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ACTIVITIES THAT BOOST STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN THE ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
Abstract and Figures
Motivation, as defined by Ullah and Fatema (2013), is an influence factor for achieving a
specific goal. Or in other words, a driving force that encourages one to do something.
Motivation plays a crucial role in acquiring and learning new information. In order to be
able to learn something new, students need to have a driving force that encourages them to do, exactly that – be open to learning. Teachers are constantly faced with the challenge of keeping their students motivated, interested and engaged. That influence factor for achieving a specific goal, or motivation, is particularly needed when teaching literature. Teachers, especially those who teach English as a Foreign or English as a Second language, constantly face challenges when it comes to motivating their students to read, or be interested in literature at all. The challenge is even greater when in the regular classroom there is at least one gifted student (presuming they have already been identified as such). This makes the teacher’s job even more difficult.
The aim of this paper, as the title suggests, is to propose activities that enhance and boost the motivation of EFL (English as a foreign language) students to read novels. The motivation of EFL students to read and understand novels can be fostered through Media/Digital Literacy and through the use of Drama Strategies. The activities proposed in this paper are beneficial even for gifted students in regular classes.
Keywords: motivation, regular classroom, gifted, talented, literature, EFL
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The grade of students’ achievements, with all its weaknesses, is a form of feedback through which the students are informed about the effects of the process of learning and the results of the effort they put. It is assumed that this sort of feedback has a motivational impact on their future work in the teaching process.
In the educational process, the teacher should constantly work on the development of the students’ confidence and the development of the motive for achievement, because it is a very important factor that enables proper experience of the feedback on the students’ individual achievements. The motive for achievement is an important factor in the student’ performance. Taking into account the impact the grade has not only on the students, but on the parents and other entities interested in the students’ achievements too, the paper examines the motivational function of the grade through surveys and informal interviews conducted with students and teachers, i.e. an examination of how much the grade as a number, obtained in the teaching process as feedback, influences the students’ motivation to learn.
Keywords: grade, motivational function
It's no doubt that we are living in times of great change. As we teachers prepare our students for the new era, we are aware of these changes occurring globally. The makers of curricula include intercultural objectives and teachers are faced with the challenge of promoting the acquisition of intercultural competence through the teaching. Foreign language education is by definition intercultural. Why? Because bringing English as a foreign language to the classroom means connecting students to a world that is culturally different from their own. The objective of language learning is no longer defined in terms of communicative competence in English (or any other foreign language). English teachers are now required to teach intercultural competence as well. Teaching culture includes changes in attitudes, beliefs, identity and values. It also requires students to revise their social identity, to reconsider the ideas they have held etc. In the context of foreign language learning, intercultural competence is linked to communicative competence in English as a foreign language. Communicative competence refers to a person's ability to act in a foreign language in a linguistically, sociolinguistically and pragmatically appropriate way (Council of Europe). But for a successful intercultural process in the classroom, English teachers need additional knowledge, attitudes, competence, skills, good techniques, professionalism and of course a good source materials for teaching culture. Also the teachers should be skillful creators of learning environment that promote students' acquisition of intercultural competence. They can help students to relate their own culture to English speaking cultures, to compare cultures and to understand foreign cultures' points of view.
The claim that listening to extreme music causes anger and expressions of anger such as
aggression and delinquency has yet to be substantiated using controlled experimental
methods. In this study, 39 extreme music listeners aged 18 to 34 years were subjected to an
anger induction, followed by random assignment to 10 minutes of listening to extreme music
from their own playlist, or 10 minutes silence (control). Measures of emotion included heart
rate and subjective ratings on the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). Results
showed that ratings of PANAS hostility, irritability, and stress increased during the anger
induction, and decreased after the music or silence. Heart rate increased during the anger
induction and was sustained (not increased) in the music condition, and decreased in the
silence condition. PANAS active and inspired ratings increased during music listening, an
effect that was not seen in controls. The findings indicate that extreme music did not make
angry participants angrier rather it appeared to match their physiological arousal and result in
an increase in positive emotions. Listening to extreme music may represent a healthy way of
processing anger for these listeners.
The universal importance of reading, a receptive skill, is enormous. It encompasses a major part of learning and teaching a language. Reading ameliorates language competence of learners and it has an all-inclusive effect on their acquisition of second language. But some students are not found appropriately motivated or found demotivated in reading classes across the world. This research aims at finding out why some students are less motivated in reading classes at Tertiary Level in Bangladesh.Both qualitative and quantitative research methodshave been employed in conducting the research. Simple random sampling technique has been used to select the respondents from the population of different public and private universities of Bangladesh. This research shows that some students are less motivated in reading classesat Tertiary Level for quite a lot of reasons pertaining to themselves, teachers, reading materials, contextual factors, etc. This paper also highlights some recommendations carrying out of which might make learners motivated in reading classes.
This paper reports an empirical study that examined the widespread practice of using songs in language teaching for young learners. The study may represent the first methodologically rigorous assessment of vocabulary acquisition through songs as used in language teaching. Over a seven-week period including fifteen 40-minute classes, three groups of students from two private kindergartens in Beijing were taught five short English phrases of 4-8 words through each of three conditions (songs, choral repetition, control) in a within-subject repeated measures design. Vocabulary acquisition was measured by the number of meaningful morphemes produced by the students in a picture description task administered before and after the teaching period. Results indicated significant acquisition for items learned through songs and choral repetition, but not for control items. The implication is that songs may indeed contain ünportant pedagogical value.
In this 'new media age' the screen has replaced the book as the dominant medium of communication. This dramatic change has made image, rather than writing, the centre of communication. In this groundbreaking book, Gunther Kress considers the effects of a revolution that has radically altered the relationship between writing and the book. Taking into account social, economic, communication and technological factors, Kress explores how these changes will affect the future of literacy. Kress considers the likely larger-level social and cultural effects of that future, arguing that the effects of the move to the screen as the dominant medium of communication will produce far-reaching shifts in terms of power - and not just in the sphere of communication. The democratic potentials and effects of the new information and communication technologies will, Kress contends, have the widest imaginable consequences. Literacy in the New Media Age is suitable for anyone fascinated by literacy and its wider political and cultural implications. It will be of particular interest to those studying education, communication studies, media studies or linguistics.
Several studies have investigated motivation and language anxiety, but there have been few studies on the direct relationship between the two. To determine which types of motivation best predict the students' foreign language anxiety, this study investigated the relationship between motivation for learning English and foreign language anxiety among Japanese university students. The results revealed that students who have practical reasons to study English and intellectual satisfaction tended to have lower levels of foreign language anxiety. Thus, this study suggests that instructors should a) be demonstrating how English structure, vocabulary, etc. that students are learning are useful for their life and b) design classes in which students can find intellectual satisfaction.