A Comparison of Two Different Types of Motivational Strategies: A Case Study of Two EFL Instructors

Abstract

The present study explores motivational strategies of two university English instructors through interviews, using motivational strategies presented by Dörnyei (2001) as a guideline. Interviews are conducted to reveal whether differences between interviewees' motivational strategies impact the results. In these interviews, only the class taught by one instructor displays significant improvements in intrinsic motivation and three psychological needs described in self-determination theory. The interviews with the two instructors demonstrate that the strategies used by the instructor whose class showed significant improvement might have been more suitable for participants than the strategies used by the other instructor. However, further investigation is needed to discover whether the seemingly superior strategies would also be effective for students at other levels.