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Volume :19 Issue : 75 2001
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Motivation Type and Level of Language Proficiency: Two Crucial Factors in Self-Assessment
Auther : Ibrahim S. Al-Fallay
The aim of this study is two-fold: to investigate whether learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) have similar motivation types to those of learners of English as a Second Language (ESL), and to explore the effect of motivation type and level of proficiency in the foreign language on the accuracy of self-assessment. To answer the questions of the study, an eight-item questionnaire geared to identify the motivation type and a version of the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency were used. The subjects were also asked to assess their performance on each item of the proficiency were used. The subjects were also asked to assess their performance on each item of the proficiency test by selecting a value from a five-point scale. The sample of this study consisted of seven hundred and three (703) students of English as a foreign language enrolled at the Intensive English Program in the Institute of Public Administration, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Two hundred and nine (209) students of the sample were in the preparatory level, one hundred and sixty-seven (167) students in the elementary level, one hundred and forty-five (145) students in the intermediate level, and one hundred and eighty-two (182) students in the advanced level. The findings of this study indicated that learners of EFL learn the language with two types of motivation: integrative and instrumental orientations. These two types of motivation are similar to those that drive second language learners to learn the language. Furthermore, the study found that the correlation between self-assessment and the scores on the proficiency test were affected by the level of student proficiency in the foreign language and the motivation type of the subjects.