Motivation and Self-concept in the Process of Acquisition of German as a foreign language

Das Lernen von Fremdsprachen stellt einen komplizierten und langfristigen Prozess dar, der von zahlreichen (internen und externen) Faktoren, die in Wechselwirkung zueinander stehen und den Lernprozess individualisieren, beeinflusst wird. In diesem Zusammenhang befindet sich das Konstrukt Motivation schon mehrere Jahrzehnte im Fokus der angewandten Psycholinguistik. Motivation liefert einerseits den Anreiz zum Sprachenlernen, andererseits ist sie verantwortlich für das Durchhalten innerhalb eines kontinuierlich andauernden, mühsamen Fremdsprachenlernprozesses. Die Aktualität dieser Frage wird dadurch bestätigt, dass mehreren Studien zufolge der Motivationsverlust der Lernenden zu den Alltagsproblemen unseres Schulsystems gehört.The purpose of the article is to discuss the selected group of determinants of foreign language acquisition, specifically, learners' motivation to learn German language, as well as their self-concept and its influence on the process of language acquisition. In the article, the concept of motivation is discussed as a dynamic mental power related also to the other cognitive and emotional factors in the process of foreign language acquisition. Self-concept is defined as a specific type of congruence between the reality of experience and the attitude to such reality. The purpose of the research was to find out dependence between learners' motivational structure and such content categories that learners associated with the word "German". The questionnaire consisting of both, qualitative and quantitative items was used in the research. The results confirmed close dependence between motivation, emotions, and cognition in the process of foreign language acquisition. Furthermore, the results also suggest focusing on major support of strengthening positive learners' self-concept emphasizing intentionality, setting personal goals, and retention of negative emotions in the process of language acquisition