Intrinsic motivation in the teaching-learning English process as a Foreign Language

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to identify the factors which influence in the intrinsic motivation during the teaching-learning English process as a Foreign Language. This was a qualitative descriptive research since the data was described, analyzed, and interpreted with clear and precisive terms; besides this research did not have influence in any of the variables; intrinsic motivation and English as a Foreign Language learning; therefore, the nature of the variables and their behavior were not manipulated by the researcher. This study was also a field research because data was collected directed from the studied individuals and from the scenario were the facts occurred, without changing the conditions. The instrument was the questionnaire, a survey with 12 open questions and one close question was applied to 68 Level III students. The results demonstrated that intrinsic motivation influences learning, students declared that they do not like English, they only study or do homework because they need to be promoted to the next level; besides they do not work autonomously or feel the necessity to repeat any task only with the purpose of improving their knowledge; they only want to obtain minimum grades which allow them to be promoted to the next level. In addition, students mentioned that there are some factors which restrict their motivation to learn English, some of them are excessive homework, tasks, contents, and number of hours assigned for English classes; little interest and patience from the teachers to explain grammar contents; students fear to speak because their classmates criticize and make fun of them. It is recommended that the teachers look for strategies to foster self-esteem, curiosity, and autonomy in the English classroom.