Students’ Attitudinal Factors in Learning English as a Foreign Language

This study investigates the interplay of students’ attitudinal factors in learning English as a foreign language. The researchers carried out a descriptive research by applying an attitudinal scale in studying the interplay of the attitudinal factors. The respondents of this study were the second-year students of Indonesia English Education Department academic year 2014-2015. The instrument of this research was a questionnaire. This questionnaire was designed to study the interplay of attitudinal factors in learning English as a foreign language. The attitudinal factors were attitude, motivation, achievement motivation, interest, perseverance, and self-esteem .  The results show that the students have high or positive attitudinal factors in learning English as a foreign language. It indicates that the students’ attitude toward English language learning can, to a certain degree, influence their learning results. There is a positive correlation between attitude and motivation and the students’ enthusiasm, commitment and persistence are the key determinant of success or failure, the more favorable the attitudes the students have the higher the motivation the students possess. It was found that instrumental reasons were considered the primary source of the students’ attitude towards learning the English language. Students’ attitudinal factors can be improved by involvement in learning process and effective language teaching methods can encourage students to be more positive towards the language they are learning.