The concept of motivation has been the subject of many studies and is considered a crucial determinant of successful achievement in the field of language learning. A motivating learning environment has to support the education process. It generates learning initially and later will guide the process of acquiring a target language (Cheng & Dornyei, 2007). Teachers have long recognized that motivation is centered to problem-solving in education. Motivation is the key factor in getting students involved in the learning process and in keeping them engaged at their level of academic performance (Oliver, 1995). Many researchers point out that a person's behavior is predicted by his intentions which are determined by the attitudes of his character. Desired behaviors can be influenced by increasing results. In the past, educators worked hard to find proper methods for shifting students' attention towards learning. Creative engagements can serve to improve motivation. Thus, researchers have found that student engagement is an effective motivation strategy. Foster Walsh (2003) has devoted great attention to the use of creative engagement in the classroom. According to Walsh, the learning process is truly much easier when teachers know how to stimulate their students' interests. A motivating classroom is perhaps defined as an environment where learning is facilitated by the impact of the teacher's efforts. Attention also has to be given to the need of the students through meaningfulness. Meaningful connections between teachers and their students is also a catalyst for a better learning atmosphere. Meaningful context and applied learning undoubtedly correlate with the lives of students (Walsh, 2003). In order to use creative engagement s...
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...1996) indicated that well-motivated language learners realize the progress they are making, hence they are motivated to achieve further effort and success. Williams et al. (2002)( p.506) pointed out that the aspect of motivation to learn a second or foreign language is more complex than other learning aspects. However, beside the agreement on the issue of complexity, the instruments of social and educational context are also considered essential factor that increase motivation. Additionally, Csizér and Dörnyei (2005), have also shown in their study the impact of educational instruments on learning integration. It was linked to "self-concept" that can be represented by the language choice and effort. The reader self-concept thus is an important element in influencing learners' literacy practices in the extent to which they evaluate themselves as readers.
People with self-control and motivation learn more effectively in the long run. In Paul Tough's book; How Children Succeed, he discussed various factors that contribute to success which included Self-Control and Motivation. Many could argue that self-control and motivation don’t make a difference academically, but on the contrary; both are good tools to utilize in an educational capacity. One needs self-control to focus on studying rather than hanging out with their friends. Self-control can be the difference between failing or succeeding in college. Often times you see motivation and self-control work hand in hand. Motivation can be a helpful technique to use in the learning process. Self-control and motivation when used in a learning environment can be highly effective in the outcome of success.
Motivation is an integral part of teaching in order to improve student learning. Motivation is defined as an internal state that arouses, directs, and maintains behavior (Woolfolk, 2013, p. 430). As H.W. Beecher said, “God made man to go by motives, and he will not go without them any more than a boat without steam or a balloon without gas. Find out what motivates man, touch that button to turn the key that makes men achieve” (Williams et. Al, 2015). As a teacher, I will need to evaluate and adapt the motivation theory to ensure all students are learning at higher levels.
Besides already knowing what I’ve wanted to do since I was in the eighth grade, I have always been drawn to education in a way that it has motivated me to keep moving forward. Also on a personal side now that I am pregnant with our first baby, I feel that it is an obligation for me to be the person that our children look up to when it comes to schooling. Accordingly, I have a few reasons to be motivated to continue my education and I would say that the main reason would be for our children. I have always been afraid to fail, especially when it comes to schooling, I may have gotten good grades in high school, but that is because I worked hard so that when I graduated I could pursue college and be successful at it. Becoming an elementary
Keeping students motivated and engaged is among the hardest things we will do in our classroom. Teachers are always trying to find what works and what does not. In order to do this we need to know our students, and give them a reason to be involved. It seems that every year, and with possibly every lesson the big question is ‘”How can I keep my students motivated and actively engaged?” We have discovered that every class and every student is different, and we need to find what works for all students. It is possible to keep students motivated, if we do what works for them.
Moreover, Gardner (2001) insists that there is a close contact between motivation and language learning success. Additionally, Engin (2009) insists that learners need to know what types of motivation they have them to achieve greater success. There are two important types of language learning motivation, which are the integrative and instrumental motivation. Gardner (2001) defines integrative motivation as willingness to be a member of the target language’s community (p. 9). Those learners have strong interests in the target language and its culture. On the other hand, Gardner (2001) describes instrumental motivation as using the language as a tool to get decent job and being well educated (p.10). He also learners have the possibility to have
Motivation is the most important factor that educators can target in order to improve learning. Numerous cross-disciplinary theories have been postulated to explain motivation. While each of these theories has some truth, no single theory seems to adequately explain all human motivation. “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie explains Alexie’s life as an Indian boy and how he first learned how to read, his intelligence compared to classmates, and his career. Author Mike Rose revisits his high school years in his essay, “I Just Wanna Be Average.” Rose explains how his teachers were indifferent about students and resorted to verbal abuse and physical discipline. Until a new english teacher arrives,
If you want to learn English, the classroom is not the best place to pick up the language. Think about when children are learning how to talk. Typically the parents or guardians of the child teach this by acquisition. James Paul Gee defines acquisition in his short story “What is Literacy” as “…a process of acquiring something subconsciously by exposure to models and a process of trial and error, without a process of formal teaching. It happens in natural settings which are meaningful and functional in the sense that the acquirer knows that he need to acquire the thing he is exposed to in order to function and the acquirer in fact want to so function. This is how people come control their first language.” (Gee, 107) Which, miraculously, is the reason why, for most children, their first word is usually Mommy or Daddy. I’m sure this wasn’t because they decided at toddler stage to pick up a book and read the word Mom or Dad. Generally parents constantly reinforce that they are Mommy or Daddy over and over. Which sets up the natural subconscious setting that Gee said is to be where most learning takes place, eventually the child picks up on it and spits out the word. Even when you grow old enough to venture off to school it is the teacher’s job to teach you how to read and write. Really though, English is so much more than strictly reading and writing. In order to fully understand the English language you need to be taught by acquisition. Not only would you learn English more efficiently you will also be introduced to social rules of English that are not talked about in the classroom.
“Motivation is a complex part of human psychology and behavior that influences how individuals choose to invest their time, how much energy they exert in any given task, how they think and feel about the task, and how long they persist at the task” (Urdan & Schoenfelder, 2006). The biggest question educators face in today’s classroom is what motivates a student to do something and why? Virtually all students are motivated in one way or another. Research of student motivation suggests a theory that emphasizes a social-cognitive perspective. The cognition of students regarding academic work are influenced by social factors, such as messages from the teacher about the difficulty of the task, the perceived abilities of classmates, and the information about the importance of learning the material (Urdan & Schoenfelder, 2006). In this paper the focus will primarily be on those elements within the classroom that influence student motivation and engagement.
Thus, the book answers numerous practical questions that teachers have often struggled with; for example, how to increase the chances of academic success for language learners, how to use technology to teach language effectively, or how to teach language and content material concurrently. From the preface, the author makes it very clear that the book is designed to support language teachers in their journey as new teachers and throughout their teaching careers. In total, the book contains eleven chapters, which have been divided into four parts. The first part, "What Do Language Teachers Think About?" includes topics of foreign/ second language acquisition theories and language teaching methodologies. This part introduces the background knowledge readers will need in their journey as language teachers. The second part, "How Do You Teach a Language?" introduces approaches to teaching and learning that improve students’ writing, listening, speaking and reading abilities. Each chapter in this part includes suggestions for how students can be motivated and describes teaching and testing approaches to assess students ' language skills and academic literacy. The third part, "How Do I Know What to Teach?" is instrumental in helping teachers adopt teaching practices to particular teaching settings. The fourth part, "Where Do I Go from Here?" helps teachers gain a clearer perspective of what language teaching is all about; this section also considers teacher 's self-assessment and personal
As a language teacher, we need to be able to engage our learners with a variety of English text such as songs, newspaper, movies, websites, and so forth. If this is done, not only the learners are more exposed to a variety of discourses, they are also likely to be more motivated to learn since the language that they get is authentic as opposed to the inauthentic classroom books. Limiting the language...
Learners’ engagement in authentic and meaningful task to promote language learning. (the learning process is influenced by linguistic, social, cognitive and individual factors)
While some learners read to be identified as good learners, others who read solely for pleasure are more likely to be high achievers (Guthrie, Klauda & Morrison, 2012). For instance, learners with high intrinsic motivation are noted to use more strategies and have more comprehension of science texts (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000). What is more, learners who are intrinsically motivated in their learning tend to read more (Guthrie & Cox, 2001) and as a result of more exposure to written texts learners´ comprehension and vocabulary knowledge increased (Echols et al., 1996; Stanovich, 2000). However, those who read for rewards, to meet requirements or to avoid embarrassment are more inclined to become low achievers. Therefore, learners who strive for higher education need to be intrinsically engaged in their learning and reading activities to acquire not only vocabulary growth and comprehension from textbooks but also gain a sense of
Motivation plays a crucial role in willingness of students to obtain knowledge and capabilities to use L2 for variety of purposes. Moiinvaziri M. (2009) argued that English language learners were motivated instrumentally as well as integrativelly. This claim was in conflict with the researchers who claimed that only instrumental motivation is important in SLA. He concluded that in English Language learning both instrumental & integrative motivation are important. Then, Al-Hazemi H. (2000) argued that desire to learn English language should arise from within the learner. In an ideal situation, learners should have very high desire to learn foreign language. According to him, the strong desire for L2 learning contributes to a high degree of competence and success in language learning. Dornyei (1994) stated that the nature of social and pragmatic dimensions of target language depends on who, what and where i.e. who learns the language, what language and
What is Motivation and how does it affect an individual? Motivation is the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way. There are two types of motivation that affect us, Extrinsic and Intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is the type of motivation that motivates us to perform or engage in an activity to earn a reward or avoid a form of punishment. Examples of this would be working hard for a raise, because you want a better pay check or cleaning your room as a kid to avoid being in trouble from your parents. In both examples, the person is motivated to gain a reward or avoid punishment. However, intrinsic motivation is when a person performs an activity, because it is personally rewarding. Examples of this type of motivation
Motivation is really important tool in a learning environment. Also motivation effects student learning and their behavior as well. It directs behavior towards particular targets. Also it effect the decision which students takes. In motivation mainly we have two types which is intrinsically and extrinsically being motivated. For example: when a student is intrinsically motivated they just do it for themselves not because of the reward that they will get back. It’s just because they have their own interest and they enjoy doing that. On the other side, when a student is extrinsically motivated they just do it for the reward that they will get. That’s why in learning process it’s important that each student should