The interplay of teacher motivation and learner motivation: A Q method study

This study investigated the interplay of second language (L2) teacher motivation and L2 learner motivation. In total, sixty male foreign language learners, including thirty-five English, nine Arabic, eight French, and eight Russian language learners from a military university in Tehran, Iran were selected using nonprobability purposeful sampling. Q methodology was used as a method for the systematic study of subjectivity and an interview with the most representative participants of each factorial group was conducted to explore the learners’ viewpoints toward the interplay of teacher motivation and learner motivation. Hybrid-type Q sampling was used to develop 60 statements related to the interplay of teacher motivation and learner motivation. Using PQMethod, a dedicated statistical program for Q methodology, the Q sorts were intercorrelated and factor-analyzed. Four factors were extracted and rotated by varimax rotation and hand adjustment. Factor arrays and qualitative analyses were used to identify and interpret four distinctive accounts of L2 motivation. The four factors suggested that the learners hold four different prototypical viewpoints regarding the interplay of teacher motivation and learner motivation: (a) Teachers’ Role (b) Students’ Role in Normal Contexts, (c) Student-Teacher Relationship, and (d) Students’ Self-Determined Motivation in Adverse Contexts. The results, furthermore, suggested that different learner prototypes are motivated differently, so teachers should look for alternative motivational strategies that consider learners motivation in the context of learning.