Abstract
Background and aims
This study sets out to validate a new questionnaire constructed to reliably measure pre-service teachers’ motivation to become English teachers. Recently, language teacher motivation has been an emerging field of inquiry within the field of second language acquisition. However, little attention has been paid to pre-service teachers, many of whom are met by demotivating conditions once they start teaching.
Methods
Likert-type scales were used to collect data. The participants of the study (N = 51) were pre-service English teachers from Hungary. The main data analysis procedures included principal component analysis, reliability analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, and regression analysis.
Results and conclusions
Thirteen variables proved to be reliably measurable, each having a Cronbach’s α value of >.60. The members of the sample were found to have relatively high levels of motivated behavior as to both English language learning and learning to become teachers. Based on the questionnaire results, an initial version of the internal structure of pre-service English teachers’ motivation is presented; implications and plans for the next steps of the larger research project are outlined.
Introduction
The field of language teacher psychology has started to attract considerable interest among scholars in recent years (e.g., Hiver, 2013, 2015; Hiver & Dörnyei, 2017; Mercer & Kostoulas, 2018). Language teacher immunity (Hiver & Dörnyei, 2017), language teacher resilience (Hiver, 2018), and possible language teacher self (Kubanyiova, 2009) are some of the theoretical constructs that have been developed over the past years. On one hand, this surge of interest might be attributed to the field of language learner psychology reaching maturation (Hiver, Kim, & Kim, 2018); on the other hand, the gravity of the difficulties, which the teaching profession is currently facing in several contexts around the world, might also contribute to the heightened level of scholarly activity concerning language teachers. Specifically, it has been argued that teachers’ motivation to teach is being inhibited by such factors as lack of teacher autonomy, stress, heavy workload, low salaries, or inadequate training (e.g., Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011; Gheralis-Roussos, 2003; Hiver, 2018; Kim & Kim, 2016; Menyhárt, 2008; Mifsud, 2011).
Despite facing the aforementioned circumstances, there are still many students entering higher education in order to become English language teachers; however, extremely little is known about their motivation (e.g., Kyriacou & Kobori, 1998; Topkaya & Uztosun, 2012) as most of the few existing empirical studies within the field have targeted in-service teachers’ motivation. The same holds true in the Hungarian context: There seems to be limited information in the literature on the motivational characteristics of Hungarian pre-service English teachers or on their English-related attitudes and contact experiences, which have been known as key variables influencing motivation (e.g., Dörnyei, 2005). As a matter of fact, one’s relationship with the English language deserves special attention within the field of English language teaching (ELT), given the changes the global status of English has been generating. First, Gardner’s (1985) influential construct named integrativeness had to be reinterpreted due to the emerging role of English as a world language, as it became clear that most learners of English learn the language for instrumental reasons or in order to become a world citizen, not because of identification with the native speakers or cultures of the English language (Dörnyei, 2005). This global orientation might be an important factor affecting (both pre-service and in-service) language teachers’ motivation in contexts where English proficiency comes with a social status (e.g., Kim & Kim, 2016). In addition, as Dörnyei and Ushioda (2011) point out, the growing spread and recognition of the international use of English can positively act on the motivation of non-native English-speaking teachers, who have been distressed by the dominance of native speakerism – that is, the ideology according to which native speakers of English are regarded as superior (Holliday, 2005) – for long.
The study reported here attempts to be a first step in filling the above-outlined gap. The aim of the present research is to validate a new questionnaire constructed to reliably measure pre-service teachers’ motivation to become English teachers. Throughout the paper, pre-service teachers are considered as students enrolled in a tertiary-level teacher education program, either completing course work or undertaking their practicum. Self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) and the L2 motivational self-system theory (Dörnyei, 2005) provide the major theoretical underpinning for the research; they were selected due to their hypothesized relevance to the targeted phenomenon. The paper first sets out to provide a theoretical background for the study focusing on the motivation of both language teachers and language learners as well as the Hungarian context, followed by the description of the research methods of the pilot study. Then, the results of the data analysis are presented and discussed. Finally, the implications for a follow-up study are summarized.
Background of the Study
Motivation: From language learners to language teachers
Within the field of second language acquisition (SLA), motivation has been mostly discussed with reference to language learners. The term language-learning motivation is used to refer to the initial force behind language learning as well as to the “driving force” (Dörnyei, 2005, p. 65), which keeps the language-learning process alive. Relatively little has been said about the motivation of language teachers, even though it seems to be just as important as that of learners – as Dörnyei and Ushioda (2011) pointed out: “if a teacher is motivated to teach, there is a good chance that his or her students will be motivated to learn” (p. 158). Since a great number of language teachers are also language learners (Hiver et al., 2018), defining language teacher motivation in general is not straightforward. Nevertheless, one can argue that the construct entails the following salient facets, which Dörnyei and Ushioda identified as key dimensions of teacher motivation: strong intrinsic component, interdependence with social–contextual factors, temporality, and vulnerability to negative factors (e.g., stress and limited autonomy). The group whose motivation the current paper reports on is special – they are both English language learners as well as prospective English teachers; therefore, the constructs of both language-learning motivation and language teacher motivation are relevant to the present discussion.
Self-determination theory and the motivational self-system
One of the most popular theories through which the concept of teacher motivation has been studied within educational psychology is self-determination theory (Hiver et al., 2018). According to this, motivation arises from humans’ needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000). The theory recognizes two major types of motivation: intrinsic motivation, which means doing something for its own sake, and extrinsic motivation, which stands for doing something for instrumental reasons (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Within the context of language teaching, several studies (e.g., Gheralis-Roussos, 2003; Kim & Kim, 2016; Kyriacou & Kobori, 1998; Menyhárt, 2008; Mifsud, 2011; Topkaya & Uztosun, 2012) have given account of various intrinsic and extrinsic factors contributing to language teacher motivation. Based on these studies, intrinsic motives can include a passion for the subject matter and teaching itself, student progress, desire for intellectual growth, and emotional rewards, whereas chief extrinsic motives can be teachers’ social status, job security, and salary. In addition, extrinsic factors can also be viewed on a macro-contextual and a micro-contextual dimension, the former referring to the broader social sphere (e.g., government and public opinion), and the latter standing for school-related factors (e.g., climate and leadership) (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011).
Apart from self-determination theory, which is a cognitive-situated motivation theory (Dörnyei, 2005), some researchers (e.g., Hiver, 2013; Kubanyiova, 2009) have shown that conceptualizing language teacher motivation from a sociodynamic perspective (Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015) is also an empirically feasible enterprise. In particular, Kubanyiova’s (2009) work on developing the concept of possible language teacher self is worth noting here, which is understood as “language teachers’ cognitive representations of their ideal, ought-to and feared selves in relation to their work as language teachers” (p. 315). As the definition suggests, there are three distinct dimensions of the possible language teacher self construct: The ideal language teacher self refers to the future self a teacher aspires to become; the ought-to language teacher self stands for whom a teacher feels obliged to become; and the feared language teacher self denotes the mental representation of whom the teacher would not like to become (Kubanyiova, 2009). Underlying this conceptualization is the idea that a teacher’s motivated behavior is dependent on one’s self-image. In fact, Kubanyiova’s construct builds on Dörnyei’s (2005) L2 motivational self-system, which is a theory that explains language-learning motivation from the perspective of the learner’s self. According to Dörnyei, language-learning motivation emerges from one’s relationship with their ideal language learner self, ought-to language learner self, and the language-learning experience. With the exception of the third dimension, which incorporates motives stemming from one’s environment (Dörnyei, 2005), the dimensions labeled as ideal and ought-to represent the same thinking as outlined earlier in connection with the language teacher. Since the current research inquires into the motivation of prospective English teachers, who are, in fact, also English language learners, both the language learner- and the language teacher-related self constructs are relevant to the present discussion.
The Hungarian context
To fully understand teacher motivation, one also has to look at the sociocultural factors of the given research context. A recent report published by the OECD (2017) paints an unfavorable picture of the Hungarian education sector. According to the available data, Hungarian teachers’ salaries are about 30% lower than other workers’ with a university degree in Hungary (OECD, 2017). Consequently, even though Hungarian teachers have seen a significant pay rise (46%) between 2013 and 2015, they still have one of the lowest salaries within the profession in the OECD countries. The picture becomes even gloomier, if one considers that Hungarian elementary- and high-school teachers’ actual working hours are 1,624 hr per year, out of which only around 600 hr are spent in teaching. The OECD report draws attention to the fact that, contrary to other countries, in Hungary it is not uncommon to find teachers overburdened with a vast variety of duties (e.g., mentoring, supervising, and participating in extracurricular activities) (OECD, 2017). Still, education is one of the most popular fields among university applicants in Hungary (OECD, 2017). With women making up about 79% of the student body in the field of education and constituting the greatest proportion of teachers at all levels of the compulsory education sectors (97% in the elementary teaching, 77% in the junior high-school, and 64% in the senior high-school sectors), it can be stated that teaching is a largely female-dominated profession in Hungary (OECD, 2017).
At present, the official path to become a teacher in Hungary is to obtain a teaching degree at a tertiary institution. With the 2013 abolishment of the two-cycle teacher training system (i.e., bachelor’s and master’s levels), Hungary has returned to its traditional, unified form of teacher training (Sáska, 2015). This means that prospective students can choose between a 10-semester-long elementary-school teacher-training program and a 12-semester-long high-school teacher-training program, both of which prepare for two teaching subjects and include a 1-year-long teaching practicum at the end. In order to get accepted to a teacher-training program, all prospective students have to pass an aptitude test. As to the English teacher-training programs, the curriculum includes courses related to English language development, ELT methodology, English-speaking cultures, and applied linguistics.
Language teacher motivation has not yet received much attention from researchers in Hungary. In their recent overview of scholarly work available on foreign language education in Hungary between 2006 and 2012, Medgyes and Nikolov (2014) listed three studies pertinent to the research area in question, only one of which targeted the motivation of pre-service teachers. Bosnyák and Gáncs (2012) studied the teacher motivation of four students, and found varied levels of motivation with two of the participants being enrolled in the English teacher-training program not because of their aspirations to become a language teacher, but only for the sake of obtaining a degree that comes with a profession. Similarly to motivation, pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward the English language and its speakers have also been underresearched in Hungary. Illés and Csizér’s (2015) study – even though it was conducted with in-service teachers of English – might offer some insight into that area. They found that their participants were acquainted with the lingua franca role of English; still, they had a preference for native speaker varieties of English, which was manifested in their classrooms. Another noteworthy result of their study was that the teachers’ exposure to English mostly entailed media use, apart from which they had very little direct contact experience with English speakers. This study intends to throw further light on these issues with pre-service English teachers from Hungary.
The Current Study
The study presented hereinafter seeks to answer the following research questions:
- (1)To what extent can the proposed constructs be measured reliably with Hungarian pre-service English teachers?
- (2)What are the main motivational characteristics of Hungarian pre-service English teachers?
- (3)What causal relationships are there among the variables of the study?
In order to answer the research questions above, a study situated in the quantitative research paradigm was designed. Next, there follows a presentation of the methods and procedures used in the study.
Participants
The sample consisted of university students from Hungary, who were studying to become English teachers at a major university in Budapest during the data collection. The total number of the participants was 51, which can be considered a large enough sample size for a pilot study (Dörnyei, 2007; Dörnyei & Csizér, 2012). The mean age of the participants was 21.22 years (SD = 1.57; n = 50, one response missing). The gender distribution of the respondents was 17.6% males and 82.4% females, which represents the target population well. The mother tongue of all the participants was Hungarian. The majority of the respondents (n = 18) reported to have been brought up in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. Among the participants, 9.52 years was the mean age for starting to learn English (SD = 2.75), which was the first foreign language for 78.4% of the participants. Although the students were not asked about their level of English proficiency, it was at least B2 on the scale of the Common European Framework of Reference (Council of Europe, 2001) due to the fact that they had had to pass an advanced-level (i.e., B2) school-leaving examination in English in order to get accepted to the teacher-training program.
As to living abroad, more participants reported to have lived in a non-native English-speaking country (n = 9) than in a native English-speaking one (n = 7). Most of the afore-mentioned participants spent 1–5 months abroad (n = 9). As part of the teacher-training program, all the participants were being trained in two school subjects. Apart from English, most participants were studying to become a teacher of another language – either Hungarian or a foreign one (n = 25). The overwhelming majority of the respondents were taking courses during the data collection, whereas some were doing their English-teaching practicum (n = 3). Finally, based on their responses, the majority of the sample members aspired to become secondary-school English teachers (n = 45).
Data collection instrument
Data were collected through a questionnaire, which was developed for the purpose of this study. Based on a literature review, 15 hypothesized variables were chosen to be covered by the original, pilot version of the questionnaire. Most of the variables had been widely researched in empirical studies within the field of SLA targeting motivation. The variables were measured by 5-point Likert-type scales (5 = highest value and 1 = lowest value), most of which were taken from earlier studies – some of them were fully adopted, while others were adapted to this study with minor modifications. The newly designed scales of vision and language-learning experience were decided to be included based on Dörnyei’s (2005) L2 motivational self-system, whereas the intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation scales were created based on Dörnyei and Ushioda (2011) and Kim and Kim (2016). According to the literature review, self-efficacy might also be a potentially important variable affecting teacher motivation; however, it could not be addressed as a separate construct due to space limitations. Next, there follows a list of the scales the questionnaire included along with the number of items they contained, their origin, a brief definition, and a sample item.
- (1)Intrinsic motivation (6 items): the extent to which participants desire to become English teachers due to the intrinsic rewards provided by the profession. Sample item: I would like to become an English teacher because I like the English language.
- (2)Extrinsic motivation (12 items): the extent to which participants desire to become English teachers due to social–contextual factors pertaining to the teaching profession. Sample item: I would like to become an English teacher because, by being so, I can contribute to the progress of Hungarian society.
- (3)Motivated learning behavior (10 items; Kormos & Csizér, 2008, adapted): participants’ effort and persistence in improving their English language skills and in becoming English teachers. Sample item: I am determined to become an English teacher.
- (4)Culture/media use (11 items; Csizér & Kormos, 2008, adapted; Toptsi, 2018, adapted): the extent to which participants consume various cultural and media products. Sample item: How often do you read blogs in English? (e.g., Tumblr)
- (5)Indirect contact (4 items; Csizér & Kormos, 2008): the extent to which participants see foreigners (but not talk to them) and receive information on them from others. Sample item: How often do your teachers talk about what life is like in English-speaking countries?
- (6)Direct spoken contact with native speakers (5 items; Illés & Csizér, 2010): the extent to which participants speak with native speakers of English. Sample item: How often do you speak English with native speakers living in your neighborhood?
- (7)Direct spoken contact with non-native speakers (5 items; Illés & Csizér, 2010): the extent to which participants speak English with non-native speakers. Sample item: How often do you speak English with non-native speakers living in your neighborhood?
- (8)Direct written contact with native speakers (3 items; Illés & Csizér, 2010, adapted): the extent to which participants correspond with native speakers of English. Sample item: How often do you write e-mails in English to native speakers of English?
- (9)Direct written contact with non-native speakers (3 items; Illés & Csizér, 2010, adapted): the extent to which participants correspond to English with non-native speakers of the language. Sample item: How often do you write e-mails in English to non-native speakers of English?
- (10)International posture (5 items; Csizér & Kormos, 2009, adapted): participants’ attitudes toward English as an international language. Sample item: English is one of the most important languages today.
- (11)World citizenship (13 items; Csillagh, 2010): participants’ attitudes toward the community of world citizens. Sample item: I consider myself a world citizen.
- (12)Attitudes toward non-native speakers (4 items; Illés & Csizér, 2010): participants’ attitudes toward non-native speakers of English and their language use. Sample item: I am of the view that the kind of English non-native speakers use is simpler than the English used by native speakers.
- (13)Attitudes toward native speakers (3 items; Kormos & Csizér, 2008, adapted): participants’ attitudes toward native speakers of English. Sample item: The people of English-speaking countries seem to be nice.
- (14)Vision (15 items): participants’ future orientations concerning their being an English teacher. Sample item: I fear that I will not be able to handle the stress caused by English teaching.
- (15)Language-learning experience (7 items): participants’ (past or present) experiences related to learning English and learning or observing language teaching. Sample item: My language teachers inspire me to become an English teacher mainly because of their personalities.
The questionnaire consisted of three main parts. The first part contained 75 statements related to the English language, English language learning and teaching. The second part targeted the respondents’ exposure to and contact experiences with the English language using 23 closed-ended questions. The third part aimed to obtain some background information about the participants. Because the questionnaire was administered online, it was broken down into nine sections so as to make it more reader-friendly and to enable easier progression of its content. Altogether, the questionnaire contained 114 items. The estimated time of completion was about 20 min, which can be considered acceptable (Dörnyei, 2007). The language of the questionnaire was Hungarian.
Data collection procedures
Before administration, the questionnaire went through a validation process. After the item pool was drawn up, it was subjected to expert review, thanks to which the wording of some items was changed and some scales were refined. Then, a think-aloud protocol (Dörnyei & Csizér, 2012) was carried out with two members of the population. Based on their feedback, the online version of the questionnaire went through some minor modifications concerning its layout, and some items were reformulated.
The final pilot version of the questionnaire was administered online using Google Forms. The Internet was chosen as a site of data collection for several reasons, such as convenience, easy and wide accessibility, and increased anonymity (Dörnyei, 2007; Dörnyei & Taguchi, 2010). The data collection lasted between March 1 and March 14, 2018. Potential participants studying at the researcher’s institution were contacted through both online discussion groups and e-mails. Thus, first and foremost, convenience sampling was used to gather participants for the study, while snowball sampling was also hoped for by encouraging the forwarding of the link to the questionnaire (Dörnyei, 2007). Incentives to enhance participation as well as to prevent possible withdrawal from the study included placing a progress indicator in the online questionnaire, assuring anonymity and confidentiality both at the beginning and at the end of the questionnaire, and posting follow-up reminders in the online discussion groups (Dörnyei & Taguchi, 2010). Although the data collection procedure was meant to be anonymous, the participants had the chance to provide their e-mail address if they wanted to participate in a follow-up study or if they were interested in the results of the pilot study.
Data analysis procedures
After the online data collection ended, the obtained data were exported into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The content of the Microsoft Excel file was transferred into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 22.0; IBM, 2013) for coding and cleaning the data (Dörnyei & Taguchi, 2010) as well as for statistical analyses. Principal component analysis (PCA), reliability analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, paired samples t-test, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were run. The level of statistical significance was set for p < .05 due to the sample size.
Given that the participants were not able to submit the questionnaire without answering all the questions – a function activated on Google Forms – there were no missing values in the data set. However, checking the data yielded one case of inaccurate entry (“2” was given for a person’s age), which was eventually transformed into a missing value. Regarding the range of responses, there were two items (Items 35 and 39) that showed extremely limited variation (Mi35 = 4.90, SDi35 = 0.30; Mi39 = 4.84, SDi39 = 0.37) – even though they had been used in earlier studies. Both items were originally part of the international posture scale. In addition, there were seven more items that received responses only between 3 and 5 on the 5-point Likert scale; they belonged to the following scales: world citizenship (2 items), culture/media use (2 items), motivated learning behavior (1 item), indirect contact (1 item), and international posture (1 item). For the purpose of this pilot study, the obtained data for the aforementioned items were kept in the data analysis; however, these items will have to be reformulated for the main study so as to maximize the variation of the responses, and consequently, the reliability of the data analysis (Dörnyei & Taguchi, 2010).
Results and Discussion
In the following section, the results of the data analysis are presented and discussed with reference to the literature reviewed above. The subsections are organized according to the research questions.
The main dimensions of analysis
The first round of dimension reduction
As the first step of the data analysis, the dimensionality of the targeted variables was checked as well as whether the scales measured what they were intended to measure. To this end, the questionnaire items were grouped into multi-item scales, and PCA (without rotation) and reliability analysis were run. If the PCA shows one component per scale, the hypothesized variable behind the scale is confirmed as one-dimensional. Furthermore, if the internal consistency reliability coefficient [i.e., Cronbach’s α value (Cα value)] of the scale is >.70, the dimensionality is verified. Given the purpose of this study, scales with a Cα value as low as .60 were also considered acceptable. This decision was based on Dörnyei and Csizér’s (2012) suggestion: “during item analysis we should aim at coefficients in excess of .70; if the Cronbach Alpha of a scale does not reach .60, this should sound warning bells” (p. 84).
As Table 1 demonstrates, most of the scales measuring the initially hypothesized variables proved to be multicomponential, meaning that the variables behind the scales had more than one latent dimension. One of the scales that emerged with only one dimension was direct written contact with native speakers; however, it proved to be unreliable (Cα = .33). Another one-dimensional scale was attitudes toward native speakers, whose Cα value could be improved to .63 by deleting one item whereby the scale consisted of two items only. For the purpose of this pilot study, a two-item scale with such a Cα value can be considered acceptable; however, for the main study, further items will have to be added to the scale. As a next step, the dimensionality of each multicomponential scale had to be reduced to one. Based on the results of the first-round PCA and reliability analysis, some of the questionnaire items were arranged into further scales because of their component loadings, whereas some others were decided to be left out due to their unreliability. Then, a second round of PCA and reliability analysis was carried out.
Results of the first-round PCA and the internal consistency values of the scales
| Scale | Number of items | Number of components | Cronbach’s α (Cα) | Higher Cα if an item is deleted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intrinsic motivation | 6 | 2 | .74 | .78 |
| Extrinsic motivation | 12 | 5 | .51 | .58 |
| Motivated learning behavior | 10 | 2 | .89 | .90 |
| Culture/media use | 11 | 3 | .75 | |
| Indirect contact | 4 | 2 | .39 | .51 |
| Direct spoken contact with native speakers | 5 | 2 | .51 | .61 |
| Direct spoken contact with non-native speakers | 5 | 2 | .40 | .52 |
| Direct written contact with native speakers | 3 | 1 | .33 | |
| Direct written contact with non-native speakers | 3 | 2 | .01 | .24 |
| International posture | 5 | 2 | .36 | .41 |
| World citizenship | 13 | 3 | .68 | .74 |
| Attitudes toward non-native speakers | 4 | 2 | .21 | .44 |
| Attitudes toward native speakers | 3 | 1 | .43 | .63 |
| Vision | 15 | 4 | .71 | .73 |
| Language-learning experience | 7 | 2 | .70 | .84 |
Note. PCA: principal component analysis.
The second round of dimension reduction
As can be seen in Table 2, the total number of the scales rose to 19 following the regrouping of some questionnaire items and the division of some scales. According to the second-round PCA, all the scales measured a one-dimensional variable. The changes made to the original scales are discussed thereafter.
Results of the second-round PCA and the internal consistency values of the scales
| Scale | Number of items | Number of components | Cronbach’s α |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intrinsic motivation | 4 | 1 | .80 |
| Macro-contextual extrinsic motivation | 2 | 1 | .79 |
| Micro-contextual extrinsic motivation | 2 | 1 | .39 |
| Motivated language-teaching behavior | 4 | 1 | .82 |
| Motivated language-learning behavior | 4 | 1 | .88 |
| Digital media use | 5 | 1 | .74 |
| Indirect contact | 2 | 1 | .55 |
| Direct spoken contact with native speakers | 3 | 1 | .64 |
| Direct spoken contact with non-native speakers | 3 | 1 | .52 |
| Direct written contact with native speakers | 3 | 1 | .33 |
| Direct written contact with non-native speakers | 2 | 1 | .24 |
| International posture | 4 | 1 | .41 |
| World citizenship | 4 | 1 | .91 |
| Integrative orientation | 2 | 1 | .72 |
| Attitudes toward non-native speakers | 2 | 1 | .70 |
| Attitudes toward native speakers | 2 | 1 | .63 |
| Feared teacher self | 5 | 1 | .82 |
| Ideal teacher self | 5 | 1 | .81 |
| Language-learning experience | 5 | 1 | .86 |
Note. The unreliable scales are presented in italics. PCA: principal component analysis.
Although the original extrinsic motivation scale emerged as five-componential, based on the contents of its items, only two distinct latent dimensions could be identified; they were named macro-contextual and micro-contextual extrinsic motivation. The former refers to the extent to which students desire to become English teachers to be able to contribute to the progress of their country, whereas the latter stands for the extent to which students desire to become English teachers due to the influence of their family. This contextual distinction is mostly in line with Dörnyei and Ushioda’s (2011) categorization of extrinsic motivational factors outlined above. In this study, the only difference is that micro-contextual extrinsic motivation does not refer to the workplace environment, but to one’s family. It has to be noted that, even though it was hypothesized that the influence of family could be a potentially relevant factor in the case of pre-service teachers, the scale measuring micro-contextual extrinsic motivation is unreliable in its present form (Cα = .39); therefore, further investigation is needed as to the reason behind the unreliability. Due to their little information value, the rest of the items in the original extrinsic motivation scale were decided to be abandoned for the time being.
Before the data collection, it was hypothesized that the constructs of language-learning motivation and language teacher motivation were both relevant to the research study, given that the target population included students who are both English language learners and prospective English teachers. However, it was not clear to what extent the two constructs overlapped. Thanks to the results of the second round of PCA, it was confirmed that the items of the original motivated learning behavior scale measured two distinct variables: motivated language-learning behavior and motivated language-teaching behavior. The former refers to participants’ effort and persistence in improving their English language skills; the latter stands for participants’ effort and persistence related to their becoming English teachers. It is important to emphasize that the latter variable stands for the participants’ motivated behavior related to their learning how to be a language teacher, not to actual teaching behavior.
Concerning the original culture/media use scale, five of its core items were transferred to the newly established digital media use scale, based on their component loadings. The new scale seeks to measure the extent to which participants consume various cultural and media products online. The content areas of the rest of the items belonging to the original scale could not be further distinguished, even though the first-round PCA showed two more components; therefore, they were decided to be discarded.
Even though the items of the original vision scale loaded onto four different components, only two distinct scales could be established; they were named feared teacher self and ideal teacher self. The former refers to pre-service teachers’ fears and worries related to themselves as English teachers in the future, whereas the latter seeks to measure students’ positive self-image about themselves as English teachers in the future. These conceptions correspond to the ideal and feared language teacher selves of Kubanyiova’s (2009) possible language teacher self construct. There were no items included in the questionnaire intending to measure Kubanyiova’s ought-to language teacher self, as space limitations only allowed the inclusion of items targeting the slightly overlapping dimension of extrinsic motivation. In future studies, having separate items for these dimensions might be beneficial – depending on space limitations – so as to enable a deeper understanding of the target population’s motivation.
As to the world citizenship scale, its dimensionality could be reduced to one dimension after dropping some of its original items. This action included two items measuring the participants’ identification with the group of native speakers of English. These items were eventually used to create the integrative orientation scale, which – based on Gardner’s (1985) concept of integrativeness – refers to the extent to which participants identify with the target language group. Originally, the items in question were marked as reverse-scored within the world citizenship scale; however, according to the PCA, they loaded onto a separate dimension, both in their original form as well as in a reverse-scored form. The third latent dimension of the original world citizenship scale could not be identified due to the little information value of the remaining items; therefore, they were decided to be abandoned.
According to the first-round PCA, some original scales were two-dimensional. These included the intrinsic motivation, indirect contact, direct spoken contact with native speakers, direct spoken contact with non-native speakers, direct written contact with non-native speakers, international posture, attitudes toward non-native speakers, and language-learning experience scales. They were kept as one-dimensional after the deletion of the items that loaded onto separate dimensions and did not have the information value with the help of which they could have been arranged into new scales. Thanks to this action, the Cα values of all the scales in question could be improved; however, some of them still did not reach the acceptable threshold level.
As a result of the second-round reliability analysis, the existence of further 12 dimensions with a Cα value of >.60 was verified. The rest of the scales were decided to be left out from subsequent data analyses. It has to be emphasized that, out of the 13 scales with confirmed dimensions, five consist of only two or three items, which are below the recommended minimum number of items per scale (i.e., four items; Dörnyei, 2007). Thus, more items will have to be created for the main study for the sake of the reliability of the questionnaire. The English version of the reliable scales is portrayed in Appendix.
Concerning those scales that did not prove to measure the targeted variables in a reliable manner (i.e., micro-contextual extrinsic motivation, indirect contact, direct spoken contact with non-native speakers, direct written contact with native speakers, direct written contact with non-native speakers, and international posture), the following hypotheses can be put forward. First, it can be argued that the latent dimensions did not prove to be reliable due to their not being present in the target population. Second, as all the scales in question, except one, contained less than four items (three had only two, two had three items), their unreliability may also be attributed to the low number of items per scale. Third, in the case of the international posture (Cα = .41) and indirect contact (Cα = .55) scales – both of which contained items that received a limited range of responses – the minimal variability of the data may be responsible for the low Cα values. To confirm the aforementioned hypotheses, another pilot study could be conducted with the unreliable scales containing new or revised items. If the variables continue being unreliable, leaving them out from the main study would be warranted. In addition, a follow-up literature review or a study involving qualitative interviews could also be conducted so as to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying issues.
The analysis of the scales
In order to answer the second research question, the descriptive statistics of the scales were calculated (Table 3). This stage of the data analysis included checking the distribution of the variables that the multi-item scales of the study targeted for normality: their skewness varied from −1.26 to 0.97 (SE = 0.33), whereas the kurtosis values were between −1.09 and 2.35 (SE = 0.66), which may be attributed to the small sample size, but, according to Byrne (2010), can be regarded acceptable for statistical analyses.
Descriptive statistics of the reliable scales
| Scale | M | SD |
|---|---|---|
| Intrinsic motivation | 4.10 | 0.78 |
| Macro-contextual extrinsic motivation | 3.76 | 1.13 |
| Motivated language-teaching behavior | 4.34 | 0.74 |
| Motivated language-learning behavior | 4.43 | 0.67 |
| Digital media use | 3.32 | 0.94 |
| Direct spoken contact with native speakers | 2.55 | 0.92 |
| World citizenship | 3.86 | 1.08 |
| Integrative orientation | 2.59 | 1.17 |
| Attitudes toward non-native speakers | 2.38 | 0.98 |
| Attitudes toward native speakers | 3.71 | 0.84 |
| Feared teacher self | 2.57 | 0.95 |
| Ideal teacher self | 4.00 | 0.81 |
| Language-learning experience | 3.46 | 1.03 |
Note. SD: standard deviation.
There are a number of interesting points worth noting with reference to the motivation variables. According to the results presented in Table 3, three out of the four scales targeting participants’ motivation had high mean values: intrinsic motivation (M = 4.10, SD = 0.78), motivated language-learning behavior (M = 4.43, SD = 0.67), and motivated language-teaching behavior (M = 4.34, SD = 0.74). These findings indicate that the respondents did not only have a relatively high level of intrinsic motivation, but were also noticeably willing to dedicate effort to becoming teachers. In addition, with paired samples t-test, it was confirmed that the intrinsic motivation of the participants was significantly higher than their macro-contextual extrinsic motivation (t = 2.21, df = 50, two-tailed p = .032); thus, they were more motivated to become English teachers due to the intrinsic rewards provided by the profession than due to their desire to contribute to the progress of Hungary. Based on what characterizes the current state of the Hungarian education sector (OECD, 2017), this result seems to be logical.
Out of the six scales measuring the contact experiences of the participants, only two proved to be reliable. One of these was direct spoken contact with native speakers (M = 2.55, SD = 0.92), whose mean value stands for rarely (i.e., once in 2 weeks or once a month) having a contact experience. This result is somewhat surprising given that the sample consisted of students studying in the capital of Hungary, which is the most cosmopolitan city of the country. On the other hand, the fact that the digital media use scale gained the higher score (M = 3.32, SD = 0.94) between the two reliable scales measuring contact experiences (t = 5.06, df = 50, two-tailed p = .000) is self-explanatory given the pervasiveness of the Internet in the current age; nevertheless, the mean value cannot be considered particularly high. Interestingly, Illés and Csizér (2015) found similar results with Hungarian teachers of English. Based on these findings, we might conclude that the limited amount of contact experiences is an issue both at the pre-service and in-service levels of language teaching in Hungary.
Regarding the participants’ attitudes, the following inferences can be made based on the results of the descriptive statistical analysis. Their attitudes toward the community of world citizens (M = 3.86, SD = 1.08), similarly to their attitudes toward native speakers (M = 3.71, SD = 0.84) were favorable. Interestingly, the respondents’ attitudes toward non-native speakers (M = 2.38, SD = 0.98) did not seem to be as favorable as toward world citizens (t = 6.75, df = 50, two-tailed p = .000) or native speakers (t = 6.88, df = 50, two-tailed p = .000), which were confirmed with the help of paired samples t-tests. These results are surprising since both native and non-native English-speaking people can be considered world citizens due to their English proficiency (Dörnyei, 2005). The underlying cause behind the participants’ unfavorable attitudes toward non-native speakers might be native speakerism (Holliday, 2005); however, their attitudes toward world citizens seem to indicate that their beliefs about the superiority of native speakers are unsteady. This argument is supported by the participants’ relatively lower level of integrative orientation (M = 2.59, SD = 1.17) compared to their attitudes toward native speakers (t = 8.43, df = 50, two-tailed p = .000). Thus, despite their favorable attitudes toward native speakers of English, the respondents do not seem to identify with them.
There were three scales with the help of which the participants’ motivational self-system could be measured reliably. As could be expected, the ideal teacher self scale had a relatively high mean value (M = 4.00, SD = 0.81), which suggests that the members of the sample possessed a positive self-image about themselves being English teachers in the future. Compared to their ideal teacher self, the influence of the students’ past or present language-learning experiences (M = 3.46, SD = 1.03) on their motivation to become English teachers did not seem to be remarkable (t = 3.54, df = 50, two-tailed p = .001). That is, they are influenced by their experiences related to language learning and teaching to some extent, but not extraordinarily. Even less significance can be attributed to the respondents’ feared teacher self (M = 2.57, SD = 0.95), which had the lowest score here. According to the results of the paired samples t-test, the difference between the students’ feared teacher self and ideal teacher self (t = −7.04, df = 50, two-tailed p = .000) was statistically significant. These results indicate that the students did not have strong fears or worries related to themselves as future English teachers. It can be argued that the students’ confidence might be due to their limited personal experiences in language teaching and the fact that they have not yet started their teaching careers.
Causal relationships among the scales
To answer the third research question, that is, what causal relationships exist among the variables of the study, multiple regression analyses were run with a stepwise approach. Three rounds of analyses were carried out: the first one with the two dependent variables of the study (i.e., motivated language-learning behavior and motivated language-teaching behavior), the second one with the three predictor variables that appeared in the first round, and the third one with three additional predictor variables surfacing in the second round of the analyses. The results of the regression analyses are presented in Tables 4–6; only those cases are reported where p < .05. A schematic representation of the relationships among the variables is presented in Fig. 1.
Results of the first-round regression analyses showing the final models for motivated language-teaching behavior and motivated language-learning behavior as the dependent variables
| Predictor | B | SE B | β | t | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dependent variable: motivated language-teaching behavior | |||||
| Intrinsic motivation | 0.49 | 0.10 | 0.52 | 4.78 | .00 |
| Ideal teacher self | 0.36 | 0.10 | 0.39 | 3.58 | .00 |
| World citizenship | −0.16 | 0.06 | −0.24 | −2.81 | .01 |
| R 2 | .68 | ||||
| Dependent variable: motivated language-learning behavior | |||||
| Ideal teacher self | 0.47 | 0.10 | 0.57 | 4.91 | .00 |
| R 2 | .33 | ||||
Note. SE: standard error.
Results of the second-round regression analyses showing the final models for intrinsic motivation, ideal teacher self, and world citizenship as the dependent variables
| Predictor | B | SE B | β | t | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dependent variable: intrinsic motivation | |||||
| Macro-contextual extrinsic motivation | 0.25 | 0.09 | 0.36 | 2.80 | .01 |
| Language-learning experience | 0.20 | 0.10 | 0.27 | 2.08 | .04 |
| R 2 | .24 | ||||
| Dependent variable: ideal teacher self | |||||
| Macro-contextual extrinsic motivation | 0.25 | 0.09 | 0.35 | 2.85 | .01 |
| Feared teacher self | −0.32 | 0.11 | −0.37 | −2.98 | .01 |
| Attitudes toward native speakers | 0.31 | 0.12 | 0.33 | 2.65 | .01 |
| R 2 | .34 | ||||
| Dependent variable: world citizenship | |||||
| Integrative orientation | 0.35 | 0.12 | 0.38 | 2.85 | .01 |
| R 2 | .14 | ||||
Note. SE: standard error.
Results of the third-round regression analyses showing the final models for macro-contextual extrinsic motivation, feared teacher self, and attitudes toward native speakers as the dependent variables
| Predictor | B | SE B | β | t | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dependent variable: macro-contextual extrinsic motivation | |||||
| Digital media use | 0.44 | 0.16 | 0.37 | 2.78 | .01 |
| R 2 | .14 | ||||
| Dependent variable: feared teacher self | |||||
| Attitudes toward non-native speakers | 0.32 | 0.13 | 0.33 | 2.43 | .02 |
| R 2 | .11 | ||||
| Dependent variable: attitudes toward native speakers | |||||
| Digital media use | 0.30 | 0.12 | 0.34 | 2.50 | .02 |
| R 2 | .11 | ||||
Note. SE: standard error.
Schematic representation of the causal relationships among the measured variables. LT: language teaching; LL: language learning; MC: macro-contextual; NSs: native speakers; NNSs: non-native speakers. p < .05
Citation: Journal of Adult Learning, Knowledge and Innovation 2, 1; 10.1556/2059.02.2018.02
As can be seen in Table 4, there are three predictor variables that contribute significantly to motivated language-teaching behavior, and the level of their collective explanatory power is high (R2 = .68), whereas in the case of motivated language-learning behavior, one such variable has been found with a lower level of explanatory power (R2 = .33). Out of the three variables, intrinsic motivation has the greatest impact on motivated language-teaching behavior (β = 0.52), which indicates that Dörnyei and Ushioda’s (2011) claim about teacher motivation having a strong intrinsic component holds true for the population of pre-service teachers as well. Ideal teacher self emerged as a predictor variable for both criterion measures, with a relatively higher impact level in the case of motivated language-learning behavior (β = 0.57) as in the case of motivated language-teaching behavior (β = 0.39). This means that having strong aspirations and future goals contribute to students’ effort and persistence both in learning English and learning to become an English teacher. The appearance of ideal self as a predictor for both types of motivated behavior could be expected, given that it is a central facet of both Dörnyei’s (2005) L2 motivational self-system as well as Kubanyiova’s (2009) possible language teacher self construct.
Identification with the community of world citizens was also found to contribute to motivated language-teaching behavior, albeit, negatively (β = −0.24). This finding seems to suggest that feeling affiliated with cosmopolitan people hinders students’ effort and persistence in learning teaching, which is surprising, given the importance of English as a contact language nowadays. In order to deepen our understanding of the world citizenship construct, another round of regression analysis was run (Table 5), which resulted in integrative orientation being the only predictor for the variable (β = 0.38). However, the explanatory power of the model proved to be relatively low (R2 = .14), which might be attributed to the fact that the unreliable scales of the pilot study – including international posture – were not included in the regression analyses. Thus, to understand the impact of world citizenship on pre-service teachers’ motivated language-teaching behavior, further research is warranted.
Based on the relationships among the variables measured by a reliable scale (Fig. 1), the following inferences can be made. No contact variables have been found to directly influence the two criterion measures of the study, and the same can be established about the attitudinal variables with the exception of world citizenship, the negative impact of which needs further explanation regarding motivated language-teaching behavior. Concerning the measured variables of the motivational self construct and intrinsic as well as macro-contextual extrinsic motivation, only ideal teacher self and intrinsic motivation appeared as direct predictor variables of motivated behavior, which suggests that positive mental conceptions of one’s future teacher self and an inherent affection for language teaching are major driving forces behind pre-service English teachers’ motivation. Although language-learning experience, feared teacher self, and macro-contextual extrinsic motivation only seemed to emerge as indirect predictors of the two criterion measures of the study, their background presence should still not be disregarded as it is via the two aforementioned direct predictor variables that they exert their influence.
Finally, it has to be emphasized that the current findings only allow an initial interpretation of pre-service English teachers’ motivation. This is due to the fact that those variables that were initially hypothesized to be important, but proved to be measured unreliably, were absent from the regression analyses – which might have caused the relatively low levels of explanatory power of some regression models (especially Tables 5 and 6). Further research is needed to shed light on their assumed relevance to the target population’s motivation to become English teachers as well as on the validity of the current understanding of the phenomenon.
Conclusions
The study presented above set out to pilot and validate a newly constructed questionnaire aiming to measure pre-service teachers’ motivation to become English teachers. Thanks to the results of the data analyses, the validity of the instrument was enhanced. However, some scales of the questionnaire proved to be unreliable. Before conducting the forthcoming main study, it is important to understand the reason(s) behind their unreliability so that one can make an informed decision of whether to improve them or discard them. This could be achieved by conducting a follow-up literature review or qualitative interviews with some members of the target population. Concerning the second research question, it was found that Hungarian pre-service English teachers are intrinsically more motivated to become teachers than extrinsically, which was hypothesized due to the unfavorable climate of the Hungarian education sector (OECD, 2017). Furthermore, the participants demonstrated relatively high levels of motivated behavior as to both English language learning and learning to become teachers. Using regression analyses, the internal structure of the participants’ motivation was established; however, it needs further verification because of the sample size of the study as well as leaving out the unreliable measures from the analyses. Subsequently, a study involving a large enough sample size and structural equation modeling (Byrne, 2010) as its main data analysis procedure is warranted. This could not only help understand pre-service teachers’ motivation to become English teachers better, but also offer implications for teacher-training programs.
Author’s contribution
The author has full access to the references included in this analysis and takes responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the study.
Conflict of interest
The author declares no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Kata Csizér for her feedback on an earlier draft of this manuscript.
References
Bosnyák, J. , & Gáncs, N. (2012). The motivational dispositions of English language teacher trainees. Working Papers in Language Pedagogy, 6, 64–78.
Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Csillagh, V. (2010). World citizenship as a factor affecting the motivated learning behavior of adult Hungarian learners (Unpublished master’s thesis). Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Csizér, K. , & Kormos, J. (2008). Modeling the role of inter-cultural contact in the motivation of learning English as a foreign language. Applied Linguistics, 30(2), 166–185. doi:10.1093/applin/amn025
Csizér, K. , & Kormos, J. (2009). Learning experiences, selves and motivated learning behavior: A comparative analysis of structural models for Hungarian secondary and university learners of English. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 98–119). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Dörnyei, Z. , & Csizér, K. (2012). How to design and analyze surveys in SLA research? In A. Mackey & S. Gass (Eds.), Research methods in second language acquisition: A practical guide (pp. 74–94). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Dörnyei, Z. , & Ryan, S. (2015). The psychology of the language learner revisited. New York, NY: Routledge.
Dörnyei, Z. , & Taguchi, T. (2010). Questionnaires in second language research (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Dörnyei, Z. , & Ushioda, E. (2011). Teaching and researching motivation (2nd ed.). Harlow, UK: Pearson Education.
Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London, UK: Edward Arnold.
Gheralis-Roussos, E. (2003). The motivation of English language teachers in Greek secondary schools (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Hiver, P. (2013). The interplay of possible language teacher selves in professional development choices. Language Teaching Research, 17(2), 210–227. doi:10.1177/1362168813475944
Hiver, P. (2015). Once burned, twice shy: The dynamic development of system immunity in teachers. In Z. Dörnyei, P. D. MacIntyre, & A. Henry (Eds.), Motivational dynamics in language learning (pp. 214–237). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Hiver, P. (2018). Teachstrong: The power of teacher resilience for L2 practitioners. In S. Mercer & A. Kostoulas (Eds.), Language teacher psychology (pp. 231–246). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Hiver, P. , & Dörnyei, Z. (2017). Language teacher immunity: A double-edged sword. Applied Linguistics, 38(3), 405–423. doi:10.1093/applin/amv034
Hiver, P. , Kim, T. Y. , & Kim, Y. (2018). Language teacher motivation. In S. Mercer & A. Kostoulas (Eds.), Language teacher psychology (pp. 18–33). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Holliday, A. R. (2005). The struggle to teach English as an international language. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
IBM. (2013). IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM.
Illés, É. , & Csizér, K. (2010). Secondary school students’ contact experiences and dispositions towards English as an international language – A pilot study. Working Papers in Language Pedagogy, 4, 1–22.
Illés, É. , & Csizér, K. (2015). The disposition of Hungarian teachers of English towards the international use of the English language. In D. Holló & K. Károly (Eds.), Inspirations in foreign language teaching (pp. 170–183). Harlow, UK: Pearson Education.
Kim, T. Y. , & Kim, Y. M. (2016). EFL teachers’ initial career motives and demotivation in South Korea. Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics, 16(1), 29–52. doi:10.15738/kjell.16.1.201603.29
Kormos, J. , & Csizér, K. (2008). Age-related differences in the motivation of learning English as a foreign language: Attitudes, selves and motivated learning behavior. Language Learning, 58(2), 327–355. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2008.00443.x
Kubanyiova, M. (2009). Possible selves in language teacher development. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 314–332). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Kyriacou, C. , & Kobori, M. (1998). Motivation to learn and teach English in Slovenia. Educational Studies, 24(3), 345–351. doi:10.1080/0305569980240307
Medgyes, P. , & Nikolov, M. (2014). Research in foreign language education in Hungary (2006–2012). Language Teaching, 47(4), 504–537. doi:10.1017/S0261444814000184
Menyhárt, A. (2008). Teachers or lecturers? The motivational profile of university teachers of English. Working Papers in Language Pedagogy, 2, 119–137.
Mercer , S. , & Kostoulas , A. (Eds.). (2018). Language teacher psychology. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Mifsud, M. (2011). The relationship of teachers’ and students’ motivation in ELT in Malta: A mixed methods study (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
OECD. (2017). Hungary. In Education at a glance 2017: OECD indicators. Paris, France: OECD.
Ryan, R. M. , & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54–67. doi:10.1006/ceps.1999.1020
Sáska, G. (2015). Az elmúlt két évtized pedagógusképzési reformküzdelmei, kreditekben elbeszélve [Struggles for reforms in teachers’ training over the past 20 years as explained by credits]. Magyar Tudomány, 176(7), 819–827.
Topkaya, E. Z. , & Uztosun, M. S. (2012). Choosing teaching as a career: Motivations of pre-service English teachers in Turkey. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 3(1), 126–134. doi:10.4304/jltr.3.1.126-134
Toptsi, J. (2018, February). Reconceptualizing cultural interest in the L2 motivational self system. Poster session presented at the 8th Undergraduate and Graduate Student Presentation Day of the School of English and American Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Appendix: The English Translation of the Reliable Scales of the Questionnaire
Intrinsic motivation (Cα = .80)
- • I would like to become an English teacher because I like the English language.
- • I would like to become an English teacher because I like teaching.
- • I would like to become an English teacher because, in my opinion, teaching English is a great thing.
- • I would like to become an English teacher so that I could continuously develop my teaching skills.
Macro-contextual extrinsic motivation (Cα = .79)
- • I would like to become an English teacher because, by being so, I can contribute to the progress of Hungarian society.
- • I would like to become an English teacher in order to take part in the shaping of public education in Hungary.
Motivated language-teaching behavior (Cα = .82)
- • I can honestly say that I am doing all my best to become an English teacher.
- • I am willing to dedicate extra effort to becoming an English teacher.
- • It is very important for me to become a good English teacher.
- • I am determined to become an English teacher.
Motivated language-learning behavior (Cα = .88)
- • Improving my English is very important for me.
- • I can honestly say that I am doing all my best to improve my English.
- • I am determined to improve my English.
- • I am willing to dedicate extra effort to improving my English.
Digital media use (Cα = .74)
- • How often do you read online discussion sites in English? (e.g., Reddit)
- • How often do you read blogs in English? (e.g., Tumblr)
- • How often do you read social networking sites platforms with English content? (e.g., Facebook)
- • How often do you listen to podcasts in English?
- • How often do you read, watch, or listen to online articles or news in English?
Direct spoken contact with native speakers (Cα = .64)
- • How often do you speak English with native speakers living in your neighborhood?
- • How often do you speak English with native speakers when you are on holiday in Hungary?
- • How often do you speak English with native English-speaking students and teachers at your school?
World citizenship (Cα = .91)
- • I consider myself a world citizen.
- • I consider myself a member of the global community.
- • I like to think of myself as a member of the global community.
- • It is important for me to be a member of the global village.
Integrative orientation (Cα = .72)
- • I would like to become similar to native English speakers.
- • In order to have really good English language skills, I need to become similar to native English speakers.
Attitudes toward non-native speakers (Cα = .70)
- • It is easier to understand non-native speakers because they do not use as many idioms as native speakers.
- • Non-native speakers are easier to understand because of their pronunciation.
Attitudes toward native speakers (Cα = .63)
- • The people of English-speaking countries seem to be nice.
- • I would like to know more about the people of English-speaking countries.
Feared teacher self (Cα = .82)
- • I fear that I will become the kind of English teacher I would not like to be.
- • I fear that, due to ELT-related duties, I will not have enough time to live my private life.
- • I fear that I will not be able to handle the stress caused by English teaching.
- • I fear that I will not get the autonomy in my workplace to be able to give good classes.
- • I fear that I will lose my enthusiasm toward ELT after a while because of the constant repetitiveness of the curriculum.
Ideal teacher self (Cα = .81)
- • I can imagine my whole career as an English teacher.
- • I believe that I will become a good English teacher even though I am not a native English speaker.
- • I believe that continuing professional development will be a fundamental part of my career as a teacher.
- • I believe that I will be able to create a positive classroom atmosphere, in which my students will be motivated.
- • I believe that I will be a good role model for my students when it comes to language learning because of my good language skills.
Language-learning experience (Cα = .86)
- • My language teachers inspire me to become an English teacher because of their teaching skills.
- • My language teachers inspire me to become an English teacher mainly because of their personalities.
- • I have always enjoyed language learning, which can largely be attributed to my language teachers.
- • I have always been a successful language learner, which plays a great part in my wanting to become an English teacher.
- • My language teachers inspire me to become an English teacher because of their English language skills.
