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Abstract
This study deals with the investigation of motivation and achievement of students learning English as a second language across different age. The sample of this research consists of 210 students aged ten, fourteen, and eighteen. In order to collect data on learners' motivation, an adapted questionnaire consisting of 44 statements, constructed by Schmidt and Watanabe (2001) was used. The results demonstrate a significant relationship between age and motivation. The ten-year-olds had the highest motivation for learning English as a second language, while the eighteen-year-olds had the lowest motivation for learning English as a second language. The ten-year-olds also scored the highest achievement in learning English as a second language. Moreover, the results also show a significant data in measuring correlation between achievement and motivation. By using a Spearman's correlation coefficient, a positive and a significant correlation between achievement and motivation have been revealed. The research results can be beneficial for teachers, parents, and students in finding the most effective approach to learning and teaching English as a second language.
Key words: Age; Achievement; Learning; Motivation; Correlation; Teaching; English as a Second language.
1Introduction
Nowadays learning English represents the need of every individual. Knowing English has become vital if an individual wishes to be successful in numerous spheres of human activities (Yaman, & Bećirović 2016). Age factor represents a special importance and influences both the motivation and the ability to acquire a second language. Singleton (1999) believes that acquisition and development of the mother tongue significantly influences second language acquisition. However, the enrichment of second language vocabulary influences the development of the mother tongue, and contributes to its vocabulary as well (Singleton 1999).
Many scholars believe that the important factor influencing the learning of a language is the age of students. Petković (2012) maintains that children achieve better results at the level of acquisition of phonetic rules, while adolescents master syntactic and semantic language rules more easily. Most scholars agree that correlation between the age and language learning is explained with a neurological maturity of the child (Petković 2012). However, it is important to highlight that many scholars rely on the theory of a critical period, which states that after a certain period foreign language cannot be acquired in its entirety.
Hornjak (2010) believes...
