Myanmar EFL pre-service teachers' motivational disposition in English writing: A pilot study

Abstract

Abstract Since acquiring writing skills in the English language is a multiplex task as it includes several complex cognitive activities (Tillema, 2012), it is a challenging skill to master for English as a foreign language (EFL) students. The acquisition of this skill is also affected by motivation, which has a great impact on the success or failure of learning the target language (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011), and significantly influences the learner's academic and professional performance (Csizér & Dörnyei, 2005). Lack of research focusing on investigating the motivating effect of different aspects of English writing in the Myanmar context provided inspiration to conduct the present pilot study, which focused on mapping the motivational profile of 54 EFL pre-service teachers in English writing in Myanmar. The questionnaire developed by the authors was piloted in September 2020. Results indicate that out of the 12 dimensions measured, pre-service teachers' ideal selves and instrumental motivation seem to be the most motivating aspects of English writing, and there is a strong correlation between these two scales suggesting that the participants' ideal L2 self has a pragmatic focus. Moreover, regression analysis shows that pre-service teachers' intrinsic motivation, and their ideal selves contribute most to their motivated learning behavior.