”Ô³ëîëîã³÷í³ íàóêè”/Ìåòîäèêà âèêëàäàííÿ ìîâè òà
ë³òåðàòóðè
Ìàð³ÿ Ñåìåíþê
Áóêîâèíñüêèé óí³âåðñèòåò
Motivating learners: promoting engagement in TEFL
Learning
to communicate in another language takes a long time. It is one of the most
challenging tasks your students are likely to undertake, and they can easily
become discouraged and bored with it. That is why language teachers have to
keep their students interested and motivated by helping them understand
the language acquisition process, connect language learning with their larger
educational and life goals, and succeed as language learners.
A primary
responsibility of a teacher is to revive motivation. Without strong motivation
students will fail in their attempt to bridge the gap between the manipulative
and communicative phase of language learning, between receptive and
reproductive skills, and their hopes of speaking English fluently will never be
realized.
Motivation is fostered by initiative
participation of learners in communication at the lesson and outside classroom
activities. It is based on interaction between the teacher and learners, on the
one side, and among the learners, on the other. Student’s motivation includes
curiosity and interest, positive self-concept and self-confidence, learning
valued for its own sake, and the purpose of learning.
Students
will be motivated to learn if the learning activity is meaningful and if the
knowledge is useful and provides a means of achieving a desired goal. Such
learning activities provide a stimulus to reflective inquiry and continuing
intellectual development.
Guidelines:
·
Focus
attention on themes that relate to student’s daily life (relevance).
·
Structure
the programme so that all students achieve success (gradation).
·
Set
sizeable goals; language learning and behaviour should be clear to students
(accessibility).
·
Vary
the activities which promote learning and hold students’ interest (variety).
·
Praise
students for good performance, progress and behaviour (incentives).
·
Treat
students with respect and dignity; be fair (fair treatment)
The teacher’s personality and outlook may
provide students with fresh motivation. If the teacher has a genuine interest
in the students and their welfare, if he smiles often and gives praise where
deserved, if he is responsive to students’ difficulties, and shows faith in
their abilities, they will try harder to succeed in speaking English.
Language teachers promote or discourage
students' engagement by the ways they define successful language learners. When
the successful language learner is one who can pass tests and make good grades,
learning about the language is all that is required and success is defined by
mastery of rules and forms. When the successful language learner is one who has
the ability to use the language to accomplish communication goals, success is
defined as making the language one’s own.
To promote engagement in language
learning:
Students’ motivation for learning a
language increases when they see connections between what they do in the
classroom and what they hope to do with the language in the future. Their
attention increases when classroom activities are relevant to their interests.
To make these connections, begin by having
students list the ways they may use the language in future. Have them include
both the ways they plan to use it and other ways that might arise. Ask them to
be as specific as possible. For each way of using language, ask them to list
specific communication tasks that they will need to be able to do. Use these
purposes and tasks as the basis for task-oriented classroom communication
activities.
Some lower level students will respond
that they don’t plan to use the language – that they are taking the course to
fulfil a university language requirement. Encourage these students to develop
an imaginary scenario for themselves in which they have some reason for using
the language. In doing this, some students may think of ways in which they
really might use it, and others will come to understand that purpose is an
integral part of language learning.
Another way of making language instruction
relevant and interesting to students is to find out what topics they are
studying and draw materials for reading and discussion from those fields.
However, remember that reading and discussion do not always have to be about
serious issues or academic topics. Students enjoy talking about movies and
television programs, vacation plans, famous people, and other popular culture
topics.
Don't be afraid to drop a topic if students'
interest begins to fade. Ask them to suggest alternatives. When students know
that they have some control over what they do in the language classroom, they
take ownership as engaged learners.
Thus
the key to successful language learning is the atmosphere of co-operation and
encouragement created in the classroom by the teacher and students working
together. Classes should be informative, enjoyable and fun. The whole variety
of teaching techniques should ensure lively, interesting and productive lessons
with ample opportunities for the students to contribute their own ideas and
experiences [1, p. 140].
References:
1. Blyzniuk M. Lecture-notes on methodology of
teaching English as a foreign language. – Chernivtsi:
2.
3.
Bickhard, M. H. Interaction and Representation. Theory
& Psychology, 9(4) ,1999.- p. 234