Culture, Autonomy and the Self in Language Learning

In recent years much second language acquisition (SLA) research on motivation has centred on the learning and use of English around the world. This focus has heightened researchers’ and teachers’ awareness of important language issues concerning globalisation, colonisation and immigration, and has contributed to the development of new conceptual frameworks in which the self and identity figure prominently (e.g. Block, 2007; Dörnyei, 2005; Norton, 2000). Although this research has been carried out internationally, there has been little discussion and less empirical examination of the role of culture in motivational processes. This lacuna is important to address, since many motivational models that are widely used were developed in Western countries, and their applicability across cultures is not certain.