Preliminary communication

STUDENTS' MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING BUSINESS ENGLISH

Antonia Tudor ; University College of Management and Design Aspira, Split, Croatia
Sandra Kovačević ; University College of Management and Design Aspira, Split, Croatia
Ada Reić orcid.org/0000-0003-3719-020X ; University College of Management and Design Aspira, Split, Croatia

Abstract

This paper presents the research of students' attitudes toward learning English language at the University College of Sports and Tourism Management. Many linguists divided motivation into various groups in their research. However, linguists Lambert and Gardner, who conducted the most extensive research on the subject of motivation, divided it into two groups, integrative and instrumental. The aim of this study is to show if the students' motivation for learning English language is based on integrative motivation, i.e., the need to not only learn the language, but to get to know the culture and customs of the country where the language is spoken, or on instrumental motivation, i.e., the desire to learn language to achieve a particular goal. The initial assumption is that it is based on instrumental motivation. The introductory part contains a review of the research and conclusions of eminent linguists who dealt with the topic of motivation and discusses the importance of student motivation, as well. Afterwards, the analysis and results of survey conducted on a sample of 41 students are presented in order to point out how to approach English teaching at University College. Results of the study confirmed the initial assumption since a high percentage of students expressed a positive attitude towards the statements which support integrative motivation, but with a surprisingly high percentage of integrative motivation among students. Nevertheless, the integrative motivation is less common among students. This shows that integrative motivation should be encouraged in the classroom because students need to get to know the culture and customs of the language they are learning in order to become a part of the business world.

Keywords

English language; integrative motivation; instrumental motivation; sports and tourism management students

Hrčak ID:

183420

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/183420

Publication date:

26.6.2017.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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