Predictive Power of Personal and Socio-Contextual Factors on the Motivation of L2 Learners from the Rural Settings of Punjab, Pakistan

This study aimed to investigate diverse personal and contextual L2 motivational factors and gender-based differences of a sample of Pakistani students from the rural/remote areas of Punjab – an under-researched Pakistani context. The study applied a quantitative method approach based on a structured questionnaire, adapted from Islam et al. (2013), administered to 500 undergraduate students in various public sector colleges. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that learning experiences, ideal L2 self and milieu are the strongest contributors to the motivated behaviour of these Pakistani EFL learners. Gender-based differences showed that male students exhibited lesser English Anxiety and a stronger Ideal L2 Self, whereas their female counterparts had more positive Attitudes to Learning English and higher Cultural Interest. Overall, the study has important implications for Pakistani educational policy makers and EFL teachers to devise L2 teaching strategies for students from an under-privileged population.