Orientations and Motivation in the Learning of English as A Foreign Language Among Admas College Students
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Date
2000
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
T h is stud y was devoted to examining st udents ' ori e ntation s and moti vation to learn EFL
at Ad m as Col lege. An attempt has bee n made to fe r ret o ut thes e con s tructs vis-a-vis oth er
variab les such as atti tudes a nd learners' mot ivatio nal intensity. The find ings of the stud y
were fe lt to be usefu l for Engl ish course designers, in struc to rs (teac h ers) , students , and
higher in st itutes such as Admas Co ll ege.
Partic ipants of the st udy cons isted of 150 freslUllan regul a r d ip loma st udents e nro ll ed for
co ll ege Eng li sh co urse and 10 E ng li sh in stru ctors. The stu dy used a q uest ionna ire survey
of th ese partic ip ants as th e pr inc ipa l too l o f da ta co ll ec ti o n . Th ere were two ,
questionna ires: one for th e st udents an d a parall el one fo r the in s tructors. Fo ll ow- up
in te rv iews and class room observations yie lded . further (suppl emental) inp ut for th e
a nalysis of the research find ings . T he instruments were adapted from pertinent sou rces
a n d piloted prior to the ac tual study. T he student s' qu estionnai re and interview were
adm in istered i n Amharic to guarantee free and spo nta neo us respo nses.
After t he data co ll ect ion came to an end, the data were co ll ated a nd ana lyzed. The
ques ti o nnaire data were analyzed usin g d esc ripti ve st ati s ti cs a nd one-way ANOV A test.
T he interview and classroom observati on data we re analyzed using frequenc ies and
qu alitative descrip tion.
The resu lt s indi cated th at In th is co ntex t whe re EFL is la rgely an academic matter,
stud ents' integrat ive orientations of learni ng the language emer ged even s l ig h tly more
important th an th e inst r u m en ta l o n es. T he c lose re latio nship a mo n gst th e it ems of the
sa m e ori e ntation type or between the two o rientatio n types imp li ed the importa nce of the
two goals for students in leam in g EFL.
T he resu lt s also revealed the s tudents' mot iva ti on to learn E FL was accou nt ed for by the
orientations behi nd. T he st udents' respecti ve ly ex hibited hi gh in tri nsic / in tegrat ive and
ex trin s iclinstrum enta l motivation to leam the lang u age vis-a-v is the integrative and
in s trum enta l o ri e n tations reported.Besides, the students' high desire to learn the language by expending much effort; the
positive attit ude towards the Engli sh speake rs and the learnin g situ at ion ; and co nficience
in the language seemed to ex pl ain their signifi cant mot ivation.
However, some misconceptions that could suppress stud ents' moti vation to learn EFL
were documented. These included: stud ents' misconception of learning a specifi ed body
of language items in a linear fashion, being laughed at while speaking, and perfol111ing
poor on exams. The instructors' mi sconceptions of employing extrin sic moti vational
strategies were also cmcial. In additi on, the instructors' little attempt to provide periodic
feedback and the inadequacy of the course to complement stud ents' goals were found to
frustrate students' motivation to learn ,t he language.
The results entire ly posited th at academically orientated students in this context had many
pressing goals (reasons) for learning EFL. This calls for the importance of knowing these
reasons and the affective variables involved to understand students' moti vation. In light
of the findings, it was reasonably suggested that priority should be given to complement
students' various EFL learning and fo ster their motivation. Towards thi s end, improving
the cUITiculum, designing support courses and classes, and conducting continuous
appraisal of the curriculum are wOlth the effort by the course developers, instmctors, and
higher institutes such as Admas College.
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Keywords
Orientations, Motivation, English as A Foreign Language