This study investigated the motivation of a heterogeneous group of students studying English as a foreign language at the International School in Tripoli area. The aim of the study was to find out the extent to which various factors affect students' motivation and achievement in second/foreign language learning particularly as they enter the senior high school. The research also looked into the temporal dimension of L2 motivation to see if the students' motivation changes as they enter the senior high school. One hundred and forty four students from thirty five nationalities learning English and five teachers participated in the completion of the questionnaire surveys. Twenty students and three teachers took part in the semi-structured interviews. Data were drawn from students' examination results and a combined quantitative-qualitative approach in which student and teacher questionnaire surveys were followed by a round of student and teacher interviews. The results of the 'Student's Motivation Questionnaire' show that L2 motivation in the sample decreases with age: The results of one-way analyses of variance across the five age groups investigated show that the older learners tend to score significantly lower on the motivational scales and the interviews data gives further support to this finding. There are a number of influential factors that affect learners' motivation: in particular the role of the teacher was seen fundamental in determining the attitude to the language and in supplying motivation. Other external factors include aspects related to the learning context.

No abstract

No abstract

Abstract-This study investigated the motivation of a heterogeneous group of students studying Arabic as a second language at the International School in Tripoli area. The aim of the study was to find out the extent to which various factors affect students' motivation and achievement in second language learning particularly as they enter the senior high school. The research also looked into the temporal dimension of L2 motivation to see if the students' motivation changes as they enter the senior high school. One hundred and forty four students from thirty five nationalities learning Arabic and four teachers participated in the completion of the questionnaire surveys. Twenty students and two teachers took part in the semi-structured interviews. Data were drawn from students' examination results and a combined quantitative-qualitative approach in which student and teacher questionnaire surveys were followed by a round of student and teacher interviews. The results of the 'Student's Motivation Questionnaire' show that L2 motivation in the sample decreases with age. The results of one-way analyses of variance across the five age groups investigated show that the older learners tend to score significantly lower on the motivational scales and the interviews data gives further support to this finding. There are a number of influential factors that affect learners' motivation: in particular the role of the teacher was seen fundamental in determining the attitude to the language and in supplying motivation. Other external factors include aspects related to the learning context.

This paper aims to investigate if there is a relationship between English language proficiency and the overall academic performance of Preparatory Year students in three faculties: Engineering, Business (including Business Administration, Economics and Political Science) and Informatics and Computer Science. Data was obtained from the Student Record System of 566 students and three sets of statistical analysis were performed. The results indicated that there is a significant but moderate positive relation between the students' proficiency in English and their overall academic success. Specifically, the higher the English proficiency of students on entry to the university, the better they performed in their degree area courses as well as in their English levels.At the British University in Egypt (BUE) the majority of students are Egyptian. Literary Arabic is the official language, with Egyptian Arabic the vernacular. English, however, is the medium of instruction in all departments and faculties at the university. Therefore, to be admitted to the university, all students needed to score 105 to 119 (Pre-Intermediate) on the Oxford Placement Test which is equivalent to IELTS 3. However, since the writing of this paper, with the exception of the Faculty of Nursing, the entry score has been increased to 120 to 134 (Intermediate) which is equivalent to IELTS 4. English courses at the BUE are taken alongside the students' degree area courses as language support and students must pass them to progress to the next level. In addition, passing English courses has become a condition of progression in the faculties (i.e. Intermediate English is a condition of progression to Degree Year 1; Upper Intermediate English to Degree Year 2; and Advanced English to Degree Year 3). Students entering the BUE come from three main educational backgrounds: Thanaweya Amma, American High School Diploma and IGCSE/GCSE. Interestingly, Murray (2010) states that "despite meeting the English language entry criteria of their receiving institutions, many NESB students still struggle to cope with the linguistic demands of their degree courses as a result of inadequate levels of proficiency" (p.61). Along similar lines, reporting on the weaknesses of Yemeni Arab students Abbad (1988) states that "in spite of the low proficiency level in English of most applicants they are accepted into the department" (p.15). In addition, there has been concern and debate over the level of the English language proficiency of students upon entry to universities across Australia and in other countries as well (Barthel, 2012). Therefore, based on the above findings and the recommendations of Dooey (1999) who suggested that "each receiving institution make its

No abstract

No abstract

This paper aims to focus on the reasons why students do not to attend English classes, and linking this to performance. Data were gathered from three sources: (1) a student questionnaire, (2) a round of semistructured interviews and (3) attendance records and end of semester grades. The results indicated a number of reasons for non-attendance to include: workload in the faculty, the duration of the classes, time of the day, uninteresting and unchallenging classes, and irrelevant material and writing tasks. A significant positive relationship between attendance and grades was also found.