Language Learning ISSN 0023-8333 Age-Related Differences in the Motivation of Learning English as a Foreign Language: Attitudes, Selves, and Motivated Learning Behavior Judit Kormos Lancaster University Kata Csiz ´ er E¨ otv ¨ os Lor ´ and University Our study describes the motivation for learning English as a foreign language in three distinct learner populations: secondary school pupils, university students, and adult language learners. Questionnaire data were collected from 623 Hungarian students. The main factors affecting students’ second language (L2) motivation were language learning attitudes and the Ideal L2 self, which provides empirical support for the main construct of the theory of the L2 Motivational Self-System (D¨ ornyei, 2005). Models of motivated behavior varied across the three investigated learner groups. For the secondary school pupils, it was interest in English-language cultural products that affected their motivated behavior, whereas international posture as an important predictive variable was only present in the two older age groups. Keywords L2 motivational self system; L2 motivation; motivated learning; language attitudes; age; selves The research presented in this article was completed as part of the T047111 project of the Hun- garian Academy of Sciences Research Funds (OTKA). We thank Stephen Ryan for making the questionnaire available to us and Zolt´ an D¨ ornyei for his comments on an earlier version of this article. We are grateful to ´ Eva Barta, Kl´ ara Bereczky, Judit Borb´ ely, Mariann Dolgos, Myrtil F´ oris, Szilvia Hegyi, D´ enes Neumayer, Ildik´ oK´ aldosn´ e Szendr ˝ oi, J ´ ulia L´ ang, M ´ onika S´ api, Judit S´ arv´ ari, M´ onika Victor, and Katalin Z¨ oldi as well as to the Babilon and Tudom´ any Language School for helping us administer the questionnaires. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kata Csiz´ er, Department of English Applied Linguistics, E ¨ otv¨ os Lor´ and University, 5 R´ ak´ oczi ´ ut, Budapest, Hungary. Internet: weinkata@yahoo.com Language Learning 58:2, June 2008, pp. 327–355 327 C  2008 Language Learning Research Club, University of Michigan