The Effect of Motivation on Moroccan Secondary School students’ Language Proficiency

Abstract

English language is considered as a global language, and with every single day, its users are increasing especially in the Arab world. The present study is exploratory in nature, investigating the effect of motivations on students’ English proficiency. It was meant to see whether there is any significant correlation between this variable as well as students’ English proficiency in the secondary level in Morocco. Additionally, it examines the extent to which there would be differences in language skills, domains and final foreign-language grades among high-school students completing a second year of English as a foreign-language in a foreign context such as the Moroccan one. Oral and written proficiency measures were adopted and administered by the researcher himself and with the help of participating teachers in addition to language supervisors (inspectors). The participants in this study are second year Moroccan EFL students enrolled for the school year 2017.The study incorporates quantitative as well as qualitative approach and has used a proficiency test, questionnaires besides an observational instrument to collect data from respondents. Initially, a total number of about 101 students participated in the study but only 78-ended taking part in the study. The data obtained has been quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed with ANOVA test of Fisher and the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS). From the findings of the data, the study concludes that Moroccan students have overall differences among the two proficiency groups (High, Low) and study disciplines (Science or Letter). Conclusions and implications about connections among foreign-language proficiency language skills, attitudes, motivations are presented as well as discussed.