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  • Essay / Motivation when learning a foreign language

    Motivation has been considered a prerequisite for the success of second and foreign language learners, as lack of motivation can harm the learning process to a large extent. learning a language, even when all other essential conditions are met. (Dornei, 2005, 2010). We can say that success and motivation have a reciprocal link. Motivation leads to learning and, in turn, high scores (in tests or assessments of any type) improve motivation. The socio-educational model (Gardner, 1985) explicitly proposes reciprocal causality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayThis means that motivation influences language achievement, and that language achievement as well as experiences in formal and informal language contexts influence attitudes and motivation. (which are considered some of many possible non-linguistic outcomes). (cited in Gardner and Maclntyre, 1993) This relationship between motivation and performance has been supported by a number of studies. The first study on the relationship between attitudes and motivation and achievement in a second language was published by Gardner and Lambert (1959), although such relationships had been hypothesized before. The Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) was developed to measure a number of attributes associated with second language learning. In a meta-analysis examining the relationship between second language achievement and five attitude/motivation variables from Gardner's socio-educational model, it was clearly demonstrated that the correlations between achievement and motivation are higher than those between other other variables (integrativeness, attitudes towards the learning situation, integrative orientation, or instrumental orientation). The model proposes that integrativity and attitudes toward the learning situation are two correlated variables that support the individual's motivation to learn an L2, but that motivation is responsible for success in the second language. (Masgoret and Gardner, 2003). In this study, the hypothesis was tested directly by Gardner (1979), who studied the correlations between measures of integration, attitude towards the learning situation and motivation with objective measures of success in French, of French grades and speech production in two samples of 11th grade students. He found that the correlations between motivation and the three measures of achievement were higher than those of measures of other variables. (Masgoret and Gardner, 2003). Another successful study conducted by Ali Osman in 2009 questions the importance of the types of motivation students need to learn a foreign language (Osman, 2009). The results of this study confirmed the importance of integrative, instrumental, and work-avoidance motivations in second language learning. Another example of motivation as a powerful predictor of L2 success is the study carried out by Gardner, Trembley and Mesgoret (1997). They used structural equation modeling to identify the relative importance of a number of DIs and explored the causal relationship between them. (as cited in Lowie, Dijk, Chan & Verspoor, 2017). Still other research has used laboratory techniques to study the causal nature of attitudes, motivation, and language achievement. such research has demonstrated that the rate of learning French/English vocabulary pairs is faster for those with high than low levels of AMI (Gardner, Lalonde and, 1993)