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Despite the vast research on motivation and foreign language acquisition during the last decades, little is known about the motivational effects of concrete pedagogical activities in the classroom. The work of, among others, Z. Dörnyei shows that imagined reality can have positive effects on language learning outcomes. Foreign language learners with a vivid Ideal Language Self (i.e. the vision of the language user one wants to become) that is regularly maintained and activated will feel more motivated when learning a foreign language than learners with a less vivid view of themselves as future foreign language users.

This semi-longitudinal intervention study investigates the effects of three specific classroom activities on the pupils’ Ideal L3 Self and their Intended Effort to continue to learn French. The study was conducted in two Swedish 9th grade classes (n= 30 and n= 15 respectively) and also includes a control class (n=14). The three activities in the experiment classes were a) to compose an Ideal L3 Self stimulating text, b) to interact in an online French-speaking forum and c) to complete a webquest. In order to find out the pupils' level of Ideal L3 Self and Intended Effort before intervention began, an introductory text, a closed-ended questionnaire and a semi-structured interview was used. Data from these three instruments were triangulated to establish a baseline level for each pupil in the three classes. After completion of each classroom activity the same questionnaire, an open-ended questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were used to tap the effects of each activity on the pupils' Ideal L3 Selves and Intended Effort.

The results confirm that pupils’ Ideal L3 Self is stimulated when, on the one hand, activities reinforce positive images of the pupils’ view of themselves as future users of French and, on the other hand, when an on-line activity makes the students experience the target cultural context almost as in real life. The results also revealed the importance of including such activities as early as possible in the curriculum. For some of the learners, it was already too late in 9th grade. The findings also include a strong correlation between the learners’ Ideal French Self and their Intended Effort in French, which is another convincing argument as to why teachers should include Ideal Self-stimulating activities in their foreign language classrooms.