Kim I.A., Yechina Y.G.
Taraz State University, Kazakhstan
Sustaining Motivation through Learning Styles
Motivation is one
of the most essential factors influencing the second language learning. The
more a learner is motivated the more efficient a foreign language is being
learnt. R. Gardner defines motivation as “the extent to which an individual
works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the
satisfaction experienced in this activity”. It is a complex process of a
learner’s behavior which is based on such components as motivational intensity;
desire to learn the language, and an attitude towards the act of learning the
language. So, according to R. Gardner again, “motivation refers to a kind of
central mental “engine” or “energy-centre” that subsumes effort, want/will
(cognition), and task-enjoyment (affect)” [1; 10].
Researching the
main types of motivation, R. Gardner and W. Lambert differentiate between instrumental
and integrative motivation. “Instrumental
motivation is generally characterized by the desire to obtain something
practical or concrete from the study of a second language. Integrative motivation is characterized by the learner’s positive
attitudes towards the target language group and comes into play when one desires
to become a part of a community that uses the target language in social
situations” [2; 3]. We can assume that the first type of motivation
(instrumental) is more appropriate to the adult learners who definitely know
what they are learning their second language for. While the second type
(integrative motivation) dominates in the learning activity of the young
learners who highly appreciate the opportunity to be the members of any social
group able to approve their interests.
The considered
types of motivation are not the only ones in the modern teaching methodological
theory. The most influential in motivation studies is its division into
intrinsic and extrinsic types. “Intrinsic
motivation is the motivation to be involved in an activity for its own
sake” [3; 398]. So the intrinsically motivated student learns due to his own
wish to learn. “Extrinsic motivation
is characterized as the motivation to engage in an activity as a means to an
end” [3; 349]. In this case the extrinsically motivated student is not only
interested in the activity itself but more in the final outcome the activity helps
to reach.
The combination
of these both types of motivation provides the best learning result. Young
learners can set a goal to master a foreign language and take a special course
of it. Having become more experienced they outline additional perspectives and
wish to become qualified to obtain them. This is the transfer from intrinsic to
extrinsic motivation formation. Young learners can be intrinsically motivated
because of their tendency to leadership, wish to work as a foreign language
teacher or an interpreter, study abroad or travel to some special countries. Intrinsically
motivated adult learners are eager to be promoted, hold a strong position at
the job place, and meet some special requirements in their future plans.
But of course not
all the learners are strongly motivated like this. Teaching experience proves that
many students now are first extrinsically and only then (if at all they are)
intrinsically motivated. The reasons for the extrinsic motivation dominance are
sometimes even the following: parents want to see their child a prosperous
businessman working in a multinational company, an educated girl with the
knowledge of foreign languages is more welcomed to become a wife of the
respected parents’ son.
Motivation is the
first step in successful language learning. The teacher is to define the type
of a student’s motivation and provide the proper training in different learning
styles.
The main task of
any teacher is to understand how to move students from passive to active
learning. Knowing the types of learners helps reasonable teachers to use a
variety of methods to involve students into the active process of learning. It
is natural that people learn using a combination of methods, but one method is
usually predominant.
Knowledge of the
characteristics of each learning style allows the teacher to address the needs
of each type of learner. Here are the main features of learners:
Visual Learners
usually have the following characteristics:
1.
They speak fast.
2.
They are impatient and tend to
interrupt the learning process.
3.
They use words that evoke visual
images.
4.
They learn best by looking.
5.
The enjoy reading and seeing
pictures.
The teaching
strategy for visual learners should include the use of demonstrations and
visual presentation of the materials. For doing this and achieving best results
it is useful to use pictures, flashcards, posters and videos. Very helpful here
is the application of an active board and a great variety of different
exercises and tasks, which can be presented on the active board.
The second type
of learners is Auditory Learners
They share the
following characteristics:
1.
They speak slowly.
2.
They think in a linear manner.
3.
Things must be explained to them
verbally
4.
They learn by listening and
verbalizing.
They respond to songs,
listening to stories, poems and riddles. They actively participate in all types
of listening activities.
One of activities which
the teacher can use with auditory learners is listening to songs. Give the
students the task to listen to the first part of a pop song “Sweet dreams”, or
any other song you have at hand. Then ask them to write down any words or
phrases they can remember and then compare them with other students in the
group. Ask students to listen to the second part of the song. Every line begins
“Some of them want to _______,” but what are the endings of the lines? How many
different endings are there? Doing this work the students learn new speech
patterns, new words and some grammar.
The third type of
learners is Read-Write Learners
The
characteristics they have are the following:
1.
The information is to be presented
in writing.
2.
They emphasize text-based input and
output.
3.
They enjoy reading and writing in
all forms.
These students are good
at writing out in their own words the ideas that were taught; organizing any
diagrams, graphs, other visual depictions into statements; and putting them
into words.
And the last type
of learners is Kinesthetic Learners
1.
They the slowest talkers.
2.
They are slow in making decisions.
3.
They learn by solving real-life
problems.
4.
They learn through trial and error.
A very good
method, which can be applied with Kinesthetic Learners, is a Case study method.
Using this method learners solve real or imaginary problems, make decisions and
thus learn the language.
These are the most common types of learners,
you can meet in your class and the teacher should use and combine multiple
teaching methods in order to involve students in the process of learning the
language and encourage and motivate them. Each learner type requires its
motivation. If a teacher knows what kind of learners his students are, he is
easily able to plan lessons efficiently.
Learning styles influence the efficiency
of ESL teaching and learning process. “One size fits all” approach doesn’t
always work. But luckily there are few learners belonging to the only learner
type. Most of us combine features of several learner types. So, making progress
in the second language teaching, we’d better keep in mind that including
different learning styles activities at different stages of the lesson helps
our students understand, internalize and enjoy class sessions.
References
1. Gardner R. C., Social
psychology and second language learning: the role of attitudes and motivation, London:
Edward Arnold, 1985
2. Hudson G., Essential
introductory linguistics, UK: Blackwell Publishers, 2000
3. Paul Eggen, & Kauchak Don, Educational
Psychology: Windows on
Classroom, Shangxi: Shangxi, Normal University Press, 2005