2016 IJRSLL – Volume 5 Issue 2
Author/s:
Ghanizadeh, Afsaneh*
Imam Reza International University, Mashhad, Iran (ghanizadeafsane@yahoo.com; a.ghanizadeh@imamreza.ac.ir)
Jahedizadeh, Safoura
Imam Reza International University, Mashhad, Iran (Jahedi.s1310@gmail.com)
Abstract:
Demotivators broadly refer to the forces that diminish students’ inspiration to learn or the absence of the forces that derives effective learning. Demotivators are responsible for a host of negative repercussions in educational settings. Nevertheless, demotivators and their multi-dimensional nature still remain an uncharted territory that awaits further investigations in foreign language domain. In this study, the context-specific dynamics of demotivators are studied. In particular, this study delves into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ levels of demotivation across two different milieus of English learning in Iran, namely, language institutes, and universities. To measure students’ demotivation, the study employed the Persian version of ‘de-motivation scale’ designed and validated by Sakai and Kikuchi (2009) and translated to Persian by Ghanizadeh and Jahedizadeh (forthcoming). The scale measures six demotivators; teachers, characteristics of classes, experiences of failure, class environment, class materials, and lack of interest. The results demonstrated that there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of six demotivation constructs in which institute students experienced higher levels of demotivation than university learners. Among the six demotivators, lack of interest (t=5.52, p<0.05) had the highest difference in the two settings followed by classroom materials (t=5.52, p<0.05). Classroom environment (t=2.97, p<0.05), on the other hand, beheld the lowest difference. The other demotivators fell somewhere in between: teachers (t=4.80, p<0.05), characteristics of classes (t= 4.90, p<0.05), and experiences of failure (t= 4.83, p<0.05). The findings were discussed in the light of above statistical analyses and the pertinent implications were presented.
Keywords: demotivation; language institute; university; EFL context
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsll.2015.1279
*Corresponding Author