THE EFFECT OF MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS ON THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE SUCCESS OF STUDENTS AT THE TURKISH MILITARY ACADEMY

This paper aims to find out the effect of motivational factors on the foreign language success of students at the Turkish Military Academy (TMA). The study was applied to 50 3rd grade male cadets in the first semester of the 2008 – 2009 academic year. The participants of the study are military high school graduates and have been studying English for nearly seven years. As the data collection instrument, a motivational factors questionnaire adapted from Wen’s (1997) Motivational Scale was used. The questionnaire consists of three main parts. In Part I, there are questions aiming to collect some background information about the participants. In Part 2 and 3, the questions aim to collect data on the relationship between different types of motivation and the foreign language success. The collected data was analyzed by using SPSS 11.5 statistical package. Frequency, mean, independent t-test, ANOVA and Pearson Correlation analysis were used to analyze the data obtained. Based on the research findings, there is a statistically significant relationship between overall motivation and the foreign language success of the TMA cadets. However, there is no statistically significant difference between the language success and integrative motivation and valence. Also, the results of the study revealed a significant difference between low and high proficient students in terms of their overall motivation and their estimation of ability. Finally, the study showed no significant correlation between the participants’ monthly income and their overall motivation and the foreign language success. Similarly, no significant correlation was found out between the participants’ parents’ possession of English competence and the cadets’ overall motivation and language success.