Language Learning Motivation and Its Impact on Speech Act of Refusal

This study aims to elaborate on Korean EFL learners’ motivational constructs and to examine how they are interrelated with their refusal speech act realization. The data consisted of Korean college student questionnaire and discourse completion task responses. A factor analysis was applied to define the motivation constructs, and a stepwise multiple regression test was carried out to measure the relationship between motivation and the appropriateness of the refusal speech acts. The results showed that Korean EFL learners’ motivation depends upon four factors: Ego-enhancement, stimulation, exploration, and manipulation. The stimulation and exploration constructs of motivation in particular were found to have a statistically significant relation with the speech act of refusal. The results suggest that the language learning motivational factors should also be taken into account of in teaching and learning the proper use of speech act in English.