A multiple goal analysis of female Japanese university students' motivation

![CDATA[The purpose of this paper is to examine the motivation of female Japanese university students towards university study in general and towards the study of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in particular. The study uses Maehr’s multiple goal model of Personal Investment (Maehr, 1984; Maehr & Braskamp, 1986), as its theoretical basis. Two forms of a bilingual Inventory of University Motivation (IUM) were created. Data were analysed using exploratory Principal Components Analyses (PCA), Multivariate Analyses of Variance (MANOVA) and multiple regression in order to 1) develop clear valid, reliable scales, 2) develop an overall motivational profile of the students, 3) determine the significant differences amongst students, and 4) to determine significant predictor variables of performance, as measured by EFL-related outcome measures. The results of these analyses 1) provide support for the applicability of the theoretical model and the measurement instrument in this socio-cultural context, 2) produce a useful motivational profile of female Japanese university students which highlights some important features including those that contradict some stereotypes of Japanese students, and 3) show the instrument to be very useful at extracting important predictors of academic success at studying EFL at a Japanese university.]]