The Attitudes and Motivation of University Learners Towards Learning English

Abstract

This study examines the Yemeni students’ attitudes and motivation towards learning English. It tries to find out the types of motivation the subjects have towards learning English. Two types of motivations were investigated in this research, instrumental motivation that refers to the utilitarian and academic causes, and integrative motivation, which refers to the social and cultural causes. Moreover, the current survey sheds some light on the students’ anxiety about the English language and their attitude towards learning English and using it in India. The quantitative data were collected using a questionnaire administered to 107 students. The data analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The results revealed that Yemeni students in India have a high positive attitude towards learning English. Moreover, they are instrumentally and integratively motivated to learn English. Their attitude towards the anxiety of English, learning English, and using it in India was moderate. The results also showed a significant difference in the students’ attitude towards learning English, where the postgraduate students have a higher positive attitude than undergraduates. According to the gender, the results revealed no significant difference between males and females regarding the attitude and motivation towards learning English. The present survey recommended teaching the English language intensively in Yemen, whether in schools or universities. The English language anxiety has to be manipulated by teachers using the courses that enhance the students’ confidence in using English.

Pop Culture and English Language Learning Motivation among Ab-English Students

“…Thus, this denotes that the respondents highly desire to learn English to be an essential part of the target language community and increase career opportunities or successfully pass a course in a school [6]. The findings coincide with the study by Hajeb et al [7] and Ametova [8], stating that students have both integrative and instrumental motivation influences the desire of learners to learn the language since both instrumental and integrative motivation plays a significant role in the English language process. In terms of the indicators, findings show that both have the same level of motivation with a slight difference in the mean score, with integrative motivation having a very high threshold of M=4.52 (SD=0.489) and instrumental motivation also having the same level with a mean score of M= 4.39 (SD=0.501).…”

“…Integrative motivation is carried out by the learners' pure interest in learning the language to be part of a particular language community. On the other hand, instrumental motivation is a desire to learn the language for a particular goal or purpose, either for career or academic purposes [7].…”