The relationship between learning motivation and performance in the Romanian language and literature high-school exit exam

Abstract

Any behavioral change requires a particular type of motivation. According to Ryan and Deci’s (2000) Self-Determination Theory, there are four dimensions of extrinsic motivation in addition to intrinsic motivation for learning, namely external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, and integrated motivation. The literature reveals their impact on student academic performance. The study investigates the relationship between learning motivation and the students’ grades in the Romanian language national exam at the end of high-school. The research includes 12th-grade students enrolled in a traditional school in Cluj-Napoca, Romania (N=64). All participants completed an online survey evaluating students’ learning motivation regarding the Romanian language national exam. Data were collected one year after the end of the pandemic in May 2022, and the exam grades were gathered from the school’s database. Results show that extrinsic learning motivation negatively predicts the grade obtained in the Romanian language national exam. The study's outcome also reveals that introjected regulation positively predicts students’ grades in the Romanian language national exam. The hypothesis according to which identified regulation and intrinsic motivation are predictive of the baccalaureate grade in the Romanian language and literature test did not receive empirical support.