Kata Csizér (17. November 1971) is a Hungarian
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
. She is currently a professor at the
School of English and American Studies of the
Faculty of Humanities of the
Eötvös Loránd University
Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...
, Hungary. Her research focuses on
applied linguistics
Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, Communication stu ...
with a special focus on
motivation in second-language learning The desire to learn is often related to the concept of motivation. Motivation is the most-used concept for explaining the failure or success of a language learner. Second language (L2) refers to a language an individual learns that is not his/her mo ...
and teaching students with special needs.
Csizér is considered an authority along with
Zoltán Dörnyei because of her work on
motivation in second-language learning The desire to learn is often related to the concept of motivation. Motivation is the most-used concept for explaining the failure or success of a language learner. Second language (L2) refers to a language an individual learns that is not his/her mo ...
. She is the author along with
Zoltán Dörnyei and Nóra Németh, of three seminal articles (reaching more than 1,000 citations in the field of second language learning) on motivation in second language learning. Apart from motivation in second language learning, she is also noted for her work on the inclusion of deaf learners into the foreign language classroom.
Career
In 2000, one of her first publications was on history in which she investigated the change of the regime on the three
Visegrád Group
The Visegrád Group (also known as the Visegrád Four or the V4) is a cultural and political alliance of four Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The alliance aims to advance co-operation in military, e ...
countries namely,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
,
Slovakia
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
, and
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
.
In 2009 her work on motivation in second language learning was published on the website of the Institute of Research on Education (in Hungarian: Oktatáskutató és Fejlesztő Intézet).
Csizér obtained her
PhD degree
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
at the Eötvös Loránd University in 2004 and has been employed at the Department of English Applied Linguistics of the School of English and American Studies at the Eötvös Loránd University in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
since.
In 2012 she obtained a Habilitation degree at the Eötvös Loránd University.
Since 2011, she has been an active member of the
(IATEFL) Hungary, presenting at the organisation's conferences annually.
On 29 August 2014, she was a plenary speaker along with
Diane Larsen-Freeman
Diane Larsen-Freeman (born 1946) is an American linguist. She is currently a Professor Emerita in Education and in Linguistics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. An applied linguist, known for her work in second language acqu ...
,
Marjolijn Verspoor
Marjolijn Verspoor (born 1952) is a Dutch linguist. She is a professor of English language and English as a second language at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. She is known for her work on Complex Dynamic Systems Theory and the applicat ...
,
Kees de Bot
Cornelis Kees de Bot (born 1951) is a Dutch linguist. He is currently the chair of applied linguistics at the University of Groningen, Netherlands, and at the University of Pannonia. He is known for his work on second language development and t ...
,
Judit Kormos
Judit Kormos () (born 1970) is a Hungarian linguist. She is a professor and the Director of Studies for the MA TESOL Distance programme at the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University, United Kingdom. She is renown ...
and
Rosa Manchón
Rosa María Manchón Ruiz (born 1957) is a Spanish linguist. She is currently a professor of applied linguistics at the University of Murcia, Spain. Her research focuses on second language acquisition and second language writing. She was the edit ...
at the International Conference on Motivational Dynamics and Second Language Acquisition, organized by
Zoltán Dörnyei at the
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948.
Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...
.
Csizér has been the associate editor of the
Journal of Second Language Writing
The ''Journal of Second Language Writing'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the fields of linguistics and language education. Its scope encompasses all aspects of second and foreign language writing, including writing instruction and assessme ...
.
In 2018, she was invited keynote speaker at Faculty of Arty and Social Sciences of the
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...
along with Phil Benson, Kimberly Noels and Xiaohong Wen.
On 28 May 2019, she was a guest lecturer at the
University of Graz
The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...
, invited by Sarah Mercer.
In 2019, she was a keynote speaker at the
British Association for Applied Linguistics
The British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) is a learned society, based in the UK, which provides a forum for people interested in language and applied linguistics.
BAAL organises regular meetings of its members at various venues in ...
Special Interest Group conference at the
University of Bath
The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...
,
Bath, Somerset
Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. She presented on the English language teachers’ motivation in Hungary: The results of a mixed-methods study.
On 4 June 2019, she was a plenary speaker at the DTU CALIDIE Lectures in Multilingualism and Learning at the
University of Luxembourg
The University of Luxembourg (French language, French: ''Université du Luxembourg''; German language, German: ''Universität Luxemburg''; Luxembourgish language, Luxembourgish: ''Universitéit Lëtzebuerg'') is a Public university, public researc ...
.
In 2021, she was an invited speaker at the METU ELT Convention at the
Middle East Technical University
Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...
in
Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
,
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
.
In 2021, she was a plenary speaker, along with
Tammy Gregersen, Phil Hiver, and
Sue Roffey
Sue (Suzanna) Roffey is a teacher, educational psychologist, academic and author. She is Honorary Associate Professor at University College London and an Affiliate of the Institute of Wellbeing in Cambridge, UK. She is a Fellow of the British Psy ...
at the Language Teacher Psychology conference at the
University of Graz
The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...
,
Graz
Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
.
Research
Motivation
Csizér wrote three articles which are considered seminal articles (more than 1000 citations in the field of second language learning) on
motivation in second language learning. One of them is, co-authored with
Zoltán Dörnyei, entitled ''Ten commandments for motivating language learners: results of an empirical study'', published in
Language Teaching Research
''Language Teaching Research'' is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes research within the area of second or foreign language teaching. Although articles are written in English, the journal welcomes studies dealing with the teaching of languages ...
in 1998. In this study, the authors conducted a survey to obtain classroom data on motivational strategies. 200 Hungarian teachers of English completed the questionnaire on how important they consider a selection of 51 strategies and how often they use them in their classes. Based on the survey, the authors compiled a brief set of ten motivational macrostrategies, which they called 'Ten commandments for motivating language learners'.
The second most cited work by Csizér is entitled ''The Internal Structure of Language Learning Motivation and Its Relationship with Language Choice and Learning Effort'', published in
The Modern Language Journal
''The Modern Language Journal'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations. It covers research and discussion about the learning and teaching of for ...
. The co-author of this article, published in 2005, is Zoltán Dörnyei. The authors argued that language learning motivation is a complex construct. They evaluated a proposed theoretical model concerning the internal structure of the second language motivation complex and its effects on motivated behaviour by using structural equation modelling. The main results of their study was that integrativeness might be the single most important factor, subsuming the effects of all the other responses to questions asked.
Csizér's third most cited work is entitled ''Motivation, language attitudes and globalisation'', published by Multilingual Matters in 2006. The co-authors of this book was Zoltán Dörnyei and Nóra Németh. In this volume the results of the largest ever
language attitude and motivation study was presented, involving over 13,000 adolescent language learners in Hungary. The participants were surveyed in 1993, 1999 and 2004. The authors claimed that the results are not confined to the European context but have much wider implications regarding attitude change, motivational dynamics and language globalisation.
In an article published in The Modern Language Journal, Csizér argued along with the co-authors
Judit Kormos
Judit Kormos () (born 1970) is a Hungarian linguist. She is a professor and the Director of Studies for the MA TESOL Distance programme at the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University, United Kingdom. She is renown ...
and Ágnes Sarkadi, that goals, attitudes, and motivation might be seen as a closely interconnected co-adaptive system, in which change in one of these motivational constructs also trigger change in the other closely related constructs. Their article was one of the first manuscripts which attempted to analyze motivation from a
Complex Dynamic Systems Theory perspective.
Csizér claimed, along with Judit Kormos in article published in
TESOL Quarterly
''TESOL Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of TESOL International Association. It covers English language teaching and learning, standard English as a second dialect, including articles ...
in 2014, that strong instrumental goals and international posture, along with positive future self‐guides, might be the prerequisites for use of effective
self‐regulatory strategies, which in turn might have an important role in influencing autonomous use of traditional and computer‐assisted learning resources.
Deaf learners
Another research area in which Csizér advanced the field of applied linguistics is the language learning of deaf learners. Along with Kontráné Hegybíró and Piniel, they wrote the first book on the deaf learners' language learning.
Publications
Books
*Dörnyei, Z., Csizér, K., & Németh, N. (2006). ''Motivation, language attitudes and globalisation: A Hungarian perspective''. Multilingual Matters.
*Csizér, K., & Magid, M. (2014). ''The Impact of Self-Concept on Language Learning''. Channel View Publications.
*Lamb, M., Csizér, K., Henry, A., & Ryan, S. (2019). ''The Palgrave handbook of motivation for language learning''. Palgrave Macmillan.
*Csizér, K. (2020). ''Second language learning motivation in a European context: The case of Hungary''. Springer.
Articles
*Dörnyei, Z., & Csizér, K. (1998). Ten commandments for motivating language learners: results of an empirical study. ''Language Teaching Research'', ''2''(3), 203–229
Ten commandments for motivating language learners: results of an empirical study*Dörnyei, Z., & Csizér, K. (2002). Some Dynamics of Language Attitudes and Motivation: Results of a Longitudinal Nationwide Survey, ''Applied Linguistics'', ''23''(4), 421–462
Some Dynamics of Language Attitudes and Motivation: Results of a Longitudinal Nationwide Survey*Csizér, K., & Dörnyei, Z. (2005). Language Learners’ Motivational Profiles and Their Motivated Learning Behavior. ''Language Learning'', ''55''(4), 613–659
Language Learners’ Motivational Profiles and Their Motivated Learning Behavior*Csizér, K., & Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The Internal Structure of Language Learning Motivation and Its Relationship with Language Choice and Learning Effort. ''The Modern Language Journal'', 89(1), 19–36
The Internal Structure of Language Learning Motivation and Its Relationship with Language Choice and Learning Effort*Kormos, J., & Csizér, K. (2006). An interview study of inter-cultural contact and its role in language learning in a foreign language environment. System, 35(2), 241–258
An interview study of inter-cultural contact and its role in language learning in a foreign language environment*Kormos, J., & Csizér, K. (2008). Age‐Related Differences in the Motivation of Learning English as a Foreign Language: Attitudes, Selves, and Motivated Learning Behavior. Language Learning, 58(2), 327–355
Age-Related Differences in the Motivation of Learning English as a Foreign Language: Attitudes, Selves, and Motivated Learning Behavior*Csizér, K., & Kormos, J. (2008). Modelling the Role of Inter-Cultural Contact in the Motivation of Learning English as a Foreign Language. Applied Linguistics, 30(2), 166–185
Modelling the Role of Inter-Cultural Contact in the Motivation of Learning English as a Foreign Language*Csizér, K., & Lukács, G. (2009). The comparative analysis of motivation, attitudes and selves: The case of English and German in Hungary. System, 38(1), 1–13
The comparative analysis of motivation, attitudes and selves: The case of English and German in Hungary*Csizér, K., & Kormos, J., & Sarkadi, Á. (2010). The Dynamics of Language Learning Attitudes and Motivation: Lessons From an Interview Study of Dyslexic Language Learners. The Modern Language Journal, 94(3), 470–487
The Dynamics of Language Learning Attitudes and Motivation: Lessons From an Interview Study of Dyslexic Language Learners*Kormos, J., Kiddle, T., & Csizér, K. (2011). Systems of Goals, Attitudes, and Self-related Beliefs in Second-Language-Learning Motivation. Applied Linguistics, 32(5), 495–516
Systems of Goals, Attitudes, and Self-related Beliefs in Second-Language-Learning Motivation*Kormos, J., & Csizér, K. (2013). The interaction of motivation, self‐regulatory strategies, and autonomous learning behavior in different learner groups. TESOL Quarterly, 48(2). 275–299.
*You, C. J., Dörnyei, Z., & Csizér, K. (2015). Motivation, Vision, and Gender: A Survey of Learners of English in China. ''Language Learning'', ''66''(1), 94–123
Motivation, Vision, and Gender: A Survey of Learners of English in China
YouTube videos
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References
External links
Wein Katalin Dr. , ELTE Bölcsészettudományi KarKatalin Wein Csizér
{{DEFAULTSORT:Csizér, Kata
Living people
Applied linguists
Linguists from Hungary
People from Budapest
Eötvös Loránd University alumni
Academic staff of Eötvös Loránd University
1971 births