Investigating the effect of pupils' motivation, attitudes and gender difference on EFL learning in Adrar Middle schools

Abstract EN

This study aims to investigate the effect of middle school learners’ attitudes and motivation on learning English as a foreign language in Adrar, Algeria.

it seeks to understand the importance of these two psychological factors in the success of the English learning process in Algerian middle schools.

to achieve this, data were collected through a questionnaire that was distributed to a randomly selected sample of 242 middle school pupils at different levels.

the questionnaire was based on the attitude / motivation battery which is constructed by Gardner (1985).

data analysis was descriptive.

the results revealed that the pupils had positive cognitive, emotional and behavioral attitudes toward learning English, and thus they have higher motivation.

furthermore, the results showed that females are more motivated than male learners.

based on this, teachers are recommended to incorporate more convenient methods and strategies that enhances the learners’ attitudes and thus develop their motivation.