Motivation Profile of Education Degree Students in English Language Learning

Proceedings of The 5th International Conference on Research in Teaching and Education

Year: 2022

DOI:

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Motivation Profile of Education Degree Students in English Language Learning

Jesús Alcalá Recuero, Gretchen Obernyer, Svetlana Antropova, Cynthia Hertfelder

 

ABSTRACT: 

With the adoption of the English language as lingua franca, demand for teachers of the English language is on the increase. However, the percentage of Education Degree students electing to specialize in English has dropped considerably. The objective of this research is two-fold: to tackle motivation factors which influence English language learning in Primary and Pre-school Education Degree students, and, to analyse any differences in motivation patterns between these degrees. Based on Dörneyi’s L2 motivation self-system (2005, 2009) and on Coopersmith’s self-esteem inventory (1967), a questionnaire was elaborated and validated to explore not only psychological factors which influence motivation in ELL, but also to underpin past experiences, future expectations, and possible influences which may impact the motivation of future teachers. A quantitative tool of 35 items was administered to a sample of 106 Education Degree students. The analysis demonstrated that there were 7 factors which explain the model’s variance (77,24%): previous experiences in L2 learning, sociocultural interest, L2 anxiety, L2 as a professional requirement, living abroad experiences, family pressure, and career opportunities abroad. While Primary Education Degree students opted for career opportunities abroad (29,739%), living-abroad experiences (15,869%), and previous experiences in learning L2 (7,582%); Pre-school Education Degree students chose previous experiences in L2 learning (41,028%), sociocultural interest (9,519%) and L2 anxiety (5,885%).   

keywords: ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, previous experiences in L2 learning, L2 anxiety, self-esteem.