Motivation in English Learning and Grammar Learning:

A Study Of High School Students

1. Background
- The study explores the relationship between motivation, attitudes, and
grammar learning in SLA
+ motivation and attitudes have been extensively studied, particularly in the
context of Japanese students learning English - while previous research has
often categorized motivation into integrative and instrumental orientations,
recent studies have suggested broader approaches and context-specific
investigations due to limitations in the integrative-instrumental dichotomy
- Despite changes in English curriculum guidelines (the Ministry of
Education's emphasis on grammar as a supplementary means for
promoting communicative ability), many schools continue to teach
grammar separately, often in a traditional, teacher-fronted manner -
this approach may lead to student frustration and disengagement from
grammar learning, impacting their overall motivation and attitudes
toward learning English.
2. Purpose
- The study aims to:
+ analyze attitude and motivation toward grammar learning of students with
different levels of motivation
+ find which factors in the grammar classes are related to their motivation
for learning English
3. Method
- The study involved 256 Japanese high school students, comprising 93
boys and 163 girls, from three prefectural high schools in Kanazawa
city
+ these students had intermediate levels in English and were all in their first
year of high school, studying English as part of their curriculum
+ they all attended grammar classes and most aimed to attend university.
- The questionnaire used in the study consisted of 3 parts:
+ the first part assessed motivation and attitude variables, adopting
questions from published language learning scales (Clément et al., 1994) and
the questionnaire developed by Takanashi (1991)
+ the second part focused on desired proficiency levels, with the first 4 items
related to entrance exam abilities and the remaining 8 items concerning
general language proficiency
+ the third section evaluated the grammar class, materials, teacher, and
attitudes toward grammar learning, drawing upon factors identified in
previous studies.
 - The questionnaire was administered in Japanese during regular class
sessions and later back-translated into English.
4. Results
- The study surveyed students on their reasons for studying English,
with responses ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree" on
a 5-point scale
+ analysis revealed that students were most motivated by reasons related to
exams and least interested in the language itself

- Factor analysis identified five factors, including:

+ factor I, labeled "instrumental language use for exams," focused on exam-
related motivations
+ factor II, labeled "communicative socio-cultural use," reflected motivations
for using English in social contexts
+ factor III, labeled "socio-cultural interest," represented general interest in
English culture and science
+ factor IV, "linguistic interest," showed interest in languages but had
negative loadings, suggesting a lack of interest in this area
+ factor V, "admiration for an English expert," indicated admiration for
proficient English speakers

-> The study revealed that high school students demonstrated both
instrumental and integrative orientations toward English learning, with a
notable emphasis on exam-related motivations, unlike previous research
involving university students - this underscores the significance of entrance
exams for high school students, shaping their motivations for studying
English
 - The second research question of this study investigates whether there
is a difference in students' impressions of grammar classes based on
their level of motivation
+ 3 types of students were identified based on factor analysis results: Group
A (exam-oriented), Group B (exam/culture-oriented), and Group C (culture-
oriented) >< Group C had too few students for meaningful comparison, so
only Group A and Group B were analyzed
+ Group A students prioritize factors related to exam preparation, while
Group B students value both exam preparation and cultural engagement
+ the analysis shows that Group B students have a more positive attitude
towards grammar classes compared to Group A - specifically, Group B
students find the materials more interesting, perceive their teachers as
knowledgeable but are less satisfied with their teaching style, and have a
stronger sense of achievement in class
+ in contrast, Group A students view grammar classes as uninteresting and
lack a feeling of achievement
-> Overall, while both groups are concerned about entrance exams, Group B
students exhibit a more positive attitude towards both grammar class and
grammar learning
  The study highlights the significant influence of university entrance
exams on high school students' motivation to study English ><
students motivated by both exams and cultural engagement exhibit a
more positive attitude towards grammar learning compared to those
solely focused on exams
+ despite this, both groups express dissatisfaction with grammar classes,
indicating a need for teachers to reconsider their teaching methods to
enhance student motivation
+ encouraging intrinsic motivation through interesting materials and
activities is suggested as a strategy for improving student engagement

What influences students’ motivation for learning English grammar?

1. Background
- Drawing from personal experiences and observations, the author
reflects on how different teaching philosophies and teacher
personalities have impacted their own motivation for grammar learning
& wants to understand why some individuals perceive English
grammar as important and are motivated to learn more, while others
do not share the same level of enthusiasm
- There are various factors that the author considered to be important to
consider in the research, such as variety in teaching, conscious &
unconscious learning, TBLT and traditional way of teaching, meaning &
kinds of motivation, and teacher-student relationship
a. Teaching with variety
- In Ruin's study, learners' attitudes toward grammar and the role of
motivation in achieving subject goals are examined - through a
questionnaire administered to university students, Ruin explores
 students' perceptions of grammar, particularly focusing on language
analysis and writing
+ results indicate that most students, regardless of their proficiency level,
hold positive attitudes toward studying grammar >< those who excel in
language precision demonstrate the highest motivation for further learning
- Ruin emphasizes the importance of recognizing individual differences
in learning styles and the need for varied teaching methods to
accommodate diverse learner preferences.
- Building on Ruin's findings, scholars like Widdowson and McGroarty
underscore the significance of teaching with variety to cater to
learners' diverse needs and enhance motivation
+ the study suggests that understanding how different students perceive
their learning preferences can inform instructional practices and boost
motivation
-> the author wants to know in what way learners think that they learn the
most (if different students benefit from different teaching, how will that
influence motivation?)
b. Conscious and unconscious learning
- Widdowson (1991) discusses conscious versus unconscious learning,
noting that teaching about language can sometimes be inappropriate,
especially for young learners lacking analytical skills >< he suggests
that learning about language can also be motivating, allowing learners
to compare their L2 to their 1st and gain broader knowledge
- Widdowson rejects the statement that a communicative approach
excludes grammar learning, emphasizing that understanding grammar
rules is essential for effective communication
-> the author wants to investigate learners’ perceptions of conscious
grammar learning and its impact on motivation & if there are differences
between learners
c. The traditional way and the task based
- Ruin (1996) distinguishes between two approaches to teaching
grammar: the old perspective, where the teacher give & explain the
grammar & the new perspective, which emphasizes collaborative
learning through tasks and exercises
- Julkunen (2002) also highlights the importance of tasks in motivating
learners (boosting their motivation) and the potential of tasks to make
learning entertaining and engaging
+ in order for a task to be motivational, the learner should not know the
outcome – e.g. the teacher asks learners something in which learners have
to find a solution to a problem or that they need to do something
 - Widdowson (1991) criticizes the traditional approach to grammar
teaching, advocating for a method that integrates grammar into
meaningful language use
+ he recommends tasks that require learners to analyze grammatical rules
and apply them in different contexts, helping learners to have a deeper
understanding of language
-> the author is prompted to explore learners' perceptions of tasks and their
motivational impact in learning grammar
d. Meaning and different kinds of motivation
- Dörnyei and Schmidt (2002) emphasize the critical role of motivation in
SLA, raising questions about the different types of motivation - they
explore the teacher's role in fostering student motivation
- McGroarty (2002) suggests that motivation for learning a L2 can be
influenced by various factors, including the learning environment and
social interactions
- Motivation can be driven by intrinsic factors, such as personal interest
and satisfaction, or extrinsic factors, such as grades and rewards
+ inner motivation, driven by personal satisfaction, is associated with more
advanced learning strategies compared to outer motivation, which is driven
by external rewards or consequences
-> the author wants to investigate the importance of meaning and
motivation in language learning and explore the different types of motivation
learners experience.
e. How the student-teacher relationship influences motivation
- Kozminsky and Kozminsky (2002) described the importance of
communication between teachers and students - teacher feedback
plays an important role in students' academic success or failure
- Mihalas et al. (2009) emphasize the significance of positive teacher-
student relationships, noticing the beneficial effects of strong
connections between teachers and students as well as the negative
consequences of poor relationships
+ they suggest that the quality of teacher-student relationships can impact
students' willingness to engage in learning and strive for improvement
+ actors such as trust, respect, and effective communication contribute to
the quality of these relationships
- While there is limited literature on learners' attitudes towards their
relationships with teachers, this study aims to contribute to this
discussion.
2. Purpose
 - The paper aims to explore the factors influencing learners' attitudes
toward learning English grammar.
- Research questions: What influences students’ motivation for learning
English grammar?
- Other perspectives that are investigated:
+ what different kinds of strategies seems to be the most motivating for the
students?
+ what kind of motivation do learners have for grammar?
+ are learners positive or negative towards grammar, does their motivation
come from within themselves (intrinsic) or does it come from elements
outside of themselves (extrinsic)?
+ how important is it for learners that what they study is meaningful for
them?
+ how important is the teacher – student relation for motivation?
+ what do learners think of task-based teaching?
+ what are the best ways of learning?
3. Method
- Participants: 54 students aged 17-18 in an upper secondary school in
the south of Sweden (the students were at the end of their English B
studies -> they have had English for several years & have probably
experienced a lot of grammar)
- The author used quantitative method to collect data (through
questionnaire)
- The questionnaire consists of 6 questions, each of which aim to
investigate different aspects:
1, During my time in school English grammar has been interesting: When?
(what activities learners think are the most interesting and motivational)
2, English grammar is important to... (measure how learners value grammar)
3, Put an X to the left of the one that says how much you want to learn
English grammar (how motivated students are to learn grammar)
4, How important is it that you have a good relationship with your teacher for
you to learn grammar?
5, I learn grammar the best... (the way in which students learn grammar best
– conscious/unconscious)
6, I learn grammar because... (what kind of motivation learners have for
learning grammar)
- The researcher analyzed data from 54 responses, finding that only 36
were appropriate due to a misunderstanding (some students had
misunderstood 3 questions where they were asked to rank suggestions
 from 1 to 6 - instead of assigning different numbers to each
suggestion, some gave multiple suggestions the same numbers)
- The data was analyzed in the following way:
+ for questions where students ranked suggestions using numbers, such as
Questions 1, 5, and 6, the researcher wanted to illustrate the popularity of
suggestions -> he/she used diagrams to show differences and similarities - to
ensure the most popular answers were represented prominently, he/she
reversed the numbering system, with the most popular answer receiving the
highest number
+ after obtaining the total number for each suggestion, the author calculated
the percentage of the total score each suggestion received by dividing the
total number by the overall score of all suggestions
+ for questions where students placed an X next to their preferred
suggestion (Questions 3 and 4), he/she counted the number of crosses for
each suggestion and divided it by the total number of participants (36) to
determine the percentage
+ question 2 involved rating five suggestions on a scale of 1-4 & instead of
comparing suggestions, the author calculated the average rating for all
answers by adding the numbers each suggestion received and dividing it by
the total number of participants (36)
4. Results
- The most popular suggestion regarding the activities that students
considered interesting and motivational was a mix of teacher
instruction and exercises, with approximately 24% of the total points
+ conversely, the least popular suggestion, excluding "own suggestions" was
the sole reliance on teacher instruction, receiving about 15% of the total
points.
- Regarding the learners’ value of English grammar, students rated
various suggestions on a scale of 1-4, with higher scores indicating
greater importance
+ all suggestions received average scores higher than 2, indicating that they
were perceived as important by the students
+ the 2 most important reasons cited were "to get a good grade" and "have
a job where you need to speak English”
- The majority of students (85%) expressed a positive attitude towards
learning English grammar
- A small percentage (5%) believed that the student-teacher relationship
did not matter for learning, while nearly half (46%) considered it to be
important
 - The most popular suggestion regarding motivation for learning English
grammar, was extrinsic motivation, specifically the desire to achieve a
good grade in English - this was followed by examples of intrinsic
motivation, such as the importance of knowing English grammar

Students’ Motivation to Learn Grammar:

The Contribution of Focus on Form Instruction
1. Background
- English is used as a medium of instruction at various educational levels
in Ethiopia, partially in primary & fully in secondary and tertiary
education - despite its importance, the quality of students' English has
been declining
+ studies have found difficulties in English language use in classrooms - with
many secondary and university students writing grammatically inaccurate
sentences
+ research at some universities in Ethiopia also highlighted poor grammar
use in student writing
- The decline in English grammar proficiency among students makes it
necessary to investigate its causes, one of which could be low
motivation for learning grammar
+ some researchers/teachers agree that students with low motivation are
less likely to succeed in language learning, which is consistent to the idea
that Ethiopian students have low motivation to learn English
+ motivation is a crucial component of effective SLA & it significantly
impacts the acquisition of English grammar
- Enhancing students' motivation to learn grammar is essential, and
applying appropriate instructional methods is one way to achieve this
(Fujimoto, 2020)
+ it has been noted that fun and easy teaching methods can improve
learners' motivation
+ various studies have confirmed that instructional methods can enhance
students' motivation to learn grammar
+ Fujimoto (2020) and Sato et al. (2012) particularly noted that focus on
form instruction can improve motivation, although they emphasized
incidental focus on form instruction.
>< there is limited research on the effects of planned focus on form
instruction, particularly structured output instruction, on students' motivation
to learn grammar
2. Purpose
 - This study aims to examine the effectiveness of structured output
instruction in enhancing motivation for learning grammar in higher
education in Ethiopia
3. Method
- The authors designed and implemented a quasi-experimental
classroom study
- The study involved 2 groups, which are an experimental group & a
control group - participants were selected through a multistage
sampling method:
+ purposive sampling was used to choose 1 st year students from Bahir Dar
University, specifically those taking the course Communicative English
Language Skills II, which covered all the target grammar features in the
study
+ through lottery method, natural science freshmen students from the same
university were selected
+ from these students, 2 sections were randomly chosen to participate in the
study
+ 5 students from the experimental group were selected for interviews
based on their willingness to participate
- The study used a mixed research design where qualitative research is
embedded in a primarily quasi-experimental design – it included a
thematic analysis of interview data to triangulate data
- The data was collected through 2 questionnaires (pre- and post-
intervention) and interview after the intervention
+ before the intervention, both the experimental and control groups
completed a pre-intervention questionnaire to assess their motivation levels
and ensure homogeneity
+ after the intervention, a post-intervention questionnaire was administered.
The questionnaire was adapted from Taguchi et al.’s (2009) items and
included dimensions such as integrativeness, instrumentality, attitudes to
the L2 community, and the L2 Motivational Self System (ideal L2 self, ought-
to L2 self, and L2 learning experience) from Dörnyei and Csizér (2002) and
Dörnyei et al. (2006) - instrumental motivation was divided into promotional
and preventional types
+ the dimensions are as below:
1, criterion measures: assess learners’ intended efforts toward learning
English
2, ideal L2 self: L2-specific facet of one’s ideal self
3, ought-to L2 self: the attribute that one believes one out to possess (duties,
obligations) to avoid possible negative outcomes
4, instrumentality promotion: related to personal goals for success
5, instrumentality prevention: related to regulating duties & obligation
6, L2 learning experience: connected to the immediate classroom
environment
7, attitudes to L2 community: attitudes toward target language speakers
8, integrativeness: desire know about the target language speakers and to
be part of the speakers
+ the questionnaire included 31 close-ended, five-point Likert scale
questions (ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree) – the data was
analyzed using one-way ANOVA
+ to triangulate the findings of the quantitative analysis, semi-structured
pair-interviews were conducted using an interview guide based on Suzuki’s
(2011) questions and the current study's questionnaire
- The experimental group received structured output instruction focusing
on relative clauses, reported speech, and future tenses over 6 weeks -
the activities involved producing the target features in writing (clauses,
sentences, paragraphs) without oral production for the entire class to
maintain study validity
+ students were not given explicit information about the target grammar
features but received brief explanations on related terms (e.g. paragraph
writings & conjunctions)
+ feedback was limited to indicating correctness without further explanation
& instructions were designed to avoid incidental input.

- The control group learned the same grammar features using

conventional methods outlined in the module for the Communicative
English Language Skills II course
+ they received explanations and practiced with traditional exercises, such
as filling in blanks and converting direct to indirect speech
+ after the intervention and data collection, makeup classes were held for
the control group to teach them the grammar features using the structured
output instruction method, ensuring ethical consideration
4. Results
- Descriptive statistics revealed that both the experimental and control
groups had similar motivation levels before the intervention >< after
the intervention, the experimental group showed significantly higher
motivation scores compared to the control group
- Before the intervention, the mean motivation scores for both groups
were almost identical, indicating homogeneity in motivation levels -
after the intervention, the experimental group had a significantly
 higher mean motivation score than the control group, suggesting that
the structured output instruction effectively enhanced motivation
- One-way ANOVA confirmed that the differences in motivation levels
between the two groups were not statistically significant before the
intervention, but they became significantly different post-intervention
- The analysis also compared scores for each dimension of motivation
+ for components like 'ideal L2 self’, both groups had similar means before
the intervention but showed significant differences afterward, with the
experimental group having higher scores
+ for other components, there were mathematical differences in mean
scores before and after the intervention
- One-way MANOVA confirmed that there were no significant differences
between the groups' scores in each motivational component before the
intervention
+ post-intervention comparisons showed significant differences in all
motivational dimensions, indicating that the structured output instruction
positively impacted students' motivation across all measured components
- The qualitative data analysis showed that learners have positive
experience on the intervention class, indicating motivation across
various dimensions:
+ intervention: participants were eager for classes that resembled real
communication scenarios with English native speakers
+ instrumentality promotion: learners were motivated by the goal of
achievement, driven by the need to use English in practical situations
+ instrumentality prevention: students were motivated by the desire to
avoid negative consequences of not having proficient grammar skills
+ criterion measures: participants concentrated and committed to exercises
due to the new approach introduced in the intervention
+ attitudes to L2 community: learners had positive attitudes toward native
English speakers, fostering motivation
+ ideal L2 self: students were motivated to achieve proficiency in English to
attain perfection
+ ought-to L2 self: participants felt motivated to engage in activities similar
to their classmates, which is the result of the features of the target
instructional method – engaging each learner through a thoughtful design of
scenarios
+ learning experience: learners found the intervention's teaching style,
materials, and classroom atmosphere motivational
-> Overall, the qualitative findings confirmed the quantitative data,
indicating that all dimensions of motivation played a role in motivating
students to learn grammar through structured output instructional methods
 Both quantitative and qualitative analyses suggest that students
exhibited increased motivation when exposed to structured output
methods - it's concluded that structured output instruction effectively
enhances learners' motivation to learn the target grammar features
 The study suggests that structured output, particularly when
integrated with communicative activities, effectively enhances
learners' motivation – it requires learners to learn through
communicating their idea rather than struggling to rehearse & produce
what they read & listen, creating a relaxed environment where
students engage with language features naturally