Motivation in Language learning among University Students in Sobral

Internationalization offers many benefits to higher institutions, such as exchange programs, international publications, cooperation, and language learning. Despite all these aspects being an important factor for the process of internationalization, few studies have investigated if university students are motivated to learn additional languages and participate in international programs. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the motivation of students at the Universidade Estadual Vale do Acaraú (UEVA), Sobral, Ceará, Brazil, to learn English and their willingness for international mobility. The research was divided into two parts. The first part investigated students’ self-perceived knowledge of English and their knowledge of international mobility modalities. In the second part, the L2 Motivation Questionnaire (Dörnyei & Taguchi, 2009) was administered to investigate students’ motivation to learn English and to participate in international exchange programs. The results indicate that students demonstrate moderate to high levels of motivation, confirming that English is widely perceived as relevant for academic and professional development. However, their future self-image is weakly connected to present academic practices in English, such as reading academic texts, indicating a gap between aspiration and engagement. Thus, it may be concluded that international opportunities and access to language courses should be more widely disseminated among students to increase motivation and encourage international mobility.