The article elaborates on the phenomenon of motivation as an essential driving force in the foreign language learning process as well as on its importance for successful building foreign language competence. А special emphasis is laid on the characteristics of instrumental and integrative types of motivation along with classroom anxiety as one of the most significant affective factors of motivation. To identify factors that motivate first year IT students of Volgograd State Technical University the results of a close-ended questionnaire are summed up. The methods and instruments of this study, which are based on the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery by R. Gardner, are described; the values obtained for each questionnaire item are analysed using descriptive statistics methods. It is pointed out that integrative motivation is manifested as the primary type of motivation, with instrumental motivation also being on a rather high level. IT students are reported to rarely feel anxiety in the context of formal English language learning. In conclusion, prospects of further research in the area of motivation in university foreign language learning are stated.
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