AN ANALYSIS OF DEMOTIVATING FACTORS AMONG ETHNIC MINORITIES: A CASE STUDY OF TURK LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Investigation of demotivating factors among ethnic minorities is a fairly new if not neglected issue in the realm of foreign language learning. The present study investigates demotivation among the Iranian Turk ethnic minority. To the end, previous research both inside and outside the Iranian context are reviewed and common demotivating factors are identified. In order to collect the participants’ desired responses, a 35-item demotivation questionnaire and a 38-item general ethnicity questionnaire were administered among 604 Turk secondary school students. Based on the results of a principal factor analysis; three factors namely: (1) Learning Material and Test Achievement, (2 Class Size, class environment, failure to succeed, and Absence of Intrinsic Motivation, and (3) Class Features and Teacher’s Knowledge, were extracted. The findings indicated that Class Size, class environment, failure to succeed, and Absence of Intrinsic Motivation was the major demotivating factor for many Turk language learners, especially those with weaker ethnic identity affiliation. Despite previous research, however, Teacher related factors were not a strong cause of demotivation. The findings of this study can help language policy makers and curriculum developers to take such demotivating factors into account and take the necessary steps to overcome them.