Demotivation Experienced by English as Foreign Language (EFL) Learners in the Lao PDR

Abstract

Given the long establishment of English as an international lingua franca, the motivation of English learning among the English as foreign language (EFL) learners is still a challenging issue faced by EFL teachers in some contexts. In this study, a survey was conducted with 158 EFL learners in a university in the southern Lao PDR to explore factors that negatively impacted on their motivation to learn English. The results of factor analysis revealed that they reported five dimensions of demotivation in EFL learning, namely, difficulty to achieve linguistic accuracy, negative attitudes toward English, curriculum issues, lack of supports and resources, and foreign language anxiety. The findings of this study offered the directions to cultivate the motivation of EFL learning among the EFL learners in the Lao PDR. In addition, the findings also pointed to the possibility of viewing motivation and demotivation as the two ends of a continuum of L2 motivation; rather than describing these two notions using noncongruent frameworks as currently practiced by both L2 motivation and demotivation researchers.