Accentuating the Enhanced Roles of Integrative and Instrumental Motivation in English Language Learning
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21460/saga.2025.61.220Keywords:
Integrative motivation, Instrumental motivation, English LearningAbstract
A mass of studies has unfolded the accentuating role of motivation in promoting learning outcomes. However, those studies were focused on the quantified data exhibiting the significance of instrumental and integrative motivation without sufficiently delving into the impacts of these motivations. Thus, this study aimed to enhance the insights of the motivations’ role based on the learners’ perspectives. A qualitative approach was employed to examine the responses from 15 selected participants. Data was obtained from a one-on-one interview extracted from Gardner's Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) and scrutinized using holistic and specifically focused analysis. The findings revealed that the two motivations aroused learning enjoyment, anxiety, earlier/regular exposures, and language habits. To some extent, integrative motivation promotes greater positive influences than instrumental motivation. Learners with integrative orientation were more regularly exposed to the language due to the internal desire to be directly engaged with the speaking group. Hence, they found learning more enjoyable and actively used it daily. In contrast, instrumentally motivated learners tended to be anxious as they were driven to attain external rewards and hardly enjoyed the learning process. They occasionally learned the language for a unique goal that lessened the language exposure. As a result, the integrative learners outperformed the instrumentally-oriented learners. However, the finding shows that both motivations should be synergized to expect better learning outcomes.
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