2 El liderazgo del general Francisco Franco

As defined by Brown in 2001, ―Questionnaires are any written instruments that present respondents with a series of questions or statements to which they are to react either by writing out their answers or selecting from among existing answers‖ (2001, p 6). The first phase of the research methodology consists of a survey questionnaire owing to the benefits it provides. The rich data it offers in a relatively quick and cheap way makes it a convenient approach to be employed throughout the study. In addition, generalization of the findings obtained by a questionnaire conducted in an objective and standardised manner is reliable and credible, which enables the researcher to generalize their findings. The questionnaire survey method also provides convenience in the data analysis process and reduces researcher bias in presenting the results (Schaw, 2000). Nonetheless, the questionnaire survey approach does have drawbacks, which have been demonstrated in detail in the previous paragraphs and have been put under the microscope while selecting the study‘s methodological approaches to be followed.

A self-administered questionnaire was used in this research as an exploratory phase. More precisely, according to Dörnyei, questionnaires provide three types of data about respondents taking part in the questionnaire: 1- Factual, 2- Behavioural and 3- Attitudinal (2010, p 5):

1- Factual questions are used in order to clarify who the respondents are by providing relevant information about their background. These kinds of questions are usually used to investigate the demographic characteristics of respondents, such as their name, gender, age, geographic location, marital status, their current occupation, and the level of education they have. Factual questions can be used to gather relevant information that can be useful in order to interpret the findings of the questionnaire (Dörnyei, 2003, p 8).

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2- Behavioural questions are used to clarify what the respondents are doing in their current lives or have done in their past. In other words, Behavioural questions investigate respondents‘ previous and current experiences. They investigate respondents‘ actions, life styles and habits and might proceed to ask about their personal history (ibid, 2003, p 8).

3- Attitudinal questions, which are the most relevant questions in this research, are used to investigate what the respondents think about particular concepts and their own perspectives on particular themes. This broad category seeks to cover respondents‘ attitude, beliefs, opinions, values and interest in specific concepts (Dörnyei, 2003, p 8).

The type of questionnaire that was employed in my research contains elements from all three-question types mentioned above (1- Factual, 2- Behavioural and 3- Attitudinal). Since one of the aims of this research was to find out what the participants think and what their motivational factors towards learning the English language were. Students were also asked to provide some background information and educational information. For example, students were asked to provide information about their names, how many languages they speak and whether they had a private education in their home country or not – all of which served to assist in evaluating the respondents‘ personal differences and frame them in the holistic view of their educational level in order to understand the disparity of their English language level. The questionnaire consisted of 20 questions. The questionnaire was designed with regard to the themes and concepts discussed previously in the literature review part, which served to ensure that all questions asked in the questionnaire were explicitly relevant to the central research purpose.

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The questionnaire constructed and used in this research was adapted from Gardner‘s AMTB (Attitude and Motivation Test Battery) (1985) and Dörnyei and Ushioda (2013) with some deletion and addition in order to fit into the Arabic context and suit participants‘ mentality. The current study investigated Arabic learners‘ motivational factors in learning the English language. The study depended on the different elements of L2 motivation represented in the literature, among which were the motivational factors within the socio-psychological and learning dimensions. First, in the socio- psychological dimension, the questionnaire investigated the classical distinction made by Gardner between Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation in learning a target language with the assistance of AMTB. Since the AMTB does not cover in detail all the motivational components (Motivational Intensity, Interest in Foreign languages) such as the new concepts raised within the L2 learners‘ psychological field that influence the process of L2 learning, for instance, Self-confidence, Ought-To L2 Self, Ideal L2 Self and Need for Achievement, some questions were adopted from Dörnyei and Ushioda‘s (2013) research study. In addition to the AMTB, Dörnyei‘s model was adopted as it is a notable development and a great addition to the subject of L2 motivation within the psychological field since it covers all concepts addressed in this research, which in turn assisted in providing an integrated piece of research.

All the questionnaire‘s items were constructed keeping in mind that the questions had to be compatible with the Arabic context as the target learners were from an Arabic background and were living and studying in the UK. The study was conducted in Huddersfield University where the target participants were L1 Arabic learners‘ of English who had access to native speakers within a native English-speaking community and therefore were considered to be second language learners. Participants were studying English in the International Study Centre at Huddersfield University, on the ESUS Course, English Skills for University Study, and were approached through academic channels.

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The ESUS Course was scheduled to start at the beginning of June 2016 and in order to follow the data collection schedule and design, I collected data at the beginning of the first week of the English course. Thereafter the interviews were conducted in the same week after completing the questionnaire stage. More specifically, with the assistance of my own supervisor and after submitting my Ethical Approval Form to start the process of data collection, I scheduled meetings with the head of the International Study Centre. After a couple of meetings with the head of the Centre and the class teachers in order to demonstrate the essence of my research and the aims I was seeking to achieve, I obtained approval to access the classes. I started the first data collection phase by handing over my questionnaires to the participants, L1 Arabic learners‘ of English, in the presence of their own teachers after explaining to the students the aim of my study. A total number of 42 students took part in the data collection stage and filled in the questionnaires. Thereafter, students were asked to attend the interviews to discuss in further their views and opinions about the questionnaire contents. By collecting data using the questionnaires, which was followed by interviewing the participants who took part in the questionnaire stage, the first phase of data collection was completed at the beginning of the English course.

The questionnaire was designed in Arabic, and I made sure that the standard Arabic language was used to translate the questionnaire into the Arabic language, which made it more convenient for participants to comprehend and therefore answer the questions accordingly (simple language in a clear way). The format was convenient to follow and aimed to keep the participants‘ attention to the end of the questionnaire and a clear explanation of the questionnaire aim and instructions was written at the beginning of the questionnaire. It also avoided the impressions or suggestion that responding to the questionnaire was some kind of test of their EL proficiency or attitudes which could lead them to give unreliable answers (Schuman and Presser, 1981).

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Guided by Gardner‘s AMTB (1985) and Dörnyei and Ushioda (2013), I collected the following sixteen motivational scales that covered the most significant aspects in the recent L2 Motivation debates (Table 5.1). The questionnaire was designed according to the 6-point semantic differential, scale from 1 to 6 (agree and disagree) (Osgood, Suci, and Tannenbaum, 1957) on which participants were asked to indicate their opinions in section one and their motivation to learn the English language in section 2. In section 3, participants were asked to provide background information.

The first Section of the questionnaire consisted of 9 questions and investigated learners‘ L2 motivational-self and attitudes towards learning their target language. The questionnaire aimed to understand participants‘ L2 motivational-psychological structure, which in turn provided a close look at their opinions towards native speakers and the community they were living in. Respondents were asked to rate each of these 9 items, ranging from (1) strongly disagree to (6) strongly agree. Further, respondents were provided with a ready-made answered item as an explanation to follow.

The second section of the questionnaire – which consisted of 7 items, from 10 to 16 – investigated participants‘ motivation to learn the English language. This section provided a clarification of participants‘ choice to learn English and identified the goal they were pursuing. As in the first section, closed-ended items were mainly used and learners were asked to respond to items on a range from 1 to 6. It should be noted that the closed-ended items were used in this questionnaire because of the advantages they provide in the data analysis phase, such as their straightforward coding and tabulation (Dörnyei, 2003). In addition, the time allocated for participants to respond to the items addressed in the questionnaire was approximately 10 minutes with flexibility in time when it was needed. This time allocation to complete the questionnaire was decided after the pilot study.

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Questions from 17 to 20 investigated participants‘ backgrounds. By linking the results obtained from both questionnaire and interviews to the varied backgrounds of the participants, I was able to explain the differences in participants‘ proficiency level.

Table 5.1

Student Motivational State Questionnaire (Phase 1-2)

Section 1

Self-confidence (1 Item)

1. If I make more effort, I am sure I will be able to master English. Ought-To L2 Self (1 Item)

2. I consider learning English important because the people I respect think that I should do it.

Ideal L2 Self (1 Item)

3. I can imagine myself speaking English as if I were a native speaker of English.

Interest in Foreign languages (1 Item)

4. I wish I could speak many foreign languages perfectly.

Cultural Interest (1 Item) 5. I like British films.

Interest in the English Language (1 Item) 6. I enjoy listening to English spoken language.

Attitudes toward Learning English (1 Item) 7. I really enjoy learning English.

Motivational Intensity (1 Item)

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Attitudes toward the British (1 Item) 9. The British are kind and friendly.

Section2

Integrative Orientation (1 Item)

10. Studying English is important because it will enable me to better understand and appreciate the English way of life.

Instrumental Orientation (1 Item)

11. because I may need it later on for job/studies.

Knowledge Orientation (1 Item)

12. so that I can be a more knowledgeable person.

Travel Orientation (1 Item)

13. because I would like to spend some time abroad.

Friendship Orientation (1 Item)

14. because I would like to meet foreigners with whom I can speak English.

Sociocultural Orientation (1 Item)

15. because it will enable me to get to know various cultures and people and learn more about what is happening in the world.

Need for Achievement (1 Item) 16. I enjoy working hard.

Section 3

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18. Where are you from?

19. How many foreign languages do you speak besides Arabic? Please name the languages you speak.

20. Where did you receive your school education? (a) Private school (b) Public school