Future second language (L2) self-images have proven integral to L2 motivation, prompting several attempts to purposefully develop learners’ ideal L2 selves over the past decade through the use of vision-building techniques. Some of these ‘vision interventions’ have reported successfully enhancing learners’ L2 self-images and motivation; other studies, however, diverge from an unqualified success narrative, citing for example a lack of increase in learner effort despite stronger future vision. Data collection has also been typically restricted to the period of the intervention itself, and so insight into the long-term take-up of the introduced techniques, or how potential outcomes develop over time, remains limited. To gain further understanding into such issues, we have charted the evolving nature of the L2 vision intervention over the past decade, and complemented the learning from previous studies by conducting a five-week vision-building course with 25 learners of English for academic purposes (EAP) in the UK university-pathway system. Interview data gathered over the course of 10 months – the longest investigation of vision-building we are aware of – demonstrated fluctuating engagement with visualization, and accordingly, our analysis looks critically at the notion of self-image-centred intervention in instructed second language acquisition (SLA). While we believe that L2 vision can indeed be consciously enhanced, we argue that success depends largely on how general principles are adapted to specific learning contexts. The discussion highlights challenges that instructors may encounter in staging such interventions, and offers practical lessons for using self-images in the classroom.

未来的第二语言 (L2) 自我形象已被证明是 L2 动机不可或缺的一部分，促使在过去十年中多次尝试通过使用视觉构建技术有目的地培养学习者的理想 L2 自我。其中一些“视觉干预”报告成功地增强了学习者的 L2 自我形象和动机；然而，其他研究与不合格的成功叙述不同，例如，尽管有更强大的未来愿景，但学习者的努力却没有增加。数据收集通常也仅限于干预本身的时期，因此对所引入技术的长期采用或潜在结果如何随时间发展的洞察仍然有限。为了进一步了解这些问题，我们绘制了过去十年中 L2 视力干预的演变性质，并通过在英国大学衔接课程系统中与 25 名学术英语学习者 (EAP) 进行为期五周的愿景建设课程来补充之前的学习。在 10 个月内收集的访谈数据——我们所知道的最长的视觉构建调查——显示了与可视化的波动参与，因此，我们的分析批判性地审视了以自我形象为中心的干预指导第二语言习得的概念(SLA)。虽然我们相信 L2 视觉确实可以有意识地增强，但我们认为成功在很大程度上取决于一般原则如何适应特定的学习环境。讨论突出了教师在进行此类干预时可能遇到的挑战，并提供了在课堂上使用自我形象的实践课程。