This study reports on a synthesis of studies on foreign language motivation among Japanese learners of English using the socio-educational model (Gardner, 1985(Gardner, , 2001)).Some researchers have suggested that the socio-educational model is not applicable in contexts where English is a foreign language, including Japan.This is because English is a primary international language and may have no specific target language community in learners' minds, which poses challenges for Gardner's idea of integrativeness.The present study is a research synthesis that attempts to investigate the ways in which this model has been utilized and the applicability of the model in Japan.Thirty-four unique studies in Japanese as well as non-Japanese journals and books were synthesized.The results suggested that the majority of studies investigated participants' reasons for learning English, and in some cases when factor analysis was performed one factor was made up of both integrative and instrumental orientations, precluding a distinction.On the other hand the relationships between orientations, motivation and foreign language achievement were not thoroughly investigated and varied to a great extent.The paper discusses these varying results and what we can learn from the model.
Kojima Takahashi Chika (Tue,) studied this question.