THE CORRELATIONS AMONG LEARNING MOTIVATION, READING COMPREHENSION AND TRANSLATION ABILITY OF EFL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31851/1vfb4881Keywords:
Learning Motivation, Reading Comprehension, Translation Ability, EFL Students, Correlational DesignAbstract
This study examines the relationship between students’ learning motivation and translation ability, the association between reading comprehension and translation performance, and the combined contribution of both variables to the translation skills of EFL university students. A quantitative correlational design was applied, involving 54 participants selected through purposive sampling. The research instruments included a motivation questionnaire, a TOEFL-based reading comprehension test, and a translation assessment, with data analysis conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26. The findings indicate significant positive correlations among all variables. Both learning motivation and reading comprehension were found to jointly explain 74.4% of the variance in translation ability, with reading comprehension emerging as the strongest predictor. These results suggest that students’ translation competence is strongly influenced by both affective and cognitive dimensions of language learning. The study offers practical implications for English language educators in developing instructional approaches that integrate reading literacy and translation practice. Its originality lies in demonstrating that the interaction between motivational factors and cognitive reading skills forms a crucial foundation for enhancing academic translation performance, thereby contributing to the advancement of a more integrated, competency-based language curriculum.
References
Afflerbach, P., Pearson, P. D., & Paris, S. G. (2020). Clarifying differences between reading skills and reading strategies.The Reading Teacher, 71(5), 645-648. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1681
Al-Hoorie, A. H. (2017). Sixty years of language motivation research: Looking back and looking forward.SAGE Open, 7(2), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017709208
Al-Hoorie, A. H., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2022). Contemporary language motivation theory: 60 years since Gardner and Lambert (1959). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781788925242
Al-Sobh, M. A. (2023). The impact of digital reading strategies on translation quality among EFL students.Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 19(1), 112-125.
Alrassi, N. (2020). Cultural influences on student motivation in the EFL classroom.International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 30(2), 243-256. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12284
Arikunto, S. (2010). Research procedures: a practical approach . Rineka Cipta.
Baker, M. (2021).In other words: A coursebook on translation (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315619187
Biel, Ł. (2021). Institutional translation and the quality of texts in international organizations.The Translator, 27(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2020.1861013
Boo, Z., Dörnyei, Z., & Ryan, S. (2015). L2 motivation research 2005–2014: A changing landscape.System, 52, 145-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2015.05.002
Bowers, A. L., & Hume, S. E. (2021). The relationship between working memory and reading comprehension in adult learners.Learning and Individual Differences, 85, 101-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2020.101955
Braine, G. (2011). Non-native speaker English teachers: Research and contributions. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203853115
Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (4th ed.). Pearson Education.
Byrne, J. (2022).Scientific and technical translation explained: A guide for students and professionals. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315760377
Cain, K., & Oakhill, J. (2018). Reading comprehension development: A focus on the role of inferencing.Child Development Perspectives, 12(2), 105-110. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12267
Cao, D., & Hu, Y. (2022). Revisiting the role of intrinsic motivation in translation training.Translation and Interpreting Studies, 17(3), 389-410. https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.20038.cao
Chen, M. R., & Hwang, G. J. (2021). Effects of a digital game-based learning system on students' reading comprehension.Educational Technology & Society, 24(3), 153-167.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Dörnyei, Z., & Ryan, S. (2015). The psychology of the language learner revisited. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315779003
Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (2021).Teaching and researching motivation (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315678566
Field, A. (2017). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2019).Teaching and researching reading (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315726144
Grabe, W., & Zhang, C. (2022). Reading and writing skills in EFL learning: A longitudinal perspective.Journal of Second Language Writing, 56, 100-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2022.100885
Harmer, J. (2015). The practice of English language teaching (5th ed.). Pearson Longman.
House, J. (2021). Translation: The basics (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003102373
Jang, H., Reeve, J., & Deci, E. L. (2018). Teacher autonomy support and student engagement: A motivation-based model.Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(3), 588-600. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018583
Kintsch, W. (2018).Comprehension: A paradigm for cognition. Cambridge University Press.
Kiraly, D. (2021).A social constructive approach to translator education: Empowerment from theory to practice. St. Jerome Publishing.
McNamara, D. S., & Magliano, J. P. (2021). Towards a comprehensive model of reading comprehension.Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 74, 297-334. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.plm.2021.03.003
Mossop, B. (2020).Revising and editing for translators (4th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315158990
Nababan, M. R. (2003). Theory of translating English . Student Library.
Oga-Baldwin, W. L., & Fryer, L. K. (2020). Profiles of motivation in the language classroom.Language Teaching Research, 24(5), 681-704. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168818819030
Pym, A. (2020).Exploring translation theories (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003055105
Sugiyono. (2013). Quantitative, qualitative, and R&D research methods . Alfabeta.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Suci Indah Sari, Tahrun Tahrun, Mulyadi Mulyadi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright Notice
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
In order to assure the highest standards for published articles, a peer review policy is applied. In pursue of the compliance with academic standards, all parties involved in the publishing process (the authors, the editors and the editorial board and the reviewers) agree to meet the responsibilities stated below in accordance to the Journal publication ethics and malpractice statement.
Duties of Authors:
- The author(s) warrant that the submitted article is an original work, which has not been previously published, and that they have obtained an agreement from any co-author(s) prior to the manuscript’s submission;
- The author(s) should not submit articles describing essentially the same research to more than one journal;
- The authors(s) make certain that the manuscript meets the terms of the Manuscript Submission Guideline regarding appropriate academic citation and that no copyright infringement occurs;
- The authors(s) should inform the editors about any conflict of interests and report any errors they subsequently, discover in their manuscript.
Duties of Editors and the Editorial Board:
- The editors, together with the editorial board, are responsible for deciding upon the publication or rejection of the submitted manuscripts based only on their originality, significance, and relevance to the domains of the journal;
- The editors evaluate the manuscripts compliance with academic criteria, the domains of the journal and the guidelines;
- The editors must at all times respect the confidentiality of any information pertaining to the submitted manuscripts;
- The editors assign the review of each manuscript to two reviewers chosen according to their domains of expertise. The editors must take into account any conflict of interest reported by the authors and the reviewers.
- The editors must ensure that the comments and recommendations of the reviewers are sent to the author(s) in due time and that the manuscripts are returned to the editors, who take the final decision to publish them or not.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a pre-publication manuscript (but not the Publisher final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
