THE INFLUENCE OF INSTRUMENTAL AND

INTEGRATIVE MOTIVATION ON EFL LEARNERS

SCORES

Helena Montserrat Pia Garca

Cecilia Portocarrero Molina

June 6, 2013

The purpose of this investigation is to show that students with integrative

motivation have higher grades than students with instrumental motivation. The
participants were 20 students that are currently studying English, 10 teachers and
10 junior students. Data was collected through the application of a questionnaire to
form two groups, an integrative motivated group and an instrumental motivated
group, and also their midterm exams scores were taken from their school data
base. From this result was concluded that students with instrumental motivation
achieved better results, although there was no statistically significant difference
between the two groups mean scores.

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The purpose of this research is to investigate and analyze which motivation plays a
more important role in a second language learning process; particularly among
Mexican students with integrative motivation and students with instrumental
motivation. Indeed, there are multiple reasons why Mexican students want to learn
English. Some of the learners get enrolled in English courses because they need
the job or to gain more money. The other reason why they do it is to have a better
proficiency in the target language.

However, studies have shown that motivation certainly is one of the most crucial
facts to be considered in a second language acquisition among students.
Principally, there are four different types of motivation concerned with second
language learning: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, instrumental motivation
and integrative motivation.

Focusing on instrumental and integrative motivation, Redfield, Figoni and Levin

(2009) mentioned that the terms instrumental and integrative motivation were
originally developed by Gardner and Lamber in the year 1959. According to Norris
Holt (2001), with instrumental motivation, the purpose of language acquisition is
more utilitarian either to apply for a job, requesting higher pay based on language
ability, among others. On the other hand, integrative motivation describes learners
who wish to integrate themselves into the culture of a second language.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In English Language Learning, motivation is describe as a combination of attitudes,

goals, and inclinations which inspire an individual to learn the language (Richards
& Schmidt, 2002, p. 303). Gardner (p. 10) makes a distinction between two types
of motivations, integrative and instrumental. Integrative motivation is characterized
by the desire of an individual to integrate and belong to the English speaking
population, while instrumental motivation is driven by the individuals need of the
language for practical purposes (e.g. to get a better job, higher grades, higher
salary).

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Recent research has shown that integrativeness is the main factor that influences a
the individuals disposition to learn the language, and also their posture over the
language and its speaking community (Csizr & Drnyei, 2005). For example,
according to Yihong, Yuan, Ying and Yan (2007) when students are very interested
in the foreign language and the culture itself they tend to present a change on
productivity and performance in the classroom. Hernndez (2006) study on
motivation as a predictor of success in foreign language acquisition showed that
students with integrative motivation tend to have higher scores in oral proficiency
interviews. Another research, carried out by Yashima (2002), suggests that
learners who are willing to communicate in English and their postures over the
English speaking countries affect their motivation, increasing their proficiency in the
foreign language. Join to all this, Oxford and Shearin (1994) suggest that when
learners are motivated and make an effort to achieve something that will make
them feel proud and confident about themselves and the way they are developing
in the language, they are more likely to present higher results.

This study investigated whether the type of motivation Mexican students have to
learn English as a foreign language would have a direct influence on students
scores. It was expected that the group of learners who had integrative motivation to
learn the language would have higher scores than the group of students who have
instrumental motivation.

METHOD

The research was conducted in a language school where students with different
types of motivation to learn English as a foreign language could be found. Two
groups were formed, one groups of 10 students with integrative motivation, and
one group with the same number of students but who had instrumental motivation.
This is a quantitative study which sought to compare the mean scores of students
with integrative motivation and students with instrumental motivation. Therefore, a
T-test was employed to get the information desired.

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Subjects

The participants were 20 Mexican students (female and male), 10 of them were
teachers at the school Cervantes Bosque and were studying first level of English
after many years of having left school, ergo they were false beginners. The other
10, were pre- intermediate students who had 9 months studying English in a
Language School in Guadalajara, called Parlink. These two different groups were
selected because the research required two different groups to show their
motivation for studying English. The 20 students were divided, to see if the
teachers were studying English in order to earn more money and/or to keep their
jobs, and to see if the other 10 students had the motivation of studying English
because they wanted to learn other language and communicate easily.

Material

The questionnaire (Appendix 1) was taken from a thesis elaborated by Angelica

Sandoval Pineda, a Mexican teacher (Chihuahua) that was published in 2011
called Attitude, Motivation, and English Language Learning in a Mexican College
Context. This questionnaire was simplified and adapted in order to get the specific
information for the research. It has the purpose to seek whether the students
motivation of learning English is because of their jobs (instrumental motivation), or
because they want to feel more secure when talking with a native speaker
(integrative motivation).

Procedures

Motivation is a big influence in the students performance when learning a foreign

language. This study looks for the relation that the integrative and instrumental
motivations might have over the learners scores, starting from the hypothesis that
students with integrative motivation achieve better results. Now, to be able to make
this comparison it was necessary to find two different groups. In order to find the
two groups, questionnaires to get the type of motivation that the learners have
were applied to 20 different people from the same language school but who were
in different classes and levels.

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Each questionnaire was evaluated in order to form a group of subjects which
higher motivation was integrative, and another group which higher motivation was
instrumental. Once the two groups were set, their midterm exams scores were
taken from the schools data base.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results of the questionnaire that was applied to have the two groups to carry
out this study are shown in this section. The data was separated according to the
information each set of questions intended to collect. Table 1 shows the mean
scores that Group 1 (whose participants were the teachers from the school
Cervantes Bosques) and Group 2 (whose participants were the junior students)
presented per each question reflecting their level of integrative motivation. On
Table 2 displays the mean scores for each question reflecting the level of
instrumental motivation Group 1 and Group 2 presented.

The results from Table 1 show that Group 1 (whose individuals were the teachers
from the school Cervantes Bosques) had lower integrative motivation with scores
ranging from 4.9 to 5.6. Then, Group 2 (whose participants were the junior
students) resulted to be the one with higher integrative motivation to learn English,
with scores that ranged from 5.9 to 6.5.

TABLE 1
Items for integrative orientation
Group
1 2
N=1 N=1
0 0
1 Studying English is important because it will allow me to be more at ease with 5.6 6.5
people who speak English.
3 Studying English is important because it will allow me to meet and converse 5.2 6.1
with more and varied people.
5 Studying English is important because it will enable me to better understand 4.9 5.9
and appreciate the English way of life.
7 Studying English is important because I will be able to interact more easily with 5.6 6.3
speakers of English.
9 My motivation to learn English in order to communicate with English speaking 5 6.2
people is
Mean 5.26 6.2

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In Table 2 is displayed the information that sets Group 1 as the one with higher
instrumental motivation to learn a language, with scores ranging from 5.8 to 7.
Therefore, Group 2 had the lower instrumental motivation since their scores ranged
from 4.2 to 6.2.

TABLE 2
Items for instrumental orientation
Group
1 2
N=1 N=1
0 0
2 Studying English is important because I will need it for my career. 7 6.2
4 Studying English is important because it will make me more educated. 5.9 4.2
6 Studying English is important because it will be useful in getting a job. 6.3 5.7
8 Studying English is important because other people will respect me more if I 5.8 4.6
know the language.
10 My motivation to learn English for practical purposes (e.g. to get a job, a better 7 6.1
salary, better grades) is
Mean 6.4 5.36

Taking the mean of the two set of questions (integrative orientation and
instrumental orientation) for Group 1 and Group 2, it is noticeable that there is only
a slight difference of .94 points and 1 point between mean scores for the
integrative and instrumental orientation set of questions respectively. Nevertheless,
Group 1 still had the students with higher instrumental motivation and Group 2 had
the students with higher integrative motivation.

TABLE 3
Students Scores

Group 1 Group 2
Integrative motivation Instrumental motivation
Sample size 10 10
Mean 91.9 89.9
(Students midterm exam score)
Standard deviation 6.3 5.7

Table 3 shows Group 1 and Group 2 midterm exams mean. The former presented
a mean of 91.9 points (SD = 6.3) while Group 2 had a mean of 89.9 points (SD =
5.7). A t-test analysis indicated that there was no statistically significant difference
between the means of the two groups which yielded a t of 0.4669 at the p < 0.10

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level (with df = 18). Consequently, the data does not support the hypothesis that
the students with integrative motivation would have higher scores. In fact, it
showed that the students with instrumental motivation achieved better results,
although the difference between the two groups mean is only of two points.

The results of this research seem to reject the hypothesis that students with high
levels of integrativeness to learn English would have better results when being
tested. The reason why in this particular study the results were not the ones
expected could be the fact that both groups scores for integrative and instrumental
orientation were very similar and high. It would be interesting to find whether the
presence of high levels in both orientations in the individuals provokes better
performance and proficiency in the target language.

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Reference

Csizr, K. & Drnyei, Z. (2005). The Internal Structure of Language Learning

Motivation and Its Relationship with Language and Learning Effort. The

Modern Language Journal, 89(1), 19-36. Retrieved May 30, 2013, from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3588549

Gardner, R. C. (2001, Febraury). Integrative motivation: Past, Present and Future.

Paper presented at the Distinguished Lecture Series, Temple University,

Tokyo. Retrieved from

http://publish.uwo.ca/~gardner/docs/GardnerPublicLecture1.pdf.

Hernndez, T. (2006). Integrative Motivation as Predictor of Success in the

Intermediate Foreign Language Classroom. Foreign Language Annals,

39(4), 605-617. Retrieved May 30, 2013, from

http://search.proquest.com.wdg.biblio.udg.mx:2048/pqcentral/docview/2160

07833/fulltextPDF/13E7D55948310A07410/1?accountid=28915

Oxford, R. & Shearin, J. (1994) Language Learning Motivation: Expanding the

Tehoretical Framework. The Modern Language Journal, 78(1), 12-28.

Retrieved May 30, 2013, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/329249

Redfield, M. R, Figoni, B. & Levin, D (2009). University Technology Students

Integrative and Instrumental Motivation. Osaka Keidai Ronshu, Vol. 59, No.

5. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.

Richards, J.C., & Schmidt R. (2002). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching &

Applied Linguistics (3rd ed.). London: Pearson.

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Yashima, T. (2002). Willingness to Communicate in a Second Language: The

Japanese EFL Context. The Modern Language Journal, 86(1), 54-66.

Retrieved May 30, 2013, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1192769

Yihong, G., Yuan Z., Ying, C. & Yan, Z. (2007). Relationship between English

Learning Motivation Types and Self-Identity Changes among Chinese

Students. TESOL Quarterly,41(1), 133-155. Retrieved May 30, 2013, from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40264334

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 APPENDIX

Integrative and Instrumental Orientation Questionnaire English version

We would like to know your opinion about each statement by circling the alternative next
to it, which best indicates the extent to which you agree or disagree. Please provide your
answer to all of the items.
Use this scale as a reference for your answer.

Strongly Moderatel Slightly Neutral Slightly Moderatel Strongly

disagree y disagree disagree agree y agree agree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 Studying English is important because it will allow me to be 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

more at ease with people who speak English
2 Studying English is important because I will need it for my 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
career.
3 Studying English is important because it will allow me to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
meet and converse with more and varied people.
4 Studying English is important because it will make me more 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
educated.
5 Studying English is important because it will enable me to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
better understand and appreciate the English way of life.
6 Studying English is important because it will be useful in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
getting a job
7 Studying English is important because I will be able to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
interact more easily with speakers of English
8 Studying English is important because other people will 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
respect mi more if know English

Rate the following items in terms of how you feel about it. Each item is follows by a sacle
that has a label on the left and another on the right, and the numbers 1-7 between the two
ends. For each item, please circle any one of the numbers from 1 to 7 that best describes
you.

1. My motivation to learn English in order to communicate with English speaking people is

Weak 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strong
2. My motivation to learn English for practical purposes (e.g. to get a job, a better salary,
better grades) is
Low 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 High

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 Integrative and Instrumental Orientation Questionnaire Spanish version

Nos gustara conocer tu opinin acerca de cada uno de los siguientes enunciados.
Encierra en un crculo la alternativa que ms se acerque a tu opinin. Por favor no dejes
preguntas sin contestar. Utiliza la siguiente escala como referencia.

En total Moderadament Ligerament Neutra Ligerament Moderadament En total

desacuerd e en e en l e de acuero e en acuerdo acuerd
o desacuerdo desacuerdo o
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 Estudiar ingles es importante porque me permitir sentirme 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

cmodo/a cuando me relacione con personas que hablen
ingls
2 Estudiar ingls es importante porque lo necesitar en mi 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
desempeo profesional
3 Siento que estudiar ingls es importante porque me permitir 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
comunicarme con un nmero mayor de personas de
diferentes culturas en el mundo.
4 Estudiar ingls es importante porque es indispensable para 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
que uno sea reconocido como una persona con educacin.
5 Estudiar ingls es importante porque me permitir entender y 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
apreciar mejor la cultura angloparlante.
6 Estudiar ingls es importante porque me ser til para 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
obtener un buen empleo.
7 Es importante estudiar ingls porque tendr la oportunidad 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
de interactuar ms fcilmente con gente que habla esa
lengua.
8 Estudiar ingls es importante porque la gente me respetar 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ms si domino esta lengua.

Nos gustara que evaluaras los siguientes enunciados en base a tu apreciacin. A cada
enunciado le sigue una escala del 1 al 7. Para cada enunciado, por favor encierra en un
crculo el nmero que mejor describa tu manera de pensar.

3. La motivacin que tengo para aprender ingls con el objetivo de comunicarme con
gente que hable esta lengua es
Baja 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Alta
4. La motivacin que tengo por aprender ingls con propsitos practices (e.g. para
obtener un buen empleo, mejor salario, mejores calificaciones) es
Baja 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Alta

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