Examining the relationship between motivational orientations and academic achievement in language learning: The cases of Iranian learners of French and Chinese learners of Persian

The aim of this study is to investigate the status of motivational orientations (extrinsic, intrinsic, amotivation) and their subspecies, based on the theory of self-determination and their relationship with academic achievement in two groups of language students and Learners. Subjects include a group of 48 Iranian learners of French language and another group of Chinese learners of Persian language. Noels' The Language Learning Orientations Scale (LLOS-IEA) was utilized to collect the data. For examine the research questions and hypotheses, some statistical tests were performed:   Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, one-sample t-test, correlation tests and linear regression to, and independent t-test. The analyses were performed by SPSS.22 software. The results indicate that both groups are at the desired level of internal and external motivation and are not motiveless. Also, the motivational regulations of Knowledge, Accomplishment, Stimulation, and identified regulation in both groups are at a good level, but the t-test is not significant for introjected regulation. External regulation is also effective among Persian learners and ineffective among French learners. Also the results show that there is a significant correlation between the three variables of motivation and academic achievement of these learners. Comparing orientations of the two groups shows that French learners have a stronger internal motivation, while the external motivation of Persian learners is more than the other group. 
Extended Abstract:
Several factors come into play when learning a second/foreign language. One of the most important emotional factors in this context is motivation, which plays a key role in the learning process and, according to Brown (2012, cited by Atar Sharghi, 2019), "is the most commonly used word in explaining the reason for success or failure in any complex task." One of the concepts discussed about motivational factors in learning a SL /FL is the concept of motivational orientations, which is based on Deci and Ryan's (1985) theory of self-determination and includes three components: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of motivational orientations and their subtypes and their relationship with academic achievement in the process of foreign language learning of two groups: The participants were a group of 48 Iranian learners of French and another group of 54 Chinese learners of Persian. The common feature of these groups was learning a foreign language and a parallel study of their motivational orientations was performed to reveal the effects of some cultural and local factors on these orientations.
The purpose of this study was to answer 3 questions:

What is the general situation of motivational orientations and their subtypes in the participants?

2) What is the relationship between motivational orientations in language learning and academic performance of each group (independently)?

What is the status of the motivational orientations and their subcomponents in the groups in comparison with each other?

Over the past 50 years, much research has been conducted on the psychological-motivational factors of language learning, and various models have been presented to explain the different factors. Gardner's (1985) social pedagogical model is based on the two concepts of instrumental and integrative motivations. Bandura's social cognitive theory includes the concept of self-efficacy and implies that in addition to factors in the external environment, cognitive processes also have a significant impact on our behavior (Bandura, 1984 cited by Zamini et al., 2011). Cléments and colleagues have been researching linguistic self-confidence; a concept distinct from self-efficacy, since the 1980s and it influences a person's motivation to learn a second or foreign language (Bahadir, 2005).
Another important theory in the field of motivation that formed the basis of the present study is Deci and Ryan's (1985) theory of self-determination. This theory considers three types of human needs as the source of individual motivation: autonomy (self-experience as the origin and source of behavior); competence (in the sense of efficiency and accomplishment of a task); and social affiliation (in the sense of closeness and connection with others) (See Rocher Hahlin, 2014 and Bahadir, 2005).
According to self-determination theory, motivational orientations include three components: extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, and amotivation. Deci and Ryan divide external motivation into four subtypes called "self-regulation": 1. external regulation, 2. introjected regulation, 3. identified regulation, and 4. integrated regulation. According to Deci and Ryan, these external (controlled) regulations can be internalized and integrated with internal (autonomous) motivation. (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
This theory also includes intrinsic motivation, which arises from feelings of satisfaction and pleasure in performing an action and internal needs for a sense of competence and autonomy. Vallerand et al. (1989, 1992, and 1993) and Vallerand (1997) propose three subdivisions for intrinsic motivation: Knowledge motivation is the motive to perform activities in order to experience the satisfaction and pleasure of discovering and understanding new ideas and to satisfy curiosity. Accomplishment motivation refers to the feeling associated with mastering and completing a task, overcoming a challenge, and reaching a goal. Stimulation motivation is the motivation associated with pleasurable emotions resulting from enjoyable activities, works of art, entertainment, and excitement (Bahadir, 2005; Noels, et al. 2000; Sheykholeslami & Khayyer, 2007).
The present study is a descriptive survey of motivational orientations in language learning. The statistical population of this study consisted of two groups of language learners (mainly students and some institute learners): a group of 48 Iranian learners of French and a group of 54 Chinese learners of Persian. The questionnaire was randomly distributed among the participants. The participants' final language average or exam grade was used as an indicator of academic performance.
The Language Motivational Orientation Scale (LLOS-IEA) by Noels et al. (2000) was used to collect the data and measure the language motivation variables. This questionnaire includes 21 questions and measures the subscales of amotivation, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation.
This scale has been used in many previous studies and its efficiency has been demonstrated with optimal and high validity and reliability (see Noels et al. 2000). In the present study, the coefficient Cronbach's alpha of the whole questionnaire was 0.842 for French students and 0.903 for Persian students, indicating acceptable reliability of the research instrument. To test the research questions and hypotheses, some statistical tests were conducted: Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, one-sample t-tests, correlation tests and linear regression tests, and independent t-tests. The analyses were performed using SPSS.22 software.
The results showed that there was generally no amotivation in these two groups and the intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations of both groups were at a significant and acceptable level. As for the subcomponents of motivational orientations, the results showed that both groups had the desired level of knowledge, accomplishment, and stimulation regulation (intrinsic orientations) and also that of identified regulation (extrinsic orientation). However, neither group benefited from introjected regulation, which meant that these learners do not internalize external expectations in their learning process. Moreover, extrinsic regulation was significant and effective in Persian learners, while it was not effective in French learners, meaning that extrinsic pressures or encouragements had little effect on the formation of French learners' motivation.
As for the relationship between motivational orientations and academic achievement, it could be seen that all three motivational orientations, separately and independently of time, had a significant relationship with the academic achievement of the two groups and their progress could be predicted by their motivational orientations 55% (for French learners) and 58% (for Persian learners).
Comparing the two groups of Iranian French learners and Chinese Persian learners, the results showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the factor of amotivation, or in other words, learning French or Persian did not affect their amotivational variable and there was no amotivation in these groups. However, the level of intrinsic motivation of Iranian learners of French was higher than that of Chinese learners of Persian, while the second group had more extrinsic motivation than the first group.
The comparison of the motivational subcomponents of the two groups also showed that Iranian French learners had higher levels of knowledge, accomplishment, and stimulation, but lower levels of extrinsic and introjected regulations than Chinese Persian learners. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of identified regulation. This meant that Persian or French language had no effect on their identified factor for these individuals.