A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TECHNOLOGY-BASED MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AMONG THAI LEARNERS AT WALL STREET ENGLISH BANGKOK ACCORDING TO THEIR GENDER AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which new technologies, such as the Internet or social media, served as sources of motivation for Thai English language learners to learn English as a foreign language (EFL) at Wall Street English (WSE) Bangkok. The study also sought to compare learners’ technology-based motivation for learning EFL, based on their gender and English language proficiency. For these purposes, the researchers adopted a quantitative comparative research design, using a questionnaire which was developed, piloted, validated and checked for internal consistency. The questionnaire was administered on 214 Thai English language learners from 11 centers of WSE in Bangkok. After the collected data were split by gender, an independent samples t-test was conducted to assess the significance of the results, while a one-way ANOVA test was used after the collected data were split by English language proficiency, in order to determine if there was a significant difference in technology-based motivation for learning EFL among the resulting groups. The research findings indicated that Thai learners were highly motivated to learn English in order to work with technology more effectively, regardless of their gender or English language proficiency. No significant difference in technology-based motivation for learning EFL between male and female Thai learners was derived from the data analysis. However, in relation to English language proficiency, it was found that the overall technology-based motivation for learning EFL was significantly higher in the beginner group than in the advanced group, as well as in the upper-intermediate group than in the advanced group.
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