English as a second language students' motivational factors and learning strategies: Implications for instruction and curriculum design

The research described here is based on a quantitative study conducted in Puerto Rico, with the participation of 93 proficient and advanced high school students from 6 different schools. Data were collected from The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) and Gardner's (1985) Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) to determine the influence of students' learning strategies and motivational factors on their academic success in English. This study was particularly interested in finding out which second language strategies and motivational factors were related to second language English learners' success in public high schools in Puerto Rico. Specifically, the study explored the learning strategies used by 10th to 12th grade Puerto Rican high school students; examined the motivational factors that affected second language learners, and; offered recommendations for instruction and curriculum design.;The findings of the study presented a well-defined picture, which established that Puerto Rican students used a variety of strategies to learn English as a second language. The first three strategies that scored the highest were Organizing and Evaluating Your Learning which obtained the highest percentage of 71% while the strategy of Learning with Others obtained the second highest with a 67.7%, and the third percentage was Using Your Mental Processes with a 57.0%. The second part of the study was based on the motivational factors that are involved in the second language learning. The first three motivational factors that obtained the highest average scores were English Class Anxiety, which obtained a score of 5.28, Instrumental Orientation obtained an average score of 5.24, and Interest in Foreign Languages obtained an average score of 5.13.;Based on the data collected, these three strategies were the most important ones. It was also clear that the teacher, the low anxiety classroom environment, the course content, and materials, as well as personal motivational factors of the student had an influence on their English learning.;The results of the study showed that Puerto Rican high school students that participated in the study had a very high motivation towards learning English. The students had a higher degree of instrumental motivation and less anxiety in learning English.