INTEGRATIVE VS INSTRUMENTAL MOTIVATION: Which Affects Most Second Language Learners Nowadays ? (An Argumentative Essay by Zumala Fajriyyatul Husna)

INTEGRATIVE VS INSTRUMENTAL MOTIVATION :
Which Affects Most Second Language Learners Nowadays ?
Zumala Fajriyyatul Husna

([email protected])
Motivation is one field that attracts researchers to investigate what factors encourage
students to learn a second language because each student has different learning motivations.
Motivation not only refers to language learners' reasons for learning a second language, but it
is also the most powerful determinant influencing the success rate of second language
learners (Nayan et al., 2014). Because of this, motivation plays a very significant role in
learning a second language (Muslim et al., 2020). It can be said that the presence of
motivation will drive students’ enthusiasm for learning and a lack of motivation will
debilitate students' enthusiasm for learning. Therefore, teachers must be aware of the
importance of motivation and pay special attention to its role in the student learning process
because motivation will influence students’ participation in learning activities and
achievement as well as the critical role of researchers in investigating the factors that
motivate students to learn a second language. Integrative and instrumental factors are two
types of motivational factors that can help students achieve success in learning a second
language. Instrumental motivation is a motivational factor that is more evident to be the key
to the success of someone's second language learning compared to integrative motivation
which has a restricted correlation to the success of someone's second language learning.
The theory of integrative and instrumental motivation argued by Gardner and Lambert
(1972) are two types of motivation that are very influential in the field of motivation to learn
a second language (Mehmet Ali Seven, 2020). Integrative motivation, also known as intrinsic
motivation is a motivation that arrives from internal strength which refers to a person's desire
to learn a language in order to be able to communicate with people from the speaking culture
for personal development (Rao, 2018). So it can be said that integrative motivation is related
to someone's desire to be accepted by other communities where English is used as the first
language. While instrumental or extrinsic motivation is a motivation that arrives from
external pressure which refers to a person's desire to learn a language because he wants to
comply with some beneficial purposes, such as getting an occupation, passing exams,
complying with academic requirements, entering university, and others (Azar & Tanggaraju,
2020). In other words, instrumental motivation refers to a more functional reason which is to
acquire language as a means to achieve goals such as promoting a career, occupation, or even
reading technical texts (Anjomshooa, 2015). Both types of instrumental motivation and
integrative motivation are significant in setting someone's second language learning because
everyone always has their own reasons for acquiring their second language.
Many researchers have investigated how students' motivation in learning a second
language and what motivation has influenced their success in learning a second language.
Based on most of the motivation literature that I have reviewed, almost all students provide
information that they have high motivation to learn a second language because motivation
can give them enjoyment in learning, expanding certain skills, and achieving their purposes.
Many research clarifies that instrumental motivation is the motivation that is evident to be the
key to the success of someone's second language learning, whilst integrative motivation
seems to have a restricted correlation to the success of learning a second language. It can be
said that some students are more instrumentally motivated than integrative (Azar &
Tanggaraju, 2020). The majority of students' responses indicated that they only need and
want to master a second language with the purpose that they can complete assignments, pass
exams, get into the colleges they desire, and for other purposes (Saleh & Majeed, 2021).
Second language learners are certainly more motivated by instrumental motivation because
they want to master a second language to gain the external rewards they desire. As is the case
nowadays, where everyone is vying to master English for beneficial purposes because at this
time English has become one of the benchmarks for someone's acceptance into universities,
companies, and other institutions. On the other hand, students infrequently pay attention to
the importance of using language simply to be able to communicate perfectly with foreigners
or learn about their culture. Therefore, instrumental motivation dominates the purpose of
acquiring someone's second language.
Regardless of which type of motivation is more powerful in influencing someone to
learn a second language, another important thing is the role of the teacher to keep students
motivated in acquiring a second language for their respective purposes because a long
learning process usually makes motivation unstable. Teachers must understand the specific
reasons why students want to learn, as well as how to motivate students to think positively to
achieve their goals. Therefore, teachers must be able to construct a warm learning
atmosphere, discover creative ideas, and design enjoyable learning methods in the classroom
so that students can generate motivation to learn their second language (Purnama et al.,
2019). The interactive relationship between teachers and students is also an important factor
in generating student motivation because students can be closer to the teacher so that the
teacher understands well how his students are. Apart from the role of the teacher, the role of
the researcher is crucial in investigating the factors that influence the purpose of learning a
second language (Muslim et al., 2020). Therefore, researchers must be able to establish
partnerships with teachers in order to collaborate on classroom research projects such as
researching factors that influence students' motivation in learning a second language and
others (Rose, 2019). Thus, the findings or theories produced by the researchers can be
practiced and used as a reference in the classroom by the teacher, and the classroom
experience that the teacher has can assist researchers to understand the students to be studied.
From the explanation above, it can be concluded that motivation refers to a composite
of ventures accompanied by an urge to achieve language learning purposes with a positive
demeanor towards language learning. By having motivation, students will be enthusiastic
about the learning activities, so they will be motivated to comprehend the second language
well according to their purposes. Without motivation, learning purposes are tough to achieve
because effort and desire influence students in achieving learning purposes. Among the two
types of motivation that have been described by Gardner and Lambert, most second language
learners are instrumentally motivated rather than integratively. Most of them only need and
want to master a second language to complete their assignments, pass exams, enter college,
get occupations, and other beneficial purposes. Meanwhile, only a small number of students
are purely learning a second language to be able to speak perfectly with foreigners and learn
foreign cultures. However, it is better if the second language learner has both instrumental
and integrative types of motivation. They may be instrumentally motivated to pass exams or
comply with requirements, but at the same time, they may be integratively motivated to be
fluent in a second language and love the culture of a community, and even want to engage in
its culture. Therefore, teachers must be aware of how important motivation is and pay special
attention to the role of motivation in the student learning process because motivation will
affect student involvement in learning activities and learning achievement.
REFERENCES
Anjomshooa, L. (2015). The Importance of Motivation in Second Language Acquisition.

Language Learning, 25(2), 297–308. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-
1770.1975.tb00248.x
Azar, A. S., & Tanggaraju, D. (2020). Motivation in second language acquisition among
learners in Malaysia. Studies in English Language and Education, 7(2), 323–333.
https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v7i2.16506
Mehmet Ali Seven. (2020). Motivation in Language Teaching and Learning. CASALC
Review, 10(1), 150. https://doi.org/10.5817/casalc2020-1-12
Muslim, A. B., Hamied, F. A., & Sukyadi, D. (2020). Integrative and instrumental but low
investment: The English learning motivation of Indonesian senior high school students.
Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 9(3), 493–507.
https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v9i3.23199
Nayan, S., Krishnasamy, H. N., & Shafie, L. A. (2014). A Cross-National Study of
Motivation in Language Learning. International Journal of Information and Education
Technology, 4(2), 194–197. https://doi.org/10.7763/ijiet.2014.v4.397
Purnama, N. A., Rahayu, N. S., & Yugafiati, R. (2019). Students’ Motivation in Learning
English. PROJECT (Professional Journal of English Education), 2(4), 539.
https://doi.org/10.22460/project.v2i4.p539-544
Rao, X. (2018). University English for academic purposes in China: A phenomenological
interview study. University English for Academic Purposes in China: A
Phenomenological Interview Study, July 2018, 1–205. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-
13-0647-1
Rose, H. (2019). Dismantling the Ivory Tower in TESOL: A Renewed Call for Teaching-
Informed Research. TESOL Quarterly, 53(3), 895–905.
https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.517
Saleh, S. J., & Majeed, S. J. (2021). Motivation toward English Language Learning among
Iraqi University Students. Middle Eastern Journal of Research in Education and Social
Sciences, 2(3), 46–56. https://doi.org/10.47631/mejress.v2i3.294

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INTEGRATIVE VS INSTRUMENTAL MOTIVATION :

Which Affects Most Second Language Learners Nowadays ?

Zumala Fajriyyatul Husna

Anjomshooa, L. (2015). The Importance of Motivation in Second Language Acquisition.

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