Motives to Learn English as a Foreign Language: An Analysis from Vroom’s Theory

In Malaysia, English is a foreign language to many , and perhaps a second language for some. Many have seen the importance of English in Malaysia, more so during the pandemic. Information online is mainly written in English. In addition to that, online interactions has increased during online classes and language learners find themselves motivated to be better in their English. Getting language learners to stay motivated in foreign language classes is a challenge, now measures need to be taken to encourage language learners to remain motivated to learn foreign languages online. This study uses Vroom's (1964) expectancy theory presents three components and they are expectancy, instrumentality and valence. 35 students responded to a survey that explored how learners' motivation is influenced by expectancy, instrumentality, valence. The instrument used is a survey adapted from Nguyen (2019). Apart from the demographic profile in Section A., there are 2 other sections. Section B has 7 items on expectancy, section C has 7 items on instrumentality and section D has 6 items on valence. Findings revealed that learners learn English for instrumental reasons. Their drive to learn English is what they expect to use their language proficiency for. Findings has interesting implications in the teaching and learning of English a s foreign language.