International Journal Of Literature And Languages
94
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ijll
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue04 2025
PAGE NO.
94-97
10.37547/ijll/Volume05Issue04-25
Motivation in Second Language Learning
Joldasbaeva Palzada Akhmetovna
Kimyo International University in Tashkent, Assistant teacher of English Language Department, Uzbekistan
Received:
28 February 2025;
Accepted:
29 March 2025;
Published:
30 April 2025
Abstract:
Success in learning a second language is frequently correlated with the idea of "motivation." The most
common theory used to explain a language learner's success or failure is motivation. The research on motivation
in second language acquisition (SLA) from reputable journals in the subject was compiled and reviewed in this
work. The function of motivation as one of the most significant individual differences (IDs) in second/foreign
language acquisition is examined, as are its interactions with second/foreign language learning. The larger thesis
of this work is that context affects motivation and its structures, therefore every situation involving language
learning has a different motivational model.
Keywords:
Motivation, second language acquisition, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, individual
difference.
Introduction:
One of the significant and complex
variables of second language learning is motivation and
it becomes more important when the aim of learning is
the mastery of this second or foreign language.
Consequently, motivation has been regarded as a vital
contributor to foreign language proficiency (Skehan,
1989, Crookes & Schmidt, 1991). Ever since 1960s, the
construct of motivation and its correlation with second
language proficiency have attracted much research
attention (Spolsky, 1969, Lukmani, 1972, Gardner,
Tremblay & Masgoret, 1997). Based on these previous
studies on motivation in foreign or second language,
this current small-scale case study has attempted to
investigate the type of motivation, particularly,
integrative and instrumental motivations among target
participants in learning English and find out
correlations, if any, between their motivation type and
EFL proficiency. Two research questions guided this
study:
1.
Are the participants motivated integratively or
instrumentally towards learning English?
2.
Does the type of motivation has an influence
on the proficiency of participants involved?
To answer these questions, the following objectives
were set out:
•
To identify the type of motivation of learners
towards learning English
•
To assess participants` L2 proficiency level
•
To find the impact of motivation over language
proficiency of learners.
Literature Review
A numerous study on L2 learning motivation and
language proficiency can be found in the literature.
However, for the current case study, only closely
relevant researches are reviewed here. We can place
these studies into three main categories-(1) studies
whose findings showed that integrative motivation is
more important factor than instrumental one, (2)
studies whose findings discovered the opposite, and (3)
studies, which revealed that both types of motivation
have equal role in the L2 learning success.
In the first category of studies, Gardner, Smythe, and
Clement (1979), who examined motivation and
language proficiency among a group of Canadian and
American adult students learning French, concluded
that there was an association between integrative
motivation and oral proficiency among the Canadian
samples. However, among the American ones they
could not find such a relationship despite the fact that
these students were also integratively motivated.
Another research, which conducted by Gardner, Day,
and MacIntyre (1992), was focused on the effect of
integrative motivation to the acquisition of French
vocabulary. The participants of this research, who
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International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834)
reported to be integratively motivated, performed
better than those who were instrumentally motivated.
Contrary to the abovementioned studies, Lukmani
(1972), who investigated motivation towards learning
English and the proficiency of Indian students in
Bombay, discovered that both types of motivation had
positive influence on language achievement, but more
significantly correlated one with language proficiency
was instrumental motivation. Similar results were
found when Gardner and Lambert (1972) involved of
English learners in the Philippines.
Finally, as for the third category of studies, Gardner and
MacIntyre (1991) came to conclusion that both
instrumental and integrative motivations had crucial
roles in the language achievements of learners and
wrote that these two variables facilitate second
language learning.
Participant Profile
Two graduate students, who are learning English as a
foreign language and at the age of 23 and 24 with the
exposure to English for at least one year, participated
in this study. One of them is a male, who is in a Master`s
degree on Architecture at Tashkent Institute of
Architecture and Construction. The another participant
is a female, who is doing her Master`s degree on
Business Administration at Tashkent State University of
Economics. Selection of these participants was based
on the fact that they seemed to have a broader view
about the reasons for learning a foreign language. Their
L1 backgrounds and culture were also taken into
consideration. Male participant of this study is from
Chimbay, Karakalpakstan and his L1 is Karakalpak, but
besides the native language, he knows the Uzbek and
Kazakh languages too. However, the female sample is
from Navoi, Uzbekistan and Uzbek is her native
language. In addition to this language, she also speaks
Russian, Kazakh as she studied at Russian class with
Kazakh students at school. The nationality of
participants is Karakalpak and Uzbek respectively.
Research Design
The main instrument in this study was a questionnaire
adapted from Gardner`s Attitude/Motivation Test
Battery (AMTB) (2004). As given in the appendix 1, the
questionnaire has two sections that include ten
statements representing the students` motivation to
study English, five of which relate to instrumental
motivation and the other five reflect integrative
motivation. Each statement has a 6-point Likert scale
providing alternatives to identify the degree of
agreement or disagreement each participant had on
that statement. Target participants were asked to
select one of the choices from strongly disagree (1) to
strongly agree (6). Additionally, the proficiency test
(IELTS test from British Council) (Appendix 2) was also
used in order to measure participants` language
proficiency in this case study. The test did not include
speaking and writing parts, measuring only listening
and reading sections by objective question items.
To find which types of motivation present each
participant towards learning English a paired samples t-
test was applied. After that, the questionnaire data and
participants` scores on proficiency test were run
through a correlation to show if there is any
relationship between learners` motivation and their
English proficiency.
Data Collection and Findings
Since the first objective of this case study was to
identify whether the participants are instrumentally or
integratively motivated, firstly, the data collected from
the questionnaire ran through a paired samples t-test.
This process computed the differences between values
of two types of motivation of each participant and
showed whether the average differs from zero. Before
starting t-test, the means of each learner`s responses
to given items on instrumental and integrative
motivation were counted on an Excel spredsheet. Then,
using AnalyStat application, those means were run
through a paired samples t-test to calculate the overall
means of two types of motivation for both participants.
Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics of the means of
each type of motivation for participant one and two.
Table 1: Means for the participants` instrumental and integrative motivation
Types of motivation
Mean
Male participant
Mean
Female participant
Instrumental
5.6
5.6
Integrative
5.4
4.2
This statistics indicates that the participants of this
study were highly instrumentally motivated to learn
English.
As displayed below in Figure 1, the result of t-test given
by graph shows the overall means of both types of
motivation for each participant.
International Journal Of Literature And Languages
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International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834)
5.5
4.9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Male participant
Female participant
Overall means
Overall means
Figure 1. T-test result for overall means
Table 2. Mean difference between two types of motivation
Mean difference
Male Participant
0.1
Female Participant
0.7
The mean difference between instrumental and
integrative motivation for male participant was 0.1 and
for female participant was 0.7.
To find possible correlation between instrumental and
integrative motivation of each participant and their L2
proficiency, learners` scores on test and their overall
means to the motivation questionnaire items were run
through correlation process using Excel spreadsheet.
Results from this process were given in Table 3 below.
The participants` overall means were abovementioned
in Figure 1 and their scores on test (reading &
listening=80 questions) were 65 for male participant
and 68 for female participant.
Table 3. Correlations
Variables
Overall means
Test score
Overall means
1
-1
Test score
-1
1
The correlation between overall means of motivation
questionnaire items and test score on IELTS reading
and listening is -1. It says that there is no relationship
between these two variables.
CONCLUSION & FURTHER IMPLICATIONS
The following conclusion can be made based on the
findings of this case study. Firstly, the participants
involved in this small research were mostly
instrumentally motivated to learn English as their
foreign language. The reason for that might be that
learners do not have direct contact with English native
speakers or, if they even have, the communication is
rare or remote. They may be integratively motivated
towards English only for their passive social purposes
using electronic or printed media.
Secondly, we can see from above given results that the
types of motivation did not have any relationship with
the participants` L2 proficiency. For future implications,
International Journal Of Literature And Languages
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International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834)
this case study informs and provides English teachers,
especially curriculum developers, with a set of reasons
why learners decide to learn a second language. It can
be valuable during the process of development of
course syllabus.
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