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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/2047/1/5._3LVol17%281%292011Thang_Siew_Ming_et_al_doc.pdf
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spelling my-ukm.journal.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
institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
building Perpustakaan Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/
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/2047/1/5._3LVol17%281%292011Thang_Siew_Ming_et_al_doc.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2047/
http://www.ukm.my/ppbl/3L/3LHome.html
_version_ 1643735250058084352
score 13.211869

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