Dear Center for Language Science and Bilingualism Matters friends and colleagues,
We are happy to present the latest issue of our Center for Language Science/Bilingualism Matters at Penn State newsletter, which focuses on the topic of “learner motivation.” You may wonder about the timeliness of this topic, since as we make our way into the summer 2023 season many of us are more inclined to be looking for ways to relax and unwind. The summer season is also a time to reflect, and as you will see in our featured research summary, the information we share in this newsletter can be seen as an invitation to reflect on the role of motivation in your own learning process. In addition to the research summary, we share interviews with CLS members who reflect on the role of motivation in their language learning and their language teaching. And you may enjoy tackling our language learning motivation logic problem as a fun way of thinking about how motivation for language learning plays out in different people’s lives. Coming off of an active and productive year, which involved the return to many in person events such as our Language and Linguistics Day for High Schoolers, we look forward to winding down with you and reflecting on the topic of motivation. And who knows, maybe this information will inspire you to tackle some new learning projects during the summer or energize you for the start of some new learning in the fall semester. Whatever the case, we welcome your feedback, and we wish you an enjoyable, relaxing, productive summer and fall 2023 season with lots of learning and enrichment!
Sincerely,
Frances Blanchette, Paul DiStefano, Clin Lai, Allison Link, Catherine Pham, and Megan Wadas (editor-in-chief)