Педагогические науки/5. Современные методы преподавания

Tulegenova A.M., Nurlanova A.N

Eurasian national university named by L.N. Gumilyev

Motivating strategies in TFL

Motivation in foreign language learning Motive: a factor or circumstance that induces a person press to act in a particular way (Oxford dictionary, 2000).
Motivate: supply a motive to: be the motive of: cause (a person) to act in a particular way: stimulate the interest (of a person in an activity).
Motivation: The impetus to create and sustain intentions and goal-seeking acts (Ames, 1989). Furthermore, most psychologists concerned with learning and education use the word motivation to describe those processes that can (a) arouses and instigate behaviour, (b) give direction or purpose to behaviour, (c) continue to allow behaviour to persist, and (d) lead to choosing or preferring a particular behaviour (Wlodkowski, 1985).

Early theories: Far and away the most important work done in this area (motivation and foreign language learning) has been by Robert Gardner (earlier with Wallace Lambert, and later with research associates at the University of Western Ontario). Carder and Lambert (1972) suggested that those people who identify positively in this way would like to resemble the foreign peoples concerned, to understand their culture, and to be able to participate in it. This pattern of motivation they label an integrative orientation. It is a particularly important source of motivation because it is firmly based in over an extended period and to sustain learning effort over the time that is necessary to attain language learning success. Gardner and Lambert (1972) also described an instrumental orientation to language learning. This type of motivation is based on the advantages that can accrue if a language is known, e.g. professional advancement; capacity to do one’s job well; ability to read useful material in the target language; potential to exploit members of the foreign culture, etc. Gardner and Lambert hypothesized in the personality of the learner, and therefore, more dependent on fallible external pressures. As a result, the learner is less likely to expend effort to achieve cumulative progress.

There also are other researches about this area. The general conclusion from this early research is that there is some evidence in support of the Gardner---Lambert (1972) position, but other data, which are not so favourable.
In any case, we can conclude that these early studies contained considerable promise; that they may important progress in the development of measurement techniques and that they were worth pursuing (Skehan, 1989).

Specific the motivational strategies

We have already seen the relationship between motivation and foreign language, now we turn next to specific the motivational strategies.

Main types of motivational strategies According to Dörnyei (1999)’ work, he incorporated the motivational strategies that used in teaching English as foreign language into the following main types:

Generating initial motivation
Creating the basic motivational conditions
· Adopting appropriate teacher behaviour and establishing rapport with the students
· Creating a pleasant and safe classroom atmosphere
· Creating a cohesive learner group
Enhancing the learners language-related values and attitudes
· Focus on ‘integrativeness’
· Focus on the anticipated intrinsic pleasure of learning
· Focus on instrumental incentives
-Making the curriculum relevant for the learners
-Increasing the learners’ expectancy of success

Maintaining and protecting motivation
- Helping learners to set appropriate (proximal and specific) sub goals for themselves
- Increasing the quality of the learning experience
- Increasing the learners’ self-confidence
- Providing regular experiences of success
- Reducing classroom anxiety

- Promoting favourable self-conceptions of foreign language learning competence
- Creating learner autonomy
- Adopting an active socialising role (by the teacher)
- Raising the learners’ awareness of motivation maintenance strategies
- Emotion control
- Motivation control
- Environmental control
Rounding off the learning experience: Encouraging positive self –evaluation
-Promoting attributions to effort rather than to ability
-Increasing learner satisfaction

Beginning learning process: Generating initial motivation

Objectives: helping students develop positive attitudes toward learning; recognizing and responding to needs of students.

Strategy 1: Make the first experience with the subject as positive as possible
This strategy is based on the idea that “first impressions are important.” The students’ first impression, once formed, will strongly influence how they accept and receive future experiences with the subject. Anything we can do as teachers to make that first lesson or initial contact as safe, successful, and interesting as possible will increase students’ motivation for future involvement with foreign language learning.

Strategy 2: Helping learners to set appropriate goals for themselves

Because everyone has their own needs, everyone should have their own proximal and specific goals to achieve their needs. Without goals, it is hard to motivate ourselves to do something. “Motivation requires setting goals either by you or with others (Smith I, 2000)

Strategy 3: Increasing the quality of the learning experience

· Increasing the attractiveness of the course content
· Arousing and sustaining the students’ curiosity and attention
· Increasing the students’ interest and involvement in the tasks

Conclusion

In fact, based on the present state of knowledge in the field of motivation, it is currently impossible to accurately respond to this question. Although we cannot precisely evaluate the motivation of learners, there are several approaches we can use to estimate and increase our awareness of the presence and quality of motivation among them. They are learning, such as personal observation, reflective diary instruments. So, according to Smith (2001): “Motivating young people is a fundamental part of what it is to be a teacher.”

Reference

1. Ames, “Motivation in TFL”, 1989

2. Alan Maley, “Internet teaching”, 2001

3. Gardner Lambert “Research on motivational strategies”, 1972