Chapter 4. The relationship between task motivation and L2 motivation

This chapter reports a study investigating the underlying construct of task motivation and its relationship with general motivation in learning English. A task motivation questionnaire was designed based on in-depth interviews with a group of Chinese university EFL students and was then administered to a larger population sample. L2 motivation was measured by means of an instrument based on Dörnyei’s L2 Self System. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that task motivation and L2 motivation were distinct: learners’ attitudes toward the task are separate from the more generalized active/passive mindset of learning English. The results suggest the need to treat task motivation as an independent construct. The results have valuable implications for task-based research and L2 motivation research.