Learning Spanish as a Second Language: Learners' Orientations and Perceptions of Their Teachers' Communication Style

Students in lower-level Spanish classes (N = 322) completed a questionnaire assessing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for learning Spanish, feelings of autonomy and competence regarding language learning, integrative orientation, and perceptions of teachers’ communication style. The results of a path analysis showed that the more controlling the teacher was perceived to be, the less the students felt they were autonomous agents in the learning process, and the lower was students’ intrinsic motivation. Integrative orientation was found to be related to intrinsic motivation, although it independently predicted effort and persistence and was the stronger predictor of various intergroup variables. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for multiple motivational substrates and the importance of teachers’ communication style for students’ motivation. Language Learning 51:1, March 2001, pp. 107–144