The Relationship Between Motivation and English L2 Achievement in
Dutch Secondary School Pupils
– Extracting the Most Influential Factors
Bachelor thesis Alina Gerber 10577912 University of Amsterdam Nihayra Leona 24.12.2016 Word count 6926
Contents
Abstract ... 3 Introduction ... 4 Methods ... 13 Participants ... 13 Materials ... 14 Procedure ... 17 Analysis Techniques ... 17 Results ... 18 Standardisation Check ... 18 Main Analysis ... 19 Discussion ... 22 References ... 27Abstract
Being part of a socially and economically interconnected world with English as the lingua franca, the Netherlands consider passing a law which makes English a main subject in the Dutch educational system from 2032 onwards. Considering the involuntary nature of having to learn English at school, this paper aims to find the motivational factors in English L2 achievement in Dutch secondary school pupils. Therefore, 46 students aged 12-14 years completed four English L2 achievement tasks and a motivation questionnaire which was based on Gardner's Socio-Educational Model and Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self-System Model. In order to extract the most influential motivational factors, regression analyses were created. A model formed by six out of 15 factors predicted L2 achievement the best. The influential factors were Desire to Learn English, Parental Encouragement, Interest in Foreign Languages, Motivational Intensity, English Use Anxiety and Ought-to L2 Self. It should be noted that unexpectedly some factors had a negative influence.
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Introduction
The English language is known for its irregularities and opaque orthography (Caravolas & Bruck, 1993). Orthography can be defined as written or printed symbols which represent a sound, whereas opacity refers to how transparent the conversion of a symbol into a sound may be (Hoff, 2013). One popular example to emphasise opacity of English is the word ghoti. Read it out loud. Did you realise how it actually is a creative spelling of the word fish? Gh like in enough, o like in women and ti like in nation. This opacity is just one of the challenges children learning to read and write English have to master.
A second more general problem is the typical lack of one-on-one dyadic interaction with the target language when acquiring a second language (L2). In comparison to first language acquisition, children receive less input and their language models are mainly peers (Hoff, 2013). The opacity and lack of interaction may negatively influence a child's motivation to learn English as a second language. On the other hand, many western countries, for example the Netherlands, expect children to acquire English as a second language. Even further, a new law concerning education has been proposed which requires English to be taught as a main subject from 2032 onwards
(Onderwijs2032, 2016). Having to deal with the difficulties of an opaque language and little interaction possibilities but the requirement to learn English as an L2, it is important to understand all motivational factors that play a role in English L2 achievement. Focussing on secondary school children has several advantages. Besides the gap between the compulsory learning of English but not yet having the opportunity to have frequent interaction with an English community, research by Dubrvinska (2014) indicates a decrease of general interest in studying during puberty. Also a general decrease in self-control can be observed (Casey, 2015). Therefore, secondary school children represent a target group that may be especially difficult to motivate. For these reasons this study aims to find the relationship between motivation and English L2 achievement in Dutch secondary students in order to expose motivational factors that may support L2 achievement. This
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will be done by extracting motivational factors from two main theoretical approaches concerning L2 motivation.
The social relevance of speaking English can best be understood considering the importance of English. As Jenkins and Leung (2013) state English is a lingua franca and therefore highly demanded due to globalisation, for international trade and economics. Lingua franca can be defined as the agreement on speaking one common language between speakers of different mother tongues (Lingua Franca, n.d.). This also has an impact on tourism, considering that Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, is one of Europe's biggest tourist attractions (Amsterdam en de Wereld:
Toerisme en Congresswezen, n.d.). In European context English is the most widely-spoken foreign language. In comparison to other European countries, the Netherland's English skills are already outstanding, with approximately 87% of the population stating to be able to speak English (Eurobarometer, 2006). These statistics, however, are rather out-dated and should be evaluated critically since the actual skills were not measured, but only self-reported. Nevertheless, the importance of speaking English cannot be overstated in an economically strong and internationally focused country like the Netherlands.
However, the Eurobarometer (2006) has also shown that the main reasons for not studying a second language amongst pupils are lack of motivation and lack of time. These results do not seem to be too surprising since research from decades ago already showed an observable relationship between motivation and L2 achievement; the higher one's motivation the better one's performance (Gardner, 1959). According to Gardner (2006), besides motivation, ability plays an important role in achievement. However, it is motivation that can be influenced, rather than ability. Therefore,
providing more knowledge about the motivational factors that play part in achievement, may lead to actual improvements in the Dutch educational system. Finding factors that motivate pupils to study harder and therefore perform better in English can lead to improved English classes and study materials on a group level. Using a well-fitted motivation questionnaire on individuals may moreover uncover where and why there is a lack of motivation. As a result, intervention programs
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for teachers or even parents can aim to increase motivational factors and help students to improve. Therefore, exploring and using the relationship between motivational factors and L2 achievement can positively influence the Dutch educational system.
During the past six decades of research on motivation and L2 achievement, two main theoretical approaches evolved: The socio-educational model by Gardner and the L2 motivational self-system model by Dörnyei. The approaches will be separately explained, presenting possible advantages and research supporting the theory, eventually evaluating flaws.
Gardner's socio-educational model (SEDM; Gardner, 2006) consists of five main factors and eleven sub scales. The sub scales are found in the Attitude/ Motivational Test Battery (AMTB) an instrument, measuring L2 motivation based on SEDM. Further explanation and examples of items can be found in the Methods section on Page 14. Figure 1,displays the constructs and their
relationship to the scales.
Integrativeness is an individual's group-focused, affective reaction to either other cultures in general or the target culture in particular (Gardner, 2006). It can be presented by a certain openness to identify with another language community, or at least a deeper interest and the desire to interact with members of the other community (Masgoret & Gardner, 2003). It implies an emotional or
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Figure 1. Gardner's socio-educational model with its five main factors and eleven sub scales.
psychological identification with the target language community or if absent with the immediate learning context (Gardner, 2001). It is thought that an interplay between cultural factors, family beliefs and attitudes, and genetic predispositions lead to differences in Integrativeness (Gardner, 2006). The sub scales belonging to Integrativeness are Integrative Orientation (IO), Attitudes toward the Target Group (ALC) and Interest in Foreign Languages (IFL). The second factor is called Attitudes toward the Learning Situation, it is the affective reaction to aspects associated with the educational system like the atmosphere and materials used (Gardner, 2007). The scales
accompanying are Teacher Evaluation (TEACH) and Course Evaluation (CLASS). The third factor is Instrumentality which represents the utilitarian or practical purpose of learning the language. The scale is Instrumental Orientation (INST). The fourth factor is Motivation, that contains three facets, which taken together cover the most important behavioural, cognitive and affective components.
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The scales are Motivational intensity (MI), Desire to Learn the Language (DESIRE) and Attitudes toward Learning the Language (ALL). The last factor is called Language Anxiety and reflects negative feelings towards the use of a language resulted from previous experience and effects future learning. Scales are Language Class Anxiety (CLASS) and Language Use Anxiety (USE). As the arrows indicate, Motivation works as a mediator between Attitudes Toward the Learning Situation, Integrativeness, Instrumentality and Achievement whereas Language Anxiety has a reciprocal relationship with Achievement.
SEDM played the central role in the last 40 years of research on motivation in L2 learning (Kormos & Csizer, 2008) and the AMTB is a well-established, valid and reliable instrument that has been translated and used in many contexts (Gardner, 2006). Furthermore, research has been
conducted which empirically supports Gardner's SEDM. Gardner (2008) conducted a study in Catalonia, Spain to find a relationship between learning strategies, motivation and L2 achievement. Secondary school students who participated had to learn English as an L2. The adapted and
translated AMTB was used to measure motivation, the students' grades and self-perceived competence indicated English reading skills and listening comprehension. Correlations were calculated between motivation and English achievement. Moreover, a Path Analytic Model, a sort of Structural Equation Model was conducted. Correlations between motivation and achievement were high. The Final Path Analytic Model showed the strong relationship in between the sub scales, and between the sub scales and achievement. Even though this research has focused roughly on the same ages and used English as the target language, using English achievement measurements instead of grades and self-perceived competence should have a more objective value. A second study conducted by MacIntyre, MacMaster and Baker (2001) used high school students with French as their L2. The aim of the study was to compare Gardner's SEDM with two other theoretical approaches on L2 learning, namely Pintrich's perspective on academic motivation and Kuhl's action control model. Pintriches model is based on expectancy-value theories which means that motivation derives from the anticipated outcome of behaviour in relation to its desirability. The theory
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furthermore relies on the use of strategies to learn L2. Kuhl's model is based on an action versus a state orientation theory which refers to the ability to maintain or initiate in comparison to a state of hesitation. Four test batteries using questionnaires on attitudes and motivation for learning French were obtained. Structural equation modeling was used, which enables the testing of whether or not a model is able to account for relationships amongst variables. Gardner's SEDM evolved as the
superior model showing an excellent fit to the data. Contrarily, however, an older version of the AMTB has been used, representing only ten scales and labeling them differently.
A third research conducted by Takagi (2016) aimed to find a relationship between motivation to learn a foreign language and language grades. Five groups of learners where used, all having English as their mother tongue, but studying either Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Arabic or French as their L2. The participants came from very different demographical backgrounds. Motivation was measured using an adjusted AMTB. The motivation to learn an L2 differed highly between students with different grades, displaying positive correlation between grades and motivation ”. This
research emphasizes the value of AMTB amongst different demographical backgrounds.
Moreover, not all SEDM research has proven to be strong. Gardner (2007) presents data from two groups of Spanish students. Six SEDM factors are correlated with the students' English grades. The six factors were Motivation, Attitudes Towards Learning Situation, Integrativeness, Language Anxiety, Instrumentality and Parental Encouragement. A high positive correlation was found between motivation and grades, and a high negative correlation between anxiety and grades. The correlation between attitudes toward learning situation and grades, however, was significant but very weak. Gardner's results seem to show that some constructs are by far stronger in correlations than others.
It can be concluded that Gardner's socio-educational model played a central role in L2 motivation by providing a strong instrument - the AMTB. In the past years, however, SEDM came under attack.
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integrativeness. The aim to learn an L2 in the 21st century is to enable communication with non-native speakers in an international environment rather than with one target language community. Therefore, identification with the target language community as a motive to learn L2 is outdated and integrativeness loses its relevance. Yashima (2002) proposes to speak of a cosmopolitan identity and international posture instead, indicating how L2 learning may be connected to one's self-image. Arnett (2002) even argues that individuals feel pressured to develop a bilingual identity which partly consists of their local culture and partly of international mainstream.
A model that explains motivation to learn an L2 as part of one's identity is Dörnyei's L2 motivational self-system model (L2MSM). The model consists of three main components. Firstly, the Ideal L2 Self refers to the image of one's ideal self speaking the L2 (Dörnyei, 2009). It can be seen as the ideal image of an L2 user one aspires to become (Papi, 2010). Reducing the discrepancy between the ideal self that speaks L2 and the actual self which is less skilled at L2 is a powerful motivator (Dörnyei, 2009). For instance, imagining oneself as a globetrotter with fluent L2 and international friends motivates one to achieve higher. The second component is Ought-to L2 Self which resembles one's ought-to self, which is less internalised and reflects the duties and
obligations one expects to have to fulfill. Therefore, it also refers to the avoidance of negative outcomes if one does not behave how it is ought to be. An example is doing homework and learning vocabularies which one perceives as a duty if learning an L2. The last component is L2 Learning Experience which refers to the immediate learning context and earlier experiences. Within the context of school this concerns the teacher, the atmosphere, materials, etc.
Several studies have been conducted giving empirical support for Dörnyei's L2 motivational self-system model. Ryan (2009) did research on self and identity in L2 motivation in Japan. After having collected data using an adapted motivational questionnaire, the data was compared to data from Dörnyei et al. (2006) to find underlying patterns. Learners of English from tertiary and secondary educational institutions were used. Besides Dörnyei's L2MSM components plenty of other possible factors were added measuring motivated behaviour. These factors were
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Integrativeness and Instrumentality from Gardner's SEDM as well e.g. travel orientation or L1 willingness to communicate. Correlations were calculated revealing a high correlation between Integrativeness and Ideal L2 self, however, Ideal L2 Self has a more direct relationship to motivated behaviour. It therefore was concluded that Dörnyei's L2MSM is more powerful than Gardner's SEDM, claiming the concept of integrativeness to simply be an element of a broader L2 concept. Important to note is that Ryan based his conclusion on correlations rather than a classical conducted research.
A second research by Cziser and Kormos (2009) worked on the relationship between learning experiences, L2-selves and motivated learning behaviour. Data from secondary school, college and university students from Budapest, Hungary was used to apply a structural equation modelling (SEM). As mentioned earlier, SEM evaluates relations between latent variables and estimates a fit between data and model. Measuring motivated learning behaviour, Dörnyei's L2MSM factors and three additional antecedents, namely parental encouragement, international posture and knowledge orientation were used. The research shows that Ideal L2 self and L2 learning experience are
important in motivated learning behaviour, whereas Ought-to L2 plays a limited role. Also, there was a difference between secondary school students and older students; Ought-to L2 had no
influence for secondary school students but for college and university students. Cziser and Kormos explain this by the great influence parents still have on children of younger ages and the high correlation between parental encouragement and L2 learning experience. So instead of feeling obligated, secondary school students still rely on their parents which interplays with the learning experience.
In summary, Dörnyei's L2MSM has particularly strong components which, however, seem to be influenced by age and learning context. Especially, the component of Ought-to L2 self appears to be vulnerable. Its influence may therefore differ depending on the learners' age. Both Gardner's SEDM and Dörnyei's L2MSM have their strengths and weaknesses, and as a result, empirical support does not show a superior model. Extracting the strongest factors may lead to the best model
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of motivation predicting L2 achievement amongst Dutch secondary school students. Conducting this research with the aim to find the strongest motivational factors for
secondary school students' English achievement has certain scientific implications. More studies so far have focused on university students or adults. However, there are several important difference related to age which may play a role in L2 motivation. First, as mentioned by Kormos and Csizer (2008) the contact to the L2 target group is rather limited for secondary school students which may lead to a feeling of unimportance. Therefore, attitudes towards L2 may mainly be shaped by the classroom experience or even social media instead of the L2 target group. Furthermore, university students and adults may assign higher value to speaking an L2 because of more personal contact with the L2 target group. This may influence the motivational factors relevant for achievement. Moreover, one has to consider that for secondary school students English as L2 is compulsory, whereas adults and university students are usually free to choose English courses. Having to attend classes and related obligations such as homework and tests may work differently on motivation. Also, as mentioned by Carlson (1965) secondary school students' self-image is less stable than an adult’s self-image and more prone to changes. Especially considering Dörnyei's L2 motivational self-system model a self-image that is still plastic may behave differently than a settled one. For mentioned reasons, insights into secondary school students motivation is important. It may even be used to generalize into contexts where L2 is compulsory and big contextual changes lead to changes in one's self-image, e.g. forced migration and refuge.
It can be concluded that conducting a research on the relationship between motivation and L2 achievement in Dutch secondary school students with the aim to extract the best motivational factors may be helpful for the Dutch educational system, especially by focusing on participants whose L2 learning is compulsory.
Hypotheses are formulated considering the age of our sample and the involuntary nature of having to learn English as well as earlier research. As indicated by Gardner's research in 2006
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Motivation Intensity and English Use Anxiety and according to Csizer and Kormos (2009) Ideal L2 Self, L2 Learning and Parental Encouragement should be valuable factors. In the regression
analysis, these factors should have the highest predictive value. Based on Csizer and Kormos (2009) Ought-to L2, based on Gardner (2006) sub scales of Attitudes Toward Learning Situation and based on Ryan (2009) sub scales of Integrativeness should be less valuable factors. The predictive value will be low. Considering Gardner's (2006) preference for Motivational Intensity and English Use Anxiety over Desire to Learn English and English Class Anxiety, the latter ones are not seen as valuable factors, the predictive value will be low. Linguistic Self-confidence, which was added to the motivational questionnaire to explore its value has rarely been used as a sub scale, therefore no reliable hypothesis or prediction can be made.
In order to better understand the analysis the regression equation is given. Having 15 predictors the regression equation is rather long, therefore only few predictors will be shown:
English L2 achievement = (β0 + β1 Motivational intensity i - β2 English Use Anxiety i + β4 Instrumental Orientation i + β5 Ideal L2 Self i + ßnXn) + εi .
With the data on English L2 achievement and all 15 motivational factors from the motivation questionnaires, it can be calculated which factors have the best predictive value and therefore the biggest influence on English L2 achievement.
Methods
Participants
Participants were recruited from one school in the province of North-Holland in the Netherlands. Inclusion criteria were (a) participants are in their first or second year of secondary education. Exclusion criteria were (a) being diagnosed with dyslexia and (b) having English as the mother tongue. G*power 3.0.10 was used to calculate the minimal amount participants. Aiming for
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a large effect size (R² = 0.35), an error of α = 0.05 with a power of β = 1- α = .95 and the number of predictors being fifteen the total sample size has to be at least 40 participants. The actual sample size was 46 with an average age of 13.4 years (SD 0.67). Gender was equally represented, 23 pupils were female and 23 were male. The sample consisted of 21.7 % first year pupils of secondary education and 78.3% were in their second year. Two-thirds of participants are on the VWO-Extra school level, the other third is on HAVO school level. Dutch is the mother tongue of 93% of the participants. Most common languages the participants speak were Dutch, English, German and French.
Materials
Demographic Questionnaire. A questionnaire was used to explore demographical data as well as information about the participants' mother tongues and experience with English. The questionnaire consisted of 40 items and was in Dutch.
Motivation Questionnaire. One questionnaire being divided into two parts was obtained exploring the students' motivation. The questionnaire was a translation of the Attitudes Motivation Test Battery (AMBT) created by Gardner and the English Learner Questionnaire (ELQ) created by Dörnyei. The total amount of items was 124, 50 for part I and 74 for part II. Adjusting
contraindicative items, for all factors besides Language Anxiety, high scores indicate high
motivation whereas low scores indicate low motivation. Language Anxiety respectively is the other way around. Scores of items of one sub scale were combined to find motivational factors.
The first part consisted of AMBT items to be scored on a 7 point Likert scale in which 1 equals “strongly disagree” and 7 equals “strongly agree”. Items were indicative as well as contraindicative. The questionnaire contains twelve sub scales which can be matched to the five factors from Gardner's SEDM plus the sub scale Parental Encouragement because of the
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SEDM Twelve Subscales with One Example Each
Subscale Example
Interest in Foreign Language I wish I could speak many foreign languages
Motivational Intensity I don't pay much attention to the feedback I receive in my English class (contraindicative, c)
English Class Anxiety I don't get anxious when I have to answer a question in my English class (c)
English Teacher Evaluation My English teacher has a dynamic and interesting teaching style
Attitudes toward Learning English Learning English is really great
Parental Encouragement My parents try to help me to learn English Attitudes toward English-speaking
People
If the Netherlands had no contact with English-speaking countries, it would be a great loss
Integrative Orientation Studying English is important because it will allow me to be more at ease with people who speak English
Desire to Learn English I have a strong desire to know all aspects of English English Course Evaluation My English class is really a waste of time (c)
English Use Anxiety I would get nervous if I had to speak English to a tourist Instrumental Orientation Studying English is important because I will need it for
my career
Only part II contained a second part with 24 ELQ items to be scored on a 7 point Likert scale in which 1 equals “strongly disagree” and 7 equals “strongly agree”. All items were indicative. The items represented Dörnyei's Ought-to L2 self, Ideal L2 Self and Lingustic Self-confidence. Examples can be found in table 2.
Table 2
L2MSM three sub scales with one example each
Sub scale Example
Ought-to L2 self I study English because close friends of mine think it is important
Linguistic Self-confidence I believe that I will be capable of reading and understanding most texts in English if I keep studying it
16 English Language Skills
EIBO Spelling Task. The EIBO spelling task contains 60 items which measure spelling proficiency. Both EIBO tasks were developed for this study, using the Dutch curriculum as an indicator of achievement. Each item is a sentence in which one word is missing, indicated by a line which needs to be filled in by the participants. Through headphones the participants hear the sentence being read out loud and fill in the missing word afterwards. The correct word and spelling equals one point whereas one mistake leads to zero points. High scores indicate high spelling proficiency, low scores indicate low spelling skills. The highest possible score is 60 whereas the lowest possible score is zero. An example from the EIBO spelling task is “The movie is
_________.” (boring). Cronbach's alpha is 0.9 which resembles a high reliability.
EIBO Vocabulary Task. The EIBO vocabulary contains 50 items which measure
vocabulary proficiency. Each item consists of a short sentence and asks the participant to translate one of the words into Dutch. Three options are provided. The correct word equals one point whereas the incorrect word leads to zero points. High scores indicate high vocabulary proficiency, low scores indicate low vocabulary proficiency. The highest possible score is 60 whereas the lowest possible score is zero. An example from the EIBO Vocabulary task is “The shirt is green. Shirt is: slaapzak, onderbroek, overhemd”. Cronbach's alpha is 0.74 which resembles a high reliability.
WRAT Spelling List. The WRAT spelling list is an internationally standardised instrument to measure spelling proficiency. It consists of 29 items. Each item equals one word and a sentence with the word in context. Through headphones the participants hear the word read out aloud with its necessary clear pronunciation followed by the sentence. The word has to be spelled out. The correct spelling equals one point whereas an incorrect word leads to zero points. High scores indicate high spelling proficiency, low scores indicate low spelling proficiency. An example from WRAT is: “anxiety. Natural disasters create anxiety among people.” __________. Cronbach's alpha is 0.83 which resembles a high reliability.
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PPVT Pearbody Picture Vocabulary Task. The PPVT is an internationally standardised vocabulary assessment. The participant is simultaneously shown four pictures and asked to point out the one that’s labelled by the researcher. An example is being shown four pictures (a fork, a table, a car, a puppet) and having to point out the fork. The correct answer equals one point, the incorrect answers equals zero points. Points will be added up in order to get a total score. High scores indicate high vocabulary proficiency, low scores indicate low vocabulary proficiency. Cronbach's alpha is 0.91 which resembles a high reliability.
Procedure
After having received approval of the ethical commission, schools were recruited in the province of North-Holland in the Netherlands in September and October 2016 by sending e-mails containing a poster and an information package and asking if they were willing to participate. After agreement further information was sent to the schools and appointments were made. Parental agreement was passive which means that parents not wanting their child to participate could contact the researcher, all other parents were assumed to support the research. Schools were visited two times, one hour each with one day in between. All instruments were obtained in qualtrics online. Four questionnaires were filled in each time. All questionnaires and tasks were done individually on the students laptops with headphones. Class instructions were to work quietly, concentrated and individually. Participants received a small compensation.
Analysis Techniques
After all data was collected, IBM SPSS was used to conduct statistical analyses. A chi-square test was used to check if the different grades of secondary school pupils, gender and school level were equally represented. An independent t-test was used to check for differences in English achievement. Correlations, graphs and descriptive data were used to assess the quality of the
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Results
Data from 86 secondary school students from three classes in two school levels was obtained. However, because of technical difficulties, children only attending one session and the time limit of one hour, data of only 56 students was complete and could therefore be used. The exclusion criteria of being diagnosed with dyslexia lead to exclusion of six participants. No students had English as their mother tongue. Parental permission was granted for of all students. Outliers were identified using boxplot graphs. Throughout all instruments, four outliers were found and removed, leading to a total sample size of 46.
Standardisation Check
To test if gender, grade and school level were equally represented in the sample three chi-square analyses were run. As non-significant chi-chi-square tests showed gender was equally
represented for grade and school level. However, the chi-square test for the representation of school level and grade was significant, indicating that the distribution of school level on grade was not equal, X2 (1, 46) = 6.18, p = .013. Table 3 shows the frequency and percentage for gender, school level and grade. Three independent t-tests were run, aiming to find differences in English
achievement concerning gender, school level and grade. No significance was found, indicating that neither gender, and surprisingly nor school level nor grade led to a difference in English
achievement.
Graphs, descriptives and correlations were used to estimate the quality of the instruments and the data. Descriptives can be found in table 4. The quality of the instruments was assessed by a bivariate correlation between all four achievement instruments. The correlation within the
vocabulary tasks PPVT and EIBO Vocabulary and within the spelling tasks WRAT and EIBO spelling are expected to be higher than between vocabulary and spelling. The correlations vary from r = 0.29 to r = 0.7 and are higher within vocabulary and spelling than between. However, aiming to
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measure the exact same achievement and rather related skills, a correlation of only r = 0.7 indicates issues with the instruments. Using a scatterplot graph, EIBO Vocabulary was found to have a ceiling effect which led to the exclusion of the 30 items all participants were correct in. By this the ratio between total amount of items and correct items was increased which positively effects variance. However, a ceiling effect is difficult to deal with. Therefore the PPVT and WRAT should rather be relied on for the interpretation of the results.
Table 3
Gender, School Level and Grade of Participants
Gender School level Grade
Female Male VWO-Extra HAVO 1 2
Frequency 23 23 31 15 10 36
Percentage 50 50 67 33 22 78
Table 4
Descriptives per instrument
Mean Standard deviation
Minimum Maximum Range N
EIBO Spelling 53.6 2.8 47 58 11 46
EIBO Vocabulary 66.5 2.2 61 70 9 46
WRAT 16.6 3.4 10 23 13 46
PPVT 100.5 8.5 80 116 36 46
Main Analysis
The main analysis in which motivational factors are most important in English L2
achievement for Dutch secondary school students several regression analyses were conducted. The outcome variables were the four achievement instruments: WRAT spelling list, PPVT Pearbody Picture Vocabulary Task, EIBO spelling task and EIBO vocabulary task. The predictor variables were the 15 motivational factors each represented by one sub scale in the motivation questionnaires.
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Being aware of the possibility of different validity across the achievement instruments and the different focus (spelling versus vocabulary), one regression analysis was conducted for each instrument which led to a total of four regression analyses. Because of the rather small sample size unfortunately no cross-validation was used.
In SPSS, the backward method of regression was used. According to Field (2010) in this method the computer first places all predictors in the model, and then calculates the contribution and the significance value which is compared against a removal criterion. If the criterion is met the predictor will be removed and the model is re-estimated. The removal criterion is an F-value of ≥ .1. The last model leaves one with the combination of the best predictors. This method was used
because no assumption could have been made on the best predictor which otherwise would have led to a biased regression entry. Several assumptions were tested on violations. No violations could be found for WRAT, PPVT, EIBO vocabulary and EIBO spelling when it comes to the assumption of independent errors, heteroscedasticity, non-linearity, normality of residuals and multicollinearity.
Table 5 shows the important model values for PPVT, table 6 for WRAT. For EIBO
Vocabulary and EIBO Spelling the best model only consisted of one predictor with an low R² = 0.75 and R² = 0.14 respectively. The results will therefore be neglected. Implications about the EIBO tasks will be later discussed.
Table 5
Parameter values for PPVT
b SE B β p R²
PPVT 0.49
Constant 110.74 8.9 0.01
Desire to Learn English 0.54 0.17 0.47 0.02 Parental Encouragement -0.46 0.15 -0.36 0.01 Interest in Foreign Languages -0.35 0.13 -0.38 0.01
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English Use Anxiety -0.28 0.1 0.1 0.01
Ought to L2 Self 0.2 0.11 0.11 0.07
Table 6
Parameter values for WRAT
b SE B β p R²
WRAT 0.42
Constant 23.86 3.35 0.01
Desire to Learn English 0.25 0.08 0.55 0.03 Parental Encouragement -0.23 0.06 -0.47 0.01 Motivational Intensity -0.18 0.07 -0.39 0.02 Interest in Foreign Languages -0.12 0.06 -0.33 0.01 Ought to L2 Self 0.1 0.05 0.28 0.03
Comparing the outcomes to the predictions gives mixed results. As predicted Motivation Intensity, English Use Anxiety and Parental Encouragement have a high predictive value. Against predictions Ideal L2 Self and L2 Learning do not have a high predictive value. Furthermore, against predictions Ought-to L2 indeed has a high predictive value, as well as Desire to Learn Language (part of Motivation) and Interest in Foreign Language (part of Integrativeness). In line with predictions Attitudes Toward Learning Situation does not have a high predictive value. The regression equation to estimate English L2 achievement based on PPVT is as follows:
Yi = 110.74 + (0.54 Desire to Learn English – 0.46 Parental Encouragement – 0.35 Interest in Foreign Language – 0.28 English Use Anxiety + 0.2 Ought to L2). And the estimation English L2 achievement based on WRAT is as follows:
Yi = 23.86 + (0.25 Desire to Learn English – 0.23 Parental Encouragement – 0.18 Motivational Intensity - 0.12 Interest in Foreign Language + 0.1 Ought to L2).
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Discussion
This study aimed to find motivational factors of English L2 achievement in Dutch secondary school students. Of 15 possible motivational factors from Gardner's SEDM and Dörnyei's L2MSM theories, six factors are valuable in predicting English vocabulary and spelling achievement. The six factors were: Desire to Learn English, Parental Encouragement, Interest in Foreign Languages, Motivational Intensity, English Use Anxiety and Ought-to L2 Self. Important to note is that English Use Anxiety only played a role in vocabulary, whereas Motivational Intensity only played a role in spelling.
The results are partly in line with the hypotheses. Motivation Intensity, English Use Anxiety and Parental Encouragement are valuable factors, whereas Ideal L2 Self and L2 Learning are not valuable factors. Against the hypotheses, however, Ought-to L2, Desire to Learn Language (part of Motivation) and Interest in Foreign Language (part of Integrativeness) are valuable factors, whereas in line with the hypothesis Attitudes Toward Learning Situation is not a valuable factor.
Having a closer look at the factors, one may realise that besides Ought-to L2 Self all other factors belong to Gardner's SEDM theory. Therefore, it could carefully be argued that Gardner's SEDM seems to be the better theory; however no clear preference was statistically proven. Furthermore, this preference is only based on the amount of factors from each theory. The actual model of Motivation being a mediator between Attitudes to Learning Situation, Integrativeness and Instrumentality on Language Achievement cannot be concealed, however two of the factors found are assigned to Motivation (Desire to Learn English and Motivational Intensity). As a result
Gardner's SEDM may be the superior model, although the exact working mechanism still is unclear. Furthermore, it is important to note that the models account for 42% and 49% respectively of the influence of motivation on L2 achievement. This also means that half of the influence of motivation on L2 achievement does not seem to arise from the six factors.
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most important, is the negative relationship between certain motivational factors and English L2 achievement where a positive relation should be expected. For example do higher Parental Encouragement, Interest in Foreign Languages and Motivational Intensity contradictory predict lower achievements. Possible explanations can be found in autonomy being a strong motivator in L2 learning (Mearns, 2014). Also, one has to consider the age of the pupils related to stepping stones. According to Erikson's stages of development children aged 12-18 years undergo the psychosocial crisis of Identity vs. Role confusion in which the main environmental influence are peers (Munley, 1977). Adolescents have to face the difficult process of finding their own identity and becoming independent. In turn, parental influence may not always be defied and therefore be reacted on with opposing behaviour. As a result parental encouragement in English achievement may lead to the opposite of what it intends. The negative relationship with Interest in Foreign Languages may be explained by the constant presence of English in the Netherlands. The English language and well as English speaking people are so common in the Netherlands that students may have a low association for English being a foreign language. Furthermore, the use of Dutch and English are related on the micro-level of lexical borrowing, the meso-level of borrowed phraseology and the macro-level as the language of communication (Zenner, 2013). Because of the
disassociation of English as a foreign language, participants may have referred to language as German or French in their indication of Interest in Foreign Languages. Therefore, a higher interest in languages like German or French may be negatively related to English achievement. Considering items concerning Motivational Intensity (e.g. Wanneer ik Engels leer, negeer ik afleiding en let ik op mijn taak./ When studying English I ignore disturbances and focus on my task.) it can be argued that the items do not mainly reflect English motivational intensity but a general working attitude. However, how this is negatively related to English achievement can only be speculated. A second unexpected result were the low predicting values of the motivational factors and the low accounting variance. These issues indicate rather unclear results which one has to be aware of. The
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students aged 12-14 to learn English as an L2, therefore not too much value should be attached to these six factors.
Furthermore several limitations have to be mentioned. An issue was the suitability of the EIBO tasks which apparently were too easy for our sample. However, the school from the sample is known to be an excellent school and the school levels are the highest in the Netherlands. For other schools the suitability might be better. Also, the procedure of recruiting schools appeared to be problematic. Of almost 40 schools contacted only one agreed to participate which increased the risk of a biased sample in two ways. First, using only one school gives a less diverse sample, with a high likelihood of similar demographics and Socio-Economical Status. Second, there may be a
correlation between teachers agreeing to participate and motivational factors like English Course Evaluation. Being willing to participate may represent teachers with high commitment to their English classes which may have a direct influence on the students' motivation already. In sum, the generalisation of the results is limited. Due to one school level being overrepresented, one school level being underrepresented, one Dutch school level not being represented at all and a possible sample bias it is questionable if interferences to a population can be made.
The results are only partly in line with earlier research. Especially Ought-to L2 is a controversial factor several studies failed to find empirically (Mearns, 2014). Considering Cziser and Kormos (2009) explanation on a shift from Parental Encouragement (more extrinsic) in
younger pupils to Ought-to L2 (more intrinsic) in university students, however, one could argue that our pupils might be exactly in this development. For this reason, both ought-to L2 and parental encouragement play a role in motivation. Although Ryan (2009) argued integrativeness being a part of ideal L2 self, surprisingly a rather small impact was found: for Integrativeness, only Interest in Foreign Languages being a valuable factor, and Ideal L2 Self not being a valuable factor. This may indeed be an indicator for a different motivation model in secondary school pupils in comparison to adults.
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For this reason, further research is necessary. First, the negative relationships between motivational factors and achievement should be examined. Furthermore, by comparing students of the same age but either compulsory or voluntarily learning English future research may shed light into the influence of compulsory learning on motivation. Thereby, it should rather be international standardised tests like PPVT and WRAT to be relied on, and tried to avoid sample biases. Moreover, the shift from parental encouragement to ought-to L2 and the small impact of integrativeness need to be understood better.
Nevertheless, this study also has its strength. Using actual achievement tests instead of students' grades reduces the chance of bias by a more objective measurement. Furthermore, using 15 motivational factors covers many different aspects of possible influences. Having been able to filter out the best six factors, they can be used for future social implications. Also according to our study Linguistic Self-Confidence can maybe be ruled out as a valuable factor and therefore does not have to be considered in future models. However, more research should be conducted to come to this conclusion.
In regards to the Dutch educational system, teachers should be aware of several points. First, the relationship between motivation and achievement and that motivation can predict achievement. Second, some motivational factors are more important than others, depending on the type of achievement, in this case spelling and vocabulary and mlikely depending on the individual student. To make the best use of the results English teachers should try to emphasise the factors this study discovered. Students' English L2 achievement could be increased by increasing their desire to learn english and ought-to L2 self, while decreasing English use anxiety. Making pupils aware of not only the need to learn English but also the advantages may increase their desire. Also, emphasising the responsibility and reliability in task that pupils ought to do while decreasing anxiety concerning English should result in higher achievement, likewise, the Dutch educational system could systematically investigate students' motivation and afterwards working to increase the strongest motivational factors for English L2 achievement.
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In summary, there certainly is a relationship between English L2 achievement and motivation in Dutch secondary school students. Several motivational factors such as Desire to Learn English, Parental Encouragement, Interest in Foreign Languages, Motivational Intensity, English Use Anxiety and Ought-to L2 Self seem to be more important, however the exact influence still is unclear.
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