EXPLORING STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION AND ATTITUDES TOWARD ENGLISH LEARNING: A CORRELATIONAL STUDY IN AVIATION SCHOOL

Siti Nurhariza Munawaroh, Kurniasih Kurniasih, M Faruq Ubaidillah

Abstract


English is very important in the aviation sector for technical communication, and students at aviation schools need to understand the appropriate aspects of English. However, research on students' motivation and attitudes toward learning English is still limited. This study examines students' motivation and attitudes towards learning English in an aviation school. The 11th-grade students, including 104 from two majors: airframe and power plant (AFP) and electric avionics (EA), with 75 male and 29 female, from 5 classes of 3 AFP classes and 2 EA classes. This study used a quantitative approach with a correlational design, and used purposive sampling techniques by selecting students who had been learning aviation English for one year, specifically they who had been taking the course since the second semester of their first year of school. Results showed moderate overall motivation and high individual motivation. Students also had positive attitudes towards learning English in aviation. The correlation between motivation and attitudes was strong. The findings suggest that curriculum design should be more relevant to the aviation industry, and teachers should design contextualized learning strategies to enhance English proficiency.


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References


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