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Motivations towards Learning English: The Case of Jordanian Gifted Students

Article in International Journal of Education · June 2015

DOI: 10.5296/ije.v7i2.7699

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 International Journal of Education
ISSN 1948-5476
2015, Vol. 7, No. 2

Motivations towards Learning English: The Case of

Jordanian Gifted Students

Fadi Maher Al-Khasawneh1,* & Mohammad Ahmad Al-Omari1

1
Faculty of Arts and Educational Sciences, Ajloun National University, Jordan

*Corresponding author: Faculty of Arts and Educational Sciences, Ajloun National

University, Jordan. E-mail: [email protected]

Received: May 27, 2015 Accepted: June 5, 2015 Published: June 26, 2015
doi:10.5296/ije.v7i2.7699 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/ije.v7i2.7699

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.
Keywords: Motivations, Gifted students, Integrative, Instrumental, EFL

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1. Introduction
English language is spoken and written by billions of people worldwide. The importance of
being proficient in English language is undeniable and it is necessary to be successful
especially in academic life. English is extensively used in several fields such as economics,
tourism, arts, sciences, mass media, and politics (Che Mat and Yunus, 2014). Brown (2000)
points out that learners should be engaged to all English language skills (i.e. reading,
listening, writing, and speaking) to successfully master English language. The process of
learning any language is said to be affected by several factors such as attitude, aptitude, and
motivation. The motivation factor is one of the most important factors that could determine
the success of learning a second or a foreign language (Oxford and Shearing, 1994). The
study of motivation as a determiner for L2 successful learning began with Gardner and
Lambert’s sociolinguistic study of English-speaking students studying French in 1959. Since
then, a considerable number of research works have been carried out to explore the role of
motivation in L2 learning (e.g. Gardner, 1985, 2001; Gardner and Lambert, 1959, 1972;
Gardner, Smythe, and Clement, 1979). The aforementioned researchers have studied the
attitude and motivation and their correlation with learners’ linguistic performance as factors
that determine L2 successful learning. These studies suggested that learners must be
psychologically willing to acquire symbolic elements of a different ethno-linguistic
community, and to impose elements of another culture into one’s own life space (Agnihotri
and Khanna 1994). In addition, there was a general consensus among these studies that
influential way to get a clear picture to learning process is to study the learners’ attitudes and
motivations toward learning English language.

2. Status of English in Jordan

The history of English in Jordan can be traced back to 1920. According to Bader (1995),
Jordanians started to be exposed to the English language towards the end of World War І, as
a result of the British colonization of Jordan. The British colonization of Jordan was the
major reason of importing English language into Jordanian society. Since then, English has
gained an extreme significance through formal tuition and second language learning.
Presently, English plays an important role in the Jordanian education system and students are
expected to communicate effectively in institutions where English is the medium of
instruction. According to Jafar (2008), English is taught as a foreign language all through the
entire span of the school years from Kindergarten to the second secondary grade, and it is
considered as an obligatory subject for the school curriculum. On the other hand, English
language is necessary to communicate with the world, social development, acquisition of new
technology, and education (Zughoul, 2003). The English status in Jordan falls within the
expanding circle in which English is a foreign language and its use is predictably growing.
According to Kachru (1992), the status of English worldwide contains three main circles. The
inner circle is related to countries in which English is the mother tongue; the outer circle
involves countries in which English is a second language; and the expanding circle includes
countries in which English is a foreign language. The main reasons for teaching English in

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Jordan are instrumental and educational reasons. English is considered as a prerequisite for
most careers and jobs; the Ministry of Education in Jordan gives considerable attention to
English teaching especially to the English curriculum and teachers‘ training (Jafar, 2008). At
the university level, English departments in the Jordanian universities have an excellent
reputation and are considered as the best among other Arab universities (Hazaymeh, 2004).
As a consequence, the central objective of teaching English in Jordan is to empower learners
to communicate effectively with others at formal and personal levels (Jafar, 2008).

3. The Theory of Motivation

Motivation has long been recognized as an important factor in the education and social
psychology fields. It is also important in anticipating second or foreign language achievement
and success (Zahran, 1990). However, it is not easy to provide simple definition for
motivation, hence; the idea of motivation has been defined and viewed differently by
different schools. Dejnozka and Kapel (1991) defined motivation as “a psychological concept
in human behavior that describes a predisposition reward a particular” (p.61). Gardner (2006,
p.242) views motivation as “a very complex phenomenon with many facets”. As mentioned
earlier, the motivation idea has been viewed by different schools of thoughts. For instance,
the cognitivists view motivation as an idea which is more related to the learner’s decision to
learn. Keller (1983) states that motivation is the “choices people make as to what experiences
or goals they approach or avoid, and the degree of effort they exert in that respect" (p. 389).
The behaviorism school views motivation as "quite simply the anticipation of reward, (Brown,
2000, p. 160)". The constructivists put more emphasis on the individual decisions and social
contexts. Despite the variances in defining the concept of motivation, but the three schools
agree that motivation is related to “needs” concept, that is motivation is "the fulfillment of
needs is rewarding, requires choices, and in many cases must be interpreted in a social
context” (Gardner, 2006, p.242). The motivation that learners have might determine the
success of learning a second or a foreign language. Brown (2000) claims that motivated
learners are more successful compared to unmotivated learners. In a similar vein, Gardner
(2006) states that learners with a high level of motivation will perform better than learners
with a low level of motivation. He adds that “if one is motivated, s/he has reasons (motives)
for engaging in the relevant activities, expends effort, persists in the activities, attends to the
tasks, shows desire to achieve the goal and enjoys the activities” (Gardner, 2006, p. 243).
3.1 Types of Motivation
Previous studies concerned about motivation in learning a second or a foreign language have
made a clear difference between two types of motivation namely, integrative versus
instrumental motivation. Gardner and Lambert (1972) clarify that integrative motivation is
learning a language for personal sakes and cultural enrichment; while instrumental
motivation is learning a language to gain more direct and practical purposes. Lucas et.al
(2010) define integrative motivation as the desire to learn L2 to have contact with members
from L2 community; while instrumental motivation for them was defined as the desire to
learn L2 to reach practical purposes such as academic success and job advancement. In other

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words, instrumentally motivated learners own very specific goals for L2 learning such as
listening to radio, reading books, or watching TV programs. On the other hand, integratively
motivated learners have got different goals such as knowing the culture, norms, and traditions
of the L2 community. Masgoret and Gardner (2003) states that integratively motivated
learners have the willing to know the culture of foreign countries, and the status of that
foreign language for them is similar to their native language’s status. Noels (2001) points out
that learners’ motivation to language learning consists of several variables such as desire to
reach their goals, effort, and attitudes to learn that language. Crookes, and Schmidt (1991)
claim that integrative motivation is more important in sustaining long-term success in L2
learning.
3.2 Motivation and Gender
An extensive research have been done to investigate the relationship between L2 learning and
gender. Gender has long seen as a factor that could affect the learning of second or foreign
language. Most of these studies concluded that there are differences in L2 learning according
to gender with superiority to female learners. Williams, Burden, and Lanvers (2002) found
that female British elementary students had a higher level of motivation compared to their
male counterparts. Dornyei et al. (2006) conducted a study among Hungarian school students
to investigate the motivation differences in L2 learning taking into consideration gender
variable. The results showed significant motivational differences in favor of female students.
Ghazivini and Khajehpour’s (2011) study reported that Iranian Secondary students had higher
motivation to learn English than male students. In spite of the frequent study results that
showed female superiority in L2 motivation, a few studies indicated opposite results.
Al-Bustan and Al-Bustan (2009) showed negative attitude towards learning English among
Kuwaiti female students, while negative attitudes were not found among male students in this
study. Polat (2011) carried out a study to investigate the motivation towards learning Turkish
language among middle and high school students in Turkey. The results of this study
revealed that male students scored significantly higher motivation towards learning Turkish.
The results also showed that male students were more autonomous in identifying and
manipulating their own learning.
It is clear that gender differences in L2 motivation is a complex phenomenon, and the
research results about this relationship were inconsistent. Therefore, researchers attempted to
explain these differences according to social environment factors. Kobayashi (2002) referred
to the Japanese society, which considers English learning as a female dominant choice at
schools and a tool to assist females to be away from a society which suffers from women
marginalization. Dornyei (2005) explained that the reason for male students to score lower
than female students on the motivation of learning French can be attributed to social factors.
They added that male students perceive French as a feminine language and it is more
appropriate for female students to learn. In a study conducted by Ryan (2009), the results
revealed that the reason for female learners’ high score towards learning English can be
attributed to freedom reason. Female learners believe that using English allows them to be
more expressive compared to Japanese language which has restrictive features for female
speakers. That is to say, causes of gender differences in L2 motivation are mainly social

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causes not only neurobiological.

3.3 Related Studies on Motivation and Language Learning
A number of studies have been carried out in order to investigate the level and types English
language learning motivation (Qashoa, 2006; Kyriacou and Zhu, 2008; Choosri and
Intharaska, 2011; Kitjaroonchai and Kitjaroonchai 2012; Tahaineh and Daana, 2013; Che
Mat and Yunus, 2014). Qashoa (2006) investigated the motivation of learning English
language in the UAE secondary schools. The findings of this study showed that the students
reported higher degree of instrumental motivation than the integrative one. This is because
students stated that being proficient in English might lead to obtain a better job with high
paying. Kyriacou and Zhu (2008) examined the Chinese school students’ motivation towards
learning English language. The findings revealed that the students’ learning motivation is
dominated by life and job-based reasons, while they reported lower degree of integrative
learning motivation. Choosri and Intharaska (2011) explored the relationship between
English learning motivation and language learning achievement among Thai vocational
students. The results of this study revealed higher degree of instrumental motivation
compared to integrative motivation. The results also showed a correlation between learning
motivation and English language learning achievement. Kitjaroonchai and Kitjaroonchai
(2012) investigated the level and types of English language learning motivation that Thai
university students hold. The findings unveiled that the students indicated slightly higher
degree of instrumental than integrative ones. In Jordan, Tahaineh and Daana (2013)
conducted a study to explore the motivation orientations of the Jordanian EFL female
undergraduate students at Al Balqa' Applied University-Princess Alia University College.
The findings revealed that the students indicated a high degree of instrumental motivation.
They also pointed out that they learn English language for academic reasons. Finally, Che
Mat and Yunus (2014) investigated the learning motivation of FELDA primary school
students in Malaysia. The findings concluded that the students were highly motivated and
instrumentally motivated to learn English.
3.4 Giftedness
The term “giftedness” has received different definitions by several scholars and previous
studies. Feldhusen (1986) defined giftedness as having extraordinary talent which leads to
perform a remarkably high level of achievement when compared with others. Kokot (1999)
states that giftedness is having awareness, high sensitivity, and outstanding skills to
understand cognitive and emotional experiences related to their colleagues. According to
Maker and Nielson (1996), gifted students have a special and extraordinary ability to
understand fast and easily, comprehend the knowledge, obtain, continue, integrate and
improve the skill to face any learning hindrance they might have. Motivation is one of the
affective factors that is responsible for giftedness (Brophy, 1998). Motivation is a factor helps
learners to demonstrate specific behaviors under specific circumstances (Kokturk, 2000).
Generally, motivation can be considered as the motive to adjust behaviors in a way that may
suit psychological and physical activities (Budak, 2003). Learners who have high motivation
tend to show more determination and effort in class tasks and activities compared to learners

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with low motivation (Maker and Nielson, 1996). Learners motivation can be affected by
goal-orientation, self-efficacy, anxiety, task value, learning goals, and learning strategies.
Motivation is a key concept in education and if it increases, the effectiveness of education
will increase and vice versa. Gifted students are seen as high motivated students who focus
on individual learning, persistence, internal locus of control, task commitment, and
perceptual strength (Dun and Griggs, 1985). Therefore, it is advised to conduct more studies
in order to compare gifted and non-gifted students’ motivational orientation due to its
importance in facilitating the learning process.

4. Problem Statement
As mentioned earlier, motivation is one of the important factors that leads to success in
language learning, and it is one of the determiners of learning a second or foreign language
(Dornyei, 2005). It would be difficult for demotivated learners to learn any language
including English language. Hence, identifying the learners’ goals and motivations would
help the curriculum designers and educational decision-makers to take the necessary
considerations in order to improve the learners’ proficiency in English language. Many
studies have been carried out to examine the level and types of motivation among primary,
high, and university students due to its importance to maximize the positive outcomes.
However, very few studies have been conducted to investigate the motivational orientations
in the Jordanian context. Also, there are few studies focused on the level and types of
motivation among gifted learners as they have extraordinary learning abilities. These abilities
might lead to a difference in motivation and orientation in learning English language.
Therefore, this paper comes to discuss the motivational orientations of Jordanian gifted
school students. The present study complements other studies in this field and may provide
another avenue for examining the language learning motivation in the Jordanian context.

5. The Study
The present descriptive study attempts to investigate the motivational orientations of gifted
Jordanian students at high schools. The motivational orientations include the level, types, and
the motivation differences in learning English language according to gender.
5.1 Research Questions
1) What is the level of motivation towards learning English of gifted students at
Jordanian high schools?
2) Are the students motivated instrumentally or integratively towards learning English?
3) Is there any statistical significant differences in the motivation towards learning
English according to gender?

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5.2 Participants
The participants of this study include 51 EFL high school students. These students were
studying at King Abdullah School for gifted students, Ajloun governorate during the
academic year 2014/2015. The participants consisted of 33 male students and 18 female
students. The participants’ age ranges from 17-18 years old. The following table illustrates
the demographic distribution of the participants.
Table 1. Demographic Distribution of the Participants

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid Male 33 64.7 64.7 64.7
Female 18 35.3 35.3 100.0
Total 51 100.0 100.0

5.3 Instrumentation
A modified version of Gardner’s (1985) AMTB (Attitude, Motivation Test Battery)
questionnaire along with the demographical questionnaire were administered to the selected
participants. The questionnaire consisted of 20 items measuring the students’ motivation
towards learning English language. The first 10 items measure the students’ integrative
motivation, while the items 11-20 measure the students’ instrumental motivation towards
learning English language. The questionnaire was a 5-point Likert Scale ranging from
‘Strongly Agree’ to ‘Strongly Disagree’. The questionnaire items were translated into Arabic
to avoid any misunderstanding and to get more accurate responses from the students. To
ensure the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, the translated version of the
questionnaire was checked by an Arabic language professor at Ajloun National University to
ensure the clarity of the items, and to guarantee the students’ full understanding of the
questionnaire items. It is worth mentioning that no major corrections were made to the
wording of the questionnaire. Regarding the reliability of the questionnaire, the AMTB was
found to be reliable as it was used in a number of the previous studies which focused on
motivation (Qashoa, 2006; Kyriacou and Zhao, 2008; Choosri and Intharaska, 2011;
Kitjaroonchai and Kitjaroonchai 2012; Tahaineh and Daana, 2013; Che Mat and Yunus,
2014). Also, the reliability of the questionnaire was statistically checked using SPSS software
and the Cronbach Alpha was .861 which is considered acceptable to administer the
questionnaire.
5.4 Research Procedure
For the purpose of administering the questionnaire at King Abdullah School for gifted student,
a permission was obtained from the directorate of education, Ajloun governorate. Upon
approval, the research conducted the survey and the questionnaires were administered with
assistance from one of the advisors who work at Ajloun National University. The
questionnaires took 10 minutes to be filled and completed. The students were told that no
names will be given and the results of the research will be used for academic purposes.

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5.5 Data Analysis

The responses of the participants to the questionnaire were analyzed descriptively using the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. The descriptive results include
means and standard deviations to indicate the level and types of motivational orientations of
gifted students at Jordanian high schools. The students were decided to be highly motivated
at the mean from 3.5-5.0, medium motivation from 2.5-3.49, and low motivated from
1.0-2.49. Independent samples T-Test was used to investigate the differences in motivation
according to gender.

6. Findings
The findings will be presented according to the research questions mentioned earlier in the
present study.
6.1 Level of Motivation of Jordanian Gifted Students
The present section aims at obtaining answers regarding the first research question: What is
the level of motivation towards learning English of gifted students at Jordanian high schools?
In order to get answers for the first research question, mean and standard deviations were
calculated to identify the level of motivation of gifted Jordanian high schools students (see
table 2).
Table 2. Level of Motivation of Jordanian Gifted Students

N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

Motivation 51 2.50 4.95 4.0755 .50896
Valid N (listwise) 51

As illustrated in Table 2, the overall mean score of learning motivation was 4.07. This result
means that gifted students at Jordanian schools are highly motivated towards learning English.
Next section presents the level of integrative and instrumental motivations towards learning
English.
6.2 Level of Integrative and Instrumental Motivations of Jordanian Gifted Students
This section provides analysis to the second research question: Are the students motivated
instrumentally or integratively towards learning English? The analysis procedures include
means and standard deviations for each type of motivation along with the items of integrative
and instrumental motivations (see Tables 3-5).

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Table 3. Integrative and Instrumental Motivations of Jordanian Gifted Students

N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

Integrative 51 1.80 4.90 3.8000 .63561
Instrumental 51 2.80 5.00 4.3510 .51744
Valid N (listwise) 51

Based on the data obtained from the questionnaire, it is apparent that the students are
instrumentally motivated towards learning English (M=4.35). However, the students showed
integrative motivation towards learning English (M=3.80). The mean score of instrumental
motivation was considerably higher compared to the integrative mean score. Therefore, it can
be said that Jordanian gifted school students are instrumentally motivated towards toward
learning English language. The following tables present the mean scores of integrative and
instrumental motivational items as appeared of the questionnaire.
Table 4. Descriptive Statistics of Integrative Motivation Items

Std.
N Minimum Maximum Mean Deviation
Learning English is important to me because I can understand the 51 1.00 5.00 4.2941 .85543
cultures and traditions of native speakers of English.
Learning English is important to me because I can understand 51 1.00 5.00 3.6471 1.18023
English stories, novels, and literature.
Learning English helps me to better understand the ways of life of 51 1.00 5.00 4.0392 .87088
native speakers of English.
Learning English helps me to easily make friends with foreigners. 51 2.00 5.00 4.0588 .90359
Learning English helps me to learn about values and beliefs of 51 1.00 5.00 3.7647 .97135
native speakers of English.
Learning English helps me to be open-minded and friendly like 51 1.00 5.00 3.2941 1.50059
native English speakers.
Learning English helps me to understand the American and British 51 1.00 5.00 3.3529 1.23002
jokes.
Learning English helps me to understand the American and British 51 1.00 5.00 4.2745 .85037
movies and talk-shows.
Learning English helps me to read English books, articles, 51 2.00 5.00 4.4118 .85268
newspapers, and magazines.
I Learn English because I like English movies and songs. 51 1.00 5.00 2.8627 1.38592
Valid N (listwise) 51

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As revealed in Table 4, the students reported higher integrative motivation in questions 9, 8, 1

(i.e. learning English helps me to read English books, articles, newspapers, and magazines,
learning English is important to me because I can understand the cultures and traditions of
native speakers of English, and learning English helps me to understand the American and
British movies and talk-shows. The lowest mean scores reported by the students were
questions 10, 6, 7 (i.e. I Learn English because I like English movies and songs, learning
English helps me to be open-minded and friendly like native English speakers, and learning
English helps me to understand the American and British jokes). Generally, the students
reported high integrative motivation towards learning English as it helps them to
communicate with English native speakers and to know their culture and traditions. The
following table presents the mean scores of instrumental motivation as reported by the
students.
Table 5. Descriptive Statistics of Instrumental Motivation Items

Std.
N Minimum Maximum Mean Deviation
Learning English can be important for me because I will be able to 51 3.00 5.00 4.5490 .67272
communicate with native speakers of English.
Learning English can be important for me because it will help me 51 3.00 5.00 4.6667 .65320
to get an ideal job in the future.
Learning English can be important for me because I will need it 51 3.00 5.00 4.6863 .58276
for my future career.
Learning English can be important for me because it will make me 51 2.00 5.00 4.2353 .83877
a more knowledgeable person.
Learning English can be important for me because other people 51 1.00 5.00 3.0784 1.33930
will respect me more.
Learning English can be important for me because it will help me 51 2.00 5.00 4.5490 .75667
to further my studies.
Learning English can be important for me because it will help me 51 2.00 5.00 4.3725 .79902
search for information and materials in English on the Internet.
Learning English is important to me because it will help me when 51 3.00 5.00 4.5686 .64047
I travel abroad.
I Learn English diligently because I want to earn a university 51 1.00 5.00 4.5098 .80926
degree.
Learning English is important to me because it will help me to 51 1.00 5.00 4.2941 1.06384
achieve at school.
Valid N (listwise) 51

As shown in Table 5, the students reported high mean scores of instrumental motivation
towards learning English language. The highest mean scores were items 3, 2, 8 (i.e. learning

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English can be important for me because I will need it for my future career, learning English
can be important for me because it will help me to get an ideal job in the future, and learning
English is important to me because it will help me when I travel abroad). The lowest mean
scores reported by the students were questions 5, 4, 10 (i.e. learning English can be important
for me because other people will respect me more, learning English can be important for me
because it will make me a more knowledgeable person, learning English is important to me
because it will help me to achieve at school. Next section compares the level of motivation
according to gender.
6.3 Level of Motivation and Gender
This section provides analysis to the third research question: Is there any statistical
significant differences in the motivation towards learning English according to gender? The
analysis procedures include means and standard deviations reported and by male and female
students. Independent Samples T-Test were used to compare the means of motivation
according to gender.
Table 6. Mean Scores of Motivation According to Gender

Student's Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Motivation Male 33 4.0636 .55639 .09686
Female 18 4.0972 .42234 .09955
Integrative Male 33 3.7727 .69744 .12141
Female 18 3.8500 .51820 .12214
Instrumental Male 33 4.3545 .55458 .09654
Female 18 4.3444 .45661 .10763
Independent Samples T est
q y
of Variances t-test for Equality of Means
of the Difference
Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error
F Sig. t df tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper
Motivation Equal .880 .353 -.223 49 .824 -.03359 .15057 -.33617 .26900
variances
assumed
Equal -.242 43.643 .810 -.03359 .13889 -.31357 .24640
variances
not assumed
Integrative Equal 1.831 .182 -.411 49 .683 -.07727 .18781 -.45469 .30015
variances
assumed
Equal -.449 44.244 .656 -.07727 .17222 -.42430 .26975
variances
not assumed
Instrumental Equal .478 .493 .066 49 .948 .01010 .15315 -.29767 .31787
variances
assumed
Equal .070 41.194 .945 .01010 .14458 -.28184 .30204
variances
not assumed

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As revealed in the tables above, female students reported higher mean score compared to
their male students counterparts (M= 4.09, 4.06) respectively. Hence, it can be concluded that
female students were more motivated towards learning English language than male students.
However, there was no statistically significant differences in learning motivation with respect
to gender as the level of significance was .353 which is higher than .05. With respect to
integrative motivation, female students scored higher means than male students (M= 3.85,
3.77) successively. It can be said that female students were more integratively motivated
towards learning English than male students. Nevertheless, there was no statistically
significant differences between males and females in integrative motivation as the
significance level was .182 which is also higher than .05. Interestingly, male students scored
slightly higher mean than female students in instrumental motivation (M= 4.35, 4.34)
respectively. However, there was no significant differences between males and females with
respect to instrumental motivation as the significance level was higher than .05 (sig. 493).

7. Discussion
The results of the present study indicate that Jordanian gifted school students were highly
motivated towards learning English language. The results concur with other studies’ results
(Kitjaroonchai and Kitjaroonchai 2012; Tahaineh and Daana, 2013; Che Mat and Yunus,
2014). These studies found that students were highly motivated towards learning English
language. It is apparent that the students are aware of the importance of English language, so
they desire to learn and master their proficiency in English to succeed in all life fields. The
results also revealed that the students reported higher instrumental motivation than the
integrative one. This result confirms other researches results (Choosri and Intharaska, 2011;
Che Mat and Yunus, 2014). One possible reason for such results might be related to the
students’ preference to maintain their identity. They may fear of losing their values and
inherited traditions through integrating with foreign English societies. Another reason for this
results might be attributed to the importance of learning English to get better job. The
students reported learning English for several practical reasons such as getting better job,
improving future career, and furthering higher study. Regarding the level of motivation and
gender, the results showed that female students reported higher motivation compared to their
male students counterparts. This results is consistent to some of the previous studies
(Kobayashi, 2002; Dorneyi, 2005). Oxford (1995) indicates that, brain hemisphericity,
socialization, and cognitive style may play a vital role in the differences between males and
females in learning motivation. Kaylani (1996) attributed the fact that female students were
more aware of English language learning to social reasons; the knowledge of English
language among Jordanian girls increases their employability and marriage qualifications.

8. Conclusion and Implications of the Study

The findings of this study revealed that gifted students at Jordanian schools are highly
motivated towards learning English language. The students reported higher scores of

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instrumental motivation than integrative one. The findings also showed that there was no
statistically significant differences in the motivational level according to gender. Based on the
aforementioned findings, it can be said that the students are aware of the importance of
learning English language. The high level of integrative and instrumental motivations
reported by the students can be an indication to this awareness. Therefore, several
pedagogical implications can be obtained. Teachers of English language should take into
consideration their students’ perceptions about learning English and try to value those
perceptions. Teachers should present the proper teaching materials and contents that suit the
students’ motivational orientations. In addition, teachers can help students in setting specific
goals in language learning and assist in achieving these goals through providing the necessary
feedback. Teaching English should not be for completing the syllabi only, rather, teaching
English should be planned carefully to provide more meaningful learning experiences and
maximize the chances of language engagement. These points and steps might lead to a more
positive attitude and motivation which are extremely significant to succeed in language
learning.

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