A study of how to motivate second-year English majors at the Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of Education = Nghiên cứu cách tạo động lực cho sinh

4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declarations
Acknowledgement
Abstract
List of abbriviations
List of charts
Table of contents
Part 1: Introduction 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Research hypotheis 2
3. Aims of the study 2
4. Significance of the study 2
4.1. Theoretical significance 2
4.2. Practical significance 3
5. Scope of the study 3
6. Methods of the study 3
7. Design of the study 4
Part 2: Development 5
Chapter 1: Theoretical Background 5
1.1. Overview of motivation in language learning 5
1.1.1. Definition of motivation 5
1.1.2. Classification of motivation in language learning 6

5
1.1.3. The importance of motivation in language learning 9
1.1.4. Common factors affecting learners’ motivation
in language learning 9
1.1.4.1. Learners’ factors 10
1.1.4.2. Parents’ factors 11

1.1.4.3. Teachers’ factors 12
1.1.4.4. Learning materials 13
1.1.4.5. Learners’ success in language learning 13
1.1.5. Characteristics of motivated learners 13
1.1.6. General strategies to motivate students in language teaching 14
1.1.7. Maintaining and protecting the students’ motivation 18
1.1.8. Motivational macro-strategies 23
1.2. Teaching listening 26
1.2.1. What makes L2 listening more challenging than L1 listening 27
1.2.2. The importance of listening instruction 29
1.2.3. Component skills for listening 30
1.2.4. Listening ability assessment scales 31
1.2.5. How to motivate students in listening classes 33
Chapter 2: Methodology 35
2.1. The setting of the study 35
2.1.1. The students 35
2.1.2. The researcher 36
2.1.3. The syllabus and learning materials 36

6
2.2. Research hypothesis 36
2.3. The methods employed in the study 37
2.3.1. Three changes made to the listening course 37
2.3.2. The methods employed 38
2.4. The data collection procedures 41
Chapter 3: Data analysis, Findings, and Discussions 42
3.1. Data analysis 42
3.1.1. Results from classroom observation and analysis 42
3.1.2. Results from the students’ writing journals 43
3.1.3. Results from the survey questionnaires 44

3.1.3.1. Results from pre-treatment questionnaire 44
3.1.3.2. Results from post-treatment questionnaire 52
3.1.4. Results from the informal interviews with students 59
3.2. Findings and discussions 60
3.2.1. Findings 60
3.2.2. Discussions 62

Part 3: Conclusion 63
1. Recapitulation 63
2. Limitations 64
3. Suggestions for further research 64
References 66
Appendix

7
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL
English as a foreign language
ESL
English as a second language
FOE
Faculty of English
HNUE
Hanoi National University of Education
L2
Second language

8
LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1
Pre-Questionnaire: Student's interest in listening skill
Chart 2
Pre-Questionnaire: the relevance of the lesson content to students interest
Chart 3
Pre-Questionnaire: students' efforts in learning and practicing listening skill
Chart 4
Pre-Questionnaire: students' time spent learning English
Chart 5
Pre-Questionnaire: students' time spent learning and practicing listening skill
Chart 6
Pre-Questionnaire: students' desire to learn listening skill
Chart 7
Pre-Questionnaire: students' attitude to listening courses
Chart 8
Pre-Questionnaire: students' aptitude to learn listening skill

Chart 9
Pre-Questionnaire: students' self-evaluation on ability to master listening skill
Chart 10
Post-Questionnaire: Student's interest in listening skill
Chart 11
Post-Questionnaire: the relevance of the lesson content to students interest
Chart 12
Post-Questionnaire: students' efforts in learning and practicing listening skill
Chart 13
Post-Questionnaire: students' time spent learning English
Chart 14
Post-Questionnaire: students' time spent learning and practicing listening skill
Chart 15
Post-Questionnaire: students' desire to learn listening skill
Chart 16
Post-Questionnaire: students' attitude to listening courses
Chart 17
Post-Questionnaire: students' aptitude to learn listening skill
Chart 18
Post-Questionnaire: students' self-evaluation on ability to master listening skill




9

PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale.
In the field of teaching and learning foreign languages in general and the English
language in particular, motivation has always been playing an essential role to

achieve success and improvement. In many cases, students are still unsuccessful just
because they lack motivation to learn. That is why many researchers and
educationalists have been sharing the same idea that the best method of teaching is to
improve their motivation in the learning process.
Being an English teacher at a university for nearly three years, the author has always
tried best to facilitate the students‟ study of English. Through teaching experiences
and everyday observation, the author notices that when studying English at
university, the author‟s students normally encounter many difficulties in listening
skill. Moreover, their lack of motivation in learning and practicing this skill has been
recognized. All of these have inspired the author to make an attempt to carry out this
research in order to find out the way to motivate the students in their listening
classes.
Another reason for conducting this research study is the appropriateness of its type,
which is action research, in the present situation of the author. Being a teacher
teaching English at a university, the author has to fulfill the tasks of teaching and
doing research at the same time. Clearly, carrying out action research to find out the
answers to the problems emerging in classrooms can help the author successfully
accomplish these challenging tasks.
Furthermore, an earlier research study was conducted in Beijing and achieved many
encouraging results. However, the context of Chinese students is clearly different
from that of Vietnamese students. Besides, the research done in Beijing did have
some limitations in the data collection process. These did give an account for the
author‟s wish of carrying out this research study to gain more reliable findings in the
context of these Vietnamese students.

10
2. Research hypothesis
This study was designed to verify the following hypothesis:
The way applied by the research author in listening classes can enhance the FOE,
HNUE second-year English majors‟ motivation in studying the skill of listening.

3. Aims of the study
The ultimate purpose of the research is to investigate the effectiveness of several
changes made during the listening course in terms of boosting the motivation of
second-year English majors at FOE, HNUE in acquiring listening skill. It specifically
aims at:
 Looking at the students‟ motivation and the present situation of teaching and
training the listening skill to second-year English majors at FOE, HNUE
 Investigating changes in the students‟ motivation during and after the
application of some changes made in the listening course
 Examining the students‟ attitudes towards the changes made during the
course
 Giving some recommendations for improving the students‟ motivation in
learning the skill of listening and other macro skills
4. Significance of the study
4.1. Theoretical significance
Through this study, theories of motivation are revisited. Main definitions together
with leading concepts and notions about motivation are represented with details.
Moreover, common strategies to improve and sustain students‟ motivation in
classroom are also reintroduced. Besides, the study also reconfirms the importance of
motivation in education and in language learning.


11
4.2. Practical significance
The study is expected to facilitate better understanding of motivation in foreign
language learning in general and in EFL in particular. Practically and pedagogically,
the findings of the study are strongly believed to help English teachers see more
clearly the essential roles of motivation in the teaching of English and to supply them
with some basic ideas of how to find suitable ways of motivating their students in
learning English, especially listening skill. In addition, the author expects that this

research study can provide other teachers and those who may be concerned with
ideas and fundamental grounds to conduct further research studies in the field of
boosting students‟ motivation in EFL.
5. Scope of the study
An infinite variety of ways can be used to motivate students in learning English.
However, due to the limit of time and capacity, the researcher only focuses on
exploiting the effectiveness of three changes made during the listening course at
FOE, HNUE in enhancing the second-year English majors‟ motivation in learning
and practicing this challenging skill. What was changed during the course is the way
to start it, the way in which each lesson is conducted and managed, and the way to
assess the students.
6. Methods of the study
This study was designed in the form of an action research. According to Gina (2001),
action research is the type of research we carry out with our students in order to try
out an idea or innovation, or to test a hypothesis about the students‟ learning and see
what would happen. Besides, Michael (1998) also points out that action research
involves the collection and the analysis of data related to certain aspects of our
professional practice. In this study, the researcher applied a number of different
methods, based on both qualitative and quantitative approaches: classroom
observations, students‟ writing journal, interviews, and questionnaires. First and
foremost, a pre-treatment questionnaire was employed to reveal some information
about the students‟ motivation and the work of teaching and learning the skill of
listening they had been receiving so far. Bearing in mind the hypothesis that some

12
changes made to the course can improve students‟ motivation, the researcher carried
out these modifications on the students during the semester. In order to investigate
the motivational effectiveness of these changes, classroom observation, students‟
journal, and informal interviews together with a post-treatment questionnaire were
used to get necessary data. In the final stage the data collected were analyzed to

verify the hypothesis.
7. Design of the study
The study report is divided into three main parts.
Part one is the Introduction featuring the rationale for the study as well as the
objectives, the significance and the methods employed in the research. In addition, it
also briefly introduces the scope of the study together with the overall design of the
research report.
Part two is the Development consisting of three chapters:
o Chapter 1, Theoretical background, covers main issues and concepts related
to motivation and teaching listening skill. Different strategies to boost and
maintain motivation in language learning and teaching are also included in
this chapter.
o Chapter 2, Methodology, is devoted to describing elaborately the research
methodology which comprises the information of the research subjects,
settings, and data collection instruments and procedures.
o Chapter 3, Data analysis, Findings, and Discussions, presents the results
from the detailed analysis of collected data and provides several discussions
related to them.
Part three is the Conclusion that recapitulates the main contents of the study report.
Some limitations and suggestions for further research are also presented in this part.






13
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: Theoretical Background
1.1. Overview of motivation in language learning

1.1.1. Definition of motivation
In almost all fields of learning and teaching, especially language education,
motivation has always been considered an essential factor contributing to success.
Without motivation, any efforts would be almost impossible. Therefore, a thorough
understanding of this concept is needed.
Motivation has been defined in a number of ways by a variety of researchers and
scholars. According to Williams and Burden (1997:20), motivation is a “state of
cognitive arouse” which provokes a “decision to act”; as a result of which, there is
“sustained intellectual and/or physical effort” so that a person can achieve some
“previously set goal”. Sharing the same point of view, Harmer (2001: 51) states that
“at its most basic level, motivation is some kind of internal drive which pushes
someone to do things in order to achieve something”. Another linguist, Dornyei,
(2001: 7) claims that “ motivation explains why people decide to do something, how
hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are going to sustain their
activities.” Additionally, Woolfolk (2001:336) defines motivation as “an internal
state that arouses, directs, and maintains behavior”. More elaborately, Gardner
(1985) remarks “motivation involves four aspects: a goal, effortful behavior, a desire
to attain the goal, and favorable attitudes towards the activity in question.” Briefly,
motivation is a concept that involves attitudes and states influencing the degree of
effort that one makes to achieve certain goals. It is not only arousing but also
sustaining one‟s interest and boosting the investment of time and energy into
reaching one‟s goals. In second language learning, motivation is a complicated
phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two aspects: learners‟ communicative
needs and their attitudes towards the second language community. If the learners are
in need of using the second language in a wide range of social situations or fulfilling
their professional ambitions, they will perceive the communicative value of the

14
second language; and will therefore, be motivated to acquire the proficiency in it.
Likewise, if the learners have favorable attitudes towards the users of the second

language, they will certainly desire more contact with them.
1.1.2. Classification of motivation language learning
When employed in education and language learning, the following different types of
motivation can be differentiated:
 Integrative motivation: the desire to identify with and to integrate into the
target language culture
 Instrumental motivation: the wish to learn the language for purposes of study
or career motivation
 Intrinsic motivation: the urge to engage in the learning activity for its own
sake. It has been termed “cognitive drive”, which is very typical of young
learners and tends to deteriorate with age
 Extrinsic motivation: motivation that is derived from external incentives
 Global motivation: the overall orientation of the learners towards the learning
of the foreign language
 Situational motivation: it has to do with the context of learning (classroom,
learning environment)
 Task motivation: the motivation that the learners get when they are
performing particular tasks in learning performance
 Resultative motivation: according to Ellis (1990), “it is likely that the
relationship between motivation and achievement is an interactive one. A
high level of motivation does stimulate learning, but perceived success in
achieving L2 goals can help maintain existing motivation and create new
types”. When learners succeed in learning, they may be more or sometimes
less motivated to learn

15
Among these types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations have played an
essential part in classroom learning; therefore, a distinction between them is of
necessity.
 Intrinsic motivation

o Intrinsic motivation refers to “motivation to engage in an activity for
its own sake” (Woldkowski, 1991). He means that the activity itself is
our own benefit, so we do not need any other kinds of rewards or
punishment. He also states that intrinsic motivation “is the natural
tendency to seek out and conquer challenges as we pursue personal
interests and exercise capabilities”. The factors of support of intrinsic
motivation include: competence (the feeling that you know how to do
things), autonomy (being able to perform an activity by yourself
without external help), and relatedness (connection with your social
environment like helping others). Although intrinsic motivation has
typically been seen as a unidimensional construct, Vallerand and his
colleagues (as quoted in Dornyei 2001) have recently posited the
existence of three subtypes of intrinsic motivation:
 To learn: engaging in an activity for the pleasure and
satisfaction of understanding something new, satisfying one‟s
curiosity, and exploring the world.
 Towards achievement: engaging in an activity for the
satisfaction of surpassing oneself, coping with challenges, and
accomplishing or creating something.
 To experience stimulation: engaging in an activity to
experience pleasant sensations.

 Extrinsic motivation

16
o Harmer (2001: 51) remarks that extrinsic motivation “is caused by
any number of outside factors such as the need to pass an exam, the
hope of financial reward or the possibility of future travel”. In
addition, Dornyei (2001) states that according to self-determination
theory, a variety of regulations exist and can be placed on a

continuum between self-determined (intrinsic) and controlled
(extrinsic) forms of motivation, depending on how much the
regulation has been transferred from outside to inside the individual.
Four types of extrinsic motivation are elaborated:
 External regulation refers to the least self-determined form of
extrinsic motivation, coming entirely from external sources
such as rewards or threats (e.g. the teacher‟s praise or parental
confrontation).
 Introjected regulation involves externally imposed rules that
the students accept as norms to be followed in order not to feel
guilty (e.g. rules against playing truant from class).
 Identified regulation occurs when the person engages in an
activity because he/ she highly values and identifies with the
behavior, and sees its usefulness (e.g. learning a language
which is necessary to pursue one‟s hobbies or interests).
 Integrated regulation is the most developmentally advanced
form of extrinsic motivation, involving choiceful behavior that
is fully assimilated with the individual‟s other values, needs,
and identity (e.g. learning English because its proficiency is an
educated cosmopolitan culture one has adopted).
Most scholars agree that intrinsic and extrinsic motivations interact with each other
and both play an important role in language learning and teaching. As a result,
learners can be either motivated by internal or external factors depending on the
circumstances and conditions under which the learning activity is being performed.

17
1.1.3. The importance of motivation in language learning
Learner motivation has become more and more commonly recognized as one of the
major defining factors for success in learning in general, whether one is an adult
learner taking distant training courses, or an undergraduate student pushing one‟s

way through the battery of required courses needed to graduate. A variety of research
studies have revealed that motivation is so closely related to achievement in language
learning. As Littlewood puts it (1984:53), “in second language learning as well as in
other fields of human learning, motivation is the crucial force which determines
whether a learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and
how long he preserves”. Besides, Hedge (2000: 23) affirms, “motivation is of crucial
importance in the classroom, whether learners arrive with it or they acquire it
through classroom experiences”. Also about this issue, Oxford and Shearin (1996:
121-2) claims that “motivation is important because it directly influences how often
students use L2 learning strategies, how much students interact with native speakers,
how much input they receive in the language being learned (the target language),
how well they do on curriculum-related achievement tests, how high their general
proficiency level becomes, and how long they preserve and maintain L2 skills after
language study is over. Therefore, motivation is crucial for L2 learning, and it is
essential to understand what our students‟ motivations are".
1.1.4. Common factors affecting learners’ motivation in language
learning
There are a variety of factors influencing learners‟ motivation such as learners
themselves, parents, community, the learning context, the teacher, the subject
matters, etc. However, the author of this research pays much of the attention to some
most common and influential factors, namely, learners‟ factors, teachers‟ factors,
learning materials and learners‟ success in second language learning.

1.1.4.1. Learners’ factors

18
Among these factors, the first and most influential factor is their background
knowledge. Background knowledge refers to the existing information on a specific
topic in each language lesson. Therefore, if students lack this type of knowledge, it is
really challenging for them to get involved in learning activities. They are likely to

be unable to comprehend new knowledge, and more seriously, they may lose their
interests in learning lessons. Realizing the importance of this factor, the teacher
needs to provide students with suitable background information for the lesson and
helps them use it effectively.
Besides language items such as vocabulary and grammatical structures may have
impact on students‟ feelings. This causes them difficulties in getting meaning as well
as practicing language skills.
The students‟ aptitude is also an important factor that influences their motivation. If
one finds that he is able to do something well, he will surely feel self-confident and
likes it much.
Another factor is the learners‟ language learning strategies. These can affect their
mood to make them participate actively or passively in learning activities. Learning
strategies are really helpful to students as they assist them to improve their learning
proficiency and efficiency as well as their academic achievements. Moreover,
appropriate strategies do help students process the lesson actively and connect what
they are learning with what they have already known. However, learners must be
flexible in employing learning strategies; otherwise, their learning expectations
cannot fulfilled. In addition, it is true that more highly motivated learners use a
greater range of proper strategies than less motivated learners. It is advisable that the
teacher teach the learners appropriate strategies and assist them in practicing using
these in their learning.




19
1.1.4.2. Parents’ factors
Gardner (1985) considered parental influence on L2 motivation a major component
in his psychological theory because parents were seen „to act as the major
intermediary between the cultural milieu and the student”. In addition, he has

identified two main dimensions of the role that parents play in their children‟s
learning process:
An active role, which involves encouragement, support and monitoring
A passive role, which involves indirect modeling and communicating attitudes
related to L2 learning and the L2 community.
He presents empirical evidence for both types of influence and concludes that
although the two are in harmony, when they are not, the passive role becomes more
effective. This implies that even educationally appropriate support practices (e.g.
encouraging children to prepare their homework) can be overruled by latent negative
language attitudes harbored by the parents. In order to test Gardner‟s dual influence
hypothesis, Colleta et al. (1983) conducted an empirical survey to examine
„community and parental influence‟ with regard to Anglophone students enrolled in a
French immersion programme in bilingual Ottawa. Their results by and large
confirmed Gardner‟s theory, and they also found that active parental influence had a
considerable impact on the students‟ linguistic self-confidence, thus identifying a
further L2 specific mediating variable between parental influence and student
motivation (the first being the children‟s language attitudes shaped after their
parents). In recent study, Gardner et al. (quoted in Dornyei 2001) provide further
confirmation that parental encouragement is associated with the development of
attitudes towards the learning situation and with the language learning efforts of the
students.




20
1.1.4.3. Teachers’ factors
Teachers have always been considered to take very important responsibilities in
making sure that the learners remain happy and interested in learning.
The first factor affecting the motivation of learners is the teacher‟s attitudes and

behaviors. The way the teacher feels, thinks, and behaves while teaching surely has a
profound influence on learners‟ motivation and the learning atmosphere. When the
teacher has personal and interpersonal variables such as good mood, warmth, respect,
empathy, understanding, sensitivity, enthusiasm, good sense of humor, etc., the
learning environment is likely to be relaxing and enjoying to students. It is suggested
that when learners have chances to work with an instructor who shows his/her
excitement about the subject matter being taught, or simply expresses his/her love for
teaching job, inevitably they are affected by this energy and will engage themselves
more actively in the learning process. Moreover, when the teacher shows that his/her
expectations are put on students‟ abilities, they are more likely to reach higher levels
of achievement and feel more confident. Learners tend to perform at the level that is
consistent with the teacher‟s belief and expectations.
Besides, the teacher‟s teaching techniques and activities are of great impact on
learners‟ motivation. Without proper techniques and activities in the learning
process, learners could be left in confusion and boredom while dealing with the
subject matter. That is why the teacher should invest more time and efforts in
designing and processing teaching materials as well as in finding out appropriate
techniques and activities that can best facilitate learners in their learning.
Last but not least, the teacher also needs to be clearly aware of learners‟ needs, their
motivation and their purposes of their learning. A good teacher should be the one
who is capable of pulling the student and the lesson closely together.




21
1.1.4.4. Learning materials
One of the most important factors that influence the learner‟s motivation is learning
materials. Interesting, relevant, and carefully-designed materials will surely more
motivate students in learning the subject matter. For example, students will easily

lose their interest in dealing with reading text containing too many new words,
complex structures and ambiguous ideas. And if the content of the reading is nothing
relevant to the topic at hand of the lesson, students are definitely uninterested in
working with it.
In addition, the lack of diversification in tasks used also makes students reluctant to
fully engage with the learning activity.
1.1.4.5. Learners’ success in language learning
It has been realized that motivation for learning in general and language learning in
particular could be much enhanced through success. According to Ur (1996: 278),
“learners who have succeeded in past tasks will be more willing to engage with the
next one, more confident in their chances of succeeding and more likely to preserve
their efforts”. Another linguist, Jeremy Harmer (2001: 52) also affirms that, “nothing
succeeds like success”, so if the teacher can help students achieve short-term goals, it
will be very good for creating, maintaining, and improving their motivation in
learning.
1.1.5. Characteristics of motivated learners
A motivated learner here means the one who participates willingly and actively in the
learning activities in the class. According to Naiman et al (1978), the most successful
students are not necessarily those from whom a language comes easily; in contrast,
they are simply the students showing certain typical characteristics associated clearly
with motivation as follows:
 Positive task orientation: the learner is ready to deal with tasks and
challenges, and has confidence in his/her success.

22
 Ego-involvement: the learner has a need to achieve, to overcome difficulties,
and to succeed in what he/she sets out to do.
 High aspirations: the learner goes for demanding challenges and high
proficiency.
 Goal orientation: the learner is very aware of the goals of learning and directs

his/her efforts towards achieving them.
 Perseverance: the learner consistently invests a high level of efforts in
learning, and is not discouraged by setbacks or apparently the lack of
progress.
 Tolerance of ambiguity: the learner is not frustrated by a temporary lack of
understanding; he/she should think it will come clear later.
1.1.6. General strategies to motivate students in language teaching
It is undeniable that when the learner is motivated, he/she surely studies far better.
That is why the teacher is supposed to undertake strategies to enhance the motivation
of the learner. What comes next is some common motivation boosting strategies
suggested by different researchers:
Capitalize on students‟ existing needs.
According to Forsyth & McMillan (1991), students learn best when incentives for
learning in a classroom satisfy their own motives for enrolling in the course. Some of
the needs which students may bring to the classroom are the need to learn something
in order to complete a particular task or activity, the need to seek for new experience,
the need to perfect skills, the need to overcome challenges, the need to become
competent, the need to succeed and do well, the need to feel involved and to interact
with other people. Satisfying such needs itself is rewarding, and such rewards sustain
learning much more effectively than merely finishing the grades. Design
assignments, in-class activities, and discussion questions to address these types of
students‟ needs.

23
Make students active participants in the learning process.
Students can learn by doing, making, writing, designing, creating, and solving. And
passivity dampens students‟ motivation and curiosity. Therefore, the teacher needs to
pose a set of questions. He/she ought never to tell students directly the knowledge
when questions can be used for self-discovery. In general, the teacher needs to
encourage students, to suggest approaches to a problem, or to guess the result of an

experiment. Small group work is strongly recommended.
Ask students to analyze what makes their class more or less “motivating”.
Sass (1989) asks his students to recall 2 recent class periods, one in which is highly
motivated and the other in which the motivation was rather low. Each student makes
a list of factors of the two class periods that influenced his/her level of motivation. In
over twenty courses, Sass reports, the same eight characteristics emerge as major
contributors to students‟ motivation as follows:
 Instructor‟s enthusiasm
 Relevance of the materials
 Organization of the course
 Appropriate difficulty level of the materials
 Active involvement of students
 Variety
 Rapport between the teacher and students
 Use of appropriate, concrete, and understandable examples
Incorporate instructional behaviors that motivate students.
The teacher ought to hold high but realistic expectations for his/her students.
Research so far has shown that the teacher‟s expectations have a powerful impact on
students‟ performances. If you act as though you expected your students to be

24
motivated, hardworking, and interested in the course, they are more likely to be so.
Set realistic expectations for students when you ask them to make assignments, give
presentations, conduct discussions, and grade examinations. The term „realistic‟ in
this context means that your standards are high enough to motivate students to do
their best work but not so high that students will inevitably frustrated in trying to
satisfy those expectations. To develop the drive to achieve, students need to be
provided with early opportunities for success.
Help students set achievable goals for themselves.
Failure to attain unrealistic goals can disappoint and frustrate students. The teacher

should encourage his/her students to focus on their continuing improvement, not just
on their grades in certain tests or examinations. Also the teacher must help students
self-evaluate their progress by encouraging them to critique their own performances,
to analyze their strengths, and to work on their weaknesses. For example, the teacher
might consider asking his/her students to summit their self-evaluation forms of one
or two assignments.
Tell students what they need to do to gain success in your course.
The teacher should never let his/her students struggle to figure out what is expected
from them. He/she must reassure the requirements for students to succeed in the
course. The teacher ought to say something to the effect that “if you can handle the
examples on these problems sheets, you can pass the exam. People who may have
trouble with these examples can freely ask me for extra support”. Or instead of
saying such things as “you‟re way behind,” just tell them, “here is one way you could
go about learning the material, how can I help you?”
Strengthen students‟ self-motivation.
The teacher should try to avoid using messages that reinforce his/her power as an
instructor or those emphasize extrinsic rewards. For example, instead of employing
such expressions as “I require”, “you must”, “you should”, the teacher should use “I
think you will find…”, or “I‟ll be interested in your reaction”. Also try to avoid
creating intense competitions among students. Competitions sometimes produce

25
anxiety, which definitely interferes with the learning process. Besides, reduce
students‟ tendency to compare themselves with the others. From Bligh (1971),
students are more favorable to the teaching methods when they work co-operatively
in groups rather than competitive individuals. Last but not least, refrain from public
criticism of students‟ performances and from comments and activities that make
students be against each other.
Avoid creating intense competition among students
Competition produces anxiety, which can interfere with learning. Reduce students'

tendencies to compare themselves to one another. Bligh (1971) reports that students
are more attentive, display better comprehension, produce more work, and are more
favourable to the teaching method when they work cooperatively in groups rather
than compete as individuals. Refrain from public criticisms of students' performance
and from comments or activities that pit students against each other.
Work from students' strengths and interests
Find out why students are enrolled in your course, how they feel about the subject
matter, and what their expectations are. Then try to devise examples, case studies, or
assignments that relate the course content to students' interests and experiences. For
instance, a chemistry professor might devote some lecture time to examining the
contributions of chemistry to resolving environmental problems. Explain how the
content and objectives of your course will help students achieve their educational,
professional, or personal goals.
Be enthusiastic about the subject being taught.
The instructor‟s enthusiasm is a crucial factor in students‟ motivation. If the teacher
is bored or apathetic, the learner will much likely be so. Typically, an instructor‟s
enthusiasm comes from confidence, excitement about the content and genuine
pleasure in the job of teaching. If you find yourself uninterested in the materials,
think back to what has attracted you to the field and bring those aspects of the subject
matter to the life of your students. Or you may try to challenge yourself to devise the
most exciting way to present the materials no matter how dull the materials

26
themselves may seem to you. In addition, try your best to increase the difficulty of
the materials as the learning process progresses. Give students opportunities to
succeed at the beginning of the semester. Once students feel they can succeed, you
can gradually increase the difficulty level. If assignments and exams cover a broad
range of questions including both the easy and difficult questions, every student will
have chances to experience success as well as challenges.
Vary the teaching methods.

Variety in teaching methodology will reawake students‟ involvement in the course
and motivation. The teacher should break the routines by incorporating a variety of
brainstorming, discussions, demonstrations, case studies, audio-visual presentations,
guest speakers, or group work, etc. The students‟ feedback should be given as soon
as possible. Return tests and papers promptly and reward success publicly and
immediately. Besides, the teacher really ought to give students indications of how
well they have done and how to improve their performances. Rewards can be as
simple as a saying that “your response is good” together with the explanation why
you say so.
1.1.7. Maintaining and protecting the students’ motivation
Dornyei (2001) states that unless motivation is actively maintained and protected
during the actional phase of the motivational process – that is when action has
commenced and well on the way – the natural tendency to lose sight of the goal, to
get tired or bored of the activity and to give way to attractive dissatisfaction or
competing action tendencies will result in the initial motivation gradually petering
out. Therefore, an effective motivational repertoire should include motivation
maintenance strategies that can help prevent this from happening. He suggests five
areas that appear to be particularly relevant for classroom application:
 Setting „proximal sub-goals‟
 Improving the quality of the learning experience
 Increasing the learners‟ self-confidence

27
 Creating learner autonomy
 Promoting self-motivating learner strategies
Setting „proximal sub-goals‟
Individual goal setting is one of the most effective methods to enable students to
experience a sense of control over their learning and perceive themselves as
mastering material while incorporating their own interests. It is particularly relevant
to language learning because the ultimate purpose of this prolonged process – to

communicate with L2 speakers – is several years away and is, in fact, for many
learners only moderately realistic (i.e. what if the learner does not really want to
communicate with L2 learners?). Therefore, setting proximal sub-goals has a
powerful motivating function by providing advanced organizers as well as immediate
incentive and feedback. Pintrich and Schunk (quoted in Dornyei 2001) offer four
main principles based on the theory that can be applied in the classroom setting:
 Goals should be clear and specific, referring to concrete outcomes
 Goals should be challenging and difficult, but not outside the range of
students‟ capacities
 Both proximal and distal goals should be set. For example, teachers can
design a learning agreement, or a „contract‟, with each student that specifies a
series of sub-goals that lead to larger goals.
 Teachers should provide feedback that increases students‟ self-efficacy for
obtaining the goal. Such feedback can involve informational input or extrinsic
rewards that are contingent on actual academic performance.
Improving the quality of the learning experience
Most researchers and practitioners would agree that the higher the quality of the
learning experience, the more learner engagement and persistence we can expect.
The real question is what we mean by the „quality of learning experience‟. Schumann
(1998) argues that environmental stimuli are appraised along a number of different

28
dimensions; he distinguishes five major environmental facets: novelty, pleasantness,
goal/ need significance, coping potential, and self and social image. Indeed, learners
continuously assess the intrinsic enjoyment they experience and the personal and
goal-specific relevance the various tasks offer; they check how well they are doing,
how much they are approaching their overall goal, and how their personal and social
image is affected by the actions they are expected to take as part of task completion.
Out of the many issues related to the promotion of the quality of the learning
experience, Dornyei (2001) highlights two basic issues that must be addressed by any

motivationally conscious teaching practice:
 Increasing the intrinsic enjoyment of participating in learning tasks
o This is probably the best-known motivational dimension of classroom
teaching, and many practitioners would simply equate the adjective
„motivating‟ with „interesting‟. Accordingly, a great number of
recommendations have been made in literature as to how to promote
this intrinsic quality dimension, ranging from making the tasks varied
and challenging to including novel elements and relating the content
of the task to the learners‟ natural interests.
 Enhancing the learners‟ social image
o Maintaining face is a central concern for most school children and
students: for them school/ university is the most important social
arena and their peers are their main reference group. Therefore, they
will feel ill at ease doing tasks (no matter how conductive those are to
learning) that put them in a situation where they are made to look
small in front of their contemporaries. Thus, providing opportunities
for everybody to play protagonist‟s role in one way or another (e.eg.
by creating situations in which students can demonstrate their
particular strengths) is an effective method of making a person feel
good about the course and the role he/ she plays in it. Similarly, the
learners‟ social image can be enhanced by avoiding criticisms and