The comparative analysis of motivation, attitudes and selves: The case of English and German in Hungary

The research reported in this paper investigates how the motivational and attitudinal dispositions of students who learnt both English and German simultaneously at the time of data collection differ for the two foreign languages. The study is based on data gathered with the help of a standardised questionnaire from 237 16/17-year-old learners of English and German. Based on Dörnyei’s (2005) L2 Motivational System, it can be concluded that students’ Ideal L2 self proved to be the most significant component of predicting motivated learning behaviour for both English and German as a first or second foreign language. However, only English as a first foreign language (as opposed to as a second foreign language) was appraised with solely positive attitudes and dispositions by the students. For German (either first or second foreign language) and English as a second foreign language, the negative effects of the motivational dimensions related to the other foreign language cannot be neglected. In order to explain the complex results, they will be discussed within the framework of the Dynamic Systems Theory (DST; Dörnyei, 2009).