This correlation study examined the effect of motivation and interest on students' learning outcomes at the university level. Data were collected from 125 university students through questionnaires and tests, and t-test, ANOVA, and R-Square were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that motivation in learning English did not influence…

This research sought to explore Indonesian EFL teachers' professional identity metaphors. Using a multiple case studies design, it involved three teachers in different teaching contexts. Data were collected using questionnaires that gathered the teachers' professional identity metaphors and in-depth interviews to elicit the reasons for the…

Two concepts of multilingualism that relate to the selves aspect of Dörnyei's (2009) L2 motivational self system (L2MSS) are highlighted in this article: Thompson's concept of "perceived positive language interaction" (PPLI) and Henry's notion of the "ideal multilingual self." With the dynamic model of multilingualism informing…

This paper investigates the relationship between the decisions made by school leaders in England concerning their school policy for teaching modern foreign languages (MFL) post-14, and student motivation for MFL. Seventy head teachers, 119 heads of modern languages and 666 students aged 14-15 from schools in England took part in the…

This paper explores the place of English in Iran. To do this, we look at the social presence of English in Urmia (the capital of West Azerbaijan province, Iran). The paper draws on instances of the use of English in different contexts in Urmia, including its use in academia, business, state and private education, media, and people's ordinary…

According to recent modifications in Turkish educational system, English language teaching starts in the second grade. Young learners studying in this grade were in the focus in this study. This paper reported on the findings of a mixed method study conducted in three different primary schools in the west of Turkey. The main aim was to represent…

In view of the increasing concern among English language teachers dealing with students from Saudi Arabia, as it manifests in TESOL community discussions, about the uniqueness of Saudi Arabian EFL learners, this paper attempts to document the outcome of a study of their distinctiveness from the perspective of expatriate teachers working for PYPs…

Many scholars have argued that an intercultural approach to foreign language instruction best reflects the inherent interconnectedness of language and culture. However, abundant evidence of the effectiveness of such an approach is lacking, particularly at the secondary level. This two-year curricular experiment, which took place in two public high…

This study presents the main findings from a study which investigated Malaysian multilingual students' practical use of three languages with respect to reading, speaking and writing in Bahasa Malaysia (BM), English and German. In addition, two further aspects have been examined: students' motivation to learn a language, and the respondents'…

The Malaysian government is rigorously drawing up strategies to increase the already existing 60,000 foreign students currently studying in the country (The Star, 2009). With the influx of more foreign students and with English as the medium of instruction in local higher education, it is felt that a study to investigate international students'…

This article reports the findings of a 2003 study involving 526 Hong Kong tertiary students, aiming to explore their motivation towards the learning of English, Putonghua and a chosen third language (French, German or Japanese). Based on Dornyei's and Csizer's (2002) work [Dornyei, Z., Csizer, K., 2002. "Some dynamics of language attitudes…

Taking into consideration President Bush's recent initiative that encourages Americans/students to learn "critical-need languages," this study explores the attitudes, perceptions, and motivation of American and international students regarding the teaching/learning of Arabic, one of the languages identified in the President's plan. The primarily…

The conventional psycholinguistic views of a strictly cognitive nature are reductive with respect to the complexity of the learning process. In language learning, motivation is viewed variously: (1) as a co-essential and equally powerful factor with linguistic aptitude and personality traits; (2) as arising from interaction between organism and…

A third study on variables differentiating persisters from dropouts from French study was conducted to determine whether motivation mediates the influence of attitude on persistence. Learning motivation was found to be the most important determinant of persistence in second-language study. Study variables and the previous research are discussed.…

Looks at the attitudes and motivation of Hungarian children between the ages of 6 and 14. Examines why they think they study a foreign language, how they feel about learning English in relation to other subjects, and what activities they like and dislike. (Author/VWL)