전문대 학생들의 영어 학습 동기 요인과 ESP의 필요성

Motivational factors of college students and the necessity of ESP: Differences by the level of achievement and gender

This research, involving a total of 95 junior college students, examined various motivational factors affecting English learning, with a primary focus on designing specialized English curricula for health and medical fields. The study further scrutinized how these motivational elements correlated with students' English proficiency and gender. Through comprehensive analysis, five distinct categories of motivation were identified: 1) lack of motivation, 2) motivation for participating in English discussions and presentations, 3) motivation driven by the desire for higher English grades, 4) external pressure to learn English, and 5) motivation linked to English learning tasks. Of these, external pressure exhibited a notable relationship with English proficiency-lower proficiency students experienced significantly less external pressure than their higher proficiency peers. In terms of gender, female students displayed a significantly stronger drive to achieve higher English grades compared to their male counterparts. These results underscore the importance of acknowledging individual differences among students and developing a personalized educational approach for each major or level, based on English for Specific Purposes (ESP), instead of a generalized English as a Foreign Language (EFL) framework. Further implications for teaching and proposals for the betterment of English programs within health and medical science majors are explored within the study.