the interview data could hardly be detected. It might be explained by the learners’ lack of well-developed ideal Ukrainian self on the one hand, and teachers’ lack of awareness of proper reasons and motives serving the emergence of the ideal self, on the other hand.
Both the findings of the questionnaire and the interview study refer to the importance of career-related goals in the language motivation constructs. These goals, in turn, undeniably form part of the ideal self. But, a clear description regarding the details of learners’ ideal self were missing from the interviews. It can be due to a lack of consciousness of the role Ukrainian language knowledge plays in the future of an ethnic minority learner in Transcarpathia.
Findings of the questionnaire studies also pointed out that learners’ vision of their ideal self is fuelled by their ought-to self, which is not surprising considering the compulsory Ukrainian entrance exams that serve as keys to further education opportunities. It becomes obvious then that parents expect their children to pass those exams, whereas learners try to do their best to avoid failing the entrance exam and at the same time missing the opportunity for further studies. Another important predictor of learners’ ideal Ukrainian self is parental encouragement, the importance of which has just been confirmed. A third element of the construct concerns the local relevance, i.e. the perceived importance of Ukrainian in the region.
The more the language is perceived to be inevitably important, the more efforts parents expand to make the language available for their kids (cf. opting for Ukrainian schools instead of Hungarian ones) and the more learners integrate this necessity into their ideal self construct.
Other elements of the construct include direct contact with speakers of Ukrainian and experiences obtained at the language classes, i.e. in the primary language learning environment.
Consistently throughout the three questionnaire studies, the ideal self together with the ought-to self seemed to significantly correlate with parental support, which might be interpreted as the influential role that parents have in shaping their kids’ ideal Ukrainian and ought-to Ukrainian self. Thus, parents do not only encourage Ukrainian language studies with
reference to prospective job opportunities, but also name more pragmatic values that knowledge of the state language comprises. That is, parents can also communicate the need for Ukrainian knowledge by foreshadowing the possibilities of obtaining a driving licence, of making oneself understood in various governmental offices, in hospitals, and at other official state-governed institutions.
Another consistent and significant relation the ideal self had together with language learning attitudes is the one with learning experience. This finding might suggest that interview respondents are not far from being true when saying that enhancing learners’ future vision and giving perspectives mainly belong to the duties of the teachers, because the experience that learners obtain at the language classes significantly affect their ideal self visions and their attitude towards learning the language.
It was the ideal self that stood out among the variables predicting English language motivation as well. However, similarly to the Ukrainian findings, interview respondents could not denote the characteristic features of Hungarian learners’ ideal English self. Rather, the interview data suggested that the participants were not aware of the importance of English knowledge and of the benefits it can provide to learners of the language.
The ideal English self construct completely overlapped the construct of ideal Ukrainian self, except for the presence of learning experience in the ideal Ukrainian self. This finding might point to a tentative suggestion, namely that there are core elements in the ideal self construct regardless of the language under scrutiny. They are as follows: the ought-to self, parental encouragement, language learning attitudes, direct contact with speakers of the language and perceived relevance of the given language. Interestingly enough, these elements were only mentioned by the respondents using clichés instead of English-specific reasons and statements.
Alongside with the ideal self, the ought-to self also has been a significant predictor of motivation to study English in the conducted questionnaire studies. It is an unexpected finding, as the English exam is just an elective exam, and degrees are not linked with foreign language exam requirements in Ukraine. One reason for the inclusion of the ought-to self in the motivation construct might be the pragmatic benefits that knowing English offers. Respondents of the interview study named several of these benefits, e.g.: understanding lyrics, playing computer games, using chat services and other internet facilities.
There are also scales included in the English language motivation construct that were included only in the regression analyses of the data of Study #3. They are as follows: language learning attitudes, written language use and friends. Surprisingly, learning experience was not included, therefore the hypothesis that English is mostly used at the language classes and is not used outside the instructional environment does not stand to thorough examination any more.
Learners together with friends make use of the services provided by English language programs, and the world wide web. This suggestion also explains the inclusion of the domain of written language use and might also caution that learners’ attitude to language learning is actively shaped in and out of instructional settings.