Abstract
The following study describes motivation and lexical availability in Chilean university students learning English as a second language (L2). A non-experimental, cross-sectional analysis was conducted with 136 English pedagogy students from San Sebastián University, from all available academic semesters. Data collection integrated: (1) a lexical availability test across three semantic fields (body parts, professions, household objects); (2) a 43-item Likert scale from 1 to 7 Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB); and (3) a sociocultural survey. Descriptive statistics and inferential analyses (ANOVA, Tukey post-hoc) were employed.
Results revealed high overall motivation (x̄= 5.9, SD = 0.66), though a slight dip occurred mid-program (fifth semester). Lexical production increased significantly with academic progression (η2 = 0.182, p < .001), rising from M = 38.03 tokens (first semester) to M = 50.50 (ninth semester), plateauing after the seventh semester. Sociocultural level (SCL) exerted a smaller but significant effect (η2 = 0.053, p = .027), with high-SCL students producing 7.39 more tokens on average than low-SCL peers (p = .020). Semantic field analysis showed body parts elicited the highest token production (2,354) and cohesion (0.10), while professions yielded the most diverse lexicon (281 types). Prototypical terms (e.g., “teacher,” “head”) dominated high-availability responses.
The study highlights the critical role of academic progression in lexical development and confirms sustained motivation among samples. It expands on motivation and lexical availability within a single Chilean context, offering pedagogical insights for curriculum design.