Zoltán Dörnyei

A meta-analysis by Al-Hoorie (2018) examined the predictive validity of this model, showing poorer predictive validity of objective measures compared with subjective measures of language learning. Recently, this model has received criticism based on its reliance on scales with questionable validity and on constructs that are not clearly distinct from existing constructs in psychology.

In 2011 he obtained an MA degree in Theology and Religious Studies at the Department of Theology of the University of Nottingham. The title of his dissertation was Transfiguration, beauty and biblical interpretation. In 2017 he received a Ph.D. degree in Theology at the Department of Theology and Religion of Durham University. The title of his thesis was Progressive creation and the struggles of humankind in the Bible: An experiment in canonical narrative interpretation.

Between 2008 and 2010 he conducted part-time undergraduate studies in Theology at St John's College, Nottingham.

In 2003 he earned a D.Sc. in Linguistics at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Dörnyei married his wife Sarah on 13 June 1991. They left Budapest in 1998 to live in Nottingham with their two sons, Aaron and Benedict. He died on 10 June 2022 in Nottingham after an illness.

In 1989 he received a PhD degree in Psycholinguistics at the Eötvös Loránd University and his thesis was entitled Psycholinguistic factors in foreign language learning.

He began his career at the School of English and American Studies of the Faculty of Humanities of the Eötvös Loránd University in 1988. In 1998, he moved to the United Kingdom and after two years at Thames Valley University, London, he took up a position at the School of English, University of Nottingham, where he was Professor of Psycholinguistics.

Dörnyei believed that acquiring a second language entails more than just learning another academic subject, it involves a learner's whole being. A new dimension is added to their identity, their second language speaking self. Building on the work of  psychologists Hazel Markus and Paula Nurius (1986) and their article Possible Selves https://cursa.ihmc.us/rid=1LQJK1Z9J-16LFNTG-39MK/Possible%20Selves%20ARTICLE.pdf, Dörnyei developed the L2 Motivational Self System framework. He was interested in the concept of mental imagery, a person's vision of their second language speaking self as a powerful motivator, the fuel required to sustain the ups and downs, and sometimes tiresome journey, towards second language acquisition.

Dörnyei obtained a combined Master of Arts degree in English language and literature and in art history in 1985 at the School of English and American Studies of the Faculty of Humanities of the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. His dissertation was entitled Art dealing in Hungary before 1945.

Zoltán Dörnyei (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈzoltaːn ˈdørɲɛi]) (11 March 1960  – 10 June 2022) was a Hungarian-born British linguist. He was a professor of psycholinguistics at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. He was known for his work on second language acquisition and the psychology of the language learner, in particular on motivation in second language learning, having published numerous books and papers on these topics.