THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTIVATION AND CRITICAL THINKING ABILITY OF IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS

Motivation and critical thinking have been recognized as crucial elements contributing to learning. Although a considerable body of research has addressed motivation and critical thinking (CT), little research has been conducted investigating the relationship between the two constructs. The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between motivation and CT among pre-intermediate learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). For this purpose, a group of 101 male and female learners, between 18 and 34 years old, majoring in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) at Science and Art University in Yazd-the capital of a province in Iran-were selected and given two questionnaires: a questionnaire of motivation and a questionnaire of CT. The relationship between motivation and CT was investigated using Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient. Preliminary analyses were performed to ensure no violation of the assumptions of normality, linearity and homoscedasticity. The results of this study led to the rejection of the null hypothesis indicating that there is a significant and positive relationship between EFL learners’ motivation and CT (r = 0.796, p < 0.01). The findings of this study can help EFL teachers, learners, and material developers to foster learners’ CT ability and motivation.