A study of english language teacher motivation in secondary school in the District Of Kuala Terengganu Terengganu / Sabariah Haron

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between demographic characteristics and motivation among English language teachers. The study also determines the difference in motivation among English language teachers by gender, marital status, level of education, TESL training, age and length of service. Another purpose of the study is to identify factors which influence teacher motivation. A 40- item questionnaire were administered to 48 English language teachers in thirteen secondary schools in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu. The data was statistically analysed by using the SPSS version 6.01. Pearson correlation, t-test and One-way Anova were the statistical methods used to test the hypotheses of this study. Tukey HSD test is used to determine between which group did the significant differences occur. Frequency counts were the descriptive statistic used to identify factors influencing teacher motivation. The findings of this study show that there is insignificant correlation between demographic characteristics and motivation among English language teachers except for the relationship between teachers' extrinsic motivation and their TESL training.
The study also finds out that there is insignificant difference in motivation among English teachers in terms of gender, marital status, level of education, age and length of service. However, there is a significant difference in motivation among them in terms of TESL training. TESL trained non-English graduate teachers are found to be more extrinsically motivated than TESL trained English or linguistic graduate teachers. From the study, students are found to be the group of people who is most likely to influence English language teacher motivation. Having no other opportunities is highly ranked by English teachers as the motive for choosing their profession. Factors which influence teachers to stay on the job are improved attitude of students, better working conditions and better support from colleagues, administrators, parents and societies. Intrinsic factors which motivate the English language teachers are feelings of self-worth, satisfaction of having met a goal and accomplishment. The extrinsic factors which motivate English language teachers are attitude of the students, the working conditions and collegiality among teachers. Finally, it is suggested that the authorities concerned should pay attention to the task of providing and maintaining teachers' motivation. The Ministry of Education must identify factors which influence teacher motivation to formulate strategies for the selection and retraining of teachers. Education authorities and policymakers should let teachers participate in planning and decision making, in order to facilitate successful teaching and learning of the language.