Motivation research and SLA: Bringing it into the classroom

Abstract

This study addresses the variable of motivation, which is of prime concern to EFL/ESL teachers. Specifically, it was undertaken to assess the hypothesized association between student-perceived course usefulness and interest/ motivation level in mandatory general and specific purposes (ESP) English second language courses. The study was conducted at one Canadian post-secondary institution over three semesters (N = 615). The participants were enrolled in four course levels and two fields of study. Data collection was undertaken using a one-page questionnaire consisting of ten Likert-scale questions and two-short answer questions. The results indicate that ratings of usefulness and interest are significantly higher for ESP than general ESL courses. Furthermore, there is a significant relationship between usefulness and interest. This relationship varies significantly by level, but not by field of study. The confirmation of a connection between usefulness and interest is pertinent to any adult ESL/EFL situation, particularly in situations where the courses are mandatory and the students therefore not necessarily intrinsically motivated. As interest has already been established as a precursor for motivation, it follows that increasing the usefulness of content would also increase motivation for this target population.