The Motivation to English Vocabulary Acquisition: A Comparative Study of English and Non-English Major Students in Vocational University

Huanhuan FENG

Abstract


It is noticeable that the plethora of researches has investigated motivation to acquire English vocabularies only in general universities. There is still scarce research that compares the motivation of English vocabulary learning between English major and non-English major students in vocational university. Therefore, it is not known if students who choose to study English as their major differ from those who are required to study English as the minor component of their wider degree in vocational education.
Drawing on SDT, the study reports on the findings of a quantitative study designed to investigate the comparison in motivation for English vocabulary acquisition demonstrated by English major (n = 94) and non-English major students (n = 87) in a vocational university. The study revealed that both English major and non-English major students in vocational university tend to possess high levels of Identified Regulation(ID) and External Regulation motivation(EX) to acquire English vocabulary. English major students felt more intrinsically motivated and less mandatory to learn English.
This paper argues that it is imperative for lecturers in vocational university to assist students in internalising these External Regulation motivation (EX) to English vocabulary acquisition to prepare for their future profession, which contributes to fostering students’ intrinsic aspirations to English vocabulary acquisition.


Keywords


Self-determination theory; English vocabulary acquisition; Vocational university

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/13242

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