To set the scene for this book’s research project, this chapter looks at the history and current agenda for researching language learning motivation. It delves into the complexities of motivational research, and the current shift to try to address the dominance of studies focusing on English language learning. The theoretical framework of the project, Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System, is explained in this chapter, which concludes by outlining the method for the research project.