English language students and their motivation to learn the language

Abstract

Abstract:This research aimed at investigating English language students and their motivation to learn the language, to answer, what students think motive them to learn English and what they think hinder to learn it. It was conducted in two high schools in Cuenca, Ecuador. A random sample of 100 male and female students (20 per class), whose ages ranged between 12 and 17, was comprised in representation of five classes, from 8th EGB to 3rd Senior high school, except 2nd Senior high school, during the period 2015-2016. Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. A student's questionnaire and an observation sheet were applied to examine aspects that influence their motivation to learn English. Additionally, five lessons were observed to monitor the learning performance. Results reveal that most of the students like to learn English because they are intrinsically motivated and instrumentally oriented. Nonetheless, main factors that hinder students to learn English are the complexity of topics, the number of learners in the classroom and their low level of knowledge in the language.