Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of Teaching and Learning (ICTL 2009) INTI University College, Malaysia

PERCEIVED PARENTAL ENCOURAGEMENT, MOTIVATION AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING ENGLISH LANGUAGE AMONG TERTIARY STUDENTS Gracia Paran* and Puraida Tibli INTI College Sarawak, Malaysia (*[email protected])

ABSTRACT This paper examined the motivational and attitudinal factors of students enrolled in different courses at the City College of Calamba, Laguna (a small and relatively young public school situated in the Philippines) and the Notre Dame of Jolo College, Jolo, Sulu (a big and relatively established school in the Southern part of the Philippines). The students-respondents were enrolled in the first semester of school year 2007-2008. The data, obtained through survey questionnaires, and the corresponding results showed that parental encouragement received by the participants from their parents contributed to the enhancement of their motivation to learn English.

INTRODUCTION In one of the earliest statements on motivation in second language learning, Gardner and Lambert (1959, as cited in an article “Attitudes and Motivation” downloaded from http://www.svdctp.org/aspac/phc.htm) suggested that an individual’s motivation to learn a second language is controlled by his “attitudes towards the group in particular and by his orientation to the learning task itself.” Of all school subjects, language learning is the domain whereby learner’s attitude is especially relevant. In his paper “Integrative Motivation: Past, Present, and Future”, Gardner (2001) points out that learning another language is different from other learning that takes place in school. He further says that in learning the other language, the individual is attempting to incorporate speech sounds, grammatical structures, behavioral patterns, and the like that are characteristic of another culture, and this is not true of most, if not all other school subjects. Courses like arithmetic, history, geography, music are generally a part of the student’s culture or cultural perspective at least, so that acquiring related skills does not involve any personal conflicts. However, learning another language involves making something foreign a part of one’s self. As such, Gardner (1985) goes on to say that one’s willingness to open up to change, as well as his attitudes towards the other community, or out-groups in general will influence how well he can make the skills that he has been learning a part of his repertoire. Markwardt (1948, as cited in Gardner, 1985) proposes that there are five motives for studying a second language. He describes two of them as non-utilitarian which refers to the “representation of an interest in learning the language where the focus is not so much on learning the language to achieve a specific linguistic goal, but rather more general ones.” These two non-utilitarian motives are: (1) To be a cultivated (educated) person, and (2) To learn the language of a minority group in another speech area. He describes the three other motives as practical, which, he explains as: “…that there are tangible objects associated with

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language acquisition, which is, in today’s terminology, referred to as instrumental motives.” These three remaining motives are: (3) To foster assimilation of a minority language group which Markwardt explains as a factor that inspires the majority group to promote the acquisition of the language by the minority group to enable the two communities to foster economic interaction (4) To promote trade and colonization, and (5) To learn a language required for scientific and/or technical use which according to Markwardt refers to a necessity to learn the language that is dominant in scientific and technical circles in order for one to be successful in the above-mentioned areas. Soo Im Lee in her paper “The underlying beliefs and values of Japanese learners of low language proficiency” cited Gardner and Lambert (1959) to identify two types of motivation from a social-psychological view: integrative motivation and instrumental motivation. According to Gardner and Lambert, integrative motivation is the desire to learn a language so as to integrate oneself into the target culture, and instrumental motivation is the desire to learn the language in order to get a better job or meet a language requirement. Krashen (1981) likewise defined instrumental motivation as the desire to achieve language proficiency for utilitarian or practical reasons. According to Krashen, being proficient in the language will encourage performers to interact with second language speakers in order to achieve certain ends and that when the practical value of second language proficiency is high and frequent use is necessary, instrumental motivation may be a powerful predictor of second language acquisition. Other researchers also found that motivation, both instrumental and non-instrumental, is a factor associated with comprehension and satisfaction. They explained that motivation had a pervasive influence on the participants’ degree of active involvement in language learning. Moreover, their findings indicated that when viewed in the light of the chain of variables, self-perception of language proficiency is intimately related to motivation and self-esteem. Statistically, motivation appears to play a crucial role in the overall paradigm of L2 learning. Mantle-Bromley (1995) whose study attempted to maintain and/or to improve students’ motivation and attitudes towards French and Spanish cited that a great number of students do not continue their language study at higher levels because they do not see any utilitarian purposes for doing so. In America, for example, many colleges and universities do not require language study. As a result, students often content themselves with simply fulfilling the language requirements and then discontinuing their study. It can therefore be stated that the affective component (motivation) is linked significantly with both the students’ achievement and their persistence in language learning. In effect, not only does motivation affect the overall capability of a student to learn a second language, it could also contribute to the development of a specific language skill. Two important studies show instrumental motivation tended to have a positive impact in situations where there is a special urgency to acquire a second language and where there appears to be little desire to “integrate.” Lukmani (1972, as cited in Krashen, 1981) found that for female Marathi speakers in Bombay “who belong to the comparatively nonwesternized section of Bombay society” proficiency in English, as measured by a cloze test, was more related to instrumental motivation than to integrative motivation. Lukmani concluded that her subjects saw themselves “based in their own country but reaching out to modern ideas and life styles.”

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Gardner and Lambert (1972, as cited in Krashen, 1981) reached similar conclusions for English as a second language in the Philippines. In the Philippines English is the language of education and business, but is rarely spoken in the home. They found that instrumental motivation was a better predictor of overall English proficiency, but also found clear relationship between the presence of integrative motivation and “aural-oral” skills. Other factors which are frequently proposed to indicate the relationship between language acquisition and motivation are the learner’s age and experience with the language. Crooks and Schmidt (1991, as cited in Samaie et al., 2006) argue that the relationship between integrative motivation and achievement in a second language differ as a function of such factors. Based on the cited studies above, this paper aims to investigate the level of motivation the students have toward the learning of the English language. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What is the respondents’ level of motivation and attitudes towards learning the English language? 2. How do the respondents perceive the level of encouragement they receive from their parents in studying English language? 3. Are the respondents’ demographic profile and perceived parental encouragement significantly related to their motivation and attitudes towards learning English? and 4. Is there a significant difference between the level of motivation and attitudes of students from the private college and students from the public college? The following hypotheses are posed: 1. The respondents’ demographic profile and perceived parental encouragement are not significantly related to their motivation and attitudes towards learning the English language, 2. There is no significant difference between the level of motivation and attitudes towards learning English language of students from the private college and students from the public college.

RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE Research Design This research made use of the descriptive method to a) to determine the level of motivation and attitudes towards learning the English language of the tertiary students; b) to obtain information about their age, gender, course and perceived parental encouragement in learning English; and c) to explore the extent to which the profile and parental encouragement are related to the aforementioned motivation and attitudes. A questionnaire was used to gather data for these purposes. Subjects of the Study The main subjects of the study were 100 students from City College of Calamba, a public school in Calamba, Laguna, Philippines and 100 students from the Notre Dame of Jolo College, a private school in Jolo, Sulu, Philippines. The respondents were enrolled in different courses and were selected through convenience sampling method. The City College of Calamba is a fairly young school founded on June 19, 2006 through a city ordinance. It is located at the old municipal hall of Calamba. On its first year of operation, the school had 800 students and 1,077 on its second year. It offers BS Accountancy, BS Information

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Technology, BS Education major in English, Math, and Science, Associate in Computer Technology, and TESDA ladderized courses. Notre Dame of Jolo College, on the other hand, is an institution which is a part of a bigger structure, the Catholic Church whose main objective is to provide the natives of the Sulu province with the needed education, institutional support and such other socioeconomic services that the people need for them to develop themselves and cope with the challenges of life. Notre Dame of Jolo College, established in 1954, had an initial intake of 58 students who were enrolled in a two-year secretarial course. At present, the College has 1,600 enrollees of which 72 are enrolled in the graduate programs. The College offers degree programs in Commerce, Accountancy, Education, Nursing, Midwifery and Information Technology. It also offers graduate programs in Public Administration, Business Administration, Education and Nursing. Two factors were considered in choosing the two schools as setting for the study: their location and the cultural background of the students. The research aims to find out if the location of the school and the cultural background of the students correlate with their level of motivation to study English language and the parental encouragement they receive from their parents to study the language. Instrument Used To obtain the data, a questionnaire which was adapted from Giti Karimkhanlui’s paper “An evaluation of the motivation and attitudes of Iranian medical students to English language,” was designed to elicit information from the respondents. The first part of the questionnaire focused on the respondents’ age, gender and course; the second part focused on the learners’ perceived parental encouragement in learning English while the third and fourth parts centered on the level of motivation and attitudes towards the study of the English language. The instrument was reproduced for distribution to the two groups of student-respondents from a public college in South Luzon and from a private college in Mindanao. The researchers administered the questionnaires and ensured that all items were properly answered and all the accomplished forms were retrieved. Scoring of Responses Options from 1 to 5 were used to score the responses. The options were assigned a scale range so that each option could be verbally interpreted. (Please see Appendix) Data Gathering Procedures To gather the data needed, the researchers first sought the permission of the head of the two schools. Confidentiality was ensured to the student-respondents to encourage them to be cooperative and sincere in providing information for this research work. The documents were retrieved right after the respondents had completely answered the items. The responses in the questionnaires were classified, tallied and tabulated. The results of the computations were carefully analyzed and interpreted through the use of appropriate statistics. The following were used to interpret the data gathered from the respondents: a)

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frequency counts to determine the number of responses concerning the age, gender and course; b) percentages employed to determine the ratio expressed as percent of each class frequency to the total frequency of the responses pertaining to the respondents’ demographic profile; c) weighted mean to describe the typicality of the data involving age, parental encouragement and motivation and attitudes towards learning English of the respondents. The questionnaire made use of the Likert Scale Valuation type for the responses with 5 as highest and 1 as lowest. The values were likewise given corresponding verbal interpretations. It was also used to find the central value representing the level of the aforementioned motivation and attitudes; d) standard deviation to measure the variability of the responses; e) chi-square test of independence was used to determine the relationship of the respondents’ profile in terms of gender and course to the level of motivation and attitudes towards learning the English language; f) pearson product moment correlation, applied to find the relationship of age and parental encouragement to the motivation and attitudes; and g) two-tailed test of independence, to determine the difference between the level of motivation and attitudes towards studying English of college students from public and private colleges.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1. Description of the Students’ Demographic Profile Age. The college students were requested to answer questions on their profile in terms of age, gender and course. Almost 90 percent of the students-respondents from City College of Calamba (CCC) were 15 to 17 years old and less than 10 percent were 18 to 20 years old, while the remaining 4 percent belonged to the age bracket of 21 to 23. On the other hand, Notre Dame of Jolo College (NDJC) had no respondents belonging to the age bracket of 21 to 23. Its highest number of respondents had the age bracket ranging from 15 to 17 and almost 40 percent belonged to the age level of 18 to 20. Aside from the 4 respondents with age ranging from 21 to 23, most of the students-respondents at CCC were young and fresh from high school while at NDJC, almost 40 percent of the student-respondents were 18 to 20 years old. This could mean that these students perhaps did not proceed to college right after graduation from high school. Gender. At the City College of Calamba (CCC), the male respondents were outnumbered by the female respondents by more than thirty (30) percent which may be an indication that in CCC there were more female students than male students. In contrast, at the Notre Dame of Jolo College (NDJC), there was an equal number of male and female respondents which may mean that the population of the school was not dominated by either gender. Course. Freshmen students at CCC showed more preference to the Accountancy course than the Information Technology course. This may be explained by the limited course offerings provided for by the college. Being a new institution (only 1 year old), CCC offers only three degree courses: Accountancy, Information Technology, and Education. Students enrolled in Education were not included in the sample due to time constraints and the unavailability of the said students to answer the questionnaire. Notre Dame of Jolo College (NDJC), unlike CCC, offers six degree courses and two certificate programs: Midwifery and Associate in Computer Science. The results of the survey showed that Bachelor of Science in Education had the lowest number of respondents 5

in this school. In contrast, Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Bachelor of Science in Commerce had the highest number of respondents followed by Bachelor of Arts. This may be due to the fact that nurses are in demand abroad and after finishing their studies, these students may want to work outside the country for financial gain. With regard to the students enrolled in the Commerce Department, they may want to stay in their hometown after graduation and work in government agencies or private companies. Students enrolled in the Arts and Sciences Department may have plans to pursue another course after graduation. 2. Students’ Perceived Parental Encouragement in Learning English Table 5 shows the mean responses on parental encouragement as perceived by the two groups of respondents. Table 1. Mean Responses on Parental Encouragement Items 1) My parents try to help me with my English 2) My parents have stressed the importance English will have for me 3) My parents show considerable interest in anything to do with my English lessons 4) My parents really encourage me to study English Composite Mean Legend: W.M. – Weighted Mean

Students from Public College W.M. S.D.

Students from Private College W.M. S.D.

3.56

1.11

3.86

0.899

3.66

1.11

3.51

1.040

3.68

0.94

3.83

0.842

3.97

0.86

3.72

1.147

3.72

3.05

3.73

2.60

S.D. – Standard Deviation

The data show that as far as the responses of the participants at CCC are concerned, item number four came first, followed by item number three, the third item. The second item came third, and the first item came last in the ranking. This implies that the students-respondents agreed that they received big amount of parental encouragement to study English. However, when it came to helping them with the English lessons, they received minimal amount of help from their parents. In contrast, among the responses of the students at NDJC, item 1 ranks first. This can be verbally interpreted that these students received big amount of help from their parents in their English lessons. The third item came second in the rank which implies that the parents of these participants may not only give follow up lessons at home but also showed interests in any activities connected to their English lessons. These responses of the participants, however, were not consistent with the two other responses. Item four came third and item two came last in the rank. If the parents of these participants helped them and were interested in their English lessons; then they should have encouraged their children to study English and should have emphasized its importance. This means that item two should come first in the rank to be followed by item four. Basede on this result, it could further be implied that since

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English is part of the school curriculum, parents of NDJCC students wanted their children to pass the subject, so had no option but to help them cope with the English lessons. 3. Students’ Level of Motivation and Attitudes towards Learning English Language Tables 2 and 3 show the mean responses on motivation and attitudes towards learning English of the two groups of respondents. Table 2. Mean Responses on Motivation to Learn English Language Students from Public College W.M. S.D.

Students from Private College W.M. S.D.

4.78

0.42

4.47

0.717

4.52

0.66

4.50

0.704

4.54

0.50

4.21

0.977

4.02

0.99

4.33

0.766

4.60

0.49

4.40

0752

4.02

0.96

4.20

0.829

4.39

0.67

4.28

0.842

3.98

0.89

3.81

0.992

9) I like studying English 10) English is the language of progress and modernization

4.15

0.77

4.18

0.770

4.06

0.99

4.13

0.906

11) My parents want me to study English

4.29

0.69

4.07

0.902

12) I want English to be my second language

4.40

0.60

4.10

0.882

4.31 5.17 4.22 S.D. – Standard Deviation

8.989

Items 1) I think studying English will someday be useful in getting a job 2) I think studying English will help me better understand English-speaking people and their way of life 3) Studying English will enable me to converse with many people from different countries 4) Fluency in English is a sign of good education 5) Studying English is a part of school curriculum 6) I want to study in an English-speaking country (if given the chance) 7) Studying English will make me more knowledgeable 8) Studying English will enable me to be informed about the attitudes of other countries

Composite Mean Legend: W.M. – Weighted Mean

Table 2 revealed that the student-respondents at CCC and at NDJC were highly motivated to learn the English language. This was shown by the average composite means and could be interpreted verbally as agree. Interestingly, the highest weighted mean for both groups indicated that students thought English will someday be useful for them in getting a job. The result seems to indicate that students are motivated to learn English for utilitarian purposes.

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Table 3. Mean Responses on Attitudes towards English Learning Students from Public College W.M. S.D.

Students from Private College W.M. S.D.

1) I love learning English

4.02

0.99

4.27

0.72

2) I think learning English is dull

4.10

0.899

3.71

1.15

3) I plan to learn English as much as possible 4) I would rather spend my time in other activities rather than learning English

4.27

0.72

4.09

0.82

3.71

1.15

3.37

1.12

5) English is important part of the school program

4.10

0.899

4.14

0.73

6) Learning English is a waste of time

3.81

0.992

4.07

0.99

4.10 5.14 3.94 S.D. – Standard Deviation

2.99

Items

Composite Mean Legend: W.M. – Weighted Mean

From Table 3, it could be gleaned that students-respondents at CCC and at NDJC had a highly positive attitude towards learning English. This was shown by the average composite means interpreted as agree. Moreover, the results revealed by the two tables implied that when it came to language teaching, the teachers would have almost 90 percent of the attention of the students in the classroom and it would not be difficult for them to make the students perform activities for learning enhancement. It could further be implied that by being highly motivated to learn the English language and the positive attitudes that went with the motivation, the learning experiences of these students in and out of the classroom would be fruitful and positive. 4. Relationship of Demographic Profile and Parental Encouragement to Motivation and Attitudes towards Learning English Language This section delved on the null hypothesis that the respondents’ demographic profile and perceived parental encouragement are not significantly related to their motivation and attitudes towards learning the English language, tested using Chi-Square Test of Independence and Pearson r. Tables 4 and 5 present the χ2-values reflecting the relationship of students’ gender and course to their level of motivation in learning English language. They also show the r-values that indicated the relationship of age and parental encouragement to the level of motivation.

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Table 4. Relationship between Students’ Demographic Profile, Parental Encouragement and Motivation in Learning English Language (Public College)

Df

Χ 2t

χ 2c

Decision H0

Gender

4

9.488

0.468

Accept

Not Significant

Course

4

9.488

0.233

Accept

Not Significant

Age

98

0.198

-0.163

Accept

Not Significant

98

0.198

0.534

Reject

Significant

Students’ Profile

Parental Encouragement

Interpretation

Table 4 indicates that there was no significant relationship between gender and level of motivation in learning English language of students at CCC as shown by the computed χ2value of 0.468 which is less than the tabular χ2-value of 9.488. The result also suggests that there seems to be no correlation between the course the students are taking and the level of their motivation since the computed χ2- value of 0.233 does not exceed the tabular χ2value of 9.488. Therefore, the null hypothesis involving these aspects was accepted. The computed r-value of -0.163 indicates a low negative relationship between the respondents’ age and the level of their motivation. However, parental encouragement is significantly related to the level of motivation since the computed r-value of 0.534 is greater than the tabular r-value of 0.198. Thus, the null hypothesis was rejected. Table 5. Relationship between Students’ Demographic Profile, Parental Encouragement and Motivation in Learning English Language (Private College) Decision H0

Interpretation

Accept

Not Significant

31.410 26.612 Accept

Not Significant

98

0.198

-0.086 Accept

Not Significant

98

0.198

0.235

Significant

df

χ2t

χ 2c

Gender

4

9.488

0.595

Course

20

Students’ Profile

Age Parental Encouragement

Reject

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Table 5 shows that there was no significant relationship between gender and level of motivation in learning English language of students of NDJC as shown by the computed χ2value of 0.595 which is less than the tabular χ2-value of 9.488. This is also true to students’ course and the level of their motivation since the computed χ2- value of 26.612 does not exceed the tabular χ2-value of 31.410. Therefore, the null hypothesis involving these aspects was accepted. The computed r-value of -0.086 indicates a low negative relationship between the respondents’ age and the level of their motivation. However, parental encouragement is significantly related to the level of motivation since the computed r-value of 0.235 is greater than the tabular r-value of 0.198. Thus, the null hypothesis was rejected. Overall, the students-respondents of CCC and NDJC seemed to say that the motivation to learn the English language does not come with gender and age. However, the interest to learn the language is important in achieving proficiency. The perceived advantages of being able to communicate well in English was also a motivating force that drove these students-respondents to learn the language. These were further enhanced by the encouragement they received from their parents. Tables 10 and 11 present the χ2-values reflecting the relationship of students’ gender and course to their level of attitudes towards learning English language. They also show the rvalues that indicated the relationship of age and parental encouragement to their attitudes. Table 6. Relationship between Students’ Demographic Profile, Parental Encouragement and Attitudes towards Learning English Language (Public College) Decision H0

Interpretation

Accept

Not Significant

0.198

-0.176 Accept

Not Significant

0.198

0.501

Significant

Df

Χ2 t

χ 2c

Gender

4

9.488

0.137

Age

98 98

Students’ Profile

Parental Encouragement

Reject

The table illustrates that there was no significant relationship between gender and level of motivation in learning English language of students of CCC as shown by the computed χ2value of 0.137 which is less than the tabular χ2-value of 9.488. This is also true of students’ course and the level of their motivation since the computed χ2- value of 0.140 does not exceed the tabular χ2-value of 9.488. Therefore, the null hypothesis involving these aspects was accepted. The computed r-value of -0.176 indicates a low negative relationship between the respondents’ age and the level of their motivation. However, parental encouragement is significantly related to the level of motivation since the computed r-value of 0.501 is greater than the tabular r-value of 0.198. Thus, the null hypothesis was rejected.

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Table 7. Relationship between Students’ Demographic Profile, Parental Encouragement and Attitudes towards Learning English Language (Private College) Decision H0

df

χ2t

χ 2c

Gender

4

9.488

0.468

Accept

Not Significant

Age

98

0.198

-0.124

Accept

Not Significant

98

0.198

0.064

Reject

Significant

Students’ Profile

Parental Encouragement

Interpretation

The table indicates that there was no significant relationship between gender and level of motivation in learning English language of students of NDJC as shown by the computed χ2value of 0.595 which is less than the tabular χ2-value of 9.488. This is also true of students’ course and the level of their motivation since the computed χ2- value of 26.612 does not exceed the tabular χ2-value of 31.410. Therefore, the null hypothesis involving these aspects was accepted. The computed r-value of -0.086 indicates a low negative relationship between the respondents’ age and the level of their motivation. However, parental encouragement is significantly related to the level of motivation since the computed r-value of 0.235 is greater than the tabular r-value of 0.198. Thus, the null hypothesis was rejected. 5. Comparison of the Level of Motivation and Attitudes towards Learning English Language To determine the significant difference in the responses of the two groups, the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the level of motivation and attitudes towards learning English language of the students from the private college and of the students from the public college was tested through the use of t-test. Table 12 presents the results of the test. Table 8. Summary Table of the t-test Values on Comparison of Responses of the Two Groups of Respondents

Weighted Mean Motivation and Attitude

Public Private College College

t-value

t-tabular

H0

Significance

Motivation

4.313

4.223

0.158

1.960

Not rejected

Not Significant

Attitude

4.158

3.942

0.002

1.960

Not rejected

Not Significant

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It can be gleaned from Table 12 that the t-values of 0.158 and 0.002 did not exceed the tabular t-value of 1.960. The hypothesis, therefore, was not rejected. There was no significant difference between the level of motivation and attitudes towards learning English language of the students from the private college and of the students from the public college. This implies that regardless of the status (private or public) of the school, the student-respondents shared the same positive attitude towards learning the English language. They were highly motivated to learn the language. Perhaps these students wanted to communicate in English since the language is viewed as a sign of good education. Knowing how to communicate in English would also mean getting a good job. Furthermore, it could also be said that the studentrespondents were highly motivated to learn English because they might want to be acquainted with other people’s culture so that they would appreciate more their own culture and understand other people’s way of life.

SUMMARY Students’ Perceived Parental Encouragement in Learning English The composite means of 3.72 for CCC and 3.73 for NDJC showed that the studentrespondents from these two colleges felt that they received a high level of encouragement from their parents to study the English language. Based on the ranking (highest to lowest) of the computed means, language learners from CCC ranked item four (My parents really encourage me to study English) as first, while language learners at NDJC ranked item one (My parents try to help me with my English) to be the first in the ranking. For the students of CCC the lowest item in the rank was item one, whereas for the students of NDJC the lowest item in the rank was item two (My parents have stressed the importance English will have for me when I leave school). Students’ Level of Motivation and Attitudes towards Learning English language The findings revealed that both language learners from CCC and NDJC were highly motivated and had positive attitude towards learning the English language. This was shown by the result of the average composite means (4.31 and 4.22) which could be verbally interpreted as agree. The findings implied that by being highly motivated to learn the English language and the positive attitude that went with it, the teaching tasks of the language teachers would not be too difficult, and the learning experiences of the students in and out of the classroom would be fruitful and positive as their behavior. Relationship of Demographic Profile and Parental Encouragement to Motivation and Attitudes towards Learning English Language The result showed that there was no significant relationship between the demographic profile and the level of motivation and attitudes of the students at CCC and NDJC; however, there was a significant relationship between parental encouragement and level of motivation and attitudes of these students toward learning English language.

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CONCLUSIONS Motivation and positive attitudes play a significant role in English language learning. Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. Language learners from CCC and NDJC are mostly 15 to 17 years old, which means that these students are fresh from high school when they enrolled in college; 2. When the age is higher, the motivation level is low; it is assumed that those students who are 18 years old and above when they entered college have stopped attending school right after graduation from high school. From this assumption, it could be implied that the interests of these students to study English have diminished. 3. The highest number of enrollees at CCC is in the Accountancy Department, while at NDJC, Commerce and Nursing Departments have the highest number of student population. Only few students at NDJC are interested to become future teachers or information technology experts since these two courses have the lowest number of enrollees. This could be implied that most of the students at CCC want to work in the bank or commercial center after college. On the other hand, the students at NDJC who enrolled in the nursing department may want to go abroad right after graduation, and those who are enrolled in the commerce department may want to work in the country or start their own business. 4. Both the students at CCC and NDJC are highly encouraged by their parents to study English. Furthermore, these students are highly motivated and have positive attitude towards learning English language; the result implies that wherever the location of the school and however different is the cultural background of these students, their parents gave them the same level of encouragement to study English. The findings further suggests that by being highly motivated to learn the English language and by having positive attitude that goes with it, the students could make the tasks of the language teachers not too difficult, and the learning experiences of the students in class or otherwise will somehow be just as fruitful and positive as their behavior; and 5.

Regardless of geographical setting and status of the school (public or private), students share the same amount of interest to study English language.

Moreover, this study seems to say that regardless of the gender and the course that they are studying, students perceived learning English to be fruitful for them not just for the present but also for the future. Their positive attitudes toward English reflect the priorities they have toward English. These students also received a good amount of parental encouragement. This is a good sign since parental encouragement is very important in increasing the motivation of pupils to learn the language. Gardner (1985, as cited in Karimkhanlui, 2006) suggests that although the students’ perception of their parents’ support is not directly related to their performance in class, their willingness to learn and their motivation are substantially enhanced by suitable encouragement from their parents.

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RECOMMENDATIONS In the light of the findings of the study, the following recommendations are hereby presented to future researchers: 1. Undertake an in-depth study that will shed more light on the correlation between integrative motivation and instrumental motivation and second language learning; 2. Device an instrument that will determine if English language learning in the Philippines is driven more by instrumental motivation or the combination of integrative and instrumental motivation; and 3. Involve the parents in future study on motivation as their participation may yield additional valuable insights.

REFERENCES Attitudes and Motivation (a snapshot of the page taken from an internet archive http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/elt/library_classics/conditions_c10.pdf?cc=gb). Retrieved December, 2007 from http://www.svdctp.org/aspac/phc.htm Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of Attitudes and motivation. London: Edward Arnold. Gardner, R. C. (2001). Integrative motivation: past, present and future. Retrieved December, 2007 from http://publish.uwo.ca/~gardner/GardnerPublicLecture1.pdf Karimkhanlui, Giti. (2006). An Evaluation of the motivation and attitudes of Iranian Medical students to English language. Retrieved July, 2007 from http://www.languageinindia.com/nov2006/iranmedicalmotivation.pdf Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Retrieved December, 2007 from http://www.sdkrashen.com/SL_Acquisition_and_Learning?SL_Acquisition_and_Learning.pd f Mantle-Bromley, C. (1995). Positive attitudes and realistic beliefs: links to proficiency. The Modern Language Journal. Vol. 79. Nos. 3-4. pp 373-383. Oller, J. W. (1978). Attitude variables in second language learning. In M. Burt, H. Dulay & M. Finocchiaro, (Eds.), Viewpoints on English as a second language (pp. 172-184). New York: Regents. Samaie, M., Sahragard, R. and Parhizkar, R. (2006). A critical analysis of learning and teaching goals in Gardner’s theory of attitude and motivation. The Asian EFL Journal. Vol. 8. Issue No. 4. Article 7.

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Soo, I. L. (No CP). The underlying beliefs and values of Japanese learners of low Language proficiency. Retrieved December, 2007 from http://www.stanford.edu/~kenro/SLARG/TESOL%20NEW%20-%Lee.pdf

APPENDIX Scoring of responses. The following ranges and verbal interpretations were used to score the responses in the items of the questionnaire. Options 5 4 3 2 1

Scale Range 4.50 – 5.00 3.50 – 4.49 2.50 – 3.49 1.50 – 2.49 1.00 – 1.49

Verbal Interpretations Strongly Agree Agree Cannot Decide Disagree Strongly Disagree

To determine the level of motivation and attitudes, the following scale was used: Options 5

Scale Range 4.50 – 5.00

Verbal Interpretations Strongly Agree

Level of Motivation/Attitude Very Highly Motivated with Very Highly Positive Attitude

4

3.50 – 4.49

Agree

Highly Motivated with Highly Positive Attitude

3

2.50 – 3.49

Cannot Decide

Motivated with Slightly Positive Attitude

2

1.50 – 2.49

Disagree

Slightly Motivated with Highly Negative Attitude

1

1.00 – 1.49

Strongly Disagree

Not at All Motivated with Very Highly Negative Attitude

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