Integrative Motivation in a Foreign Language Classroom: A Study on the Nature of Motivation of the Russian Language Learners in Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Nikitina, Larisa, and Furuoka, Fumitaka, (2005) Integrative Motivation in a Foreign Language Classroom: A Study on the Nature of Motivation of the Russian Language Learners in Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Jurnal Kinabalu, Jurnal Perniagaan & Sains Sosial, 11 . pp. 23-34. ISSN 1394-4517

Affiliations

Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Abstract

In research on motivation it is customary to view the construct as a dyadic unity of extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. Research on motivation in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) adopts a similar approach and employs the integrative-instrumental scale which includes learners’ attitudes towards the culture and native speakers of the language they learn. This study aims to look at the status of integrative motivation in a foreign language classroom. For this purpose contents analysis of open-ended questionnaires distributed among the Russian language learners in Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) was carried out. As the results reveal, though initially only traces of integrative motivation had been detected, there occurred changes in the learners’ motivational pattern in the course of their studies. This fact indicates that learners’ motivation is a dynamic rather than static phenomenon. A pedagogical implication of this finding is that learning situation and classroom context may provide venues for language instructors to alter the learners’ motivational patterns.

Item Type:

Journal

Keywords:

motivation, language learning, foreign language teaching, Malaysia

Subjects:

P Language and Literature
L Education

ID Code:

3045