Integrative versus Instrumental Motivation

Back in June, 1981, Ron and Susan Zemke sought to enumerate the things we as teachers / trainers / facilitators / classroom aides / tutors know about  (1) adult learners and their motivation; (2) designing curriculum for adults; and (3) working with adult in the classroom.  Training, v18 n6 p45-46,48-49,52 Jun 1981. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ246636  They call them "truisms" based on a fairly large body of research conducted over the years about the adult learner.

In their Truism No. 5, the authors assert that adults who seek out a learning experience do so out of a kind of instrumental motivation -- "learning is a means to an end, not an end in itself."  Much research on motivation theory followed their early article.

Rebecca Oxford and Jill Shearin (1994) in their groundbreaking article, "Language learning motivation: Expanding the theoretical framework," (Modern Language Journal, 78, 12-28,) identified several factors that impact motivation in second language learning, including attitudes toward the target language and its speakers, goals and personal attributes. They show us that a student's motivation influences how how high their proficiency level becomes in a given new language, the level of time and effort they devote to learning, whether they'll be able to pass achievement tests, how long they can continue to maintain L2 language skills after study is concluded, and even if they'll pass on an interest and desire in that skill to their children.

Oxford and Shearin pointed out the importance of learner motivation, since "... [it is] considered by many to be one of the main determining factors in success" in mastering a new skill.

Integrative vs Instrumental 

Learners with an instrumental motivation want to learn a new skill or language because of a practical reason, e.g., getting a salary bonus or job promotion or maybe a GED diploma or college acceptance; all of which could potentially bring about a better lifestyle for them and their families. It makes sense then, that if a learner perceives the lesson content to be relevant and transferable to other situations, s/he will find learning meaningful, and motivation will increase.

Unlike these students, who seek out a learning experience, as the Zemkes state, "... because they have a use for the knowledge or skill being sought, ... learning is not its own reward," integratively motivated language learners are using language for social interaction. These sorts of language students are deeply interested in the people and culture of the language. They are likely to devote much personal effort, time and expense in acquiring the L2, even to amassing a private library of materials or circle of friends who speak the target language. Several studies have found that language learners who are integratively motivated are more successful than those who are instrumentally motivated.

The experienced language teacher recognizes that both types of pupils in their classroom have something to contribute to the lesson, and may in fact end up equally successful in the L2 learning task by end of semester.