Demotivational Factors Affecting Iranian EFL Learners’ Oral Performance: the Case of High Schools

The study of motivation is concerned with what makes people interested in learning a second language and what keeps them motivated to do so. In addition to factors which increase students’ motivation, there are factors which reduce their motivation, that is, demotivation factors. The present study aimed at identifying the ideas of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and learners about demotivating factors affecting the learners’ oral performance. 60 EFL teachers and 100 EFL learners from high schools in Sari, Iran were selected by convenience sampling. A demotivation questionnaire was used including 20 items in a Likert-scale format ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The results indicate that according to the language teachers’ and learners’ opinions, ’ teachers’ not being equipped with the required skills for teaching”, “students’ lack of mental health and good memory”, “students’ not receiving sufficient timely incentives”, “teachers’ lack of sufficient knowledge about the subject”, and “students’ lack of enough self-confidence” are the most important demotivating factors among the others.