The Attitudes and Motivation of University Learners Towards Learning English


 This study examines the Yemeni students’ attitudes and motivation towards learning English. It tries to find out the types of motivation the subjects have towards learning English. Two types of motivations were investigated in this research, instrumental motivation that refers to the utilitarian and academic causes, and integrative motivation, which refers to the social and cultural causes. Moreover, the current survey sheds some light on the students’ anxiety about the English language and their attitude towards learning English and using it in India. The quantitative data were collected using a questionnaire administered to 107 students. The data analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The results revealed that Yemeni students in India have a high positive attitude towards learning English. Moreover, they are instrumentally and integratively motivated to learn English. Their attitude towards the anxiety of English, learning English, and using it in India was moderate. The results also showed a significant difference in the students’ attitude towards learning English, where the postgraduate students have a higher positive attitude than undergraduates. According to the gender, the results revealed no significant difference between males and females regarding the attitude and motivation towards learning English. The present survey recommended teaching the English language intensively in Yemen, whether in schools or universities. The English language anxiety has to be manipulated by teachers using the courses that enhance the students’ confidence in using English.


Introduction
English is used in Yemen as a foreign language. It is taught as one subject in public schools from grade 7 to 12. In university education, it is taught as one subject in one level during two semesters. In Yemen there are many institutes where students can improve their English skills. The status of English in India is different from its status in Yemen. English in India is used as a second language. It is used along with the Hindi language as an o cial language in all Indian states. It is the primary medium of instruction in higher education all over India. Therefore, Yemeni students come to India for educational purposes. Some of them are at the undergraduate level and others at the postgraduate level. Yemeni students are not gathered in one area; they spread all over India and study in different universities. Accordingly, the present study aims to examine the Yemeni students' attitudes towards learning English, the students' anxiety of English and their attitudes towards learning English and using it in India. Furthermore, the current survey tries to nd out the types of motivation Yemeni students have towards learning English. This study also determines the statistical signi cant differences in the students' attitudes and motivation according to their education level and age.
Based on the aims, the current survey focuses on two factors: attitude and motivation. According to Gardener (1985), "attitude is an evaluative reaction to some referent or attitude object, inferred based on the individual's beliefs or opinions about the referent" (p.9). Gardener (1985), Briñol (Bartram 2010, p. 35). Attitude is different from one another; people have not the same type of attitude. The attitudes of some individuals help them achieve goals or overcome obstacles. In contrast, other people have frustrating attitudes, stopping them from dealing with challenges and accomplishing their objectives (Harrell, 2000, p.14). Motivation is the second factor this study focuses on. According to Gardener "Motivation refers to the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favourable attitudes toward learning the language." (Gardner, 1985, p.10). There are two main types of motivation towards learning the second or foreign language: Integrative and Instrumental motivation. Instrumental motivation refers to educational or utilitarian purposes. Students learn the language to get pro ciency in a language for utilitarian reasons, get a good job, get a good salary, and use it for education. Integrative motivation, on the other hand, refers to social and cultural purposes. Students learn the language to understand the cultures and traditions of the native speakers, communicate with foreigners, integrate with the community that speaks the language, etc. (Gardner, 1985;Krashen, 1981 5. Are there any differences in the attitudes of students according to their gender and education level?
. Are there any differences among the students' motivation according to their gender and educational level? 7. Are there any differences in the students' anxiety of English according to their gender and education level?
. Are there any differences in the attitudes of Yemeni students towards learning English and practicing it in India?

Data collection
The data was collected quantitatively by the mean of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was adapted by The second section was devoted to examining the students' attitudes towards learning English. Five items were meant to examine the subjects' attitudes to learning English (e.g., "I like learning English" and "When I hear someone speaks English well, I wish I could speak like him."). The ve items of the second section try to determine whether the subjects have a positive or negative attitude towards learning English. There are four items in the second section: two items devoted to examining the students' English anxiety and two items for examining the students' attitudes towards learning English and using it in India.
The third section studies the students' instrumental motivation. This section focuses on the utilitarian and academic reasons that cause students to learn English. It is meant to be examined by seven items (e.g., "Learning English is important for me because it helps me get a suitable job in the future.", and "Learning English is essential for me because it helps me search for information and English materials on the Internet.").
The fourth section investigates the students' integrative motivation to learn English; it concentrates on the social and cultural reasons that cause them to learn English. The 4 th section was meant to be examined by six items (e.g., "Learning English helps me understand the cultures and traditions of English native speakers." and "Learning English helps me make friends easily with foreigners.").
The ve-point Likert scale was used with all items of the questionnaire that is composed of closed-ended questions. The Likert scale is more reliable and can be constructed in a short period (Kothari, 2004 Strongly Disagree 1

Participants
The eld of this study was the Yemeni students in India. Some Yemeni students come to India to learn English and to pursue their university education. They are spread all over India, and there is no speci c census for them in India. The non-probability sample technique was utilized for sample selection. The sample selected was 107 students distributed as follows: The questionnaire has been adapted depending on some earlier studies as mentioned above. After designing the rst version of the questionnaire, it was sent to some experts to revise it and give their comments and remarks regarding the validity of the instrument. As Arabic is the mother tongue of the subjects, the questionnaire was translated from English to Arabic to be clear and to eliminate the ambiguity that may affect the instrument's validity. The questionnaire was carried out online for the piloting study, and 22 students answered it. Based on the piloting study, some modi cations were made to the questionnaire. Then, Cronbach's alpha was used for measuring the reliability of the questionnaire.
The results revealed that the questionnaire is highly reliable, as shown in table (2). Eventually, the last version of the questionnaire was distributed online for the main subjects to reach many different states all over India. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 20). Two tools were used for statistical analysis: descriptive and inferential analysis. The descriptive analysis measures used in this study were mean, standard deviation and frequency distribution. The Independent t-test was used to measure the signi cant differences between the subjects according to their gender and level of education.

Results And Discussion
As mentioned above, the analysis of this data was used by descriptive and inferential statistical analysis tests. The data analysis was divided into two sections: the rst section is speci ed for descriptive analysis and the second section is for inferential analysis.

Descriptive Analysis
The descriptive analysis is meant to address the following questions Attitude towards Learning English Table 3, demonstrates the Yemeni students' attitudes towards learning English. The subjects' attitude was meant to be examined by ve positively worded items. The results showed that all items elicited the response of strong agreement. The highest average was given to item 1, "I like learning English." with a mean of 4.85 and standard deviation of 0.79, followed by items 2 and 3 with a mean score of 4.69 and 4.68, respectively. The last two items were designed to examine the students' attitude towards teaching English in Yemen. As stated early, English in Yemen is taught in public schools from grade 7 to 12, and in university education, it is taught in level one only as one compulsory subject for two semesters. The results revealed that the two items awarded a strong agreement. Item 4, "English should be a compulsory subject in Yemeni primary schools" got a strong agreement with a mean of 4.52 and standard deviation of 0.85, followed by item 5 "English should be a compulsory subject in Yemeni universities from level 1- 4

Language anxiety
As illustrated in Table 4, the results show that the subjects have anxious about using English. The two statements got the response of agreement. The higher average was given to item 7, "It bothers me trying to understand the more complex aspects of English" with mean score of 3.42 and standard deviation of 1.07, followed by item 6, "I feel anxious if someone asks me something in English" with mean score of 3.04 and standard deviation of 1.25. The total mean score for the anxiety of using English is 3.23, and this indicates the response of neutral towards the anxiety of using English. According to Gardener (2006), language anxiety depends on the learners' level of experience. Thus, learners who have a poor experience in any language will have anxiety about that language. He also argued that inadequate skills cause feelings of language anxiety. Based on these results and what Gardener (2006) said, participants reported their English language anxiety, which indicates that students may have inadequate English language skills. In this study, the results revealed that the level of anxiety of English is moderate. So, this research contradicts Alshamy (2012). In his study on the attitude of EFL learners towards English, he found that the level of anxiety among participants was high. Based on the ndings of this section, The English teachers should manipulate the students' English language anxiety through the courses that enhance the student's con dence when using the English language. The anxiety of English may refer to some linguistic challenges that need to be dealt with by the English teachers. Learning English and using it in India Table 5 shows the subjects' attitudes towards learning English and practicing it in India. Item 8, "Learning English in India is good and enjoyable" was meant to show the attitude towards learning English in India, and awarded the response of neutral with a mean of 2.78 and standard deviation of 1.1.3. These results indicate that learning English in India is moderate. Besides examining the students' attitude towards learning English in India, item 9, "I can practice English anywhere in India" was meant to explore the students' attitude towards practicing English in India. Item 9 also elicited a neutral response with a mean score of 2.95 and standard deviation of 1.05. The subjects revealed that practicing English in India is moderate. The results in table 6 show that students have high instrumental motivation towards learning English. The highest mean score was given to item 7, "I learn English diligently because it is a medium of instruction in the university" with a mean score of 4.62 and standard deviation of 0.74. And the lowest mean score was given to item 4, "If I know English well, others will respect me more" with a mean of 3.76 and standard deviation of 1.14. The total mean score is 4.40, with a standard deviation of 0.70. The mean score of 4.40 indicates the response of strong agreement. Accordingly, the instrumental motivation towards learning English is high among Yemeni students in India. These results are in harmony with Zughoul (2003). He stated that English is needed in the Arab world for some purposes such as communication, education, and technology purposes. It is also a prerequisite for jobs, especially in the private sector.

Integrative Motivation
The results in table 7 show that Yemeni students have high integrative motivation towards learning English. The highest average was given to item 6, "Learning English helps me read English books, articles, newspapers, and magazines" with a mean score of 4.52 and standard deviation of 0.78, followed by item 4, "Learning English helps me understand American and British movies and talk-shows" with a mean score of 4.48 and standard deviation of 0.94. The lowest average was awarded to item 3, "Learning English helps me learn about the values and beliefs of English native speakers" with a mean score of 4.18 and standard deviation of 0.90. The total mean score for integrative motivation is 4.37, which indicates the response of strong agreement. Accordingly, Yemeni students have high integrative motivation towards learning English. These results support Zughoul's claim (2003) that the in uence of American cultures and ways of living are remarkable among Arabians in urban centers. Most Yemeni students in India belong to urban areas in Yemen or are affected by urban life. Therefore, they have high integrative motivation towards learning English.
The results of this study are similar to (Qashoa, 2006 where they found that the instrumental motivation is higher than the integrative motivation. This study's ndings also contradict (Degang, 2010;Alshamy, 2012), where they found that integrative motivation is higher than instrumental motivation.
The ndings showed that Yemeni students in India have high instrumental and integrative motivation towards learning English. Therefore, the English language should be taught intensively in Yemen, whether in schools or universities. As the English language is taught only from grade 7 in public schools and level one in university education, it should be taught from grade one in schools, and it should be a compulsory subject from level 1-4 in Yemeni universities. This will help students improve their English language to function effectively in their education or occupation, whether in Yemen or abroad.

Inferential Analysis
An inferential analysis test is used to identify the signi cant differences between students according to their education level and gender. The independent t-test is used to address the following questions: 1. Are there any differences in the attitudes of students according to their gender and education level?
2. Are there any differences between the students' motivation according to their gender and educational level?
3. Are there any differences in the students' anxiety of English according to their gender and education level?
4. Are there any differences in the attitudes of Yemeni students towards learning English and practicing it in India?

Conclusion
This study focused on the attitudes and motivation of Yemeni students in India towards learning English. It tries to determine whether Yemeni students have a positive or negative attitude towards learning English and the types of motivations that students have. Two types of motivation were investigated in the current study: instrumental and integrative motivation. The eld of this study was the postgraduate and undergraduate students in different states all over India. The descriptive results revealed that Yemeni students have a high positive attitude towards learning English. They were motivated instrumentally and integratively towards learning English. Regarding the anxiety of the English language, the results showed that the students' anxiety was moderate. Moreover, the results revealed that learning English and using it in India is moderate (i.e., not Excellent, but not bad). The results gathered from the independent t-test showed that there is a signi cant difference in the postgraduate and undergraduate students' attitudes towards learning English, where Postgraduate students have a higher positive attitude than undergraduate students. The results also showed no signi cant differences in the subjects' instrumental and integrative motivation towards learning English. Besides, there is no signi cant difference between male and female students regarding their attitudes and motivation towards learning English. Eventually, the present research recommends studying the students' attitudes and motivation in Yemen towards learning English. Another study should include another factors and carry out on different subjects in Yemen.

Declarations
1. Availability of data and materials: All the required materials such as piloting study, main questionnaire, Excel of responses, and SPSS data and variables are available. Piloting study and main questionnaire are saved in the researchers' Google derive. Data analysis is saved in SPSS version 20.

Competing interests:
The manuscript complied with ethical standards. No con ict of interest. It agreed to research ethics.
3. Funding (optional): There is no funding for such research received. Funding information is not applicable.

Authors' contributions
The corresponding author of this study did the introduction, methodology, interpretation of data analysis, conclusion and cited the references.
The second author collected the data and did the instruments validity, revision and proofreading of the manuscript.
Third author did the analysis of data using SPSS version 20.