Abstract
The present study focuses on finding out the impact of socio-economic background on the motivation to learn English as a second language. To execute this study, two schools of Hyderabad city of Sindh province were selected for study. Rockford Cambridge School (RCS), an English-medium school where most of the students have a very stable and high socio-economic background; and Dr. N. A. Baloch Model School (MS), Sindh University, Hyderabad, a school where most of the students belong to lower and middle class background. Quantitative method of data collection used through a close-ended questionnaire using Likert scale (range 5) comprising 11 items. Four factors of motivation were included to test the motivation level of both groups. Those factors were: (i) instrumental motivation, (ii) international exposure, (iii) intrinsic motivation, and (iv) self-regulated motivation. A total of thirty participants were selected through purposive sampling in order to ensure the representation of participants from both categories i.e. elite and non-elite. Each group consisted of fifteen participants. The data was analysed statistically. The results showed that upper class students were highly motivated and the case with lower and middle class students was the other way round. Major differences were observed in three factors: international exposure, intrinsic motivation and self-regulated motivation. It implied that the higher the socio-economic status of the learners, the more motivated they grow to learn English as a second language.
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