Attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary students towards learning English as a second language: a case study

The English Language has always played a significant role in Malaysia’s quest of becoming a developed nation. Despite this, the English proficiency level of Malaysian students is far from satisfactory. What are the reasons for this? Motivational studies have shown that Malaysian students realise the...

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Main Authors:	Thang, Siew Ming, Ting, Siew Ling, Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2011
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2047/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2047/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2047/1/5._3LVol17%281%292011Thang_Siew_Ming_et_al_doc.pdf

id	ukm-2047
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-20472016-12-14T06:30:45Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2047/ Attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary students towards learning English as a second language: a case study Thang, Siew Ming Ting, Siew Ling Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar, The English Language has always played a significant role in Malaysia’s quest of becoming a developed nation. Despite this, the English proficiency level of Malaysian students is far from satisfactory. What are the reasons for this? Motivational studies have shown that Malaysian students realise the importance of English for their future development and that students are extrinsically motivated by factors such as the desire to get good grades, opportunities to further their studies and career advancement to improve their English. However, in these cases extrinsic motivation does not necessarily translate to better performance in English. Most of these studies were undertaken in tertiary settings. Thus, there is a possibility that secondary school students may not be aware of the importance of English for their future. Conversely, it is also probable that these problems stem from a lack of motivation and poor attitude beginning from secondary school. This paper discusses the findings of a study undertaken to investigate these issues further by carrying out a questionnaire survey on attitudes and motivation of a group of secondary school students in East Malaysia towards learning English as a Second Language. The study reveals an overall positive attitude towards learning English by Art and Science students. Further Science students and higher proficiency students show more interest in improving their English. In addition, the findings reveal a positive relationship between higher proficiency level and positive attitudes and motivation to learn English. Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2011 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2047/1/5._3LVol17%281%292011Thang_Siew_Ming_et_al_doc.pdf Thang, Siew Ming and Ting, Siew Ling and Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar, (2011) Attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary students towards learning English as a second language: a case study. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 17 (1). pp. 40-54. ISSN 0128-5157 http://www.ukm.my/ppbl/3L/3LHome.html
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	The English Language has always played a significant role in Malaysia’s quest of becoming a developed nation. Despite this, the English proficiency level of Malaysian students is far from satisfactory. What are the reasons for this? Motivational studies have shown that Malaysian students realise the importance of English for their future development and that students are extrinsically motivated by factors such as the desire to get good grades, opportunities to further their studies and career advancement to improve their English. However, in these cases extrinsic motivation does not necessarily translate to better performance in English. Most of these studies were undertaken in tertiary settings. Thus, there is a possibility that secondary school students may not be aware of the importance of English for their future. Conversely, it is also probable that these problems stem from a lack of motivation and poor attitude beginning from secondary school. This paper discusses the findings of a study undertaken to investigate these issues further by carrying out a questionnaire survey on attitudes and motivation of a group of secondary school students in East Malaysia towards learning English as a Second Language. The study reveals an overall positive attitude towards learning English by Art and Science students. Further Science students and higher proficiency students show more interest in improving their English. In addition, the findings reveal a positive relationship between higher proficiency level and positive attitudes and motivation to learn English.
format	Article
author	Thang, Siew Ming Ting, Siew Ling Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar,
spellingShingle	Thang, Siew Ming Ting, Siew Ling Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar, Attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary students towards learning English as a second language: a case study
author_facet	Thang, Siew Ming Ting, Siew Ling Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar,
author_sort	Thang, Siew Ming
title	Attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary students towards learning English as a second language: a case study
title_short	Attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary students towards learning English as a second language: a case study
title_full	Attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary students towards learning English as a second language: a case study
title_fullStr	Attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary students towards learning English as a second language: a case study
title_full_unstemmed	Attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary students towards learning English as a second language: a case study
title_sort	attitudes and motivation of malaysian secondary students towards learning english as a second language: a case study
publisher	Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM
publishDate	2011
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2047/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2047/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2047/1/5._3LVol17%281%292011Thang_Siew_Ming_et_al_doc.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:35:05Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:35:05Z
_version_	1777405216934592512

Attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary students towards learning English as a second language: a case study

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