Motivation for Learning English among Science Undergraduates in Sri Lanka: An Investigation into the Second Language Learners’ Selves, Goals and Attitudes

Abstract

That English language education and university designed English courses need to be changed to address the learner needs, wants and lacks to meet the requirements of globalization is a known issue in Sri Lanka, but there is a very little empirical evidence to show the issue. The identification of learner needs, wants and lacks with relation to English learning motivation at the university level remains very important for the peace building and nation building process of Sri Lanka. The failure of addressing learners’ needs and wants (specially among rural youth) caused for the civil unrest of the country for decades. In fact, this thesis investigates the factors affecting on the English learning motivation of the Sri Lankan public university youth. This thesis uses an existing psychological construct of L2 Motivational Self System to investigate the factors affecting on the English learning motivation of the Sri Lankan science undergraduates. By utilizing the construct, the study aims to determine the primary factors that affect for the Sri Lankan science undergraduates’ English learning motivation, to analyse the differences in terms of factors affecting for L2 learner motivation based on the urban and rural needs and to evaluate the differences between factors according to war affected and non-war affected learner backgrounds. This study uses a quantitative approach to arrive at the major aims. Data were collected from 918 Sri Lankan university students through a questionnaire study. The two-part questionnaire looked at the motivated learning behaviour, ideal L2 self, ought to L2 self, social goals, mastery goals, performance goals, attitudes toward learning English and attitudes toward L2 community. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used as the major analytical tool for the identification of causative relationships between the factors and to develop the comparative models. The results of the study provided substantial support for the validity and usefulness of L2 Motivational Self System in the Sri Lanka context. The most obvious finding to emerge from this study is the strongest contribution of the ideal L2 self in science undergraduates’ English learning motivation. It was also shown that the ideal L2 self is the strongest contributory factor of rural and war affected science undergraduates’ motivation compared the urban and non-war affected science undergraduates’ motivation. The second major finding was that the significant contribution of social goals to examine the Sri Lankan science undergraduates’ English learning motivation. In sum up the findings suggest the personal and contextual factors affecting for the English learning motivation of the Sri Lankan science undergraduates. These findings have important implications for the Sri Lankan universities, education policy and L2 motivation theory.