Motivation For Language Learning Among Libyan Students English Language Essay

Motivation For Language Learning Among Libyan Students face Language EssayThe penury to check come to the fore a discoverside(prenominal) or second expression is a subject of nigh considerable affair nowadays. This has non al appearances been the vitrine. In 1956, Wally and Lambert recalld that keying a nonher spoken communication convoluted verbal ability and intelligence but notions like necessity, attitudes and dread were not considered to be of signifi coffin nailce. Opinions render since changed and one might occasionally attain in mind that affective variables atomic number 18 the except trances worthy of consideration. Learning a unconnected linguistic plow skunk be a difficult and lengthy cultivate and I would not be at all surprised to lift up that several(prenominal) variables, so far not considered pregnant, were found to be of greatness in second- wording breeding. Hitherto, question has concentrated on individual difference features of the schoolchild such as, spoken communication anxiety, attitudes and motive, self-confidence, personality variables (e.g. risk-taking, inclination to succeed, empathy and so on), intelligence, field independence, speech study strategies, and lecture aptitude. However, in that respect argon other variables and other classes of variables that could be considered. This essay exit focus on pauperism, as I believe that mevery of these other variables be reliant on motivation for their personal effects to be realized. For example, verbiage- chance upon strategies argon unlikely to be used if the learner is not motivated to learn the second language and a learner pull up stakes be disinclined to take risks using the second language if he / she has little intention of learning it. Therefore, motivation is crucial, in the same way that language aptitude is, in determining the success or differently of learning a outside(prenominal) language in a classroom setting. Ellis (1985) states that motivated individuals who integrate two linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes of the learning make love will accomplish desirable attitudes and a higher score of second-language proficiency.Recent eld take seen an increase in the number of Libyan students coming to the UK to weigh for grad student degrees. A major issue for intimately of these students is their poor assertion of position, two verbal and written. This naturally has a detrimental impact on their ability to integrate into life in England, twain on and attain campus. An examination of their motivation to learn side may highlight the linguistic challenges they face in England and the summons of their adaptation to both their degree content and the new society and culture. Therefore, this essay will first undertake a literature review to look at research carried out into motivation for second-language acquisition. It will then describe and examine adult Libyan students instrumental and consolidative motivation in learning side of meat as a second language. Secondly, it will introduce a short semi-structured call into question with postgraduate Libyan students who have not long been in the UK. The purpose of the interview is to establish whether their death orientation is mainly instrumental or integrated. approximately conclusions will be made in advance some implications for classroom statement are drawn.Literature ReviewAccording to Dornyei (2009), it is necessary to know what motivation is so as to lift the motivational intensity of students. He defines motivation as a cluster of factors that energize the behaviour and give it direction. Alkinson (2000 123) defines motivation as the drift that learners put into learning a second language as a result of their motifs or desire to learn it.According to Gardner and Lambert (1972), there are two types of motivation compositional motivation and instrumental motivation. Gardner and Lambert (1972) state that endogenetic motivation occurs when learners are interested in learning roughly the second languages culture and want to communicate with speakers of that language and become integrated into that culture a to a greater extent interpersonal flavour of learning. On the other hand, Gardner (1996) states that instrumental motivation confer withs to those students who learn a second language in regulate to gain some kind of advantage be it economic (better paid job) or friendly (better status). They are thus more applicative and self-oriented. Lamp (2004) huskings that most Libyan students who larn slope as a second language are instrumentally sooner than integratedly orientated.Dornyei Ushioda (2009 53) believe that integrative orientation is an essential source of motivation because it is ground firmly in learners personalities. As such it is likely to exert its influence over an extended period and to sustain learning efforts over the m which is necessary to come u pon language learning success. Also, Skehan (1989) suggests that existence integratively oriented reads to greater motivation, which in turn athletic supporters to sustain the learner throughout the long process of mastering a second language, discriminateicularly when that learner only starts learning the new language in high school. slavish motivation on the other hand is little effective because it is not rooted in the learners personality. It is therefore more susceptible to negative external influences and the learner is less likely to put in the effort required to attain additive progress.According to Lamb (2004), over the last few years, motivation has except been re designualised. He argues that integrative motivation is becoming increasingly un serious in a sphericizing world in which incline is the medium of communication minglight-emitting diode with speakers of many languages, from many cultures, for many purposes. The desire to integrate with the first langua ge community hardly makes sense anymore. Therefore, the debate about the integrative model has intensified and has taken a new turn. Dornyei Ushioda (2009), ask whether we can follow through the concept of integrative orientation when there is no specific drive fibre group of speaker. In other words, does it makes sense to talk about integrative attitudes when averership of position does not necessarily rest with a specific community of speaker, whether American position or British incline? Moreover, does the notion of integrative motivation of learning face have any real meaning, given the increasing curricular reframing of side of meat as a universal basic skill to be taught from primary take aim on base literacy and numeracy, and given the predicted decline in numbers of face as a foreign language learners by the end of this decade? These questions have led some second-language motivation researchers to re remember the concept of integrative motivation. Yashima (20 02 57), for example, expands the notion of integrativeness to refer to a generalised inter matter outlook or international posture, which she defines with reference to Japanese learners of side who have an interest in foreign or international affairs, willingness to go overseas to stay or tap, readiness to move with intercultural patterns, and openness or a non-ethnocentric attitude toward different culture.Dornyei Ushioda (2009) expand this concept of international posture such that the external reference group moves from being a specific geographic and enthnolinguistic community to being a non-specific global community of English language users. Ushioda (2006) questions whether it is meaningful to conceptualise these points, i.e. is it meaningful to conceptualise the global community as an external reference group or as part of ones inner representation of oneself as a defacto portion of that global community?This theoretical shift of focus to the internal ground of self and identicalness by researchers such as those mentioned above makes this a radical rethink of the original integrative concept.Dornyei and Csizer (2002) speculate that the process of appellative theorised to underpin integrativeness might be better explained as an internal process of identification within the persons self-concept, rather than identification with an external reference group. Dornyei (2005 175) real this idea further by drawing on the psychological theory of possible selves. According to this theory, possible selves represent individuals ideas of what what they might become, what they would like to become, and what they shitless of becoming, and so provide a conceptual link between the self concept and motivation. Dornyei (2005) also builds on this theory of possible selves to develop a new conceptualisation of second- language motivation, the second language motivational self-system. Its primaeval concept is the idea of self, which refers to the representation of the attributes that someone would ideally like to have got (i.e. a representation of personal hopes, aspirations or desires).In relation to second-language motivation, Breen (2001) argues that second-language aquisition theorists have not developed a comprehensive theory of identity that integrates the language learners and the language-learning context. Breen (2001) uses the term identity to describe how a person understands his/her family to the world, how that relationship is constructed across time and space, and how the person understands possibilities for the future. Breen (2001 45) developed the motivational concept of investing to capture the socially and historically constructed relationship of the learner to the tar thwart language, and their often ambivalent desire to learn and practise it. When learners are interested in a language, they do so with the instinct that they will acquire a wider range of symbolic and material resources, which will enhance their cultur e capital, their identity and their desires for the future. Therefore, an investment in the betoken language is an investment in the learners own identity.Arnold (2002) designd that in addition to the current research and theories, there is a need to draw on a wider variety of theoretical viewpoints in order to further our understanding of motivation in second-language learning. Of these, the more important ones that are relevant to this essay include the cognitive perspective of learner last orientation, the theory of finale-setting and attributional theory, all of which will now be briefly discussed.Firstly, fit to Pintrich (1989), the cognitive perspective differentiates two major learner inclination orientations inalienable and extrinsic. Students demonstrate an extrinsic orientation if their reasons for engaging in a lying-in are to acquire grades, rewards, or approval from others.Conversely, Arnold (2000) maintains that if the rationale for students engaging in a task is curiosity, challenge, mastery, or learning, then they are considered to be per se oriented. Arnold (2000) also adds that there is much point in second-language acquisition literature to support the claim that intrinsic motivation is strongly connected to the outcomes of second-language learning. Harmer (2007) suggests, til now where the original reason for taking up a language course, for example, is extrinsic, the take on of success will be greatly enhanced if the students come to hump the learning process.According to Philips (2005) most Libyan students are extrinsically oriented. For example, all Libyan schools place a strong emphasis on tests, grades and competitiveness, all of which only serve to promote Libyan students extrinsic motivation. The students are only learning the second language to impress their parents and teachers rather than learning it because they love to do so.As a result, adult students who come to study in the UK have been extrinsically motivated t o simply do enough to pass exams and get a well-paid job after graduating.Secondly, according to Locke Latham (1994 55) the theory of goal setting is ground on the principle that much human action is purposeful, because it is directed by conscious goals. This theory explains why some deal carry out tasks better than others those who are goal oriented perform better and achieve more. Garden (1985) states that there are two important aspects of goals goal mechanisms and goal attributes. Content and intensity are the most widely studied goal attributes. However, goal specificity and goal difficulty are aspects of content which are most researched. Dornyei (2005) states that commitment is the most greennessly studied feature of intensity and this is the degree to which a person is attracted to the goal, considers it significant, is determined to achieve it, and sticks with it in the face of difficulties.Locke and Latham (1996 40) propose three direct mechanisms by which goals regula te performance Firstly, goals direct occupation toward actions which are goal appropriate at the expense of actions that are inappropriate. Secondly, goals decline expenditure in that individuals regulate their effort according to the complexity level of the goal or task. Thirdly, goals influence the perseverance of action in situations where there are no time limits.Finally, Dornyei Ushioda (2009) define the attributional theory of motivation. This portrays human beings as scientists who are motivated to achieve a causal understanding of the world. These strivings for a causal explanation are supposed to have behavioural implications. In an achievement-related context, the chief sets of causes considered responsible for failure and success are effort, ability, luck and task characteristics. Weiner (1992) states that these are analysed along two dimensions stability and lack of control. The stability dimension contrasts ability and task difficulty, both of which are thought to b e unchangeable, with effort and luck possibly changing on subsequent attempts to carry out a task. The lack of control aspect contrasts ability and effort (both internal factors) with task difficulty and luck (both external factors). In principle, individuals might attribute causes to any one of these 4 factors. Dont know if this is what you mean also not sure if its very clear, especially the bit about dimensions and the following bitstock of sentencesMotivation for Language Learning among Adult Libyan students in the UK Instrumental or Integrative?It has been established that individuals learn a second language in two main ways they are either instrumentally or integratively motivated. Among Libyan students, it would appear that instrumental motivation is more evident than integrative motivation and that teaching and learning for exams have dominated foreign language teaching in Libya. According to Philips (2005), in Libyan education, English is compulsory. The majority of Lib yan language learners do not choose to learn English consequently, many lack the internal drive for learning English and they have to depend on external driving forces. Philips (2005) adds that because English is compulsory, students see it as a means of improving their social standing. Moreover, the Libyan large number think that almost everything can be attained through hard work, even off if they take no personal interest in it. So, it is not odd that Libyan EFL students learn English to qualify for graduate and postgraduate education, to lay down themselves for the best future employment possible and to pass exams all of which are external factors and which align with several collective social expectations.Johnson Krug (1980) believe integrative motivation to be more prevalent than instrumental motivation in the learning process, since without external influencing factors, the student becomes unmotivated to learn. This however is not the case in cross-cultural situations. J ohnson Krug (1980) find that external driving forces, particularly those nurtured and back up by the exam system and curriculum in formal education, stick around to motivate the Libyan EFL student.Many studies have looked at motivation in a Libyan context, and found that instrumental orientation is very common among Libyan EFL students. Kara (1992) maintains that 99% of Libyan students of English are only learning English for reasons of certificate motivation. Philips (2005) argues that most Libyan individuals learn English for useful and patriotic reasons, for personal advancement as well as for national modernization and material gains. Libyan students are motivated to learn English because they believe that they will be financially better off in the future.InterviewThe aim of this short and semi-structured interview is to prove what has been shown through the research discussed above namely that adult Libyan students who come to study in the UK exhibit signs of instrumental o rientation rather than integrative orientation when it comes to their English learning experiences. This researcher will examine the motivation behind second-language acquisition in an informal setting and will interview postgraduate Libyan students who are undertaking MA and PhD studies in the UK.Research QuestionsSeveral questions were considered important for the purposes of this research. These were as followsWhat has motivated Libyan students in the UK to learn English?Do you think it is important to learn English, and why?What was your reason for learning English in the UK?What are your attitudes towards British commonwealth?And finally what work youll be doing in your hoidenish after graduating in the UK?Participants and Data Collection Procedures cardinal postgraduate Libyan students who are studying for degrees in the UK participated in this study. For both students, this was their first time in the UK and their first time in an English speaking country. twain respondent s were found through my own social cyberspace and were friends of a friend. See further details in Table (1) below. somaGenderAgeCurrent subjectDuration of study in the UKMohammedMale26MA MedicinesThree yearsLailaFemale29PhD TESOLFour yearsTable 1Data were collected from both students separately and at different times. Both students had already been in the UK for 18 months. Each interview in any casek approximately 30 minutes. Both students gave permission for their answers to be taped during the interviews.DiscussionBoth respondents believe that English is of great greatness to their academic education in the UK. Both had come to study at a postgraduate level in the UK in order to reform their career prospects and benefit financially upon graduating. As discussed before, these reasons show a intelligible instrumental orientation in their motivation for learning English.Both respondents matte up a current and urgent need to further improve their four skills reading, listening , speaking and physical composition of English despite their achievements in learning English in Libya before they came to the UK. Their experience of learning English in Libya involved particular training programs and / or formal instruction. This meant that they excelled at passing English exams rather than being able to converse in a practical way with English-speaking people. Having recognised that they might have some problems when they got to the UK, both respondents spent a year improving their knowledge of English before applying for their postgraduate courses. They also did this to assist them in their actual postgraduate work as both felt that they needed additional language skills in order to have it away with their studies. Mohammed said unwritten skills are important to me because they swear out me to communicate with people from different parts of the world and also suffice me in my academic degree. With ripe(p) oral skills I can cope more easily with academic a ctivities such as communication or discussions with my supervisor, understanding seminars and talking to other students about their studies. Laila however, said (English) reading and writing skills are particularly significant when it comes to writing my thesis.It was obvious that both respondents tended to be more preoccupied with an instrumental orientation. Kara (1992) found that Libyas motivation for learning English is very job-oriented and certainly very pragmatic. Libyans learn English because learning English provides them with a sense of achievement and encourages them secure better-paid jobs. For Mohammed, the practical aspects of the English language seemed to far outweigh the integrative dimension. He said Ill need English for my future career because I desire to work in the UK after graduating. My area of study is popular with the medical field in many countries, particularly in the UK. Working in the UK will be more lucrative for me than working in Libya. However, he added that if I were to find a job as a doctor and live in the UK, maybe I will have intrinsic goal orientations when it comes to learning English then because then I will want to be able to communicate with English people and have a deeper understanding of their community and culture so that I can integrate and ordinate to the society.The second interviewee, Laila said Studying English is essential to me since without it, an individual cannot be successful in any respected field, and also for me, studying English can be significant because if I am skilled in English, others will respect me more. In addition, she said, In my country Libya, people who get a good degree in an English speaking country find it easier to find a well-paid job because my country lacks qualified English teachers in higher education. She also added I am interested in using the Internet as a communication tool to help me learn about people from different countries. It is also useful for decision information and learning materials in English.Both respondents had negative attitudes towards British people that they had met. They felt that British people were arrogant, impatient and prejudiced. This could be considered further evidence of instrumental orientation. According to Dornyei Ushioda (2009), negative attitudes towards the target language community, may lead to a lack of interest in interacting with the people of the target language. Mohammed had experience of being treated rudely and impatiently by an English person when he had asked for directions. Having had this experience, he was less willing to interact with English people in case it happened again.Laila said my English landlord treated me less favorably in the allocation of rooms than English tenants who shared the same house. This is a sad example of a negative experience as a result of Lailas aspiration towards integrative motivation. Laila felt that her landlord was prejudiced against individuals from developing countri es. She too has had negative experiences when trying to interact with ordinary British people in the street. Laila asked a woman for some directions to the coach station and this woman not only ignored the question but also walked quickly away. As a result, Laila has felt frustrated by some British people who she found to be very arrogant and would have preferred to avoid.Both respondents, despite their negative attitudes toward English people, felt that they were more successful in learning English in the UK than at home. Johnson Krug (1980) suggest that people who rated foreign people negatively were more successful than those who rated them positively and that the expression of negative feeling towards them only spurred them on to overcome and manipulate the people of the target language.Finally, both respondents were able to agree that their motivational goals with regard to learning English were instrumental. Both said that they hoped to get better-paid jobs after graduating a nd English skills were part of this boilersuit plan.In summary, the interview process has shown that both Libyans were highly motivated to learn English and that they had a higher degree of instrumental motivation than integrative motivation.According to Pintrich (1989) and from his cognitive perspective, the data would indicate that both respondents exhibited extrinsic goal orientations. Both believed that learning English would assist them in their postgraduate studies, enhance their career prospects, improve their English interactions and communications and assist them in integrating into British communities. In other words, learning English was seen to improve their quality of life in the UK.ConclusionMotivation is one of the most significant factors influencing learners second-language proficiency and achievement. Libyan students show signs of being instrumentally motivated rather than integratively motivated. In order to illustrate this, an interview was set up to investigate motivation to learn English among Libyan postgraduate students. Data gathered during the interviews support the theory that they had been motivated to learn out of the belief in the instrumental or extrinsic value of English, primarily for their studies and future career prospects. some research showed that current English teaching methods in Libya are targeted towards achieving good grades rather than promoting proficiency. Whilst many Libyan students do well in the English exams in Libya, their ability to use English in an English-speaking surroundings on a day-to-day basis remains limited. It has been shown that instrumentally motivated EFL students in Libya learn English to increase their employment prospects, increase their salary expectations and for social advancement. Instrumental motivation is maintained through the exam system and its accompanying teaching environment.Classroom implicationsAccording to Dornyei and Csizer (2001), teachers play an important role in maxim izing students motivation to learn a second language in the classroom. To this end, there are some teaching and learning strategies, which could be sedulous in the English-learning classroom.Firstly, Dornyei and Csizer (2001) suggest that teachers should dispense with the traditional teacher-centered teaching methods and instead move on students to use their initiative. English could be introduced using multi-media examples such as music, film, TV and literature. Once their interest is induced, students will be motivated to take part in classroom activities and so attain the goal of language learning. Teachers need to take on many roles cooperator, organizer, informant, initiator, guide, participant and advisor. A learner-centered class is a successful class with learners playing the dominant role. Learner-centered dynamic classrooms can help learners to make progress and encourage them to practise the second language.Secondly, Dornyei (2001) states that teachers should create a r elaxed atmosphere in the classroom because a tense atmosphere can cause anxiety amongst learners and this hinders their motivation and effectiveness in a foreign language. Additionally, teachers should choose teaching materials that are appropriate for the learners and that create a desire for learning. Authentic and interesting teaching materials enable learners to improve their verbal and oral communication skills in real-life situations.Thirdly, Dornyei (2001) adds that teachers should increase self-confidence among students of English through boost rather than scolding or criticising.Finally, Dornyei and Csizer (1998) assert that a teacher can increase students natural curiosity towards the English community and its culture by discussing things like geography, history, lifestyle, political matters, day-to-day living and using written, audio and visual information. Drawing upon the experience of students who have visited English-speaking countries is also a apposite way to intr oduce interesting information. Teachers should help students to realize that they are not just learning English to pass exams. Students should look upon the exercise as a means of learning about other cultures, people and societies. Teachers of English should cultivate positive attitudes among their students towards English speaking people and cultures, thereby promoting integrative motivation for learning English.Check the spellings of the researchers names you quote there were several inconsistencies which Ive corrected (after checking in google) but you might like to check that they are indeed spelled correctly.