Received date: 08/09/2015

Accepted date: 19/02/2016

A large number of studies have been conducted to explore the attitudes and motivation of students toward different varieties of English in order to improve the English proficiency level of students in Can Tho University, especially English-majored students. To add to more venues to these issues, the objectives of this study were to investigate (1) English-majored students’ attitudes toward speaking learning with English-speaking volunteers and discover (2) whether English-majored students are more intrinsically or extrinsically motivated toward speaking learning with English-speaking volunteers. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data collection. A total of 103 English-majored students participated in the questionnaire, 10 participants randomly selected from the sample to join in the interview. The study showed that (1) English-majored students had positive attitudes toward speaking learning with English volunteers; and that (2) the students were more intrinsically motivated than extrinsically motivated. Besides, qualitative data released opinions of what volunteers and administrators should do to enhance students’ attitudes and motivation towards speaking learning with English volunteers. Possible recommendations for future research were also discussed.

KEYWORDS

Attitudes, motivation, speaking learning, English-majored students, English volunteers