to represent a country and discuss its political
and social issues from a perspective the country based on self-research, took place. The
participants, with a dominant majority being female students, have spent an academic year
abroad. Among other significant findings, she argues that the students are motivated to express
their ideas and thoughts “through cognitively and emotionally involving content” (Yashima,
2009: 149). In this way, the students get to experience participating an imagined international
community. Given situations as well as things to talk about, WTC of the students grow higher,
which in turn motivate English learning. She also suggests the importance of existing role
models to cultivate their ideal selves within imagined communities since their postures can be
immediate future selves (Yashima, 2009: 153). It can be Japanese teachers in classrooms, peers
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or Japanese public figure they can easily associate themselves with.
As McKay (2010: 112) points out that “given that the majority of English interactions
today are among L” speakers, EIL curricula need to include far more examples of L2-L2
English interactions”, it is important to expose Japanese EEL learners to the interactions in
imagined international community. Youseff (2009) investigated how cross-cultural awareness
positively influenced learners’ motivation in L2 learning through “Sister School Project”, which
refers to affiliations made among different schools, between Japanese and Egyptian EFL
elementary students. His study showed that Japanese students benefited largely from this L2-L2
interaction in ways that they got motivated to study English to talk about their own culture and
that their views toward Egypt changed from somewhere “bizarre” to as “insiders”. This kind of
projects are no longer new in Japanese EFL contexts and are expected to be spread more inside
the country.
Limitations/ Further research
By reviewing theoretical and empirical studies in the field of L2 motivation, the previous
sections have seen that Japanese EFL students learning English for no particular reasons can
find their motivation through envisioning their ideal L2 self and visualizing imagined
international communities. While the self-based concepts and the notion of international posture
have proved their own validations, several limitations should be addressed for the further
understanding and contributions to this field.
Firstly, a majority of studies take the participants more than average in terms of their
educational background and familiarity with English, which could affect the results (e.g. Pigott,
2011; Yashima, 2007; Sampson, 2012). The students either have studied abroad before or are
majoring in English-related subjects. For example, whether the MUN works out well in all
kinds of classroom situations is vitally questionable. The future research is expected to include
so-called underachievers in classrooms who have almost zero motivation for English learning
or no familiarity with international affairs and who are more likely to ask the recurring question
17
mentioned earlier. Similar limitations regarding its narrow target participants, two studies
(Pigott, 2011; Sampson, 2012) are conducted with only female students. Interestingly enough,
Sonda (2011) acknowledges that female students have stronger international posture than male
students. This gender difference of female being more international-oriented can be an
influential factor to the study results. Further research on this issue should be done, which in
turn, will suggest ways to cultivate male students’ international posture. The inclusive
bottom-up approaches will improve the situations in motivational wasteland even more
effectively. It is also important to take such variable as individual differences, personalities, and
locations into consideration. Thirdly, as Pigott (2011: 546) precisely suggests, a great amount of
attempts have focused only on the ideal self. The future research is expected to explain other
self-images such as ought-to self and dreadful self and also to provide a better understanding of
the relationship between those L2 selves. Finally, further research will be explore the
relationship between self and identity those of which are highly related to motivational studies.
The existence of international imagined communities in Japanese EFL contexts, and
ethnocentrism, for example will be a very interesting topic.
Conclusion
Provoked by the most frequent question “why do we have to study English?”, I have
explored potential ways to motivate Japanese EFL students learning in motivational wasteland.
The remarkable shift in the field of L2 motivation, from integrativeness to the L2 motivational
self-system, enables it to understand motivational factors in EFL contexts in which there exists
the international community rather than some specific L2 community. The concept of
international posture provides a better understanding of motivation in Japanese EFL contexts
and its importance of envisioning imagined international communities. To wrap up the present
paper, I will follow the many precedents who cited a story of two stonecutters (Weng, 1998 as
cited in Yashima, 2009: 148). When asked what they are doing, one stonecutter replies “I’m
cutting the stone in a perfect shape” while another responds, “I’m building a cathedral”. The
18
current situations of English classrooms in Japan still force the students to be busy with “cutting
stones” without knowing what it can actually lead them to. Through visualizing the vivid and
elaborate ideal L2 self within imagined international communities, however, Japanese EFL
students will realize what they are doing can build a beautiful cathedral, in other words,
studying English can connect them to the broader international world out there and enrich their
life.
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