This study examined the motivational orientations of Iranian university students learning English as a foreign language. The findings show that students are both instrumentally and integratively motivated, contradicting some researchers' views that students are only instrumentally motivated in foreign language contexts. The study also found students to be highly motivated to learn English. However, the results are limited by only examining students at three universities in one Iranian city. The conclusion suggests that motivational orientation should be an important consideration in foreign language teaching and teachers can improve motivation by accounting for students' personalities and interests. Future research should further examine the relationship between motivational orientations and language proficiency.
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This study examined the motivational orientations of Iranian university students learning English as a foreign language. The findings show that students are both instrumentally and integratively motivated, contradicting some researchers' views that students are only instrumentally motivated in foreign language contexts. The study also found students to be highly motivated to learn English. However, the results are limited by only examining students at three universities in one Iranian city. The conclusion suggests that motivational orientation should be an important consideration in foreign language teaching and teachers can improve motivation by accounting for students' personalities and interests. Future research should further examine the relationship between motivational orientations and language proficiency.
This study examined the motivational orientations of Iranian university students learning English as a foreign language. The findings show that students are both instrumentally and integratively motivated, contradicting some researchers' views that students are only instrumentally motivated in foreign language contexts. The study also found students to be highly motivated to learn English. However, the results are limited by only examining students at three universities in one Iranian city. The conclusion suggests that motivational orientation should be an important consideration in foreign language teaching and teachers can improve motivation by accounting for students' personalities and interests. Future research should further examine the relationship between motivational orientations and language proficiency.
Copyright:
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This study examined the motivational orientations of Iranian university students learning English as a foreign language. The findings show that students are both instrumentally and integratively motivated, contradicting some researchers' views that students are only instrumentally motivated in foreign language contexts. The study also found students to be highly motivated to learn English. However, the results are limited by only examining students at three universities in one Iranian city. The conclusion suggests that motivational orientation should be an important consideration in foreign language teaching and teachers can improve motivation by accounting for students' personalities and interests. Future research should further examine the relationship between motivational orientations and language proficiency.
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Table 8: Differences between instrumental and integrative motivation of students of each
university
Conclusion This study was conducted to probe the motivational orientations of Iranian university students. The findings present a picture which establishes that Iranian university students are both instrumentally and integratively oriented. This provides a sufficient answer to the research questions addressed, and contradicts the opinion of some researchers who believe that in a foreign language situation students are instrumentally oriented. Also it was shown that students are highly motivated towards learning English.
An implication of the findings is that motivational orientation of students, as a significant factor,
should be considered in teaching and learning of a foreign language. Many teachers believe that by sticking to the language materials and trying to discipline their refractory students, they will manage to create a classroom environment that will be conductive to learning. Nevertheless, these teachers seem to lose sight of the fact that, unless they accept their students’ personalities and work on those minute details that constitute their social and psychological make-up, they will fail to motivate them therefore teachers can improve their methods of teaching by considering the domain of motivation. Furthermore, other related researches regarding the relationship between these two orientations and students achievements are considered to be useful.
The study did not aim to find out the link between varieties of motivational orientations and the language proficiency of the learners. The future studies could aim at these issues and could give more insights to the linguistic realities of Iran . The results of the present study though show that university students are both instrumentally and integratively motivated, but the limitation of participants to three universities of one city i.e. Sirjan do not allow one to conclude that in general all students of Iran are purely instrumentally and integratively motivated. More research in this area needs to be conducted.
Suggestions for Teachers
In order to make the language learning process a more motivating experience instructors need to put a great deal of thought into developing programs which maintain student interest and have obtainable short term goals. At university level this may include, as suggested by Berwick et al. (1989), any number of foreign exchange programs with other universities, overseas "homestay" programs, or any other activities which may help to motivate students to improve their target language proficiency. At the secondary school level, and especially in the senior years, this task may prove more difficult. For the foreign language teacher this may result in a certain level of frustration due to the general lack of interest and commitment by some students. Teachers need to create interesting lessons in which the students’ attention is gained. This can sometimes be accomplished by the use of teaching strategies which are not often called upon by other teachers in mainstream subject areas. Encouraging students to become more active participants in a lesson can sometimes assist them to see a purpose for improving their communication skills in the target language. Successful communication using the target language should result in students feeling some sense of accomplishment. Research in the area suggests L2 achievement strongly affects learner motivation (Strong 1983, cited in Ellis 1997).
The use of an interesting text can also help to increase the motivation level of students in the classroom. Many Iranian texts often contain material which fails to capture the interest of students due to the heavy emphasis on vocabulary and grammar. Many foreign texts, however, which have been designed for EFL, and specifically the Iranian market, often contain topics which can create a great deal of classroom interaction and help to motivate students to develop their language skills. It is important for the instructor to take advantage of such discussion topics and help students to realize that, even though they may see no need to become proficient in a second language, the study of another language and culture can only enhance their perception and understanding of other cultures.
No matter what the underlying motivation to study a second language, what cannot be disputed is the fact that motivation is an important variable when examining successful second language acquisition. Iran is perhaps, a unique environment in which to learn English, especially when taking into consideration the many factors which influence the manner in which the language is taught. Although change may be slow to the education system, but recent struggles for introducing the English language as a subject in elementary school, changes made in methods of teaching and writing new textbooks can be really helpful for further motivating students to achieve higher levels of proficiency in the future.
