Motivation in Learning English among the Paramedical Sciences Students in Iran: Finding a Job or Grabbing a Culture?

The present article determines whether or not the undergraduate paramedical students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences of Iran are motivated to learn English; to which orientation of motivation, integrative or instrumental motivation, they incline; and how much their field of study affects increased motivation to learn English. This study was carried out with the participation of 141 undergraduate paramedical students including four fields of study: Laboratory Sciences, Technology of Radiology, Anesthesia, And Health Information Technology (HIT). The participants were asked to fill two questionnaires to determine their attitude toward learning English. Each questionnaire contained 15 items to estimate the degree of their integrative and instrumental motivation for learning English. The theoretical framework applied was based on Gardner’s socio-educational model of second language acquisition. The undergraduate paramedical students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences of Iran were motivated to learn English. The comparison between integrative and instrumental motivation showed a mean value for integrative motivation as 4.02, and for instrumental motivation as 4.32 with a meaningful difference. Students in the laboratory sciences field showed the highest degree of both types of motivation. Iranian paramedical students are highly motivated in learning English in general; however, there was a difference in the degree of motivation according to the student’s field of study. In general, instrumental motivation was higher than integrative motivation in this study.