The impact of motivation on students’ English language speaking skills at Rwanda polytechnic: a case study of IPRC Ngoma

Abstract

English language has become the language of instruction in Rwanda over the last few decades, and students and graduates are supposed to be fluent in it at the moment. However, the literature indicates that employers are not satisfied with the level of English speaking skills of graduates from IPRCs in the job. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the impact of motivation on students’ English speaking . The objectives of the present study included the identification of the factors that contribute to students' motivation to learn and improve their English language speaking skills, the assessment of the current proficiency level of English language speaking skills among students and recommendation of strategies for enhancing students' motivation to improve their English language speaking skills in the context of Rwanda Polytechnic. The quantitative study design was used to collect quantitative data by using questionnaires. Questionnaires were administered to seventy-three (73) IPRC Ngoma Lecturers from different departments and two hundred and eighty-three (283) students from different departments in IPRC Ngoma. Data were analyzed using Microsoft excel and SPSS. The findings indicate that a big number of students are motivated to learn and speak English language due to career or job opportunities, travel and cultural exploration. They also revealed that the students’ high motivation level impact on their English-speaking skills where they have a good level in English language speaking skills according to lecturers and students’ own views. Moreover, the findings indicate that lecturers use different strategies such as presentations, debates and discussions, role play, storytelling and simulation in order to help learners increase their level in English language speaking skills while the students revealed that they like watching films and listen to native speakers in order to help themselves improve their speaking skills.