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Abstract:
In this article, the motivation and orientations of first year university students towards learning English in a globalizing world are studied. Background information comprises studies describing the driving forces such as instrumental and integrative orientations and their components. The diversity of the results obtained in various investigations is discussed and the methodology followed is disclosed . The article utilizes a survey consisting of a questionnaire and open ended questions together with subsequent focus group interviews. Subsequent factor analysis revealed three independent orientations categorized as instrumental, integrative and educational, all clearly delineated and not blended. It is ascertained that students' main orientations for learning English are to find a well-paying job, and to stay connected to the rest of the world through media and foreign friends. The study highlights the findings of similar surveys covering most of the university students in this globalizing world, and claims that Turkish university students want to learn English in order to master a skill which has become a requirement for participating and surviving in the international labor markets - a perspective that may provide a more realistic insight about the English Language Teaching in the country.

Keywords: motivation, orientation, language learning, integrative, instrumental

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