Volume 7-2 April 2011.

PDF E-book version

Title
The Effect of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation on Iranian EFL Learners’ Language Learning

Authors
Abbas Pourhosein Gilakjani (Ph.D. candidate)
Islamic Azad University, Lahijan Branch, Iran.

Seyedeh Masoumeh Ahmadi (B.A.)
Islamic Azad University, Lahijan Branch, Iran.

Bio Data
Abbas Pourhosein Gilakjani, Ph.D. candidate of TEFL at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, School of Educational Studies, Pinang, Malaysia.. He is the faculty member of the Islamic Azad University, Lahijan Branch from 1999 to 2010. His main research interests are pronunciation listening comprehension, motivation. He has published five articles in international journals and presented five papers in international conferences.

Seyedeh Masoumeh Ahmadi, B.A. graduate of Computer Engineering from the Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran. She will start her education in M.A. in Computer Engineering at the Universiti Sains Malaysia in September 2010. Her main research interests are multimedia, listening comprehension, motivation. She has published five articles in international journals and presented five papers in international conferences.
                                                    

Abstract
The study investigates the effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on Iranian EFL learners’ language learning. The research examined both male and female learners using Gardner and Lambert’s (1972) “extrinsic and intrinsic motivation” model in order to achieve the desired results. Sixteen items were  selected from Gardner and Lambert’s model. They were distributed among students for testing. Results indicated that female students have stronger intrinsic motivation than extrinsic motivation and male students have stronger extrinsic motivation than intrinsic motivation. Findings provide a better understanding of the theoretical and practical facets for teachers.

Keywords: Motivation, Extrinsic, Intrinsic, Iranian learners.