Senior High Students’ Perception of Factors Influencing Their
Motivation in Leaning English as a Foreign Language at School
Ruth Bhawanti
Satya Wacana Christian University, Indonesia
Abstract
Motivation is one of the main determinants of second or foreign language (L2) learning achievement. This study is intended to investigate the senior high students’ perceptionsof factors influencing their motivation in learning English as a foreign language at school. The participants of this study are eight first grade senior high school students (six female and two males)in Salatiga, Central Java. The data of this study were collected through an unstructured interview. The result of this study is summarized in two findings. First isinternal motivation which includes goal, need, interest, attitude, lack of confidence, and mood. Second is external motivation which includes teacher, classmate, and English as a compulsory subject. Based on the findings, two suggestions are proposed: first deals with teaching strategies: giving an attractive activity or games in explaining and giving a task. It is very useful to make the class focus or pay attention to the material. Hence, they will be not busy with themselves. Second is related to teacher’s characteristic: a nice, friendly, serious teacher.The suggestions proposed can be used as a consideration and review of English teacher.
