LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 10 : 7 July 2010
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         K. Karunakaran, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.

HOME PAGE

AN APPEAL FOR SUPPORT

  • We seek your support to meet the expenses relating to the formatting of articles and books, maintaining and running the journal through hosting, correrspondences, etc.Please write to the Editor in his e-mail address languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com to find out how you can support this journal. Thank you. Thirumalai, Editor.

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIAL

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Contributors from South Asia may send their articles to
    B. Mallikarjun,
    Central Institute of Indian Languages,
    Manasagangotri,
    Mysore 570006, India     or e-mail to mallikarjun@ciil.stpmy.soft.net.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and booklength reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2009
M. S. Thirumalai
 
Web www.languageinindia.com

Role of L2 Motivation and the Performance of Intermediate Students in
the English (L2) Exams in Pakistan

Tahir Ghafoor Malik, M.S., Ph.D. Candidate

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of motivation in the performance of Intermediate students in the English (L2) Exams. Motivation has been regarded as one of the most important F.A.ctors in the process of second language learning. A class of Intermediate (F.A./F.Sc.) students is studied. Students' motivation is investigated according to Gardner's views on motivation as he described them is his socio-educational model (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1993).

A result of final English (L2) Exam is collected in order to see whether or not there is a difference between the performance of F.A. (Arts and Humanities) and F.Sc. (Pre-Engineering/Pre-Medical) students in the English exams.

To check the role of motivation in the students' performance, two lickert scale questionnaires are developed consisting of 15 items each; one questionnaire for the students and the other for the concerned teacher. The opinion of the concerned teacher is also obtained on a blank piece of paper.

The study shows that there is a big difference between the performance of F.A. and F.Sc. students in the English exams, whereas there is no significant difference between the motivation level of F.A. and F.Sc. students for learning English as L2. So, the paper suggests that the L2 motivation does not play a significant role in the better performance of intermediate F.Sc.. students in the English exams.

1. Introduction

With particular reference to L2 learning, Gardner states that motivation is "the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language" (Gardner 1994). Thus according to Gardner (1994), a motivated individual shows "favorable attitudes toward learning the language". Oxford summarizes Gardner's definition of motivation as: "a goal, a desire to attain the goal, positive attitudes toward learning the language, and effortful behavior to that effect."

Many variables have been proposed and discussed that influence second language learning. Motivation is considered to be one of the most important variables that affect the level of achievement in a second language (L2). In this study, Gardner and MacIntyre's (1993) socio-educational model of second language acquisition is used to compare the F.A. and F.Sc. students' motivation and its impact on their scores in the English (L2) exams.

2. Objectives

This paper aims to:

  • Measure and compare the levels of motivation of F.A. and F.Sc. students for learning the English (L2) language;
  • Investigate the impact of motivation on the better performance of the F.Sc. students than that of the F.A. students; and
  • Discuss some of the other related factors which might contribute to the better performance of the F.Sc. students.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

EAT Expressions in Manipuri | Learning from Movies - 'Slumdog Millionaire' and Language Awareness | Maternal Interaction and Verbal Input in Normal and Hearing Impaired Children | Role of L2 Motivation and the Performance of Intermediate Students in the English (L2) Exams in Pakistan | Problems in Ph.D. English Degree Programme in Pakistan - The Issue of Quality Assurance | Using Technology in the English Language Classroom | Teaching Literature through Language - Some Considerations | e-Learning of Japanese Pictography - Some Perspectives | Is It a Language Worth Researching? Ethnographic Challenges in the Study of Pahari Language | Using a Reading Material for Interactive Reading | Importance of Task-Based Teaching in Second Language Acquisition - A Review | Skill Enhancement Techniques - The Necessary Tools for the Indian Management Students | African American Literature and Ishmael Reed's Novels - Hoodism | Instances of Code Switching in Indian Television Serials | The Role of Compounding in Technical English Prescribed for Engineering Students in Tamilnadu | Polite Request Strategies as Produced by Yemeni EFL Learners | Manju Kapoor's Difficult Daughters - A Saga of Feminist Autonomy and Separate Identity | Reflections on Partition Literature - A Comparative Analysis of Ice Candy Man and Train to Pakistan | Mother Tongue! The Neglected Resource for English Language Teaching And Learning | Breaking the Good Mother Myths - A Study of the Novels of Amy Tan | Effect of Teachers' Academic Qualification on Students' L2 Performance at the Secondary Level | What Is Most Important? Fluency or Accuracy? Is Learning a Second Language a Conscious Process? | Let Us Learn from Our Standard 1 Textbook, Again! - A Brief Note on the New Standard 1 Tamil Textbook in Tamilnadu | Eugene O' Neill's The Hairy Ape - An American Expressionistic Play | A PRINT VERSION OF ALL THE PAPERS OF JULY 2010 ISSUE IN BOOK FORMAT | HOME PAGE of July 2010 Issue | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR

Tahir Ghafoor Malik, M.S., Ph.D. Candidate
Department of English (SSS&H)
University of Management & Technology (UMT)
C-II, Johar Town, Lahore- 54770
Punjab, Pakistan
tahirgmalik@hotmail.com

 
Web www.languageinindia.com
  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknolwedged the work or works of others you either cited or used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian scholarship.