本研究根據自我決定理論(Self-determination theory)的架構，採用質量合併方法以檢視在活動(task)的框架下，自主性(autonomy)對於學習者在英文單字學習活動內的學習動機的影響。另外基於近期研究將動機視為不斷改變的動態體系，本研究從長期的觀點出發，試圖記錄學習者動機的變化並辨識影響該變化的潛在因素。
本研究為期十四個禮拜。四十八位國立大學的大學生在組間設計的結構下被平均分成實驗組與控制組。在整個實驗過程中，他們完成七次的單字學習活動，每次活動間隔兩個禮拜。實驗組的受試者可自由從文章中選取目標單字來學習，然而控制組的受試者必須學習由實驗人員所選取出的目標單字。我們在這十四個禮拜間收取多樣性的資料，包含來自於活動評量問卷(task evaluation questionnaire)、語言學習傾向評量(Language Learning Orientatoin Scale)、和教室活動觀察的相關量化資料，以及一對一面談的相關質化資料。這些資料可讓我們透過質量分析了解受試者動機的變化。
研究結果顯示出在活動中有提供個人選擇權的狀態下，受試者的學習動機和活動參予度有顯著性的提高。另外，動機性反思回顧和同儕影響力被判定為造成動機變化的兩個最重要的因素。在教學上，實驗結果可被運用於建構有效的提高動機的策略，尤其是在設計執行課堂內的第二語言單字學習活動上。

Based on the Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000, 1985), the present mix-method study aims to investigate how the manipulation of learner autonomy affects the motivation of vocabulary learning within the task framework (Dörnyei, 2000; Julkunen, 2001). Following recent conceptualization of motivation as dynamic and ever-changing (Dörnyei, 2005; Ushioda, 1996), an emphasis is placed on documenting learners’ motivation changes and identifying potential variables that are related to motivational fluctuation from a longitudinal perspective.
The study lasted for fourteen weeks. With a between-group design, forty-eight undergraduate students from a public university were equally divided into an experimental group and a control group. Seven vocabulary learning tasks were implemented with two-week intervals throughout the research period. In the vocabulary learning tasks, the participants in the experimental group were free to choose their own target words to learn from reading passages, whereas the participants in the control group were required to learn the target words selected by the experimenter. Triangulated data from questionnaires, including task evaluation questionnaire (Ryan, 1982), Language Learning Orientations Scale (Noels et al., 2000), one-to-one interviews, and classroom observations were collected throughout fourteen weeks to offer both quantitative and qualitative analyses of learners’ motivation changes.
The results show that participants’ task motivation and task engagement for vocabulary learning is significantly higher when they are provided with choices during tasks. Moreover, individual learners’ motivational retrospection and peer influences are important variables contributing to one’s motivational fluctuation. Pedagogically, the results may suggest effective motivating strategies for administering L2 vocabulary learning activities in classrooms.

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