The Relationship between Intrinsic/Extrinsic Motivation and Medical Students’ L2 Writing

Abstract

Despite the increasing interest in the need to increase the students’ learning motivation, there have been few attempts to determine the relationship between the students’ motivation and their L2 writing skill.The present study aimed at investigating the effect of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation on Iranian medical students’ L2 writing. 100 EFL medical students (both males and females) who had enrolled in an English academic writing course held in English Language Department of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences participated in this study.We used a questionnaire to classify the students’ extrinsic/intrinsic motivation. The results showed that the students’ motivation has a positive effect on their writing. Moreover, students with intrinsic motivation were more successful than those with extrinsic motivation in L2 writing. This study can provide the instructors with an in-depth understanding of motivation as a key factor which can improve the students’ writing. Understanding different types of students’ motivation and what promotes their learning skill can assist the teachers in fostering positive and realistic beliefs to maximize their teaching in an educational setting.