The Role of Learning Experience in L2 Motivational Variability

[김태영]

Kim, Youngmi, Oh, Shinyu, & Kim, Tae-Young. (2025). The role of learning experience in L2 learning motivational variability: A comparative study of high and low motivational groups. English Teaching, 80(1), 23-44.

This study explores the factors affecting the variability in second language (L2) learning motivation among Korean university students and how they appraise their L2 learning experience. In this study, 85 undergraduate students majoring in English or English education from three universities in Seoul, South Korea, reflected on their past English learning experience. They drew a motigraph and wrote a retrospective reflection essay covering their English learning spanned over ten years. The researchers divided the participants into two groups: high variability (HV) and low variability (LV). The data were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. The findings suggest that contextual factors such as the learning method, atmosphere, and situation are the HV group’s main (de)motivational factors. In contrast, the LV group is (de)motivated by

intrapersonal factors, including the learning context appraisal. The results imply that visualizing long and short-term goals and positive appraisal of the L2 learning experience can help L2 learners maintain a stable pattern in L2 learning motivation.

Key words: L2 learning motivation, positive appraisal, motigraph, retrospective

reflection essay, L2 learning experience

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