English for Specific Purposes
Wrld

Susan Teer. An investigation of English learning motivation types and self-identity changes among Thai English major students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the learning motivation types and self-identity changes of Thai English major students, to determine if there were differences in motivation types and self-identity changes between university level groups, and to determine the correlations between learning motivation types and self-identity changes. The participants included 248 students who responded to a questionnaire. In addition informal interviews were conducted with 10 students who were randomly selected from the participants.

The results revealed that (1) the most common reported learning motivation type was identified regulation followed by the three subtypes of intrinsic motivation-for stimulation, for knowledge, and for accomplishment. The most common reported self-identity change was self-confidence followed by productive and additive changes. (2) There was only one statistically significant difference between freshmen and seniors for one motivation type. (3) There were positive correlations between several learning motivation types and self-identity changes including identified regulation and intrinsic motivation positively correlating with additive, self-confidence, and productive self-identity changes.  

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