Motivation of young learners towards learning English in Turkish state schools

Motivation towards learning English has been considered as an important factor in language learning. In this study, we aim to study motivation of the students from grades fourth to eighth at state schools when they first start to learn English and continue for five years. 500 participants studying English at state schools contributed to the motivation scale in Academic Year 2011-2012. The design of the present study is a mixed method design, which combines and associates both qualitative and quantitative designs. The data were collected through a motivation scale developed for this study by the researcher which was analyzed quantitatively; also, open-ended questions and interviews were used to support the findings which were analyzed qualitatively. The data collected through the motivation scale was analyzed by SPSS 17.0 statistical package program, and frequency, percentage, standard variation, t-test, one-way variance analysis were used. The findings of the study revealed that overall state school students in Turkey had positive perspectives on motivation towards learning English as a foreign language and they had high motivation level in terms of three factors, that is, attitudes, learning environment and instrumentality. Students' motivation towards learning English significantly differed across grades and there was a significant gender difference in that female students had higher motivation level. The factors that influenced state school students' motivation mostly were teacher attitudes, DynEd program, the difficulty of English lessons, friends, and the course book. This study confirmed the dependency of young learners on teachers and learning environment (classroom). The vast majority of the students were highly motivated extrinsically. Keywords: Motivation, young learners, attitudes, learning environment, instrumentality.