Directed Motivational Currents in L2: Exploring the Effects on Self and Communication. Nourollah Zarrinabadi, Saeed Ketabi, and Mansoor Tavakoli (eds.) (2019). Cham (Switzerland): Springer. ISBN: 2193-7648 . pp. xvii-118

Abstract

Over half of a century, second language (L2) motivation theory has been heatedly discussed and continuously developed by L2 teachers, language practitioners, applied linguists and psycholinguists who attempted to examine the effects of motivational variables on L2 learners’ learning outcomes. Recently, the state-of-the-art development of L2 motivation theory is the idea of Directed Motivational Currents (DMC), which refers to “a prolonged period of engagement in a series of tasks which are pleasant mainly because they transport the person towards a highly valued goal” (p.3). As a speculative empirical endeavor in this regard, this book aimed to examine the existence of DMC to gain a better understanding of how a DMC was triggered and launched, importantly, this book also discussed the impact of DMC on L2 learners’ individual differences, e.g., self-concept, self-confidence, autonomy and willingness-to-communicate (WTC).