Meaning
and Definition of Motivation
Mustajib (2013: 3) Motivation refers
to an inner state
of cognitive and
emotional arousal which vigorously drives someone to consciously embark
endlessly intellectual and
physical effort to attain a previously set goal.
Aggouni and Laadjali (2015: 35) Motivation as a term is
derived from the Latin word ‘moveo-movere’ which means ‘to move’ in English.
Motivation is the element that moves humans to decide taking certain choices to
be engaged and to be able to continue a behavior. In psychology, the term ‘motivation’
means the forces that affect people’s behaviors’ or the reasons of those behaviors.
The psychologists of these
days have a
very wide explanation to
motivation; it takes
into account such
notions as longing,
push, volition, wish, pressure, interest, aim, purpose, and
other aspects. This following is motivation’s definition “Motivation is a
general way of referring to the antecedents (i.e., causes and origins) of
action.
Gilakjani, Leong and Sabouri (2012:
10) Motivation is defined as an attribute of the individual
describing the psychological qualities underlying behavior
with respect to a particular task. to
be motivated, the learner
needs to have something to look
forward to, a purpose related to goal or objective. This objective would be learning a foreign
language. There must be something that the learner wishes to accomplish or
gain, being the target
language the vehicle to
attain it. The learner‘s reasons
for another language could vary from achieving a sense of success, fulfill
other‘s expectations or being able to
buy a new car through getting a better job due to command of the target
language
Lai (2011: 8) concludes motivation
refers to reasons that underlie behavior, motivation is animated by personal
enjoyment, interest, or pleasure, whereas motivation is governed by
reinforcement contingencies. Motivation involves a constellation of closely
related beliefs, perceptions, values, interests, and actions. Motivation within
individuals tends to vary across subject areas, and this domain specificity
increases with age.
