On the Workings of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation : A study on its cause and effects on the experience of learning a second language

Abstract: Abstract The purpose of this study was to focus on the cause and effect of what has been referred to as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation when it comes to second language learning through literature, where the novel To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee served as an example. The study started off by presenting a definition of the so called intrinsic and extrinsic motivation respectively, as well as the three perspectives psychodynamic, cognitive and socio-cultural by which it was discussed, in order to cement the framework of it and problematize its boundaries accordingly. It later focused on where and how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation respectively came into play, and what possible outcome the two different types might result in when discussing language learning. The applied method was to do a qualitative hermeneutic study by presenting earlier research and having it as a basis when hypothesizing in order to solve the research questions. This study was limited to discussing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation respectively in order to ascertain how both phenomena manifest themselves and ultimately how they affect learning, and by presenting numerous examples in the analysis it was concluded that: a) extrinsic and intrinsic motivation tend to inescapably intertwine during the process of learning and thereby end up being in need of each other, and b) that the order to how one musters extrinsic motivation, when undertaking in the educational enterprise of reading a novel, was opposite from that of the intrinsic motivation as extrinsic motivation is based on an external source of reward and therefore merely in need of an external source rather than an intrinsic curiosity. Keywords Intrinsic motivation, Extrinsic motivation, Cognitive perspective, Psychodynamic perspective, Sociocultural perspective, Zone of proximal development, Efferent reading, Aesthetic reading.