Sources of Motivation and Demotivation in BA Students of English Translation:
The Students’ Perspective
Abstract
This study sought to explore the sources of both motivation and demotivation among BA students of English Translation from their own perspective. Employing a qualitative, exploratory research design, this study gathered data from fifty volunteer undergraduate translation students, through a structured written interview. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the students' responses. The results showed that the participants’ motivation and demotivation were justifiable within the Self-Determination Theory framework. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors were identified with extrinsic elements being more frequently stated by the students as the reason to choose translation as a specialization. In addition, regarding their academic experience throughout their studies, factors such as the existence of engaging and relevant pedagogy, inspirational and supportive instructors, and positive peer interaction were reported as strong motivators that supported students’ psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Conversely, the most significant demotivating factors were outdated and impractical curricula and ineffective teaching methods, which were particularly characterized by the lack of attention to technology-related concerns of the students such as CAT and AI tool integration. Moreover, shortage of meaningful feedback, pressures from anxiety-inducing assessments, and job market concerns in the age of AI were also identified as demotivating.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Maryam Hosseinzadeh, Manijeh Hosseini
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Copyright Licensee: Iranian Journal of Translation Studies. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0 license).
