The Relationship between Instrumental, Integrative, Intrinsic, and Extrinsic Motivations and the Lexical-oriented Knowledge among Intermediate Iranian EFL Learners

Abstract

It is obvious that affective factors play crucial roles in learning a language. Among the numerous affective factors, motivation has a significant role. The present study tries to shed light on the point that whether there is any relationship between the four different types of motivation (intrinsic, extrinsic, instrumental, and integrative) and the lexical-oriented knowledge of Intermediate Iranian EFL Learners. To do so, 372 Persian EFL language learners were randomly selected from an institute located in Isfahan, Iran. Three different instruments, two questionnaires on motivation and a vocabulary test were administered among them to respond. The results of the study revealed that first of all, there was a positive but weak correlation between the two main variables of the study. Secondly, it became evident that there was a significant difference just between the instrumental and intrinsic types of motivation. The results of the study will provide substantial implications for better recognition of affective needs of language learners and consequently, causing conditions for more effective language learning.