Motivation and learning preferences of high school students learning English as a foreign language in Morocco

Abstract

This study explores the motivation and learning preferences of high school students in Morocco regarding their learning of English as a foreign language. The study sought to identify the students' preferences in relation to a number of instructional practices, and to identify the nature and strength of their motivation towards learning English. Teachers' views concerning the usefulness of different instructional practices were also investigated. A factor analysis of students' sources of motivation produced five factors, which were labelled intrinsic motivation, short-term instrumental motivation. long-term instrumental motivation, social integrative motivation, and cultural integrative motivation. The students had well defined and coherent learning preferences. They were highly visual and kinaesthetic, but weakly auditory. They highly valued cognitively oriented activities which involved grammatical awareness. The students' preferences seemed to be at odds with their teachers' views, who saw communicative activities as the most useful for learning. Such findings suggest that there is a need to bring teachers and students closer together, in a learner-centred approach to teaching.