Dynamic motivation of international students in a Hungarian language classroom: longitudinal case studies

Most studies in SLA have viewed motivation as a static concept and approached it with traditional research designs (Chambers, 1999; Dörnyei, Csizér, & Németh, 2006; Gardner et al., 2004). However, the social world around us is dynamic and the introduction of CDST into SLA research has brought new ways of looking at language learning development. Many studies in motivation dynamics tracked the development of learning groups over multiple lessons, among which Pawlak (2012) and Poupore (2013) emphasized short-term motivational dynamics. These studies suggest that motivation can fluctuate on different time scales, ranging from minutes to hours, days, months, and years. This study tracks the motivational dynamics of 4 international students during their Hungarian as a foreign language class for 3 sessions using the Motometer (Waninge et al., 2014), which tracks their motivation levels every 5 minutes. The quantitative longitudinal method was combined with classroom observations and students’ comments. The findings are in line with CDST principles of change and support the claims that in-class motivation cannot be viewed as a stable trait, given the variation detected on individual learners regardless of the overall high or low motivational level. Motivation changes over time on an individual level depend on context and other subsystems