امیررضا وکیلی فرد - Associate professor, Imam Khomeini International University, Gazvin. Iran.
شراره خالقی زاده - Ph.D. candidate of Linguistics, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
لیلا گل پور - Assistant Professor of Teaching Persian to Speakers of Other Languages Department, Imam Khomeini International University, Gazvin, Iran.

Research has not investigated the motivation of students toward learning Persian as a foreign/second language. This study examines the integrative, instrumental, intrinsic, and extrinsic types of motivation among language learners learning Persian as a second language. A questionnaire consisting of ۴۰ questions, adapted from Gardner (۲۰۰۱), Ryan and Deci (۲۰۰۰), and Noels et al. (۲۰۰۱), was used to collect the required data. Statistical procedures were followed to analyze the data from ۱۳۵ (۵۹ females and ۷۳ males) language learners. Results showed that integrative and extrinsic were respectively the most and the least significant forms of motivation among these participants. They reasoned that they mainly learn Persian language to understand Persian art, literature and history, increase their knowledge, and communicate with Iranians. Variables such as gender, education, and age showed significant differences among the males and females concerning instrumental and intrinsic types of motivation. Furthermore, whereas the results indicated significant variation between the participants’ education levels and their integrative motivation, there was not any significant relationship between the age and motivation.

Integrative Motivation, Instrumental Motivation, Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, Persian Language learners