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The Effect of an Intensive English Language Program on First Year University Students ’ Motivation

This study investigated the effect of an intensive English language program on EFL students’ motivation. The sample consisted of six male and six female classroom sections of first year university students from the Preparatory Year at King Saud University. Students’ motivations were measured three times; one at the beginning of the program, one after two months (eight weeks) and the third time was after four months (16 weeks). The students’ motivation level was measured against a self-reported learner motivation questionnaire. The results revealed significant effect of the intensive English course on EFL students’ motivation towards learning English language.


Introduction
Motivation plays a vital role in the teaching and learning process of which is important in learning a second/foreign language. It influences how much students interact with native speakers; how they use the second/foreign language; how much input they receive in the target language; students' proficiency level, students' achievement; and how long students preserve and maintain the second/foreign language skills after language study is over (Oxford & Shearin, 1994). Demotivation can negatively influence the learner's attitudes and behaviors, degrade classroom group dynamics and teacher's motivation, and result in long-term and widespread negative learning outcomes (Falout, Elwood, & Hood, 2009). Sakai and Kikuchi (2009) identified five demotivation factors to include: (a) learning contents and materials, (b) teachers' competence and teaching styles, (c) inadequate school facilities, (d) lack of intrinsic motivation, and (e) test scores.
In English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) researchers have discussed a number of motivational concepts and theories (Crookes & Schmidt, 1991;Dörnyei, 1994 andTremblay & Gardner 1995) and suggested two dichotomies of motivation: intrinsic/ extrinsic and integrative/instrumental. While extrinsically motivated learners do something because of an external reward that may be obtained, intrinsically motivated learners do something because of the rewards obtained from the activity itself. Community integrative motivation is the positive disposition towards the second language group and the desire to interact with and even become similar to valued members of that community

The Effect of an Intensive English Language Program on
First Year University Students' Motivation (Dörnyei, 2001). Instrumentally motivated individuals are motivated if they see language learning capacity as having extrinsic benefits such as a job opportunity. Crookes and Schmidt (1991) claim that motivation to learn a language has both internal and external features. Internal motivation includes four attitudinal factors: a) interest in the L2/FL (second/foreign language) based on existing attitudes, experience, and background knowledge on the learner's part; b) relevance that involves the perception of personal needs; c) expectancy of success or failure; and d) outcomes. In contrast, external characteristics are manifest in the learner's behavior when he: a) decides to choose, pays attention to, and engages in L2/FL learning; b) persists in L2/ FL over an extended period of time and returns to it after interpretation; and c) maintains a high activity level. Brown (1994) categorizes three levels of motivation and claims that learning a foreign language requires some or all of the three levels. The three levels are global motivation, situational motivation, and task motivation. Van Aachen, (1999) explained that global motivation refers to the general motivation of a person to learn a second or foreign language. Situational motivation depends on the environmental context in which the second/foreign language is being learned. It involves the level of comfort or anxiety the learners feel during the learning situation, as well as the learners' willingness to take risk and attempt to interact with others. Task motivation; on the other hand, refers to learners' perceptions of the relevance of classroom language tasks.
One of the main components of foreign language learning motivation is the learning situation which is made up of intrinsic and extrinsic motives and motivational conditions concerning three areas. The first area relates to course-specific motivational components which are related to the syllabus, the teaching materials, the teaching method and the learning tasks. These can be described by four motivational conditions: interest, relevance, expectancy, and satisfaction. The second area relates to teacher-specific motivational components which include the affiliative drive to please the teacher, authority type, and direct socialization of student motivation (modeling, task presentation, and feedback). The third concern group-specific motivational components and includes orientation, norm and reward system, group cohesion, and classroom goal structure (Dörnyei, 1994).
The teaching program and materials of the second/foreign language play a vital role in learners' motivations (Dörnyei, 2001). Therefore, great concern should be paid to the process of choosing them. In this regard, many universities in Saudi Arabia have recently started calling for hiring native speakers of English to teach EFL students in their first year at the university level. A theoretical discussion is devoted to their role in teaching foreign languages and their positive effects on the learners' achievement and motivation (Lin, 2004;Abanomey, 2002). This might help in achieving the authenticity of language teaching (Lee, 1995, Peacock, 1997, Shei, 2001. This also has been claimed to bring learners closer to the target language culture, make learning more enjoyable and more motivating (Krasmsch, 1993). Students often show more active involvement and participation in learning by pursuing what is of personal interest to them. Gardner (2007) distinguished between two types of motivation, language learning motivation and classroom motivation. He identified how they relate to two distinct contexts, the cultural and the educational through their influence on integrativeness and attitudes toward the learning situation. Empirical support for this perspective is presented in the form of path analyses of two samples of students. Koul, Roy, Kaewkuekool, and Ploisawaschai (2009) conducted a study to investigate Thai college students' motivation and goals for learning the English language. The results showed that females were significantly more ''academic" oriented, more instrumental and less socio-cultural than males toward English language learning. Trudell and Klaas (2010) addressed the question of whether cultural identity and expression, linked to the development and use of the mother tongue, are really a reliable motivation for adult literacy. They argued that two strong motivations exist among these communities for literacy: (1) the drive for internal social cohesion, solidarity and cultural uniqueness and (2) the drive towards citizenship, acceptance and equality in the larger national society. These two motivations complement and enhance each other in the literacy programs under study.
In a study of the students motivations in L1 and L2, Csizer and Lukacs (2010) concluded that students' Ideal L2 self proved to be the most significant component of predicting motivated learning behavior for both English and German as a first or second/ foreign language. However, only English as a first foreign language was appraised with solely positive attitudes and dispositions by the students. For German (either first or second foreign language) and English as a second or foreign language, the negative effects of the motivational dimensions related to the other foreign language cannot be neglected. Spinath, Harald, & Neubauer (2010) investigated whether sex differences in school achievement in three domains are associated with sex differences in intelligence, personality and school-related motivation. The results showed no differences in motivation were found between male and female students.
Weihua & Williams (2010) examined whether various dimensions of parental involvement predicted 10th-grade students' motivation (engagement, self-efficacy towards math and English, intrinsic motivation towards math and English). Results showed that both parents' educational aspiration for their children and school-initiated contact with parents on benign school issues had strong positive effects on all five motivational outcomes.

Description of the English Language Intensive Program in Saudi Universities:
Because of the importance of English language in education, technology, business, and scientific research, preparatory year programs for teaching English as the main subject, have been established in Saudi universities. These preparatory programs aim to serve higher education and to achieve the national goals of the Kingdom (Alshumaimeri & Alghamdi, 2009).
While taking part in the English-language program, students take intensive language training for two semesters with an average of twenty hours a week (i.e. six hundred hours in the two semesters). The program aims to develop the students' competence in English and provide them with the language skills they need in their academic and professional lives.
Although the program concentrates on General English (which concentrates on communication) during the first semester, after the students acquire the general skills of the language, the program moves onto English for Academic purposes in the second semester, which concentrates on reading and academic writing. Studying academic English is done according to their different academic disciplines in line with the standards of English for Specific Purposes. These courses prepare students for global standard examinations such as IELTS, TOFEL and PET.

Objectives of the program
At the end of the intensive English language program, students are expected to achieve the following objectives: • Advancement in English language skills and linguistic competence. • Effective communicative English (written and spoken).
• Acquiring basic academic skills and the learning tools necessary for academic success.
• Preparing for the international standard for linguistic competence examinations (IELTS/TOFEL and PET) and at least meeting the minimum requirements.
The English-language programs are run by British and American organizations like Bell International and Kaplan in partnerships with the University of Cambridge University Press and Pearson Longman, who have developed the curriculum and materials for the Preparatory Year Programs.
Before the start of the academic year, there is a placement test to determine the levels of students so that they are placed in an appropriate level of study according to their abilities and language skills. The placement tests are either online, computer-or paper-based and they separate students into six levels.
The intensive English language program aims to develop the students' language competence in the basic language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Attention is also given to grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The overlap of studying these skills in this way (integrated skills approach) is intended to improve student fluency and accuracy.
The teaching staff is experienced and dynamic. Eighty percent of the teachers use English as their first language. The teachers are academically and professionally qualified; with no less than forty per cent holding Masters degrees and PhD qualification, in addition to the certificates in the Cambridge-based English language teaching (CELTA and DELTA).

Research Site
This study was carried out in one of the biggest universities in Saudi Arabia in Riyadh city. The university established three years ago a new deanship called the preparatory year deanship. This deanship is running the first year for all first year students. In the last three years, the deanship ran all the teaching courses for only medical, engineering and science track students. This year the humanities track students also joined the preparatory year deanship programs. Students have to study two English language courses in addition to study skills, math… etc. All students have to pass the preparatory year in order to be able to move to the university.

Statement of the Problem
The problem of the study Investigates the effectiveness of the intensive English program in improving the EFL students' motivation. It is an investigation to what degree may an intensive English language program as play in improving the learners' motivation.

Objectives of the Study
This study attempted to investigate the effect of using an Intensive English Language Program on First Year University Students' Motivations.

Questions of the Study
This study addressed the following questions: 1. Is there any significant effect for the use of an Intensive English Language Program on First Year University Students' Motivation over time? 2. Does the effect of the use of an Intensive English Language Program on First Year University Students' Motivations vary with respect to the students' gender and their English language proficiency level? 3. What are the students' perceptions towards the effect of the Intensive English Language Program on increasing their language and cultural knowledge over time?

Significance of the Study
This study sheds the light on the effect of intensive English language teaching program on students' levels. It also sheds the light on the importance of motivations in language learning and teaching. Furthermore, it familiarizes teachers with the role of motivations in the learning process. It will help the decision makers at the Ministry of Higher Education and universities to pay more attention to the methods of teaching and the content of the English language programs.

Limitations of the study
The study is limited to the environment in which it was conducted. The results can only be generalized to similar programs with the same conditions and environment.

Definition of Terminology
Motivation: is what drives someone to behave in a certain way or to take a particular action. In this study, it refers to the first year university students' motivation toward learning English. Preparatory Year: It is the first year at the Saudi Universities. It is established to improve the students' academic skills of which English language is one of these targets. English Language Intensive Program: The intensive English language program at King Saud University in which first year students study 20 hours of English weekly.

Research Design and Procedures
In order to obtain permission to conduct the present study, the researcher approached the preparatory year at King Saud University, the teachers of the sections of the sample of the study, and the students of the sample of the study. The duration and purposes of the study were explained to them.
Since there are six English language proficiency levels at the preparatory year at King Saud University, six male and six female students sections were chosen randomly to represent the different English language proficiency levels. The purpose of the study was explained to the students. Then the students signed a consent form to agree to have their data be included for analysis in the study. This study is a quasi-experimental one. The dependent variable was students' motivation levels. The independent variables were the effect of the teaching program over time, the language proficiency level, and the students gender. The study was conducted over a period of four months.

The Sample
The sample of the study consisted of six male and six female students' classroom sections to represent the six English language proficiency levels at the preparatory year at King Saud University chosen randomly using the cluster sampling method. Then the six levels were joined into three groups: Group one consisted of levels 1 and 2; group 2 consisted of levels 3 and 4; and group 3 consisted of levels 5 and 6. This action was made to simplify the data analysis process and results interpretation. Then students' motivation level was measured against a self-reported learner motivation questionnaire. ANOVA test was used to ensure the equivalence and homogeneity of the male and female students sections.

Instrument and Data Collection
This study used a highly structured self-reported learner questionnaire (adapted from Peacock, 1997 andLin, 2004). The questionnaire consisted of eight questions measuring the following components of motivation: interest (items 1 & 2), relevance (items 3 & 4), expectancy (items 5 & 6), outcome (items 7 & 8), learner's involvement (item 9), and learner's concentration on the learning task (item 10). Each item scores from one to eight. Two questions were added to the questionnaire to measure the increase in the students' language and culture knowledge during the study.
The questionnaire was completed by both the male and female groups three times: at the beginning of the study (week one), in the middle of the study (week eight), and at the end of the study (week 16). The questionnaire was validated by TEFL professors, TEFL graduate students, and TEFL instructors. The reliability coefficient for the ten items in the pre-test of the motivation questionnaire was measured and was found to be 0.917. Moreover, a split-half reliability check was conducted to check the internal consistency of the self-reported motivation questionnaire, correlating total scores on five items in part one and five items in part two. The correlation was found to be 0.917.

Data Analysis
The collected data were analyzed via ANOVA test using the SAS software to check if there were changes in the students' motivation across time, and to check if there were significant differences between the motivation levels of the female group and the male students group. It also checked if there were significant differences in the students' motivation due to their language proficiency level (after eight weeks and after 16 weeks).
In order to check the male and female students equivalence at the beginning of the study, table 1 below presents the results of ANOVA test of their responses at the beginning of the study.  Table 1 shows that there are no statistically significant differences among the respondents' responses due to their gender (F 1, 09) = p=0.76). The results also show significant differences due to the respondents group which could be a normal difference which reflects that the better the students are in language the more positive motivations they hold. To check in favor of which group the significant difference is, table 2 presents the results of Tukey test.  Table 2 shows that the mean scores of the male and female students were close to each other. The table also shows that there were differences between groups one, two, and three. The results show that there are no significant differences in the respondents' responses between groups two and three but there are significant differences between groups three and one in favor of group three and between groups two and one in favor of group two. This indicates that the better the students' language proficiency is, the more positive motivation they hold. This supports the efforts of conducting this study.   The results show that there are effects of time and groups on the students' motivations towards the English language. The results do not reveal significant effect for gender, the interaction between time and gender, and the interaction between group and gender on the students' motivations towards the English language. Table 4 below presents the results of Tukey test of the effect of time and group. The results show that there are significant differences among the students' motivations between time 1 (at the beginning of the study) and time 3 (after 16 weeks of starting the study) in favor of time 3 but it does not show significant difference between time 1 and time 2 after 8 weeks of the beginning of the study. This indicates that the more time the students spend in the English language intensive program, the more positive motivation they hold towards the English language.

Results of the study
The results also show that the significant difference between group 1 and group 3 continued over time. Moreover, the results show that the significant difference in the students' motivations towards the English language between group 1 and group 2 did not continue after 16 weeks of studying English in the English language intensive program although it was there at the beginning of the study. This indicates that the improvement in the students' language proficiency affects their motivation towards the language. Table 5 below presents the mean scores of the different times. The results show that although there were significant differences between the students' mean scores at the beginning of the study and their mean scores after 16 week, the mean scores of the other two times were almost close. Table 6 below presents the mean scores and standard deviations of the groups. The results show that although there were significant differences between the groups, the results at the end of the study brought the mean scores of the three groups to be more closer to each other which reflect the positive effect of the intensive English language program on improving the students' motivations. Table 7 below shows the results of the mean scores of the male and female students after 16 weeks. The results show that the mean scores of the male and female students were homogenous even after 16 weeks of the start point of the study which did not result in significant differences. Table 8 below presents the results of the respondents after 8 weeks of the study.  Table 8 shows that there are no statistically significant differences among the respondents responses due to their gender (F 1, 0.01) = p=0.92). The results reveal significant difference due to the respondents' group (F 2, 78.94) = P= 0.0001). To check in favor of which group the favor is, Tukey test is run. The results are presented in table 9 below. Although there were no significant differences between the motivation of group 3 and the motivation of group 2 at the beginning of the study, the results reveal significant differences in their motivation after eight weeks of study in the intensive English program in favor of group three. Moreover the results show significant differences in the students' motivation between group 3 and one in favor of group 3 and between group 2 and one in favor of group 3. This indicates that the better the students' language proficiency is, the more positive motivation they hold which supports the justification of conducting this study.
4. Results Related to Question 3: What are the students' perceptions towards the effect of the Intensive English Language Program on increasing their language and cultural knowledge over time?
Items 11 and 12 in the questionnaire asked students to identify the level of increase in their English language knowledge and culture knowledge after 16 weeks of treatment. Table 10 below presents the means and standard deviations of the students' answers. The results in table 10 indicate that there was an increase in the students' language and culture knowledge over time regardless of their gender and group. The results also show that there were no big differences between the mean scores of the male and female students over time regardless of the group they belong to. Furthermore; the results show that the students regardless of their gender were almost satisfied with the increase of their language and culture knowledge especially the students of group one.
The results show that the increase of the male and female students' language and culture knowledge of group 1 was greater than that of groups 2 and 3. The mean scores of the male students' responses regarding the increase in their language and culture knowledge after eight weeks of treatment for groups 1, 2, and 3 were 4.50, 5.15, and 5.75 respectively while the mean scores of the female students were 4.35, 5.05, and 5.85 respectively. Their mean scores after 16 weeks of studying in the program were 5. 95, 5.98, and 5.99 for the three groups of the male students respectively. The mean scores of the three groups of female students were 5.85, 5.82, and 5.91 respectively.
The mean scores of the increase of the culture knowledge of the male students of the three groups were 4.62, 5.30, and 5.75 respectively after eight weeks of studying English in the intensive program; and they were 6.00, 5.78, and 5.96 of the three groups respectively after 16 weeks of study. On the other hand; the mean scores of the three groups of female students after eight weeks of studying English were 4.47, 5.25, and 5.66 respectively; and they were 5.92, 5.76, and 5.84 of the three groups respectively after 16 weeks.

Discussion of Results
The results of the study revealed a significant increase in the Intensive English language EFL students' motivation across time (after eight and 16 weeks of treatment). Nevertheless, there were no significant differences between their motivations after eight weeks of treatment.
The increase in the motivation of the EFL students across time might be due to the nature of the intensive English language teaching or might be due to the character of the teachers of the intensive English language program, and their teaching techniques and their personal ability to motivate learners to learn English. Eighty percent of the program teachers are native speakers who share with the students of the program their previous experiences of teaching English to EFL/ESL students. The increase in the motivation of the students across time could be partially attributed to the fact that intensive English program materials are more realistic and more interesting than what the students of the program used to learn of non-authentic materials. Moreover; the teachers being native speakers of English might have helped them in using teaching methods which are suitable for the learners. This supports Hiromori's claim (2009) that it is necessary to use teaching methods that correspond to the learners' level of motivation in order to support their volitional engagement with the learning activity. That is in order to support learners to adopt an enthusiastic approach, it is necessary to take into consideration the individual characteristics of each learner and provide students with various aspects of diversity, such as the subject matter being learned, its usefulness, and the degree of difficulty Although there was an increase in the motivation of the students across time, the increase in the motivation of the students after eight weeks of study was less than the increase of the motivation of the students after 16 weeks of studying English. One of the main challenges of motivations is time. This supports Dörnyei's statement: "Motivation towards something or to do something usually evolves gradually, through a complex mental process that involves initial planning and goal setting, intention formation, task generation, action implementation, action control and outcome evaluation" (2001:16).
The study showed that there were significant differences between the students' motivation at the beginning of the program and their motivation after 16 weeks. This indicates that EFL students need time long enough to cope with the authentic materials which are used in the intensive program with regard to their new words, phrases, and the stylistic way of native speakers' writings. The results also indicated that enough exposure of students to English language native teachers increases their understanding and makes them more motivated to learn. This finding supports Krasmsch (1993) who claims that authentic materials bring learners closer to the target language culture, make learning more enjoyable and therefore more motivating. This might be because students often reflect more active involvement and participate in learning by pursuing what is of personal interest to them.
The results did not reveal significant differences in the students' motivation due to their gender. This finding is consistent with Spinath, Harald and Neubauer (2010) but is inconsistent with the study conducted in Thailand by Koul et al. (2009), which found that female college students were significantly more ''academic" oriented, more instrumental and less socio-cultural than males toward English language learning.
It can be concluded from the findings of the study that EFL students' motivation may be increased by intensive English language courses or programs in which students are taught by native speakers and are exposed to authentic teaching materials. Therefore, the use of authentic materials is to be recommended, although they are more difficult than non-authentic materials as they are real samples of the target language. These two characteristics contribute to such materials being more interesting, engaging, motivating, relevant, and culturally enlightening (Lee, 1995).
The increase in the students' language and culture knowledge was almost satisfying after eight weeks of treatment for the different groups. The teaching material and the teachers being native speakers among other factors might be the reasons. The increase in the students' language knowledge continued to be more satisfying after 16 weeks of studying in the program. It seems that exposing students to English native speakers and authentic materials for a long period of time, offers them an opportunity to cope with and understand new terms, expressions, and native speakers styles of writing and FL ways of social and cultural behavior.
The increase in the students' language and culture knowledge is expected because 80% of the intensive English program teachers were native speakers. Students in the program study English four hours a day, 20 hours a week. Moreover; the English language teaching and learning material which the program uses in teaching students is authentic which exposes students more and more to cultural items and terms.
The results of this study support the findings of Lee (1995), Peacock (1997), Shei, (2001, Gardner (2007), Trudel and Klaas (2010), Weihua and Williams (2010) in terms of the importance of the authenticity of the English language programs.

Conclusion
This study revealed that teaching EFL students by native speaker teachers has advantages if students are given enough time. This increases students' motivation and their willingness to learn. Exposing EFL students to authentic materials increases their language and culture knowledge just as well. The results of the study should motivate EFL program designers to include native teachers in their programs to teach English as a foreign language.
Based on the results of this study, more studies are recommended to be carried out in different situations to further investigate different aspects of the intensive English program and the factors that increase EFL students' motivation.