PART 2 : BACKGROUND TO LANGUAGE LEARNING
UNIT 9: MOTIVATION
"The good teacher tells, the better teacher
explains, the superiors teacher demonstrates, the great teacher inspires"
By Ricardo San Martin Vadillo.
Firstly, I learn in this unit that MOTIVATION is very vital in language learning. It
is one of the key factors that helps make language learning
effective. Students are interested in the culture of the language they
are learning because they want to become part of that culture, for that reason
the target language culture is important. For example: Students
want to learn Japanese because they want to understand Manga comics better, or
learning English to read about their favorite celebrities such as Paul
McCartney, Taylor Swift and so on. In addition, students might be motivated
because: they enjoy the social interaction with the teacher and with other
students. Then, they are in control of their learning and can do things on
their own, they develop their autonomy.
Secondly, I believe that the most important part is that students are interested in the lessons - the coursebook and topics are fascinating. Teachers
can realize when their students are motivated by some characteristic like:
positive attitude to doing tasks and activities, desire to succeed, able to
persevere, previous positive learning experiences. In other words they feel confidence; it means feeling
that they can do things successfully. For example: Students have to present a
role play about their favorite’s hobbies and a brochure about their favorites
cities. In this case students aren´t unmotivated because they like to talk about things
they like, so these activities motivated them.
Finally, For my personal point of view, A
GOOD TEACHER: helps students become more independent learners, can vary
the pace of lessons, uses a variety of materials and methods to make his/her
lessons interesting and provide sufficient support to students. Also, can
present language concepts and give instructions clearly and simply, but the
most important is "Establish discipline and order in his/her
lessons". As a conclusion, teachers should help students without demotivating them.
Key words: motivation, factors, target language
culture, autonomy, coursebook, confidence, unmotivated, independent learners,
demotivating.
Sekulic, Aleksandra
(2010, October 9)Motivation based on TKT course. Retrieved from
Bodeepongse, Porntip
(2009, April 27) TKT Unit 9 Motivation. Retrieved from
Mary...
ResponderBorrarThat is true, most of the times professors have in their hands student´s motivation which depends on the types of activities they use to impart classes. That is why teachers more that friends need to be classroom motivators.
Dear Gabriela I am agree with your reflection about motivation in learning since as you mentioned it is one of the most important factors within of learning language. On the other hand, I can say motivation helps a lot teachers due to it lets our students to keep working and learning language withtout many problems since if a learner is motivated he/she will be curious to learn everything about language which could help his/her to get good grades and be an active learner. Finally I was checking the links that you published and from my point of view those are really useful and interesting since they contain relevant information.
ResponderBorrarGreat Job Gaby!
ResponderBorrarThrough this blog you have shown me a great understanding of this topic. I agree when you say that teachers can identify motivation on their students by seeing a simple positive attitude. It meawsn that it is not so difficullt as TEACHERS think to pormote motivation, the only thing we need to know is to explore fully these motivation in order to help them to be successful in our classes. The links you posted provide usefu information!
Gabriela I want to congratulate you because of your well-done reflection. I strongly agree with you that MOTIVATION is essential in learning even more when learning a foreign language.
ResponderBorrarAlso you have a correct use of the TKT terms!
I agree with you 100 percent. It is essential that teachers give students a lot of motivation before starting the course. The more motivated they are, the better they will learn.
ResponderBorrarI agree totally with your information Gaby and your tips to add in the lesson plan like vary the pace of lessons, use a variety of materials and methods for more interesting classes and provide sufficient support to students. However, it is essential to establish discipline and order ibecause it shows respect.
ResponderBorrarDear María Gabriela,
ResponderBorrarI agree with your article because educators across the country are frustrated with the challenge of how to motivate the ever increasing number of freshmen students entering college who are psychologically, socially, and academically unprepared for the demands of college life. Such students often exhibit maladaptive behavior such as tardiness, hostility towards authority, and unrealistic aspirations.
Good Article...