Motivation for learning english among undergraduate students and its impact
MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING ENGLISH AMONG UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS AND ITS IMPACT
Bui Thi Thu Trang
ABSTRACT
As Confucius said: “Need to study is not as good as like to study, like to study is not as
good as enjoyment to study.”, motivation has a big impact on the success or failure of foreign
language acquisition. This paper mainly discusses the impact of motivation in language
teaching. To reach the aim of this paper, the term motivation and its types are introduced and
explained. Afterwards, they are followed by a discussion and some beneficial implications for
teachers to awake, sustain and strengthen students’ motivation.
1. INTRODUCTION
From my experience in teaching English for undergraduate students for many years, most
of my students are either motivated extrinsically or demotivated. It seems that students are quite
vague about the role of English in their future career or their personal development. Most
students are reluctant to be physically and mentally present in the classroom. They complete
the tasks because of the fear of failure in a compulsory subject, which may have a short-term
effect on students’ results. However, for a long-term goal and substantial development, more
motivation is necessary for students to exert efforts and be involved actively in class activities.
Learners’ motivation plays a crucial role in foreign language acquisition. Motivation is a
prerequisite for learning and the development of responsibility. Without students’ motivation,
the classroom atmosphere will become boring. Therefore, it is important to think about
students’ motivation as the core of language teaching.
2. DEFINITION AND TYPES OF MOTIVATION
2.1. Definition of motivation
Motivation is the motive for all human actions. This is an intrinsic state, which provides
vitality and directs people into purposeful acts. The basis of motivation is emotions, but
specifically, it is based on avoidance, negative emotional experiences and seeking positive
emotions.
Motivation is typically defined as the forces that account for the arousal, selection,
direction, and continuation of behaviour. Actually, it is often used to describe certain sorts of
behaviour. A student who studies hard and tries for top grades may be described as being
"highly motivated". Such statements imply that motivation has a major influence on our
behaviour.
Motivation can be defined as a concept used to describe the factors within an individual
which arouse, maintain and channel behaviour towards a goal. Another way to say this is that
motivation is goal-directed behaviour.
2.2. Types of Motivation
Motivation has long been a major problem for most teachers of English as a Foreign
Language (EFL) or as a foreign language not only in the Vietnam but also elsewhere. The main
reason is that most of students have low motivation to learn English. In addition to that, while
most of them have a vague sense that whether "English will be useful for us future" or not, they
don't have a clear idea of what that means, nor is that a very strong motivator; it's too vague and
too far off.
1
2.2.1. Integrative & instrumental motivation
Integrated motivation means learning language with the intention of engaging in people's
culture and instrumental motivation implies that learners learn languages to support more
career-related or motivational purposes. These two types of motivation can influence and
control procedures and learning outcomes. Cook (2000) continues to believe that integrated
dynamics and tools proposed by Gardner and Lambert are useful and effective factors for
learning second languages. Gardner (1985) and Ellis (1994) also introduced the types of
motivation mentioned. The former happens when students like to participate or be a member of
a certain crowd and culture. The latter increased when the learner predicted that many of the
benefits he proposed would be available while learning certain languages. Comparing these two
types of dynamics, Ellis (1994) believes that the best and perfect motivation is the integrated
motivation. He believes that integration dynamics are more competent and organized. In fact,
students who do not have integrated or instrumental motivation will actually encounter
problems and difficulties to learn and acquire knowledge of the second language in the
classroom and in general, language learning will difficult for them (Cook, 2000).
2.2.2. Intrinsic & extrinsic motivation
It's important to understand that human beings are not all the same. Thus, effectively
motivating students requires that teachers gain an understanding of the different types of
motivation. Such an understanding will enable teachers to better categorize students in
classroom and apply the appropriate type of motivation. Teachers will find each student
different and each student's motivational needs will be varied as well.
Intrinsic motivation means that the individual's motivational stimuli are coming from
within. The individual has the desire to perform a specific task because its results are in
accordance with students' belief system or fulfill a desire and therefore importance is attached
to it.
Extrinsic motivation means that the individual's motivational stimuli are coming from
outside. In other words, teacher's desires to perform a task are controlled by an outside source.
Note that even though the stimuli are coming from outside, the result of performing the task
will still be rewarding for the individual performing the task.
There is another concept in the area of motivation that Ryan & Deci (2000) suggests is
Self-Determination Theory; Ryan & Deci (2000) stated that Theory of Self decides to classify
and distinguish different types of motivations according to different reasons, causes or goals in
order to reinforce deeds or achievements. In proportion to this theory, the most fundamental
difference is between internal motivation and external motivation. Internal motivation is the
eagerness and excitement to do and participate in certain activities because an individual feels
that they are attractive and pleasant. Students with intrinsic motivation tend to stay with
complex issues and gain knowledge from their slips and mistakes (Walker, Greene, & Mansell,
2006). In addition, the internal motivation is essential and fundamental to the integration
process, through which elements of an internal knowledge and knowledge can be assimilated
or mixed with new knowledge. External motivation, on the other hand, is the tendency to engage
in activities for reasons that are not linked to activities. These reasons may be predictions of
rewards or penalties, such as success in exams or high scores (Vansteenkiste, Lens, & Deci,
2006). Intrinsic motivation is a motivation to perform an activity for itself. In fact, individuals
have intrinsic motivation to do and practice activities and jobs because they feel that such
activities are interesting. External motivation, on the other hand, is the motivation to perform a
job or an activity as a means or way to achieve a goal. People who are motivated to do jobs
because they think their contributions will bring great results like rewards, teacher admiration
or evading (punishment) penalties (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996).
2
2.2.3. The role of motivation in EFL students’ perceptions of teacher/learner
responsibilities and learner abilities
Regarding the question whether motivation plays a role in autonomy or autonomy plays
a role in motivation, the first view suggests that autonomy is a prerequisite for motivation.
Dickinson (1995) explains this view stating that “a measure of individual involvement in
decision making in one's own learning enhances motivation to learn” (Dickinson, 1995, p. 165).
Defining autonomy as both an attitude towards learning and a capacity for independent learning,
Dickinson (1995) proposes two theories of cognitive motivation “attribution theory” and “self-
determination theory”. Deci and Ryan’s (1985, p34) self-determination theory differentiates
between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation by putting them on a continuum where learners
choose to learn at their own will “in the absence of a reward contingency or control” , or where
they perform an activity simply for an external reward or to avoid punishment. Autonomy,
thus, is an essential component in intrinsic motivation. The second theory, the attribution
theory, is concerned with learners’ perceptions of the reasons for success and failure in learning.
These perceptions are important because, they will influence their future performance because
learners should also have control over learning success and failure in order to take responsibility
for their own learning.
In another study, Fazey and Fazey (2001) also concluded that the students who had
internalized motivation possessed attributes that would enable them to be self-determined in
their studies. The hypothesis of this present study is that motivation is a prerequisite for
autonomy, for “motivation may lead to autonomy or be a precondition for it and absence of
motivation seemed to inhibit practice of learner autonomy” (Spratt, Humphreys & Chan, 2002,
p.262).
It is clear that students believe that they should decide the objectives of the lesson together
with their teachers, but the materials, the activities, and the time allocated to these practices
should be decided by their teachers. When it comes to making progress outside the class, most
students take the responsibility on themselves, leaving almost none to their teachers. Students
also tend to share their teachers’ responsibilities in terms of evaluating their learning and the
course. Most of them state that they should evaluate the course and their learning together with
their teachers.
Learning Objectives. The students believe that they should decide the objectives of the
English course together with their teacher. They mostly acknowledge that the teacher has
knowledge and experience; but the students add that since they are the ones who want to learn
English, they should learn what they need and thus they should decide the objectives together
with the teacher in accordance with their own educational aims. Additionally, the students state
that their teachers should decide what they should learn next in their English lessons. Again,
they mostly explain that it is the teacher who is expert, knowledgeable, and experienced, and
thus it is the teacher’s responsibility to ‘plan’ and it’s their responsibility to ‘stick to’ the plan.
A few students even put forward that students might ‘abuse’ this or there might be ‘chaos’ if
they were given the chance to do so. A few students question with sarcasm what their teachers
would do if they took this responsibility on themselves as well.
Learning Process in Class: The students’ general impression is that, after deciding the
objectives together with their teachers, their teachers should be the ones to decide the materials,
the activities and the time spent on these practices. The students usually mention their teachers’
experience, education and knowledge. A few students, however, state that it could be better if
the teacher provided them with a set of materials to choose from and then they could decide on
the materials which appeal to their interests.
3
Learning Process outside Class: Nearly all of the students state that it is their own
responsibility to decide what they learn outside the class and make sure they progress outside
the class. The commonly put forward reason is that when they are outside the classroom, they
are alone and since English cannot only be taught by the teacher in the classroom, it should be
them who are responsible for learning outside the class. A number of students also mention that
because teachers have a lot of students, it would be impossible for teachers to take interest in
or identify weaknesses of each and every student. However, some of the students also indicate
that they may not identify their weakness on their own because they might not know how to do
so, so they suggest getting some help, advice, or counselling from their teachers in this regard.
Learning Outcome: The common belief among students is that evaluating the course is
a responsibility which should be shared by both parties. A teacher should evaluate his/her own
lesson and the students should evaluate the teacher’s lesson. The course would then be much
more beneficial if it were evaluated both by them and by their teachers. In terms of evaluating
their own learning, students tend to share the responsibility with their teachers, students should
be able to evaluate their own learning by continuously monitoring themselves and watching
their progress. However, since they lack knowledge and experience in doing so, they may be
incapable of ‘objectively’ evaluating their own learning, so they state that they need their
teachers to ‘control’ and to ‘check’ their learning outcome.
Whether autonomy precedes motivation or motivation precedes autonomy, this mutual
practice of decision-making would doubtlessly have a positive effect on students’ motivational
and autonomous behaviors. Therefore, the most important implication of this study is that we
need to raise autonomous teachers to raise autonomous learners, and the schools or the
institutions should allow room for teachers to act autonomously enough to raise autonomous
students . It should be kept in mind that since autonomy is not an all-or-nothing concept, every
small step taken towards autonomy would help students to get more and more autonomous.
3. DISCUSSION
3.1. “Pair work” or “Group work”
One of the successful ways, if the teacher is resourceful and skillful enough, to motivate
students to participate in the lesson is to use “pair work” or “group work” appropriately.
Language is best learned through the close collaboration and communication among students.
This type of collaboration results in benefits for all or both learners. In fact, learners can help
each other while working on different types of tasks such as writing dialogues, interviews,
drawing pictures and making comments about them, play roles.
Researches have shown that learners have differences in mastering skills. While one
student is good in drawing, another can be good in expressing ideas verbally; a third other
student can be good at role play and imitation. Besides, some students find it less stressful, if
not much comfortable to learn certain rules or usages of language from their peers and comrades
than from their teachers. Finally, communicative language teaching requires a sense of
community and an environment of trust and mutual confidence which “pair work” or “group
work” can provide.
3.2. The seating of the students
The way the students are seated in the classroom will often determine the dynamics of
the lesson. Indeed, a simple change in the seating pattern can make an incredible difference to
group coherence and student satisfaction. The seating pattern students use may, in some cases,
not be fully under teachers’ control. For example, the desks are fixed to the ground or the school
has strict rules about not moving the furniture. Student numbers are also going to be an issue.
Teachers have different preferences for seating arrangements and groups seated round small
tables is often one choice. This is probably the best option for the larger classes in this range,
4
but for smaller numbers and with adult or teenage students. The horseshoe shape, which
teachers find has all of the advantages of groups, and none of the disadvantages. A horseshoe
may be desks in a U-shape with a hollow center, students in a semicircle on chairs with arm-
rests and no desks, or students seated around three sides of a large table, with the teacher at one
end.
3.3. Role play
This is another technique to vary the pace the lesson and to respond to the fundamental
notion of variety in teaching. Teachers are advised to use the role- play activity in order to
motivate their students and to help the less motivated learners take part in the lesson. Besides,
certain tasks in the student’s book are followed by a role- play activity where it becomes a
necessity to undergo such an activity. As good examples of that we can state: the hide (item)
and guessing game, dramatizing an interview of customer and shop assistant, doctor and patient
conversation.
3.4. The Error Correction
It is always asked whether we should correct all students’ errors, whenever they occur.
The reasonable answer is that if we stop at every single error and treat it with no room for errors
to take place, this will lead to a gap of communication and students will be too much afraid of
making mistakes. Hence, due to being too much obsessed with making errors, students will be
too much reluctant to participate. Thus, teachers should be aware of when to correct errors and
how to do that without any hurt and humiliation. In a learner- centered classroom, it should be
better to correct errors, which students make unconsciously, whenever there is a gap of
communication or when not treating the error will result in a misunderstanding of the idea
expressed.
Concerning the ways of how to correct errors, there are several techniques which the
teacher, who is seen as the monitor, should choose from them according to the type of the error
and task where the incorrect form of language occurs. Among these ways of correction, we can
state self-correction, peer correction and teacher correction.
Although the levels of students’ motivation and their rating themselves good are found to
be related, there is no meaningful relationship between students’ motivation levels and their
abilities about their and their teachers’ responsibilities. In other words, this study fails to claim
that high-motivated students are likely to share more responsibilities with their teachers; or
those who rated themselves very poor tend to put more responsibilities on their teachers.
3.5. Effects of Motivation on Learning Styles
Deep learners respond well to the challenge of mastering a difficult and complex subject.
These are intrinsically motivated students who are often a joy to teach.
Strategic learners are motivated primarily by rewards. They react well to competition and
the opportunity to best others. They often make good grades but won’t engage deeply with a
subject unless there is a clear reward for doing so. They are sometimes called “bulimic
learners,” learning as much as they need to do well on a test or exam and then promptly
forgetting the material once the assessment is over.Handle strategic learners by avoiding
appeals to competition. Appeal to their intrinsic interest in the subject at hand. Design your
assignments (tests, papers, projects, etc.) so that deep engagement with the subject is necessary
for success on the assignments. Do so by requiring students to apply, synthesize, or evaluate
material instead of merely comprehending or memorizing material.
Surface learners are often motivated by a desire to avoid failure. They typically avoid
deep learning because they see it as inherently risky behavior. They will often do what it takes
to pass an exam or course, but they won’t choose to go beyond the minimum required for fear
5
of failure. Handle surface learners by helping them gain confidence in their abilities to learn
and perform. “Scaffold” course materials and assignments by designing a series of activities or
assignments that build on each other over time in complexity and challenge. Encourage these
learners often and help them reflect on what they’ve learned and what they’ve accomplished.
4. CONLUSIONS
Language acquisition motivational research has much to offer the language classroom.
Clear definitions and an understanding of motivation theoretical constructs within an
educational psychology framework can assist both students and teachers to achieve their goals.
In essence, non-denominational students are not motivated to study. Teachers are also very
passionate about the profession. The problem is that EFL teachers' teaching methods in Asian
countries have not created enough conditions for students to develop their abilities. Learning
activities should be designed in a way that contributes to capacity building self-study by setting
up a study plan, implementing and adjusting the plan study and ultimately evaluate your own
learning outcomes and progress.
REFERENCES
3. Cook, V. (2000). Linguistics and second language acquisition. Beijing: Foreign Language
Teaching and Research Press and Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 4.
4. Cook, V. (2000). Second language learning and language teaching. Beijing: Foreign
Language Teaching and Research Press and Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd
5. Crump, C. A. (1995). “Motivating students: A teacher’s challenge”. Sooner Communication
Conference, Norman, Oklahoma. Cook, V. (2000).
6. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human
behavior. New York: Plenum.
7. Dickinson, L. (1995). Autonomy and motivation.
8. Ellis, Rod. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
9. Fazey, D., & Fazey, J. (2001). The potential for autonomy in learning. Studies in Higher
Education
10. Gardner, R.C. (1985). Social Psychology and Second Language Learning. London
BNM/.,MEdward Arnold.
11. Spratt, M., Humphreys, G., & Chan, V. (2002). Autonomy and motivation: Which comes
first? Language Teaching Research
12. Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H. (1996). Motivation in education: Theory, research, and
applications. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
13. Vansteenkiste, Lens, & Deci, 2006). International magazine on business and social science.
3 Number 24 [Special Problem - December 2012] 233
6
6 trang
20900
Free
Bạn đang xem tài liệu "Motivation for learning english among undergraduate students and its impact", để tải tài liệu gốc về máy hãy click vào nút Download ở trên
File đính kèm:
- motivation_for_learning_english_among_undergraduate_students.pdf
