Motivation of language learners

/Students who want to be English teachers and students who don’t/

Tomor Viktor & Virágh Mercédesz

Motivation is one of the main determinants of second foreign language (l2) learning achievement.

Robert Gardner and Wallace Lambert, who grounded motivation research in a social psychological framework.

The main problem it was influential

Students who want to be English teachers

In General, motivation is the ‘neglected heart' of our understanding of how to design instruction (Keller, 1983, quoted in Dornyei, 2001: 116).

Lot of education-oriented publications providing taxonomies of classroom-specific motives.

My aim is to familiarise these techniques and strategies for motivating foreign language students.

Few things about the teacher / learner relationship.

This relationship is riddled with power and status.

Rights and duties of teachers and learners are related to power.

They have the right to punish those learners who misbehave.

It is the hardest task

Power in the classroom

learning should be fun

any motivation problems that may appear should be ascribed to the teacher's attempt to convert an enjoyable activity

school activities are inherently boring school activities are unrewarding must rely on extrinsic rewards and

punishment

A framework for motivational strategies

Cannot work in a vacuum

There are certain preconditions to be met before any attempts to generate motivation can be effective. Some of these conditions are the following:

a) appropriate teacher behaviour and good teacher-student rapport;

b) a pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere;

Creating the basic motivational conditions

c) a cohesive learner group characterised by appropriate group norms

Appropriate teacher behaviour and good teacher –student rapport

teacher has a motivational, formative, influence on students

teacher behaviour is a powerful ‘motivational tool'

Creating the basic motivational conditions

a tense classroom climate can

undermine learning and demotivate

learners

a safe classroom climate students can express their

opinions

feel that they do not run the risk of

being ridiculed

learn and support of their learning

efforts

organise and manage the

classroom as an effective learning

environment.

A Pleasant and Supportive Classroom Atmosphere

motivation is the ‘neglected heart' of our understanding of how to design instruction

by sticking to the language materials discipline their refractory students they will manage to create a classroom environment

Language is part of one's identity used to convey this identity to others.

it involves the adoption of new social and cultural behaviours and ways of thinking.

Conclusion

tolerance patiencedifferent agesdiffrent tricks

to enourage them to learnhardest task

kind of little rewards make them happy,feel satisfaction necessary to set targets

Own experiences

The context of research

Find out what circumstances influence the decision of the English majors by choosing a translation/interpretation specialization.

Research among fellow schoolmates (with the intention to come up with up-to-date results).

Online questionnaire

Students who don’t want to be teachers

Why do English majors choose a Translation

specialization instead of a Pedagogy course?

What is the crucial decision behind the specialization of the

English majors?

Is it really necessary to distinguish the two

specializations, namely translation and

pedagogy?

Why don’t they want to be English teachers?

What other factors influenced their decision?

Did you regret your decision by choosing Business English and

Translation specialization?

What motivates you in translation/interpretation

?

Research questions

The translation profession is considered to be more prestigious than being a teacher.

The majority claimed that better opportunities, in terms of career, self-improvement and financial security can be achieved with translation specialization.

„It can be a real asset if you want to learn at a multinational company.”

Why do English majors choose a Translation specialization instead of a Pedagogy course?

Fear and lack of abilities to fulfil a teacher’s position.

Being in a superordinate position is something which everyone afraids of.

What is the crucial decision behind the specialization of the English majors?

A convincing number said that due to the low-prestige of teaching and the lack of adequate benefits they would not became teachers intentionally.

„Because it is not a well-honoured job in Hungary not to mention the disappointing salary.”

„The salary of a teacher is low.”

„Because I think teacher is a low-prestige job and underpaid.”

Why don’t they want to be English teachers?

Family pressure and lack of specialization selection were among the determining factors in each of the participant’s case.

What other factors influenced their decision?

They consider translation a good way to improve one’s proficiency not to mention the joy of this process.

Instrumental motivation is turned out to be the most important factor.

„Money, self-esteem, success. I also enjoy it.”

What motivates you in translation/interpretation?

Instrumental motivation is in the centre of most students’ conceptions.

The questionnaire highlighted those circumstances which many people would like to avoid, namely presenting in front of a crowd.

Both of the specializations require different knowledge and methods.

People wish to achieve things faster in their lives.

Conclusion

Thank you for your attention!