Review of the Literature Ada Bier Abstract In order to offer a picture of the construct of language teacher motivation, this paper is

Bier. The Motivation of Second/Foreign Language Teachers 
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EL.LE, 3, 3, 2014, pp. 505-522
ISSN 2280-6792
explore the interconnections between identity, motivation and autonomy 
within SLA (Sade, L.A. 2011; Paiva, V.L.M. de O. 2011) and as a means for 
accomodating both sociocultural and cognitive perspectives within SLA 
(Larsen-Freeman, 2002; in Zuengler, Miller 2006). Ushioda and Dörnyei 
adopted a dynamic systems perspective in order to investigate the interac-
tions between the ‘inner side’ of the learner and the surrounding context, 
affirming that «processes of motivation, cognition and emotion and their 
constituent components continuously interact with one another and the 
developing context, thereby changing and causing change, as the system 
as a whole restructures, adapts and evolves» (Ushioda, Dörnyei 2012, p. 
400). In a similar vein, we aim at investigating the interactions between 
the «hidden side» (Freeman 2002) of language teachers – cognition, affect 
and motivation – with the social context of instruction, and this means with 
their learners above of all. 
In agreement with Brophy and Good, we believe that «classrooms are 
complex social settings» (Brophy, Good, 1986 p. 370) and the type of cau-
sality which operates within them is co-adaptation. Co-adaptation is a sort 
of mutual causality according to which change in one system can cause 
change in another system connected to the previous one (Larsen-Freeman, 
Cameron 2008). This is exactly what occurs in classrooms and «from co-
adaptation of teacher and student behaviors emerges a structure at an-
other level, one that we might call the lesson» (Larsen-Freeman, Cameron, 
2008 p. 203, italics in the original). Therefore, we could well expect that 
changes in the language teacher may produce changes in the language 
learner and, to complete the syllogism, changes in the motivation of teach-
ers may lead to changes in the motivation of their students. 
Past philosophers, psychologists and pedagogues as well recognized the 
social complexity of classrooms and the fundamental role of the teacher 
in the learning process.
1
Dewey himself maintained that the classroom 
is a microcosm of the larger social world, mirroring its democratic and 
co-operative functions (Dewey 1916/1966, in Ushioda 2006, p. 159). Von 
Glasersfeld (in Williams, Burden 1997), father of radical constructivism, 
stressed the importance of the teacher’s orienting function, while social 
constructivists viewed teaching as an attempt to make students bring 
meaning to their lives, thus opposing the concept of education to that of 
mere instruction. Feuerstein posited a theory of mediation, emphasizing 
1 
In this respect, as regards motivation, Ushioda and Dörnyei affirm that «certain aspects 
of […] teacher-student relations were identified as significant in shaping students’ intrinsic 
motivation» (Ushioda, Dörnyei 2012, p. 404, emphasis added). 

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