Zoltán Dörnyei () (11 March 1960 – 10 June 2022) was a Hungarian linguist. He was a professor of psycholinguistics at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.Kormos, J. (2013). Dörnyei, Zoltán. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), The encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (on-line). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. He was known for his work on second language acquisition and the psychology of the language learner, in particular on motivation in second language learning, having published numerous books and papers on these topics.Dörnyei, Z. (2016). From English language teaching to psycholinguistics: A story of three decades. In R. Ellis (Ed.), Becoming and being an applied linguist: The life histories of some applied linguists (pp. 119-135). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Career Education Dörnyei obtained a combined Master of Arts degree in English language and literature and in art history in 1985 at the School of English and American Studies of the Faculty of Humanities of the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. His dissertation was entitled Art dealing in Hungary before 1945.
In 1989 he received a PhD degree in Psycholinguistics at the Eötvös Loránd University and his thesis was titled Psycholinguistic factors in foreign language learning.
In 2003 he earned a D.Sc. in Linguistics at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Between 2008 and 2010 he conducted part-time undergraduate studies in Theology at St John's College, Nottingham.
In 2011 he obtained an MA degree in Theology and Religious Studies at the Department of Theology of the University of Nottingham. The title of his dissertation was Transfiguration, beauty and biblical interpretation. In 2017 he received a Ph.D. degree in Theology at the Department of Theology and Religion of Durham University. The title of his thesis was Progressive creation and the struggles of humankind in the Bible: An experiment in canonical narrative interpretation.
Teaching He began his career at the School of English and American Studies of the Faculty of Humanities of the Eötvös Loránd University in 1988. In 1998, he moved to the United Kingdom and after two years at Thames Valley University, London, he took up a position at the School of English, University of Nottingham, where he was Professor of Psycholinguistics.
Research
Process-Oriented Model of Motivation Dörnyei's theory of motivation is the idea that motivation is developed in a unique and dynamic way that is necessary to gain success in areas where prolonged learning is required. The process-oriented model of motivation seeks to explain Dörnyei's theory through student motivation by focusing on (a) motivational maintenance and volition, and (b) motivational evolution and fluctuation. This model shifts the emphasis from the historic assumptions of pre-actional ‘choice motivation’ to volitional/executive aspects of goal attainment during the actional phrase. This model is rooted in the assumption that people unconsciously monitor their motivation and make adjustments or choices to increase or decrease motivation based on the outcome of their current goals. The first dimension of the behavioural process indicates a motivational influence (wishes, hopes, and desires). These influences indicate a starting point for the motivational process and are directly linked to the preactional phase. The preactional phase is a very high paced process, where an individual cycles through wishes, hopes, and desires to get to a point of action. The second dimension of the behavioural process indicates that the initial motivational influences have progressed into goal, which ultimately lead to intention and action. The actional phase is where the energy to have continued motivation comes from that will support the behavioural process. The final dimension found in the figure of motivational influences is the post actional phase. Within this phase the goal is evaluated and assessed and further steps will be made to adjust behaviours to achieve goals or the goal will be abandoned.
The Principled Communicative Approach
The principled communicative approach bridges the gap between previous language teaching methods like communicative language teaching and recent research. Using current research, PCA attempts to extend the communicative approach by focusing on the explicit development of other knowledge areas and skills necessary for efficient communication instead of focusing solely on the systematic components of languages that language teachers traditionally focused on. The PCA focuses on three main areas including focus on form and form-focused instruction, fluency and automatization and formulaic language. Each aspect is to ensure meaningful communication with relevant and useful input of both linguistic rules and lexical terms.
Seven Key points for PCA:
1. The Personal significance principle: The material needs to focus on meaning and it must be classified as significant to the language learner. An example of this would be having language students fill out a check for an item they would like to buy.
2. The Controlled Practice Principle: Practice activities should be controlled and promote automatization of skills found in the target language. Language learners should be given the framework to practice forms and skills of the target language.
3. Formulaic Language Principle: Selected phrases and practices that are significant to the target language should be intensively practiced and recycled. Language learners should have a significant amount of opportunities to use specific important phrases of target language.
4. Language Exposure Principle: Learners should have access to a large amount of target language input to feed the learners implicit learning mechanisms. Language learners should be exposed to many different inputs that cover the four main categories (reading, writing, speaking, and listening).
5. The Focused Interaction Principle: Language learners should interact with target language in a genuine context. Full exposure to language is required for mastery of language. Students in a language classroom tend to have very structured classes which often do not allow for the development of spontaneous speech. Natural interaction is required to ensure mastery.
Group Dynamics Dörnyei studied the impact of group dynamics on second language learning. He found that group psychology can shape a learner's behavior as well as their motivation to learn. The way that learners feel when they are in a classroom group can influence the effort they put into learning.
Group cohesiveness, group norms and group roles play a central role in creating motivated learning communities.
Group Cohesiveness and Interpersonal Relationships A group's cohesiveness is determined by the quality of the relationships between group members combined with an accepting classroom community. Other contributing factors to group cohesiveness include a group's common purpose and group pride. Cohesive groups interact and share personal information, participating actively in conversations essential for second language acquisition. They perform better and are more productive than non-cohesive groups. Dörnyei suggests many ways teachers can create group cohesiveness in a second language learning classroom including, but not limited to:
1. Learning about each other - The more personal information students share, the more acceptance will exist between classmates.
2. Proximity, contact and interaction - When designing their classrooms and learning tasks, teachers should consider students' physical closeness in their seating plans. The way desks are arranged and how a classroom is personalized has an impact on students' ownership and engagement with the learning environment. Students who are seated in groups are more likely to talk and form personal relationships. Group cohesiveness is improved by providing time to interact during in-class group work as well as including opportunities for students to collaborate on independent group projects.
3. Rewarding and enjoyable group activities - Rewards can be the joy of performing certain activities, success in achieving goals, or more tangible rewards, such as grades or prizes.
4. Extracurricular activities - Experiences shared outside of the classroom allow students to see each other as real people, not just classmates. These positive feelings, memories and shared experiences are brought back to the classroom, building group cohesiveness.
5. Group competitions - Games played with different teams encourage friendly competition within a classroom which can boost group cohesiveness as students unite to win.
6. Sharing a common goal - When a class collaborates to achieve a common goal, group cohesiveness is strengthened.
7. Teacher role modelling - If a teacher is positive, encouraging, friendly and accepting, students are more likely to demonstrate the same behaviors.
Group Norms and Group Roles Rules and routines help groups function smoothly and effectively. When rules are agreed upon and shared by a group these behaviors are known as group norms. When certain people carry out specific tasks or functions these are known as group roles.
Group Norms Group norms can be applied explicitly by the teacher or school, or can develop implicitly as an unspoken, agreed upon code of conduct. Studies have shown that positive group norms can have a significant impact on a student's motivation and academic achievement. Unstated negative group norms, such as the acceptance and promotion of mediocrity, can adversely impact a group's success. Students in this situation suffer socially if their goal is to succeed academically. Positive group norms, such as tolerance and acceptance of errors as part of learning, enhance student morale and strengthen group cohesiveness. Students perform well to uphold their responsibility to the group, and support their classmates to achieve academic excellence. If group norms are agreed upon and internalized, the group itself will often assume responsibility for dealing with wayward members who violate the norms.
Group Roles
Roles are shared expectations of a person's purpose in a group. If constructive roles are assigned that complement each student's strengths and interests, the group will function more effectively. Individuals will benefit in terms of confidence and self-image. If roles are assigned that do not complement group members, group cohesion may suffer and lead to conflict. Student roles may emerge naturally, be assigned by the teacher, or be encouraged and reinforced based on classroom observation of student behavior.
Teachers' Leadership Styles and Group Dynamics Language teachers are group leaders. A group's character and dedication to common goals will often follow that of the teacher's. Positive group dynamics can strengthen the stamina needed to learn a second language. Although there are many leadership styles, studies have found that a democratic style of leadership promotes group cohesion, friendly communication and positive interpersonal relationships. A democratic leadership style involves sharing leadership roles with students by involving them in some of the decision-making processes about how the group will function. A democratic approach to the teacher/leader style leads to more of a facilitator role in educational settings. The teacher provides the right conditions for the group to cooperate and develop cohesiveness. The degree of guidance a teacher provides will change depending on a group's level of maturity and their development towards self-direction in their learning.
The teachers' role in motivation