English language students and their motivations to learn language

Abstract

The present study is about English language students and their motivation to learn the language. The purpose of the study is to know about students´ perceptions in relation to their motivation to learn English inside the classroom by answering the following questions: What do you think motivates students to learn English? And what do you think hinders students to learn English? This study was carried out in the towns of Inés Arango, Dayuma and Taracoa, Orellana province. Five public high schools were selected for the research. The participants were students 8th to 2nd years of high school. The instrument used to collect the data was a questionnaire and the observation sheets; they provided information related to the motivation of students to learn English in the learning process in five public high schools. The method used in this study was quantitative and qualitative. Results were supported by the information gotten from the student´s questionnaires and observation sheets. Finally, the results indicated that students in the Ecuadorian public high schools have a high level of motivation to learn English. Keywords: motivation, language learning, hinder, English.