The Influence of English Learning Motivation on Class Evaluation of Grade Five and Six Students in Japan and South Korea

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to clarify 1) factors that determine English learning motivation, 2) differences (of English learning motivation) between Japan and South Korea, 3) the influence that English learning motivation has on student class evaluation and 4) the different results of covariance structure analysis in Japan and South Korea. The results of a study involving 414 Japanese and 470 Korean fifth and sixth grade students showed that English learning motivation is composed of four factors and that Korean students were at a significantly higher level than Japanese students in three of the four factors. And covariance structure analyses demonstrated that student efforts and understanding were affected by usefulness, intrinsic and exchange desire motivation. Intrinsic motivation affects student efforts and understanding in accordance with a positive impression of and degree of satisfaction with the English classes. Furthermore, through simultaneous analysis of multiple populations, it was also determined that intrinsic motivation directly influences student efforts and understanding in Japan; however, no influence was detected in South Korea.