An Investigation into Attitudes towards Learning English and the Motivation Type (Integrative vs. Instrumental) in Iranian Students at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Abstract

Learning a second language is of paramount importance as it equips one with the ability to communicate with people of other cultures. There are some factors that affect the success of learning a new language. The most omnipresent of all are students‟ attitudes and motivation. L2 learners‟ motivation helps them move forward and make progress and is deemed to be the key to successful language learning. Motivation for learning a language can have a variety of natures, the most important of which being „instrumental‟ and „integrative‟. Some students strive to learn a language for practical purposes such as entering college or meeting some requirements (i.e. instrumental) whereas others have an affinity for a particular language or for identifying with its native speakers (integrative). This study encompassed Iranian postgraduate students who were studying in Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia (UKM), doing either their master‟s or PhD in a variety of majors. The objective was to shed light on their attitudes towards learning English, the second language studied there, and the comparative nature of their motivation, in terms of being instrumentally or integratively oriented. Using a number of instruments, it came to light that those students had highly positive attitudes towards learning English. Moreover, results showed that they had high levels of both integrative and instrumental motivations although the instrumental motivation outweighed the other type. Stated differently, the majority of students were interested in learning English mainly to get a better job or to pursue their studies at a higher degree.

Keywords

• Integrative Motivation
• Instrumental Motivation
• Attitudes
• Iranian
• International Students