Like it or not, the majority of schooling involves the study of subjects chosen not by students themselves, but dictated by what a particular society deems to be necessary. In classrooms in which learners are studying such required subject areas, the selection of content and tasks presented may be far removed from activities on which students actually wish to spend their time. Although some argue that children are naturally imbued with a curiosity and motivation to learn about the world around them (e.g. Kohn, 1993), students can experience increasing discord as they move upwards through the grades of schooling, as required study loses its self-apparent relevance to the day-to-day world they see around them. Yet, as the content is required, learners somehow need to gain the motivation to engage with it and develop their knowledge or skills in line with society's expectations.

As introduced in Chapter 1, in Dörnyei's (2001: 7) well-known definition, motivation relates to the direction and magnitude of human behaviour, that is, why, how long, and how hard people try to do something. Dörnyei (2009b: 209) adds that 'motivation refers to a cumulative arousal, or want, that we are aware of'. In general, this book will apply the definition of motivation as a 'want' towards action. Borrowing from Brophy's (1998) concept of 'motivation to learn', motivation in the classroom therefore entails the volition to act and develop one's capacities through the content and activities presented. My understanding of classroom motivation also draws on that of Ushioda (2001: 96), who argues that 'as a qualitative variable ... motivation may be defined not in terms of observable and measurable activity, but rather in terms of what patterns of thinking and belief underlie such activity and shape students' engagement in the learning process'. Chapter 3 will expand on the specific framework of motivation utilised in the empirical study reported later. The current chapter focuses on some of the pivotal literature from Japan that influenced the selection of this motivational framework and the trajectory of my study.