A STUDY ON DEMOTIVATING FACTORS OF 10A1 STUDENT’S ENGLISH LEARNING AT HUONG CAN HIGH SCHOOL AND GIVE SOME SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS= Nghiên cứu những yếu tố giảm hứng thú học Tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 10A1 Trường THPT Hương Cần và gợi ý một vài giải pháp

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This graduation paper is my final important task on the way of obtaining
my bachelor degree. It would not have been completed without the guidance and
the support of many people. At this moment of accomplishment, it is my pleasant
task to express my sincere thanks to all of them.
First and foremost, I would like to express my endless thanks and
gratefulness to my supervisor Ngo Thi Thanh Huyen M.A for her precious advice,
detailed comments, valuable suggestions and enthusiastic guidance corrections
from the planning stage to the completion of my thesis. Without her continual
encouragement and useful documents, her careful reading and critical comments,
my paper would be far from finished.
Secondly, I am obliging to all my teachers in the Faculty of Foreign
Languages, Hung Vuong University, who inspired me and gave me good
knowledge of English for writing this graduation paper.
Thirdly, I really wish to thank all of my colleagues and my students at
Huong Can high school for their enthusiasm participating in the observation and
do questionnaires.
Last but not least, I would like to dedicate my concluding words to my dear
family for supporting me devotedly both material and spiritual throughout my
thesis-writing period.


ii

ABSTRACT
This study aims at investigating the demotivating factors that reduces
interests in English lessons of 10A1 students at Huong Can High School and
possible solutions that help learners to recover their interests in English lesson. For
this study, a 18-item questionnaire was constructed based on six demotivating

factors: learners’ factors, teacher’s factors, environmental factors, reduced selfconfidence factors and learning content and materials.
The questionnaire was completed by 42 students. Researcher observed six
English periods in different skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing skill to
investigate demotivating factors of students. The data were analyzed both
qualitatively and quantitatively. The results show that factors such as learners’
factors, teacher’s factors, environmental factors, reduced self-confidence factors
are the main demotivating factors that prevent students at Huong Can High School
from concentrating and motivating in their English lessons.
Based on the results, researcher suggested some solutions for teachers and
10A1 students at Huong Can High School to overcome demotivation such as:
having awareness of students’ need and attitude, renovating writing teaching
methods to motivate students, enhancing students’ background knowledge and
language knowledge. Based on the solutions, teachers can reduce the causes of
demotivation using various methods applicable for the respective demotivating
factors.


iii

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES
NO

Table

Page

1

Table 1.1. Theories of learning

17

2

Table 1.2. Types of motivation (in terms of communicative

24

needs)
3

Table 1.3. Dornyei’s (1994) framework of L2 motivation

24

4

Table 1.4. William and Burden’s (1997) framework of L2

25

motivation
5

Table 2.1: Students’ profiles

38

6

Table 3.1: Student’s attitudes and purposes to learn English

42

7

Table 3.2: Teacher’s enthusiasm and activities in English lessons

44

8

Table 3.3: Teaching and learning environment

46

9

Table 3.5. Learning content and materials

50

NO
1

Figure

Page

Figure 3.1: Student’s attitudes and purposes to learn English (%)

Figure 3.2: Student’s attitude toward teacher’s talk (%)

44
46

Figure 3.3: Teaching and learning environment (%)

48

4

Figure 3.4: Reduced self-confidence (%)

48

5

Figure 3.5: Reduced self-confidence (%)

49

2
3


iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviation
EFL

L2

Denotation
English as a Foreign Language
Language learning

YIBO

Pozanti Regional Primary Boarding School

MTES

Motivation Towards the Environment Scale


v

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................1
1. Rationale...........................................................................................................1
2. Previous studies.................................................................................................3
2.1. In the world....................................................................................................3
2.2. In Vietnam......................................................................................................6
2.3. Study gap........................................................................................................9
3. AIMS OF THE STUDY....................................................................................9
4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS.............................................................................10
5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY................................................................10
6. SCOPE OF THE STUDY................................................................................10
7. DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH......................................................................11
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................12

1.1. Language learning..........................................................................................12
1.1.1. Definition of language learning..................................................................12
1.1.2. Language learning theories.........................................................................13
1.1.2.1. Pavlov’s classical behaviorism.................................................................14
1.1.2.2. Skinner’s operant conditioning.................................................................14
1.1.2.3. Ausubel’s meaningful learning theory......................................................15
1.1.2.4. Rogers’s humanistic psychology...............................................................16
1.1.3. Types of learning.........................................................................................17
1.1.4. Factors affecting language learning...........................................................19
1.2. Motivation......................................................................................................20
1.2.1. Definition of motivation...............................................................................20
1.2.2. Motivation in foreign language learning.....................................................22
1.2.3. Classification of motivation.........................................................................23
1.2.4. Factors affecting motivation in learning foreign language........................27
1.3. Demotivation..................................................................................................28
1.3.1. Definition of demotivation...........................................................................28
1.3.2. Demotivators in learning foreign language................................................29


vi

1.3.2.1. Learners’ factors.......................................................................................30
1.3.2.2. Teacher’s factor........................................................................................31
1.3.2.3. Factors related to learning environment..................................................32
1.3.2.4. Reduced self-confidence...........................................................................32
1.3.2.5. Learning content and materials...............................................................33
1.3.3. The expressions of demotivated learners.....................................................34
1.4. Summary........................................................................................................36
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY.........................................................................37
2.1. Participants...................................................................................................37

2.2. Methodology..................................................................................................38
2.3. Data collection instruments............................................................................38
2.3.1. Questionnaires.............................................................................................38
2.3.2. Observation.................................................................................................39
2.4. Procedures......................................................................................................40
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.............................42
3.1. The result from questionnaires.......................................................................42
3.1.1. Student’s attitudes and purposes to learn English.......................................42
3.1.2. Teacher’s enthusiasm and activities............................................................44
3.1.3. Teaching and learning environment............................................................46
3.1.4. Reduced self-confidence factors................................................................48
3.1.5. Learning content and materials................................................................50
3.2. Result from class observation....................................................................50
3.3. Major findings from questionnaire and observation....................................53
3.3.1. Learners’ factors.......................................................................................54
3.3.2. Teacher’s factors.......................................................................................54
3.3.3. Environmental factors...............................................................................55
3.3.4. Reduced self-confidence...........................................................................56
3.4. Suggested solutions to deal with students’ demotivation in English learning 56
3.4.1. Having awareness of students’ need and attitude........................................56
3.4.2. Renovating teaching methods to motivate students.....................................58
3.4.3. Enhancing students’ background knowledge and language knowledge......59


vii

3.5. Summary…………………………………………………………………….60
PART 3: CONCLUSION.......................................................................................61
1. Summary of study...........................................................................................61
2. Implications.....................................................................................................62

3. Limitations......................................................................................................63
4. Suggestions for further study..........................................................................64
REFERENCES......................................................................................................65


1

PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Motivation plays a very important role in enhancing the students’ English
learning performance. Dornyei (1998) put stress on the influence of motivation,
which is considered as a key to learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
and one of the biggest factors affecting language learners’ success. It is widely
accepted that the more motivated learners are, the more successful they would be
at learning a foreign language. The learners who choose English language as their
major and study it as a foreign language are concerned the motivational factors
that play a major role, development of skills and practicing English language in
day-to-day use. According to teachers and researchers, motivation affects the rate
and success of L2 learning. Moreover, motivation provides the primary impetus
to start learning L2 and later the driving force to maintain the long and repeatedly
annoying learning process.
Motivation leads to increased effort and energy. Motivation increases the
amount of effort and energy that learners spend in activities directly related to
their needs and goals. It determines whether they pursue a task enthusiastically
and wholeheartedly or apathetically and lackadaisically.
Motivation increases initiation of and persistence in activities. Learners are
more likely to begin a task they actually want to do. They are also more likely to
continue working at it until they’ve completed it, even if they are occasionally
interrupted or frustrated in the process (Wigfield, 1994). In general, then,
motivation increases students’ time on task, an important factor affecting their

learning and achievement.
Motivation is a major factor in the successful study of language acquisition.
Apart from the role that intellectual capacity and language aptitude play in a
second or foreign language learning (Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Most teachers
dream of motivated students who strive hard to achieve success. It is considered
goal directed and defined as “the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the


2

goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes toward learning the
language”. Motivation is also an important contributor to language achievement
in terms of linguistic outcomes, which traditionally embrace the knowledge
structure of the language, i.e. vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation and the
four basic skills of the language, including listening, understanding, reading and
writing.
However, the real situation is always different from theory. According to
my observation, teacher talks and student sharing. Many students at Huong Can
High School find English a difficult subject, they find English hard to learn, they
only to deal with tasks in class and they don’t often learn at home. English
language requires them to work hard, to invest a lot of time, to possess
appropriate methods, but most students are found bored to learn English
language. They encounter lots of challenges in finding appropriate methods to
learn this language.
A number of English teachers at this school said that most students are not
interested in English. Besides, although teachers have made great efforts in
applying teaching methods in instructing activities, these techniques could work
for only some lessons and some students.
It is clearly that demotivation causes plentiful negative effects. In a general
sense, it can be stated that demotivation constitutes a barrier for a continuing,

improving and enjoying language teaching and learning. A high rate of students
are reported to get low marks when doing the English tests.
In order to get a deeper understanding towards demotivating factors in
learning English of 10a1 students to help them and their teachers know their
problems better and improve their English competence, I decided to conduct the
study named: “A study on demotivating factors of 10A1 student’s English
learning at Huong Can High school and give some suggested solutions” as my
graduation paper. It is also hoped that this paper will be a good reference for those
who are interested in demotivating factors of English learners.
2. Previous studies


3

2.1.

In the world
Gorham and Christophel (1992) studied: “Demotivating factors in learning

English: the case of Iran Maryam Meshkata, Masoumeh Hassani” . In this study,
they tried to find out what factors were perceived as demotivation by college
students who took introductory communication classes. From student’s responses
to the open-ended question: “What things decrease your motivation to try hard to
do your best in that class?”, demotivating factors were finally figured out.
Their research findings pointed out three major categories of demotivating
factors, i.e., context demotivating factors (factors likely to be regarded as
antecedent to the teacher’s influence), structure/format demotivating factors
(factors over which the teacher is likely to have some degree of influence, if not
complete control), the teacher behaviors (factors likely to be perceived as under
the teacher’s direct control). 79% of all responses is about teacher-related factors

consisting of class structure, or format-related demotivating factors and the
demotivating factors resulted from teacher behavior.
In a follow-up study to find out whether the perceived demotivation
sources could be the same, Christophel and Gorham (1995) used the same
question to spot demotivating factors with another group of college students
studying communicative English. The findings of the research were consistent
with those from the first study. Nonetheless, no attempt was made in both studies
to examine the cases of the students having already been demotivated before they
enter the class.
Chambers (1993) studied “Demotivation and language learningdemotivating factors in the EFL environment”. In his research, he also examined
the matter by using questionnaires to gather perspectives of both students and
teachers.
The underlying causes of student’s demotivation perceived were quite
different by the teachers and their students. Teachers perceived them to be related
to psychological, attitudinal, social, historical and geographical reasons. The
students perceived cause of demotivation were various, i.e., teacher’s behaviors,


4

class size, etc. Nevertheless, Chambers could not try to determine what
demotivating factors were or to look at them. Critically, he just listed the student’s
points of view. Therefore, just a few conclusions about the impact of
demotivating factors were drawn on the language learning experience. Thus,
while there have been studies addressing the issues related to demotivating
factors, no attempt has been made either to set a framework to help to enhance
understanding about the phenomenon, or to consider it in the relation with
the issues of curriculum and teaching.
Besides, Oxford (1998) analyzed the content of essays written by
approximately 250 American students (in high schools and universities) about

their experiences in their learning over a period of five years. During this time, a
variety of prompts were used, such as “describe a situation in which you
experienced conflict with a teacher’s and talk about a classroom in which you felt
uncomfortable”. In the content analysis of the data, four broad themes emerged:
- The personal relationship between the teacher and the students, including a
lack of care, general belligerence, hypercriticism, and patronage/favoritism.
- The attitude of the teacher towards the course or the materials, including lack
of enthusiasm, sloppy management and close-mindedness.
- Teachers’ style conflicts with the students, including multiple style conflicts,
conflicts about the amount of structure or detail and conflicts about the
degree of closure or “seriousness” of the class.
- The nature of classroom activities, including irrelevance, overload
and repetitiveness.
Tunaz. M. & Erdoğan, E. (2012) in “Determining External and Internal
Demotivating Factors among Young Learners at Pozantı. Regional Primary
Boarding School Frontiers of Language and Teaching”. This paper took a brief
look at external and internal demotivating factors among EFL young learners at
Pozanti Regional Primary Boarding School (YIBO).
In the search of the reasons of demotivation, a questionnaire consisting of
5-point Likert scale, open-ended questions, observations and interviews were


5

administered. Following the evaluation of data tools, interviews were conducted
with randomly chosen students, and a new lesson plan was designed and applied
for 8 hours of English lesson independent from the state English book.
Regretfully, this study was not exhaustive to provide solutions for demotivation
due its limited application period. However, it might show that teachers could
change the negative attitudes into positive ones even with little effort, though it

did not occur miraculously.
Lehikoinen and Leinonen (2010) conducted “A study on motives and
demotives in L2”.

The aim of this research is to investigate the factors of

demotivation in L2 learning of Pakistani undergraduates at the University of
Balochistan, Quetta. A mixed-methods research design was employed in this
study to explore the factors of demotivation.
In this study, the researcher used quantitative data to obtain from the
responses of a population of 116 first semester undergraduates in a questionnaire
adopted from Sakai and Kikuchi (2009). The questionnaire comprised 35 closeended items on a 5-point Likert scale on six factors of demotivation: grammarbased teaching, teacher’s behavior, course contents and teaching materials,
classroom environment, and lack of self-confidence and interest. Qualitative data
was obtained from an open-ended question on students’ demotivating experiences
in learning English in the same questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used to
analyze the quantitative data while the qualitative data was analyzed by using
content analysis to extract the themes or factors of demotivation and their
categories based on Sakai and Kikuchi’s framework.
The findings revealed that all six factors were cited by students as
demotivating factors with teaching method, lack of facilities and course content
being the most cited factors, hence supporting Sakai and Kikuchi’s (2009)
framework. In addition, the qualitative data suggests that a new factor emerged –
negative attitude of society towards English language - hence a contribution to the
body of literature. The findings of the study have implications on the teaching and
learning of English in Pakistan.


6

Heidari (2012) worked on “Demotivating factors on English Speaking

skill: A study on of EFT Language learners and teachers’ attitude”. The study
was an attempt first to get the perspectives of two groups who are basically
involved in the teaching and learning processes namely, language teachers and
learners, regarding their views about the factors which may negatively affect the
speaking performance of language learners; and second, to see what the
similarities and differences are between the students and teachers’ attitudes on the
same issue. To achieve such a purpose, 215 Iranian male and female EFL learners
and teachers were selected in the pre- and post- stages of the study.
The researcher used data collection and data analysis methods in this study.
The collected data underwent quantitative and qualitative analyses. In order to
analyze the data, as it was already noted, first response of language teachers
taking part in the interview were codified. Heidari found some factors that cause
students’ demotivation in speaking lessons and suggest some approaches to
stimulate students to speak and give recommendation for improving the speaking
skill.
2.2.

In Vietnam
Nguyen Buu Huan & Pham Tuong Vi (2017) studied: “English-major

students perception of demotivating factors in learning reading”. In their study, a
number of students who major in English at Vietnamese colleges have not found
learning reading appropriately motivated or even felt demotivated. This paper
therefore reports on demotivating factors perceived by English major students in
their reading classes. By using a descriptive design, a 38-item questionnaire was
undertaken with 115 students who were major in applied English studies. The
items were classified into four clusters of demotivating factors such as teachers,
learners, reading materials, and instruction. The findings indicated that two
clusters related to teachers and learners were found to be the most influential.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen (2007) studied “Demotivating factors for the

first-year Non-English-Major Students in learning to speak English at Hai Duong


7

College”. The research was carried out with 300 students enrolled in their firstyear at Hai Duong College. It explored students’ attitudes towards motivations in
learning English and speaking skill as a Foreign-Language (EFL) from the
perspectives of the learners.
The research used data collection and data analysis methods through
questionnaire and interview and observation to figure out five demotivating
factors. They were: (1) lack of intrinsic motivation; (2) lack of selfconfidence, (3) learning environment (73,3 percent of students said that there
were no extra-curricular speaking activities); (4) teachers’ competence, behaviors
and teaching methods (75,1 percent of students said that the teachers spoke too
fast that they could not cover) and (5) textbook and time for speaking skills (78
students thought that there were many new words and structures they are
confused and the time for speaking seemed to be quite limited, which accounted
for 62.5% of the total). The questionnaire also asked students to reflect on how
cultural factors speaking classroom might affect their speaking and what sort of
speaking they were interested in and thought they might need in the future.
The research also suggested that appropriate methods and materials for
teaching speaking in the study context which need to be based on a
comprehensive interpretation not only of visible signs or visible needs (mainly
shaped by institutional requirements and social expectations) but also of what was
deep inside students’ act of speaking in a foreign language, involving their own
cognitive and affective process embedded in their unrecognized needs.
Hoang Thi Hong Nhung (2012) researched “Demotivating factors in listening
lessons of Vietnamese students in high school”. The study investigated demotivating
factors in listening lessons of 10th grade students at No.1 Lao Cai High School,
techniques used by teachers to motivate their students during listening process and
possible factors that help learners recover their interests in listening.

This study used both quantitative and qualitative methods. For quantitative
method, two questionnaires were delivered to four teachers and 110 students. A semi
structure interview for teacher was also conducted to collect data qualitatively.


8

The results show that factors such as listening difficulties, teachers’ style
and competence, inadequate school facilities, lack of target language
environment, and exam- orientation are the main demotivating factors that
prevent students at Lao Cai High School from concentrating and motivating in
their listening lessons. In addition, factors such as interest purchasing, selfimprovement, awareness of the importance of listening and desire to pass certain
exams in the future are possible factors that assist students overcome their
demotivation in listening lessons.
Hoang Ngoc Linh (2011) made “An Investigation of Demotivating
Factors in English Listening Lessons of the 10th Form Non-English Majors
at Cao Bang Upper Secondary School for the Gifted” . It explored the
demotivating factors in English lessons of the 10 th form non-English majors at
Cao Bang Upper Secondary School for the Gifted. In order to achieve the aims,
the researcher used two survey questionnaires, one for teachers and one for
students. The interviewed questions structured with a list of 7 open-ended
questions were based on the survey questionnaires to get a more
comprehensive view of the matter. From the data analysis, it is concluded that
the demotivating factors in listening lessons of the students are: (1) the teachers
(teaching method, personality); (2)
English

(insufficient

inadequate

background

knowledge

of

pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar); (3) learning

environment (lack of modern facilities, lack of encouragement from friends,
parents); and (4)

little intrinsic motivation. The findings indicated that two

clusters related to teachers and learners were found to be the most influential.
2.3.

Study gap
According to many studies conducted by various researchers, demotivating

factors are one of the most significant problems that affect not only native English
speakers, but also millions of students that are learning English as a second or
foreign language around the world. The vast majority of researchers have made
great efforts in finding English diminishing factors, such as grammar-based


9

teaching, teacher behavior, classroom content and teaching materials, classroom
environment, and lack of self-confidence and interest.

However, there has been no research to be done at Huong Can high school
in this field, and my study aimed to investigate challenges encountered by
students at Huong Can high school and to know whether they are affected by
those same demotivating factors or not. Apart from the factors, my study helped
to improve the student’s competence about their learning, which could also be
regarded as a development step in carrying the better teaching and learning
process in the future and this is also the first time I have studied in the 10A1
students at Huong Can High School at Huong Can - Thanh Son - Phu Tho
Province with the hope that they will be more motivated to learn English.

3. AIMS OF THE STUDY
The aims of the study are to investigate possible demotivating factors in
learning English of 10A1 students at Huong Can High school. This study is
intended to:
– Investigate the demotivating factors affecting 10A1 student’s English
learning at Huong Can High School.
– Give some solutions to improve 10A1 students’ English learning at Huong
Can High School, based on the findings.
4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In order to fulfill the purpose, the study has been carried out to find out the
answers to the following questions:
1. What are the de-motivating factors affecting 10A1 student’s English
learning at Huong Can High School?
2. What solutions can be suggested to improve 10A1 student’s English
learning at Huong Can High School?


10

5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is carried out with hope that it can be useful for teacher and
students of 10A1 student at Huong Can high school to realize the essential
role of English learning to the student. To teachers, I hope that when my
study finishes, they will find the demotivating factors that affect not only
student’s abilities in learning EFL but also the EFL’s quality and point out
appropriate teaching methods. And to students, they can see those factors and
avoid them, they will find themselves many interesting approaches to
learning EFL effectively. In addition, my study will bring not only teacher’s
teaching but also student’s learning activities and methods, students will be
interested in learning English in each lesson, which may stimulate them to
improve English learning and get better result.
6. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Because of lacking time, my study focused only on demotivating factors in
learning English listening and speaking skills of 10A1 students at Huong Can
High school.
7. DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH
The thesis consists of 3 parts:
PART I: INTRODUCTION
Presents the background of the study, the purpose and aims of the study.
This part also states the scope, the significance and the proposed thesis structure
of the study.
PART II: DEVELOPMENT
This part consists of 3 chapters:
Chapter 1: Literature review: This chapter focuses on previous research,
theoretical background, de-motivation factors affecting student’s English
learning.
Chapter 2: Methodology: This chapter presents about participants, setting,
research methods, three tools of data collection and the accuracy of the study.
Chapter 3: Major findings and discussions: The discussion of the results is made
to answer the research questions. According to the result of the research found

11

from questionnaires, classroom observation and interview shows the findings of
the research from questionnaires, classroom observation as well as interview and
give some solutions to increase English learning for students.
PART III: CONCLUSION
This part summarizes the finding of the study, problems and difficulties
encountered, limitation of the study and suggestion for further studies.


12

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1.

Language learning
1.1.1. Definition of language learning
In terms of language definition, different researchers proposed various

concepts.
Concise

Columbia

Encyclopedia

(1994)

stated

that

“systematic

communication by vocal symbols”
Pinker’s The language Instinct (1994) believed that language is a complex,
specialized skill, which develops in the child spontaneously without conscious
effort or formal instruction, is deployed without awareness of its underlying logic,
is qualitatively the same in every individual, and is distinct from more general
abilities to process information or behave intelligently.
In addition, Brown (2002) defined Language is a system of arbitrary
conventionalized vocal, written, or gestural symbols that enable members of a
given community to communicate intelligibly with one another.
Other researchers (as cited in Lightbown & Spada, 1993) defined that
language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols, which permit all people in a
given culture, or other people who have learned the system of that culture to
communicate or to interact. (Finocchiaro, 1964)
Language is a system of communication by sound, operating through organs of
speech and hearing, among members of a given community, and using vocal
symbols possessing arbitrary conventional meanings. (Pei, 1966).
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication
(Wardhaugh, 1972).


13

Language is any means, vocal or other, of expressing or communicating feelings
or thoughts… a system of conventionalized signs, especially words, or gestures

having fixed meanings (Neilson, 1934).
Language is a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of
conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings
(Gove, 1961).
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

A consolidation of a number of possible definitions yields:
Language is systematic – possibly a generative system.
Language is a set of arbitrary symbols.
Those symbols are primarily vocal, but may be visual.
The symbols have conventionalized meanings to which they refer.
Language is used for communication.
Language operates in a speech community or culture.
Language is essentially human, although possibly not limited to humans.
Language is acquired by all people in much the same way – language and
language learning both have universal characteristics.
A search in contemporary dictionaries reveals that learning is “acquiring or

getting of knowledge of a subject or a skill by study, experience, or instruction”.
A more specialized definition might read as follows: “Learning is a relatively
permanent change in a behavioral tendency and is the result of reinforced practice” (Kimble & Garmczy 1963).
1.1.2. Language learning theories
The research has discovered that the cognitive domain of human behavior

is a key importance in the acquisition of both a first and a second language. The
process of perceiving, attending, storing, and recalling are central to the task of
internalizing a language.
The research now focus on how psychologists have defined learning, and
will look at these theories through the eyes of four psychologist, two representing
a behavioristic viewpoint (Pavlov and Skinner, 1943), one representing a
rational/cognitive stance (Ausubel, 1956) and one that stretches into what could


14

be loosely defined as a constructivist school of thought (Rogers, 1951) the four
positions should illustrate not only some of the history of learning theory, but also
the diverse perspectives that form the foundations of varying language teaching
approach and methods.
1.1.2.1.

Pavlov’s classical behaviorism

Certainty the best-known classical behaviorist is the Russian psychologist
Ivan Pavlov, who at the turn of the century conducted a series of experiments in
which he trained a dog to salivate to the tone of a tuning fork through a procedure
that has come to be labeled classical conditioning. For Pavlov the learning
process consisted of the formation of associations between stimuli and reflexive
responses.
John B. Watson (1913) coined the term behaviorism. In the empirical
tradition of John Locke. Watson contended that human behavior should be studied
objectively, rejecting mentalistic notions of innateness and instinct. He adopted
classical conditioning theory as the explanation for all learning: by the process of
conditioning, he built an array of stimulus-response connections, and more

complex behaviors arc learned by building up series or chains of responses.
Pavlov’s and Watson's emphasis on the study of overt behavior and rigorous
adherence to the scientific method had a tremendous influence on learning theories for decades. Language teaching practices likewise for many years wert
influenced by a behavioristic tradition.
1.1.2.2. Skinner’s operant conditioning
Skinner has called a neobahaviorist because he added a unique dimension to
behavioristic psychology. The classical conditioning of Pavlov was, according to
Skinner, a highly specialized form of learning utilized mainly by animals and
playing little part in human conditioning. Skinner called Pavlovian conditioning
respondent conditioning since it was concerned with respondent behavior—that
is, behavior that is elicited by a preceding stimulus. Skinner's operant conditioning


15

attempted to account for most of human learning and behavior. Operant behavior
is behavior in which one “operates” on the environment; within this model the
importance of stimuli is dc-emphasized.
Operants are classes of -responses. Crying, sitting down, walking, and
batting a baseball arc operants. They arc sets of responses that arc emitted and
governed by the consequences they produce. In contrast, respondents are sets of
responses that are elicited by identifiable stimuli. Certain physical reflex actions
are respondents. Crying can be respondent or operant behavior. Sometimes crying
is elicited in direct reaction to a hurt. Often, however, it is an emitted response
that produces the consequences of getting fed, cuddled, played with, comforted,
and so forth. Such operant crying can be controlled. It parents wait until a child's
crying readies a certain intensity before responding, loud crying is more likely to
appear in the future.
There is no doubt that behavioristic learning theories have had a lasting
impact on our understanding of the process of human learning. There is much in

the theory that is true and valuable.
1.1.2.3. Ausubel’s meaningful learning theory
The cognitive theory of learning as put forth by Ausubel is perhaps best
understood by contrasting rote learning and meaningful learning. In the
perspective of rote learning, the concept of meaningful learning takes on new
significance. Ausubel described rote learning as the process of acquiring material
as “discrete and relatively isolated entities that arc rentable to cognitive structure
only in an arbitrary and verbatim fashion, not permitting the establishment of
“meaningful relationships" (1968). That is, rote learning involves the mental
storage of items having little or no association with existing cognitive structure of
us.


16

Meaningful learning, on the other hand, may be described as a process of
relating and anchoring new
material to relevant established
entities in cognitive structure.
As new material enters the
cognitive field, it interacts
with,

and

subsumed

is

appropriately

under,

a

more

inclusive conceptual system.
The very fact that material is
subsumable, that is, relatable to
stable elements in cognitive
structure,

accounts

for

its

meaningfulness.
- Systematic forgetting
Ausubel

provided

a

plausible explanation for the
universal nature of forgetting.
Since rotely learned materials

do not interact with cognitive
structure

in

a

substantive

fashion, they are learned in
conformity with the laws of
association, and their retention
is influenced primarily by the
interfering effects of similar
rote

materials

learned

immediately before or after the
learning

task

(commonly


17

referred to as proactive and retroactive inhibition). In the case of meaningfully
learned material, retention is influenced primarily by the properties of “relevant
and cumulatively established ideational systems in cognitive structure with which
the learning task interacts" (Ausubel 1968).
1.1.2.4. Rogers’s humanistic psychology
Carl Rogers is not traditionally thought of as a “learning” psychologist, yet his
colleagues and followers have had a significant impact on present understanding
of learning, particularly learning in an educational or pedagogical context. Rogers
devoted most of his professional life to clinical work in an attempt to be of
therapeutic help to individuals.
Rogers’s theory is no without its flaws. The educator may be tempted to
take the nondirective approach too far, to the point that valuable time is lost in the
process of allowing students to “discover” facts and principles for themselves.
One much talked about educational theorist in the Rogersian tradition is the wellknown Brazilian educators Paolo Freire, whose seminal work, Pedagogy of the
Oppressed (1970).
The various perspectives on learning that have been outline in this section
are schematically represented below:
Table 1.1. Theories of learning
Behavioristic

Cognitive

Constructivist

Classical

Operant

[Pavlov)
• respondent

[Skinner]
[Ausubel]
[Rogers]
• governed by  meaningful =
 fully

•

•

conditioning
elicited
response
S-*R

consequence
s
• emitted
response
• R S (reward)
• no






powerful
rote = weak

subsumption
association
systematic
forgetting

functioning


person
learn how to



learn
community
learners

of


18

Note: S stimulus, =
R

response-

reward
1.1.3. Types of
learning

Theories of learning of course do not capture all of the possible elements of

general principles of human learning. In addition to the four learning theories just
considered are various taxonomies of types of human learning and other mental
process universal to all. The educational psychologist Robert Gagne (1965), for
example, ably demonstrated the importance of identifying a number of types of
learning that human being use. Types of learning vary according to the context
and subject matter to be learner, but a complex task such as language learning
involves every one of Gagne’s types of learning - from simple signal learning to
problem solving. Gagne (1965) identified eight types of learning:
- Signal learning. The individual learns to make a general diffuse response to
a signal, this is the classical conditioned response of Pavlov.
- Stimulus-response learning. The learner acquires a precise response to a
discriminated stimulus. What is learned is a connection or in Skinnerian terms, a
discriminated operant, sometimes called an instrumental response.
- Chaining. What acquired is a chain of two or more stimulus-response
connections. The conditions for such learning have also been described by
Skinner.
- Verbal association. Verbal association is the learning of chains chat are
verbal. Basically, the conditions resemble those for other (motor) chains.
However, the presence of language in the human being makes this a special type
of chaining because internal links may be selected from the individual's
previously learned repertoire of language.
- Multiple discrimination. The individual learns to make a number of
different identifying responses to many different stimuli, which may resemble
each other in physical appearance to a greater or lesser degree. Although the