Critically Evaluate Gardner’s Theory of Motivation as a Key Influencing Factor in Second Language Acquisition

1337 Words6 Pages
Critically evaluate Gardner’s theory of motivation as a key influencing factor in second language acquisition With the deeper development of globalization, the ability to master a second language seems to be important. According to second language acquisition research, differences in learners largely have impacted on learning achievement, which includes age, sex, attitude, motivation, cognitive styles, and learning strategies. Among these factors, motivation is frequently used to explain why some second language learners are more successful than others. The earliest motivation theory of learning second language was proposed by Gardener and Lambert in 1959. This caused a great deal of research on this subject from later scholars subsequently. In the theory, integrative motivation and instrumental motivation are considered as the most important aspects in second language. Integrative motivation can be referred to a sincere interest in a target language and a desire to become part of the target language community. Instrumental motivation is concerned with the value of benefit from learning second language, namely, utilitarian purposes such as study, employment or travel. Although Gardener’s theory has some limitations, it still plays a significant role in the development of motivation theory. This essay will critically evaluate Gardener’s theory by analysing the advantages and disadvantages of integrative and instrumental motivation. Many scholars have claimed that integrative motivation does greatly affect second language acquisition. Masgoret et al. (2001) believe that pronunciations, morphology and syntax are not the only things learned during the learning process. People also study behavioural and cognitive features related to the second language. Therefore, if a person wants to identify with the target language, he or she will be more aggressive towards learn

More about Critically Evaluate Gardner’s Theory of Motivation as a Key Influencing Factor in Second Language Acquisition

Open Document