Relationship between University-Bound EFL Learners’ Integrative and Instrumental Motivation and Their Language Proficiency

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between the motivation of a cohort of university-bound EFL learners and their language proficiency. The study has a three-fold purpose: (1) to identify whether instrumental or integrative motivation plays a more important role in promoting students toward English language learning; (2) to examine if there is a difference between male and female learners in their motivation (instrumental and integrative) to learn EFL; and (3) to explore if teachers’ instructional strategies are purposefully intended to foster students' instrumental or integrative motivation.

The study employed a mixed methods design that combines qualitative and quantitative data collection to investigate the attitudes and motivations of undergraduate students toward learning English as a second language. The research involved administering a questionnaire adapted from Gardner's Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) to a sample of undergraduate students and conducting semi-structured interviews with English instructors to gain more insights into how their instructional strategies affect students' motivation.

A total of 247 (113 males and 134 females) undergraduate students enrolled in one of the English communication skills courses, English 102 course, at the American University of Beirut participated in the study. Also, six instructors who were teaching this course were interviewed.

Collected data from questionnaires were analyzed quantitively using appropriate descriptive (means and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (t-tests, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, and MANOVA) to address the study questions. As for the semi-structured interviews, they were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded for analysis. A thematic analysis approach was used to identify and analyze patterns and themes in the data. The data was organized into meaningful units, and codes were assigned to these units based on the research questions.

The findings of the study revealed that most of the students are instrumentally motivated. They learn the English language for practical reasons like joining a university, finding jobs, higher status in the community, and getting a salary bonus. They also want to fulfill a university language requirement, and, in this study, students want to succeed in English 102 to move to the next level, English 203. Results also showed a positive correlation between instrumental and integrative motivation. However, a negative statistically significant relationship was found between instrumental motivation and EFL proficiency, and there was no statistically significant relationship between integrative motivation and students’ EFL proficiency. Furthermore, gender differences were also identified in this study, where female students had a higher level of motivation than their male counterparts in both types, instrumental and integrative. Finally, teachers’ instructional strategies were not purposefully designed to foster students' instrumental motivation.

The results are discussed and recommendations for further research are included.