The L2 Motivational Self System and L2 Achievement: A Study of DNTU's Students

The study detailed in this article investigates the connection between the L2 competency level of Vietnamese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and Dörnyei's (2005, 2009) Second Language Motivational Self System (L2MSS). Descriptive and inferential analyses of the collected data revealed expected—that the components of the L2MSS were a good predictor of the learners’ intended learning efforts. However, the study also established that in this learner population, these components were not consistently correlated with L2 achievement. The findings can be treated as evidence that self-reported motivation does not always have behavioral consequences.