Motivation In Second Language Essay

The main reason for doing this research is to determine the motivations and attitudes of students towards learning English as a second or foreign language in Engineering colleges of North and South India. This thought occurred when I noticed while teaching in a classroom that the students’ attitude and motivation towards learning English language varied across culture as well as different states. The students in Punjab do not have very good command over English but they are willing to learn. In Tamil Nadu some students can speak in English but they prefer to speak in their native language.

Gardner (1985, p.83) has rightly observed that, “Based on the literature review and considering all the issues involved, it seems clear that achievement in a second language is influenced by attitudinal / motivational characteristics”. Dorneyi (2004, p. 273) also

I have also discussed in detail about the language learning.

Motivation

The accomplishment of any action generally depends on the extent to which individuals endeavor to achieve their goal, along with their desire to do so. In general, this psychological factor- the impulse that generates the action can be named as- “motivation”. As the term itself indicates, it is a “motive force”, something that prompts, incites or stimulates action. According to The Short Oxford English Dictionary, motivation is “that which moves or induces a person to act in a certain way; a desire, fear, reason, etc. which influences a person’s volition: also often applied to a result or object which is desired.”

Williams and Burden (1997, p.120) see motivation as “a state of cognitive and emotional arousal, a state which leads to a conscious decision to act and gives rise to a period of sustained intellectual and/ or physical effort”. Thus intellect and effect combine with volition and perseverance to result in