Considering Gender with Attitudes and Motivation of EFL Students

Abstract

This study aims to examine the influence of gender of Turkish students on their attitudes and motivation towards foreign language learning. It investigates the following factors: attitudes towards the British and Americans; motivational intensity; interest in foreign languages in general; attitudes towards learning English; instrumental and integrative orientation; English class anxiety; family encouragement; the English teacher and course. An adapted version of Gardner’s (1985) Attitude Motivation Index (AMI) was used. Quantitative results indicate that female students have higher motivation than the male ones in the following factors: attitudes towards the British, motivational intensity, attitudes towards learning English and languages in general, integrative attitude and attitudes towards the English teacher. With the rest of the factors no difference of gender has been found.