THE INTERPLAY OF MOTIVATION AND ANXIETY IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Abstract

Foreign language procurement required motivation and it articulated as learners’ vision in learning a foreign language. The study investigates the relationship among different domains of motivation and anxiety in English learning as foreign language. Two questionnaires were used for data collection; one for motivation and other for anxiety. The sample of the study was 1851 secondary school students in Punjab, Province. Descriptive and inferential statistics applied for empirical analysis. Statistical techniques of graphical, correlation matrix, regression analysis and granger causality test were used. The study found that total motivation and its dimensions as instrumental motivation, supereminence motivation and foreign culture motivation are more important to reduce anxiety among secondary school student in English learning. The study concluded that improvement in foreign culture motivation, instrumental motivation and supereminence motivation may reduce anxiety including communication anxiety, negative evaluation fear, English classroom anxiety because mentioned dimensions of motivation have significant causal relationship with anxiety and its domains. Improvement in foreign culture motivation, instrumental motivation and supereminence motivation may be a useful strategy to reduce different forms of anxiety at secondary level.