The relationship between learner motivation and vocabulary size: The case of Iraqi efl classrooms

The study investigated the relationship between learner motivation and vocabulary size in EFL classrooms at Duhok University. The participants included 100 students: 55 male and 45 female students. All participants were pursuing their third years of study in an English department, which means they had completed two years of EFL study prior to their participation. In order to determine the relationship between learner motivation and vocabulary size, it was first necessary to measure these two variables among participants. Thus, two instruments were employed: questionnaires regarding Motivation for Foreign Language Learning (MFLL) and Vocabulary Size Test (VST). The questionnaires also distinguished between the types of motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic) significantly affecting language acquisition by students. Findings showed that female students experienced both types of motivation, with the mean score of extrinsic motivation being 29.91, and that for intrinsic motivation being 31.20, while the mean score of male students was 27.10 for extrinsic motivation and 28.00 for intrinsic motivation. The vocabulary size test ranged from 1,000 to 14,000 word-families, and the vocabulary size of both groups was over 6,000 word-families. Following the administration of questionnaires and test, correlation analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between learner motivation and vocabulary size. For both groups, the results indicated no relationship between these two aspects of students' foreign language leaning. To investigate the difference between motivation and vocabulary size, an independent samples t-test was utilized. A statistically significant difference was determined to exist between the motivations of both groups, while no difference was found to exist between the vocabularies of both groups.