Use of English Language Motivational Strategies: A Comparison between Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives in Pakistan

Abstract

This study has investigated the utilisation of EFL motivational strategies in Pakistani classrooms. The ‘teachers’ and ‘students’ perspectives are compared to know the difference in their perceptions. This descriptive and quantitative study deals with the importance and practice of the EFL Motivational strategies. In the present research, twelve macro-strategies are employed to know the utilisation of EFL motivational strategies. These EFL motivational strategies are encapsulated in a construct by Cheng and Dörnyei (2007). Both teachers and students were respondents to this survey research. Two thousand and eighty-nine respondents from different institutes took part in it. They belonged to different levels of educational institutes from Punjab, Pakistan. The collected data were statistically analysed. Results reveal dissimilarities between the perspectives of teachers and students. At both micro and macro level, diversified choices of EFL motivational strategies are found in two perspectives in the Pakistani context. At mean score, 40 micro-strategies are underutilised in both perspectives of teachers and students, while the z score shows 33 micro-strategies in teachers and 51 micro-strategies in students' perspectives as underutilised. In both teachers and students, the mean score reveals 11 macro-strategies underutilised while the z score shows 7 macro-strategies underutilised. The choices of the rank order of macro-strategies are also different in both the perspectives of teachers and students. The present study affirms that EFL motivational strategies are context specific.