Differences in Orientations and Motivation among Learners of English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

The present study was intended to investigate the motivational orientations (MOs) of 103 third-year college students of five-year program in a technological university and 173 senior high school students and examined the differences among them. The author found that college students were more motivated than high school students. College students were highly influenced by Instrumental MO, Integrative MO and Language Utility MO. However, high school students had a higher mean on Educational MO. In this study students’ Instrumental motivation was more important than Integrative motivation. High school students fulfilling a requirement were the most strongly motivated group. Students of International Business were more motivated than students of Business Administration. As for both junior college students and high school students, Instrumental motivation was more important than Integrative motivation. These results point to specific behaviors that teachers could exhibit to enhance their students' motivation. Implications for English teachers of universities of science and technology are discussed.