A comparative study of technology-based motivation for learning English as a foreign language among Thai learners at Wall Street English Bangkok according to their gender and English language proficiency

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which new technologies, such as the Internet or social media, served as sources of motivation for Thai English language learners to learn English as a foreign language (EFL) at Wall Street English (WSE) Bangkok. The study also sought to compare learners’ technology-based motivation for learning EFL based on their gender and English language proficiency. For these purposes, the researchers adopted a quantitative comparative research design, using a questionnaire that was developed, piloted, validated, and checked for internal consistency. The questionnaire was administered to 214 Thai English language learners from all four levels of proficiency (beginner, pre-intermediate, intermediate, and advanced) from 11 centers of WSE in Bangkok. After splitting the collected data by gender, an independent samples t-test was conducted to assess the significance of the results. At the same time, a one-way ANOVA test was used after splitting the collected data by English language proficiency to determine if there was a significant difference in technology-based motivation for learning EFL among the resulting groups. The research findings indicated that Thai learners were highly motivated to learn English to work with technology more effectively, regardless of their gender or English language proficiency. No significant difference in technology-based motivation for learning EFL between male and female Thai learners was derived from the data analysis. However, in relation to English language proficiency, it was found that the overall technology-based motivation for learning EFL was significantly higher in the beginner group than in the advanced group, as well as in the upper-intermediate group than in the advanced group.