Exploring the Role of Motivational Factors in the Academic Achievement of EFL Learners

Abstract

 

The purpose of this research is to explore the role of motivational factors in the academic achievement of EFL learners. The research was conducted at a State University, Faculty of Education in Turkey. The participants were 230 freshman prospective teachers from four different academic majors taking English class. Attitude/Motivation Test Battery which was composed of two parts as demographic part and the questionnaire was used to collect data about the participants’ views on motivational factors influencing their academic achievement. Then, the data collected from the questionnaire was compared with the test scores of the participants at the end of the semester. The results of the research suggest that most of the motivational factors had a significant difference in the academic achievement of Turkish EFL learners. Furthermore, gender and academic major were directly affected   by the motivational factors.

Keywords

• motivation, motivational factors, role of motivation in achievement, language learning

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