“Motivation affects all of us, all the time, both as individuals and as group members, and therefore it is complicated.”
Dörnyei 2019, 61
Motivation is a phenomenon each and every one of us is confronted with on a daily basis. For more than three decades research has had its focus on motivation in the field of (foreign) language teaching and learning, especially in applied linguistics, social psychology and (foreign) language education. In this context, L2 motivation research has produced a large array of different models and theories regarding different motives for learning (foreign) languages and questions on how to generate and maintain motivation in the learning process (Dörnyei & Ryan 2015; Lamb et al. 2019; Legutke 2017; Riemer & Wild 2016, Ushioda 2013).
In spite of the recent profound engagement with the theme of motivation in the field of (foreign) language education, this research area has now become even more relevant: the Covid-19-pandemic has led to new learning settings such as online and distance learning or home schooling. These new settings again raise questions about fostering and maintaining the motivation of language learners and teachers. These questions need to be brought to the centre of public and academic attention.
For this reason, the first issue of the newly founded open access journal DiSlaw (Didaktik der Slawischen Sprachen) is dedicated to the topic of motivation with the aim of stimulating discourse on motivation from the perspective of teaching and learning Slavic languages. The first issue of DiSlaw will not only focus on motivational aspects of online learning, but also deal with general questions regarding motivation in the (foreign) language classroom, as well as the motivational design of teaching and learning processes.
As a theoretically well-founded and practice-oriented journal, DiSlaw is looking for both academic contributions as well as techniques that bolster motivation for both teachers and students learning (slavic) languages.
The following topics may serve as orientation, but do not exclude other aspects on motivation in (foreign) language research:
- Motivation & communication
- Motivation & (digital) media
- Motivation & emotion
- Motivation & demotivation
- Motivation & language of origin
- Motivating teaching/learning methods (e.g. task-based/scenario-based language education) or environments
- Motivation & feedback / performance assessment
- Motivation & regional aspects, institutional frameworks, needs analysis
Please send the title (working title) and an abstract of approximately 250 words to the following address by 28 April 2021 at the latest: redaktion-DiSlaw-Slawistik (at) uibk.ac.at. Abstracts must be written in one of the languages listed below.
Please indicate in which of these languages you will write your contribution and include a short biographical statement about yourself in the abstract (institutional affiliation, function/area of work, research interests).
Each contribution and a second abstract in English must be submitted by 31 July 2021 at the very latest, as the first issue of DiSlaw will be published this year. Further information on the length of the contribution as well as the style sheet will be made available in June 2021 at the following address: http://slawistik.uibk.ac.at/dislawhttp://slawistik.uibk.ac.at/dislaw.
Possible languages for your contribution: Bosnian, Croatian, English, German, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian
References
Dörnyei, Zoltán (2019): “From Integrative Motivation to Directed Motivational Currents: The Evolution of the Understanding of L2 Motivation over Three Decades”. In: Lamb, Martin; Csizér, Kata; Henry, Alastair; Ryan, Stephen (eds.): The Palgrave Handbook of Motivation for Language Learning. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 39–70.
Dörnyei, Zoltán; Ryan, Stephen (2015): The Psychology of the Language Learner Revisited. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis (Second Language Acquisition Research Series).
Lamb, Martin; Csizér, Kata; Henry, Alastair; Ryan, Stephen (eds.) (2019): The Palgrave Handbook of Motivation for Language Learning. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Legutke, Michael (2017): “Motivation.” In: Surkamp, Carola (ed.): Metzler Lexikon Fremdsprachendidaktik. Ansätze – Methoden – Grundbegriffe. 2., aktualisierte und erweiterte Auflage. Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler Verlag, 254–256.
Riemer, Claudia; Wild, Kathrin (2016): “Zur Einführung in den Themenschwerpunkt.” In: Gnutzmann, Claus, Küster, Lutz und Königs, Frank G. (eds.): Fremdsprachen Lehren und Lernen. Themenschwerpunkt: L2-Motivation – internationale und sprachspezfische Perspektiven. Koordiniert von Claudia Riemer und Kathrin Wild. Tübingen: Narr Francke Attempto (2), 3–11.
Ushioda, Ema (2013) (ed.): International Perspectives on Motivation. Language Learning and Professional Challenges. Hampshire [u.a.]: Palgrave Macmillan.