Abstract:
Since second or foreign language learning is a?.m long term endeavor and learners may lose their initial interest and enthusiasm, they need to be kept motivated. Student engagement has been recommended as one approach to sustaining such at risk learners at high levels of motivation. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the dimensions of student engagement and language learning motivation among Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 117 intermediate EFL learners at the Iran Language Institute (ILI), Gorgan adult male branch, Iran, having been selected as the participants of the study through convenience sampling, were given two questionnaires: Student Engagement Questionnaire (Hart, Stewart, & Jimerson, 2011; Reeve, 2013) and Language Learning Motivation Scale (Noels, Pelletier, Clément, & Vallerand, 2000). The quantitative data gathered through these questionnaires were analyzed by the software package of SPSS, version 24. The results of the correlation tests showed that there were significant relationships between language learning motivation and each dimension of student engagement, with the cognitive engagement having the highest correlation. Further, the results of multiple regression analyses indicated that cognitive engagement was the sole predictor of language learning motivation.
Machine summary:
Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the dimensions of student engagement and language learning motivation among Iranian EFL learners.
To this end, 117 intermediate EFL learners at the Iran Language Institute (ILI), Gorgan adult male branch, Iran, having been selected as the participants of the study through convenience sampling, were given two questionnaires: Student Engagement Questionnaire (Hart, Stewart, & Jimerson, 2011; Reeve, 2013) and Language Learning Motivation Scale (Noels, Pelletier, Clément, & Vallerand, 2000).
The results of the correlation tests showed that there were significant relationships between language learning motivation and each dimension of student engagement, with the cognitive engagement having the highest correlation.
Accordingly, the objective of the current study was to bridge this lacuna by investigating the relationship between the dimensions of student engagement and language learning motivation in the EFL context of Iran.
In a recent research study, Ramshe, Ghazanfari, and Ghonsooly (2019) investigated the role of personal best aims in behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement of learners in an academic Iranian EFL context.
Pearson product-moment correlation test was employed to specify if the relationships between the dimensions of student engagement and language learning motivation were statistically significant.
Discussion The primary objective of the present study was to explore the relationships between emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and agentic dimensions of student engagement and language learning motivation.
Conclusion This study investigated the association between dimensions of student engagement and language learning motivation among Iranian EFL learners.