The relations between university students' 21st century skills, achievement oriented motivation and their motivation towards learning English

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between English Preparatory class students' 21st century skills, achievement-oriented motivation and their motivation for learning English. Correlational research design was used in the study and the study sample of the research consists of the students that studied at the A1, A2 ve B1 level undergraduate and associate degree programs in Bülent Ecevit University School of Foreign Languages English Preparatory classes in the 2019-2020 academic year. The data were collected via "Multidimensional 21st Century Skills Scale", "Achievement-Oriented Motivation Scale" and "Motivation for Learning English Scale". For the analysis of the data in the research; frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, t test for independent groups, one way variance analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis were used. As a result of the research, the 21st century skill levels of the foreign language preparatory class students were found to be relatively high. It has also been determined that the 21st century skill levels of students differed according to department and program type variables, but they did not differ in terms of gender and foreign language levels. The achievement-oriented motivation levels of the English Preparatory class students were found to be relatively high. It has also been determined that while the achievement oriented motivation levels of students differed according to gender, department, program type variables, they did not differ in terms of foreign language levels. The motivation levels of English Preparatory class students to learn English were found to be relatively high. It has also been determined that while the motivation levels of students to learn English differed according to gender, department, program type variables, they did not differ in terms of foreign language levels. A moderate, positive and significant relationship has been found between the 21st century skills, achievement-oriented motivation and motivation for learning English of foreign language preparatory class students. It was also found that the metacognitive 21st century skills of foreign language class students predicted their achievement oriented motivation at a rate of 45% and their motivation for Learning English at a rate of 16%. From this point of view, in-service training on both new methods and techniques and new assessment and evaluation approaches can be given to teachers in order to gain sufficient information about 21st century skills and to apply them in the classroom. Thus, by using different teaching methods and techniques that can improve 21st century skills of students in foreign language classes, achievement-oriented motivation and motivation for learning English levels of students can be increased and enhanced.