An Exploration of Sources of Foreign Language Teacher Motivation in Iran

Subject Areas : آموزش زبان انگلیسی

سید محمد علوی ¹ , زهره مهماندوست ²

1 - Department of English languages and literature University of Tehran, Iran
2 - Department of English languages and literature University of Tehran, Kish International Campus, Iran

Received: 2016-02-09 Accepted : 2016-02-09 Published : 2011-11-22

Keywords: teacher motivation, extrinsic, intrinsic, altruistic, subject matter motivation,

Abstract :

This study aimed to investigate sources of motivation of English language teachers in Iranian public and private language schools. To this end, a Language Teacher Motivation Source (LTMS) questionnaire was developed on the basis of the related literature. The LTMS examined four sources of motivation, i. e., extrinsic (economic, social, emotional, educational), intrinsic, altruistic, and subject matter motivation. Having been piloted and validated, the LTMS was administered to 200 male and female EFL teachers who had been classified in terms of their gender, age, marital status, academic degrees, job status, and their years of language teaching experiences. The results of parametric statistical analyses showed a hierarchy of language teacher sources of motivation that were not similar among different groups of language teachers in terms of their teaching experiences and level of education. This study suggests that authorities pay close attention to the sources of language teacher motivation to improve the quality of English language teaching and learning.

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