What are the factors that can change student’s motivationfor learning languages?

Mayumi Iwamoto 011024

Introduction

The aim of this thesis is to find out how motivation affects second and foreign language learners and to find out which factors are the most affective for motivating them. There are many different kinds of motivation which affect learners in different ways. I found out the differences between the types of motivation can be shown between second and foreign language learners and between the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Moreover, I wanted to find out how strongly each factor affects a learner’s motivation and if there are any differences depending on the situation or condition each learner is in. Intrinsic motivation is when people have personal interest in doing something or helping themselves setting their own goals. Extrinsic motivation comes from each learner’s desire for achievement of an external reward such as to pass a test or to get a good job.

Research questions

1. What are the factors which make student motivated or demotivated?

2. Which is better for motivating students, intrinsic or extrinsic motivation?

3. Are there any differences in how motivation factors affect second language and foreign language learners?

The experiment

Subjects:

61 subjects of several ages and backgrounds all learning English in Japan

(Second language learners)

25 subjects of several ages and backgrounds all learning Japanese in Japan

(Foreign language learners)

Instrument:

A questionnaire, which are designed both for learners of English and learners of Japanese

Results

Table 1 and 2 show the factors I used to categorize the 2types of motivation

Table1: Examples of intrinsic factors

Intrinsic factors
/
Examples

Intrinsic interest of activity

/ interest
Perceived value of activity / personal value of relevance
Sense of agency / ability to set appropriate goals
Mastery / feeling of competence / awareness of developing skills
Self-concept / Realistic
Other affective states / confidence / anxiety / fear
Developmental age and stage / Age
Gender / female / male

Table 2: Examples of extrinsic factors

Extrinsic factors / Examples

Significant others

/ teachers / parents / peers
The nature of interaction with significant others / punishment / praise
The learning environment / Life style / school / class
The broader context / cultural norms

From the questionnaire data, we found out the factors which make the language learners motivated or demotivated. The data categorized by two different kinds of reasons shows that intrinsic factors affect the subjects more than extrinsic factors. We discovered the answer for what kinds of factors are affecting each learner when they study second or foreign language and the factors which make language learners motivated or demotivated.

1.Although all the subjects have both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational reasons for studying English, they are studying because of intrinsic motivational reasons more than extrinsic motivational reasons.

2. Factors which make English learners motivated the most are intrinsic interest of activity and the nature of interaction with significant others.

3. Factors which make English learners demotivated the most are feeling of competence and significant others.

4. Factors which make learners of Japanese motivated the most are intrinsic interest of activity, significant others and the learning environment.

5. Factors which make learners of Japanese demotivated the most are sense of agency and significant other

Table 3:Summary table of situations whichsubjects feel motivated or demotivated

Factors which make subjects motivated / Factors which make subjects demotivated
Learners of English / Intrinsic / Intrinsic interest of activity / Feeling of competence
Extrinsic / The nature of interaction with significant others / Significant others
Learners of Japanese / Intrinsic / Intrinsic interest of activity / Sense of agency
Extrinsic / Significant others / the learning environment / Feeling of competence / Significant others

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