Andy Boon is a professor in the faculty of Global Communications at Toyo Gakuen University, Tokyo. He holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from Aston University and has been teaching in Japan for over 20 years. Publishing articles on teacher development, motivation and methodology, Andy is also author and co-author of textbooks and graded readers for English language learners.
What is motivation?
Motivation is an abstract concept. We cannot see it. We cannot touch it. Yet, we may know instinctively when it is there or not there. Thus, how can we describe it? Motivation generally has three features:
a) the reason somebody decides to start a particular action,
b) the person’s persistence in keeping this action going, and
c) the effort the person puts into accomplishing what it is they wish to achieve.
For example, I may have many good reasons for starting to learn a language (a), but I may give up easily (b), or may put no effort into my studies (c) and thus, am I really motivated?
Why are some learners not motivated to study?
To understand more about learner motivational problems at my institution, I asked my university students in Japan why some learners are not motivated to study English. They said that students may have low motivation when:
- They do not know whether they will need English for their future careers
- They have few opportunities to use English outside of the classroom
- They find English too difficult to learn
- They find the lessons or the teachers boring
- They feel that English is only a tool to pass a proficiency test or entrance exam
- They feel too shy to participate actively in the class
(Boon, 2012)
Thus, an important step in understanding learner motivation in one’s particular institution is to ask the students what tends to motivate or demotivate them or their friends when studying English.
Dörnyei’s model
As can be seen in the list of six factors that can demotivate learners, teachers have a great responsibility to motivate their students in the classroom. Dörnyei (2001) suggests a four-phase teaching model that can help us to do this:
1.Establish a motivational classroom environment: Be enthusiastic and believe in your students. Help students to feel safe, to be able to take risks, to feel that their contributions will be valued, and encourage students to support one another.
2.Get learners interested, curious, and wanting to learn: Encourage students to take an active role, to experience success in using English, and experiment with new activities to avoid predictable classroom routines.
3.Help learners to keep their interest: Keep students on their toes by regularly changing activities. Think of ways to make the material exciting, maximize student involvement, and reduce student anxiety.
4.Encourage learners to reflect on their classroom experiences: Give students time to think about their learning experiences and consider how hard they have worked during class. Encourage them to focus on effort put in rather than ability, and to provide each other with feedback that motivates.
Planning for motivation
It is useful for teachers to keep Dörnyei’s (2001) model in mind when planning classes. As well as considering lesson objectives and how best to achieve them, teachers may think of how they can generate, maintain, and protect student motivation with each activity they introduce in the classroom. For example, in my speaking classes, I often ask students to do a ‘Revolving Sushi Bar’ activity (Boon, 2010). Students are put in pairs. Students stand at the ends of each table in a row:
S4 TABLE S8
S3 TABLE S7
S2 TABLE S6
S1 TABLE S5
Each student on the left asks a question to the student on the right (e.g. ‘What do you usually do at the weekend?’). The students on the right listen and answer the question. Students then switch the communication roles. After that, students rotate one space around the tables:
S3 TABLE S4
S2 TABLE S8
S1 TABLE S7
S5 TABLE S6
Each student has a new partner and they repeat the speaking activity. Students are rotated until they return to their original partner. As students grow in confidence with the activity, it is possible for the teacher to encourage them to speak more by asking each other follow-up questions. For example:
S1: What do you usually do at the weekend?
S7: I work. I have a part-time job.
S1: What do you do?
S7: I work at a restaurant.
S1: Oh really? Which restaurant?
The motivational purpose of the ‘Revolving Sushi Bar’ speaking activity is as follows:
- It generates interest by breaking the monotony of sitting down and facing forward
- It maintains interest as students get new partners and have unique conversations
- It protects motivation by maximizing student involvement
- Students can reflect positively on their learning experiences.
Now, it is over to you. Reflect on the activities you use regularly in your classes. Think about how each activity may motivate (or demotivate) your learners. Make any changes you feel are necessary to the activities and try them out in your next classes.
If you are interested in reading more about motivation in the classroom, check out Koki Shimazu’s article on Motivating students to study grammar.
References
Boon, A. (2010). Utilizing classroom space. Modern English Teacher 19 (3): 22-24.
Boon, A. (2012). Here we are, now motivate us. Modern English Teacher 21 (1): 56-61.
Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivational strategies in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.