Moroccan EFL Teachers´ Beliefs on the Impact of Motivation and Anxiety on Students´ Pragmatic Competence

Abstract

The present paper investigates Moroccan EFL teachers’ beliefs on the impact of motivation and anxiety on students’ pragmatic competence. An online survey comprising twenty items was used to explore teachers’ beliefs on the influence of different motivational orientations and anxiety on students’ pragmatic competence. Teachers were asked to rate their level of agreement or disagreement with each statement. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results revealed that teachers strongly believe that motivation significantly enhances students’ pragmatic competence. Moreover, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation were perceived to foster pragmatic development more effectively than integrative and instrumental motivation. Motivated students were believed to be more attentive to pragmatic norms and more capable of applying them appropriately, while unmotivated students were thought to struggle with acquiring pragmatic nuances of the target language. On the other hand, social anxiety was believed to make students reluctant to effectively employ their sociopragmatic knowledge, while communication anxiety was thought to have a negative influence on their pragmalinguistic choices. The study concludes with recommendations for teachers to motivate students, reduce their anxiety levels, and help them develop their pragmatic skills.