Appraising social class dimensions on learning motivation of Iranian students: Family studies and their status in focus

Abstract

Educators have widely accepted motivation as an important factor influencing the success of the second/foreign language learning process. Among many factors affecting the language learners’ motivation, the role of families and their social class have been considered as the main variables of this study. The present study aimed to explore the effect of social class dimensions on learning motivation, focusing on Vygotsky and Gardner’s theories. More specifically, the study tried to investigate the impact of social class dimensions, i.e., parental job, income, and education level on English learning motivation of some high school students in Kerman, Iran. In doing so, 400 teenage students were selected based on the available sampling method. The data were collected through a related two-part questionnaire developed by Gardner (2006). The original English questionnaire was translated into Persian and the researchers checked the reliability and validity. The collected data were inserted to SPSS software version 24 for analyzing and interpreting. The results revealed the effect of social class dimension had a positive effect on Iranian EFL students’ motivation toward learning English. In other words, students who belonged to families with higher social class dimensions reflected higher motivation and desires to learn English than the ones who were in families with lower social class dimensions. Findings have some implications for language teachers and students and can improve teaching methods, curriculum development, and syllabus design.