Motivations towards Learning English: The Case of Jordanian Gifted Students

Abstract

The present study aimed at investigating the motivational orientations of Jordanian gifted
school students in Ajloun governorate. For this purpose, 51 students from King Abdullah II in
Ajloun governorate participated in this study. Data was collected through a questionnaire
contained 20 items asking about the motivational level and orientation of learners. The
questionnaire was adapted from Gardner’s (1985) AMTB (Attitude, Motivation Test Battery)
questionnaire. The researchers used descriptive statistics for identifying the students’ level of
motivation towards learning English. Independent samples T-test was used to investigate the
differences in the level of motivation according to gender. The findings revealed that the
students were highly motivated towards learning English language with higher scores
reported for the sake of instrumental motivation. Female students reported higher level of
motivation than male students with no statistically significant differences recorded
concerning this. Based on the results, some of the implications were presented and discussed.