Students’ Motivation Towards Learning English as a Foreign Language: Instrumental or Integrative

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the motivation of students in the English Language and Literature Department at Mu’tah University for learning English from their perspectives. The sample of the study consisted of 289 students who responded to an electronic questionnaire, which comprised 36 items distributed over two domains: instrumental and integrative motivations.

Methodology: The study used a descriptive analytical approach and was conducted during the first semester of the academic year 2023-2024.

Results: The results showed that students’ motivations, in general, were high for both instrumental and integrative motivations. The mean score for instrumental motivation was 3.858, with a standard deviation of 0.73, while the integrative motivation had a mean score of 3.927 and a standard deviation of 0.65, indicating that integrative motivation was ranked first. Results showed a statistically significant difference in students’ motivation in both domains (instrumental and integrative) due to GPA category. Additionally, there were statistically significant differences in the integrative motivation domain based on the year of study. The mean score for first-year students was lower than the mean scores of the other years of study. Finally, results showed no statistically significant differences in both instrumental and integrative motivations due to gender, nor any statistically significant differences in instrumental motivation based on the year of study.

Conclusions: In light of these results, it is recommended to encourage first-year students and those whose GPA falls in the category of 60-69 to develop positive attitudes towards learning English as a foreign language.