1.1 Introduction
When we read or hear the word "motivation", many words and expressions are triggered in our minds: Goal - desire - will - effort - ambition - energy - persistence -achieve- inspire - reward. Indeed, motivational issues take up large part of our daily life. When we talk about likes and dislikes, interests, or wishes, we are in fact concerning ourselves with main motivational determinants of human being. When we complain about long working hours, poor salaries, tough colleagues, or alternatively when we are pleased by the recognition of our achievements, promotions and generous incentives, we are addressing issues at the heart of the motivational psychology. Yet, Kanfer (1998:12) states that motivation is “psychological mechanisms
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Dörnyei (1994) unequivocally states that motivation is one of the main determinants of second/ foreign language learning. Interestingly, motivation is perceived as cyclic, going up and down, affecting language achievement and being affected by it (Dörnyei, 2001). He also claimed that a demotivated person is someone who initially has had motivation to fulfil a goal or to engage in an activity and has lost the motivation to do so because of negative external factors that related to the environment in which learning takes place such as the classroom and school. Nikolov (1999), in Dörnyei, (2001) found that the most important demotivating factors for all the age groups were related to the learning situations such as materials, the teacher or teaching methods and he added that these factors had great effect on language acquisition and …show more content…
Based on my experience for nearly eight years as a teacher of English as a second language and foreign language, I found that some students are struggling and really have to put in massive amounts of effort in learning the language. They always tell the teacher that the English language is very difficult, questioning on the reasons why they need or should learn English, complaining that learning English took a lot of their time, in addition to various other reactions to show their displeasure at having to learn the language. With such a scenario, I was motivated to investigate the reasons why are the students less interested in learning English, what are their attitudes and motivational orientations toward learning of English language and what are the factors that affect students’ attitudes and motivation to learn English. Motivation is a very important, if not the most important factor in language learning (Van Lier 1996: 98). Beliefs and attitudes have a powerful effect on behaviour. By exploring and investigating the Libyan learners’ attitudes and motivational orientations, it may help the learners in developing, enhancing and sustaining their motivation in learning English. It is very important to address their needs and motivational
Prior to Harlow and Deci’s work, motivation could be explained in only one of two ways. The motivation to survive, also referred to by Pink as Motivation 1.0, has always been basic to our existence. Motivation 1.0 operates under the premise that “I need to do something” in order to get my basic needs met. It is a drive that dates back to the dawn of man and explains what...
Many different motivation theories have been created and dissected over the past century in an attempt to understand human behaviour and answer the question: “what creates the force needed to do things we want to do?”
Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us, by Daniel H. Pink, is a riveting book that discusses the evolution of what motivates us as humans and how our view on motivation is slowly changing to meet the needs of our society. The introduction opens with a story of an experiment on what motivates us conducted on rhesus monkeys by Harry F. Harlow in 1949, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin (P. 07), and later picked up again by Edward Deci, a psychology graduate student from Carnegie Mellon University in 1969, who performed a similar experiment with two groups of college students (P. 11). In this experiment, these men looked at the differences in motivation by observing the effects of extrinsic rewards on the human psyche and collecting data on the results of some simple tests. The results were astonishing, contrary to all previous beliefs, both the humans and primates showed that after receiving extrinsic rewards their motivation to complete tasks dropped drastically. It was determined that for simple and repetitive tasks, extrinsic motivation techniques, such as the carrot and stick method, can work well; but for complex tasks requiring creativity, extrinsic motivation can have a negative outcome on the success of ones work.
The author trusts that all humans have some level of motivation as long as they exist. In turn, there are several well-known classic approaches that consider motivation such as instinct, drive reduction, arousal, incentive, and humanistic approaches. It is beyond the scope of this paper to describe all in detail, but a brief synopsis of each follows: (1) Instinct approach theorists suggest that humans have many diverse instincts that are biologically determined and cause innate patterns of behaviors such as reproducing, territorial protection, curiosity, acquisition, and fight, flight or freeze to name a few (McDougall, 1908). (2) Drive-reduction theory proposes that individuals have needs that are essential for survival and this need cause a tension to act called a drive. These drives entail primary drives for physical needs such as water and food, and acquired drives realized through conditioning or experience such as the need for income or social acceptance; whereas, one must meet the need to reduce the drive to return to a state of homeostasis (Hull, 1943). (3) Theorists who support an Arousal approach believe that humans are motivated by stimulation and people develop an optimal level of stimulus tension; whereas, task performances may suffer if the level is too high such as severe test anxiety or even too low such as boredom
The author trusts that all humans have some level of motivation as long as they exist. In turn, there are several well-known classic approaches that consider motivation such as instinct, drive reduction, arousal, incentive, and humanistic approaches. It is beyond the scope of this paper to describe all in detail, but a brief synopsis of each follows: (1) Instinct approach theorists suggest that humans have many diverse instincts that are biologically determined and cause innate patterns of behaviors such as reproducing, territorial protection, curiosity, acquisition, and fight, flight or freeze to name a few (McDougall, 1908). (2) Drive-reduction theory proposes that individuals have needs that are essential for survival and this need cause a tension to act called a drive. These drives entail the primary drives for physical needs (water and food) and the acquired drives learned through experience or conditioning (need for money or social approval); whereas, one must meet the need to return to a state of homeostasis (Hull, 1943). (3) Theorists who support an Arousal approach believe that humans are motivated by stimulation and people develop an optimal level of stimulus tension; whereas, task performances may suffer if the level is too high such as severe test anxiety or even too low such as boredom (Teigen, 1994). (4) Incentive
What is motivation? According to text, motivation is defined as a set of factors that activate, direct, and maintain behavior, usually toward a certain goal. Motivation is the energy that makes us do things: this is a result of our individual needs being satisfied so that we have inspiration to complete the mission. These needs vary from person to person as everybody has their individual needs to motivate themselves. Depending on how motivated we are, it may further determine the effort we put into our work and therefore increase the standard of the productivity. There have been a wide variety of theories about motivation developed over the years. Several are drive-reduction theory, arousal theory, psychosocial (both incentive and cognitive) theory, and Maslow’s H...
In daily life, we need motivation to improve our performance in our job or in studies. Motivation is an internal force, dependent on the needs that drive a person to achieve. In the other words, motivation is a consequence of expectations of the future while satisfaction is a consequence of past events (Carr, 2005). We need to give reward to our self when we did correctly or we has achieve our target. Reward is something that we are given because we have behaved well, worked hard, or provided a service to the community. Theories of motivation can be used to explain the behavior and attitude of employees (Rowley, 1996; Weaver, 1998). The theories include content theories, based on assumptions that people have individual needs, which motivate their action. Meanwhile according to Robbins (2001), motivation is a needs-satisfying process, which means that when a person's needs are satisfied by certain factors, the person will exert superior effort toward attaining organizational goals. Schulze and Steyn (2003) affirmed that in order to understand people’s behavior at work, managers or supervisors must be aware of the concept of needs or motives which will help “move” their employees to act.Theories such as Maslow (1954), McClelland (1961), Herzberg (1966) and Alderfer (1969) are renowned for their works in this field. The intrinsic reward or also be known as motivators factors is the part of Herzberg motivation theory. Motivators are involve factors built into the job or the studies itself such as achievement, recognition, responsibility and advancement. Hygiene factors are extrinsic to the job such as interpersonal relationship, salary, supervision and company policy (Herzberg, 1966. There have two factors that are called hygiene fac...
Motivation is therefore the force that transforms and uplifts people to be productive and perform in their jobs. Maximising an employee's motivation is necessary and vital to successfully accomplish the organisation's objectives and targets. However this is a considerable challenge to any organisation's managers, due to the complexity of motivation and the fact that there is no ready made solution or an answer to what motivates people to work well (Mullins, 2002).
It is first important to understand how motivation works in the classroom. There are infinite procedures teachers use to achieve desired effects from their students, but there are general patterns these motivational tools follow. In order for teachers to communicate with their students, they must identify with their needs on an individual basis (Gawel, 1997). This proposal is much akin to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which states five basic needs that must be met in order to achieve full motivation. These needs, in ascending order, are as follows: physiological, security, love and belongingness, esteem and self-respect, and self-actualization (Gawel, 1997). Each of these needs details a very important issue in motivation inside the classroom and out.
The layman’s view of motivation is defined has the action whereby one is given a reason or purpose to complete an objective with more zeal. This in itself is not something new, but rather a method that has been applied for an immeasurable number years, possibly before it was even defined, classified
Classrooms are filled with students of different learning levels, developmental rates, and various amounts of self-esteem and determination. Educators have the daily challenge of finding new teaching strategies, as well as stimulating and maintaining student motivation, and minimizing anxiety in the classroom. Educational theorists believe that motivation is a large factor of and has a strong impact on academic achievement. Classroom environment, specific teaching strategies and encouraging autonomy may be considered in order for teachers to promote motivation in the classroom. In addition to motivation, decreasing anxiety can also lead to positive learning outcomes. Teachers can incorporate clear guidelines, goals, and support to lower anxiety. Practicing anxiety management strategies may also be a lifelong skill teachers can offer students. High motivation and anxiety management strategies can result in academic achievement in the classroom, and personal success outside the classroom, as well.
Motivation is an important function in organizations to motivate their employees for their ability to perform well, improving their skills, increasing productivity, job satisfaction and employee extension. Employees also are not a machines that we could just program their task in their brain and they will do it automatically, they require motivation to actually do their job properly. And so, after discussing the process models of the Maslow’s “Hierarchy of needs”, Douglas McGregor theory X and Y, and also the Herzberg’s “two factor motivation hygiene theory.” understanding the ways of motivating people, the human nature, and the substance of nature. I believe that the true motivation can only come from within and also managers can actually motivate all of their employees.
Motivation, as defined in class, is the energy and commitment a person is prepared to dedicate to a task. In most of organisations, motivation is one of the most troublesome problems. Motivation is about the intensity, direction and persistence of reaching a goal. During the class, we have learned a substantial theories of motivation and many theories of motivations are used in real business. Each theory seems to have different basic values. But, they all have been analysed for one reason, recognising what motivates and increases the performance of employees. Ident...
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
Second Language learning is necessitated by the different situations of different people. For instance, it can be for social or academic purposes. Learners are affected by many factors in the second language acquisition process such as level of cognitive development, socio-economic and cultural background, age, motivation or ability and intelligence (Gomleksiz, 2001; Wisniewski, 2007). This paper will however concentrate on how intelligence or aptitude and motivation affect the learning of a second language.