The role of motivation and motivational strategies on oral communicative competence in efl learners' success

This study examined the role of motivation and teaching strategies on Iraqi EFL learners' oral communicative competence by investigating the relationship among motivation, teaching strategies, and oral communicative competence. The research was conducted in two state high schools in Sulaymaniyah-Iraq during the 2016-17 academic years. As this study was descriptive in nature, the following data collection instruments were employed: a 30-item questionnaire, which was administrated to 406 EFL learners, and a semi-structured interview regarding the results of the quantitative research, which was conducted individually with 12 participants at different educational levels. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the collected data. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS, which utilized descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze the questionnaire results. A Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient was also employed to examine the relationship between motivation, teaching strategies, and oral communicative competence. The qualitative data were analyzed by means of content analysis. The data analysis results indicated a positive relationship between oral communicative competence and motivation according to the medium degree (r= .233 p> .01). Furthermore, another medium degree was (r= .204 p> .01), implying a positive relationship between oral communicative competence and teaching strategies. Likewise, there was a positive significant correlation between teaching strategies and motivation according to the medium degree (r= 711, P>.05). This meant that an increase in teaching strategies affected an increase in motivation. Additionally, the qualitative data indicated that integrativeness, attitude toward the situation, and motivational intensity affected learners to become motivated for better oral performance. The participants' explanations indicated that integrativeness significantly affected learners' motivation for learning the language. Finally, it was discovered that teachers' communicative style and language class activities increased learners' motivation. Participants specified teacher feedback as a vital factor in their motivation. This study examined the relationship between motivation and oral communicative competence as well as teaching strategies and oral communicative competence in an effort to determine which factors influenced learner motivation and communicative performance as well as which teaching strategies increased this motivation.