Motivation to Learn English as a Foreign Language among Iraqi Students

Abstract

Motivation is recognized as a key factor contributing to learners 'development of language skills. It widely accepted that both types of motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) are crucial parts of mastering a foreign language as well as a second language. The increasing number of learners of English as a foreign language has led to a number of studies that have attempted to investigate the patterns of motivation that learners have and its relation to other factors driving language learning success. A small number of studies have investigated the general patterns of Iraqi university students' motivation towards learning English as a foreign language. Hence, the main aim of this study is to examine Iraqi university students' motivation towards learning English as a foreign language. This study employed descriptive analytic design. One hundred and fifty college foreign language students were recruited to answer the questionnaire that encompassed questions regarding the motivation toward English language learning. One-Sample Test was conducted to examine the general patterns of Iraqi university students' motivation toward learning English language as a foreign language. One-way ANOVA analysis was also run to determine whether there are significant differences between types of motivation and the gender as well as the study year. This study showed that students have intrinsic along with extrinsic motivation for learning English as a foreign language. In addition, the gender has a significant effect on students' extrinsic motivation to learn English as a foreign language compare with intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, the study year has no impact on the students' motivation towards learning English language as a foreign language.