Abstract
This study investigated the motivation of a heterogeneous group of students studying English as a foreign language at the International School in Tripoli area. The aim of the study was to find out the extent to which various factors affect students’ motivation and achievement in second/foreign language learning particularly as they enter the senior high school. The research also looked into the temporal dimension of L2 motivation to see if the students’ motivation changes as they enter the senior high school. One hundred and forty four students from thirty five nationalities learning English and five teachers participated in the completion of the questionnaire surveys. Twenty students and three teachers took part in the semi-structured interviews. Data were drawn from students’ examination results and a combined quantitative-qualitative approach in which student and teacher questionnaire surveys were followed by a round of student and teacher interviews. The results of the ‘Student’s Motivation Questionnaire’ show that L2 motivation in the sample decreases with age: The results of one-way analyses of variance across the five age groups investigated show that the older learners tend to score significantly lower on the motivational scales and the interviews data gives further support to this finding. There are a number of influential factors that affect learners’ motivation: in particular the role of the teacher was seen fundamental in determining the attitude to the language and in supplying motivation. Other external factors include aspects related to the learning context.
Highlights
It has been commonly accepted that the learners’ achievement in learning a second/foreign language is related to their level of motivation to learn the language
The current study was aimed at finding out the extent in which various factors affect students’ motivation and achievement in foreign language learning as they enter the senior high school and whether motivation decreases with age
The results of the quantitative data and qualitative interviews give further support to the findings of empirical research conducted in different parts of the world which found that motivation does decline with age
Summary
It has been commonly accepted that the learners’ achievement in learning a second/foreign language is related to their level of motivation to learn the language. It is believed that without sufficient motivation no other factor on its own can ensure student achievement (Dörnyei, 2001). The first three decades of L2 motivation research saw a considerable amount of empirical investigations which were mostly inspired by Robert Gardner and his associates in Canada applying versions of a standardised motivation test. The results of this research have demonstrated that attitudes and motivation are related to how well individuals learn a second/foreign language. As a result of this, the 1990s saw an influx of L2 research that extended and covered a variety of issues, cognitive and situation-specific variables
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