The effect of socio-economic background, personal effort and motivation in English proficiency

The aim of the current study was to investigate whether socio-economic background, individual effort, or motivation had more influence in English proficiency; whether there was a relation between individual effort and family background, and whether there was a relation between motivation and family background. For this purpose, a questionnaire was passed to students of 4th year of Compulsory Secondary Education at three different high schools in Navarre. The questionnaire was divided in three different sections: personal data, individual work and motivation. The results of the questionnaires were compared with students’ grades in English using SPSS. Evidence was found that motivation influenced students’ proficiency. Results also indicated that motivation was higher in students who listened to music in English, watched movies or TV shows in English at home and read in English outside the classroom. Based on these findings, it is recommended that educators introduce resources from the media in order to raise students’ interest and motivation.