MOTIVATION TO LEARN ENGLISH AND USE OF COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES

Abstract

The paper is a part of the researcher’s Ph. D. research work in the area of interaction analysis. Motivation, as a state of mind, plays an important role in the learner’s performance in a second/ foreign language. The concept, motivation, has been categorized by Gardener and Lambert (1972) under two labels, namely, instrumental and integrative motivation. The researcher, as a part of her main study, examined the types of motivation to learn English among the non-native Indian learner participants in the study and analysed the correlation between their levels of motivation and their use of communication strategies while they participated in the group tasks devised by the researcher for this purpose. The paper, based on the findings of the study, concludes with an emphasis on a need on the part of teaching fraternity to elevate the levels of learners’ motivation by providing them more opportunities for exposure to the language and building on their own needs for developing ability in English.