MOTIVATION, THE OTHER WAY ROUND

On the one hand, Motivation is a determining factor which may lead to an individual’s failure or success. One the other, research indicates that success may shape or enhance an individual’s level of motivation. The present study carries the aforementioned assumption in to the Iranian context. Assuming that success may affect or shape the Iranian foreign language learnersʹ motivation towards learning English at school level, Vaezi’s motivation questionnaire was distributed among 732, male and female high school students.The results obtained over a twelve month period using descriptive statistics, a t-test and in depth interviews indicate that success enhanced the students’ level of motivation. The findings of the present study may be an aid to teachers who are confronted with lots of demotivated learner,who despite their best efforts fail to reach their optimal potential in some cases merely because of the lack of motivation.