Integrative Motivation and Oral Proficiency of College Students

Abstract

A critical part of second language learning is the motivation of the learner. In any motivational type, the lack of a cultural context (directly linked to a willingness to integrate and be identified with the second language community) leads to a poor level of competency in the language. Such is the theoretical frame of this study, so that it investigates the correlation between college freshman students’ integrative motivation and oral proficiency. The study may lead colleges and universities to the use of more productive, communicative teaching approaches that carry pedagogical implications about students’ motivation and an improvement in their oral proficiency. To test the level of integrative motivation, a modified version of the Attitudes and Motivation Test Battery was given to 30 college freshman students. For measures of their oral proficiency in English, the speaking test in the Cambridge Key English Test was given. Responses were analyzed using weighted means and the Pearson’s r test of correlation. The results showed that there is no significant correlation between the two constructs. Other factors could be at play causing the different results, according to the study. On this basis, further research on the other factors is required.