MOTIVATION 
By: Sandra
It is undeniable that motivation plays an important role in a classroom, specially when talking about teaching English as a second or foreign language. However, it is not as easy as it may seem and if students are not motivated it will be difficult to teach them successfully the target language. Some students seem naturally enthusiastic about learning, but many need or expect their instructors to inspire, challenge, and stimulate them: "Effective learning in the classroom depends on the teacher's ability ... to maintain the interest that brought students to the course in the first place" (Ericksen, 1978, p. 3).
By: Sandra
It is undeniable that motivation plays an important role in a classroom, specially when talking about teaching English as a second or foreign language. However, it is not as easy as it may seem and if students are not motivated it will be difficult to teach them successfully the target language. Some students seem naturally enthusiastic about learning, but many need or expect their instructors to inspire, challenge, and stimulate them: "Effective learning in the classroom depends on the teacher's ability ... to maintain the interest that brought students to the course in the first place" (Ericksen, 1978, p. 3).
Whatever level of motivation your students bring to the classroom will be transformed, for better or worse, by what happens in that classroom. Unfortunately, there is no single magical formula for motivating students. Many factors affect a given student's motivation to work and to learn (Bligh, 1971; Sass, 1989): interest in the subject matter, perception of its usefulness, general desire to achieve, self-confidence and self-esteem, as well as patience and persistence. And, of course, not all students are motivated by the same values, needs, desires, or wants. That is why I decided to search on this topic that concerns to the teachers of English as a second language and ESL learners. I found some useful links that will help you to understand some important characteristics of motivation at the moment of teaching:
3 comentarios:
Hi!
Wow, I was waiting for someone who talk about this interesting topic. I do agree with Sandra when she says that although it is very important to keep students motivated, there is no MAGICAL KEY THAT CAN OPEN THE MOTIVATOIONAL TREASURE...
That is because human beings are all different. As well as we have different ways of learning and expressing ourselves, there are different things that motivate us and they work depending on our mood, feelings, age, environment, life style, etc. That is why it is too difficult to find something motivating for everybody in a classroom.
But wait. I'm not stating that there is nothing to do when coping with motivation. We, as teachers, play an important role in this area. Despite we do not have superpowers to keep all our students motivated, we can encourage it by doing certain things during class. I have tried these following tips at class and they have worked perfectly with my students (age from 8 to 12):
- Bring material that they like: related to cartoons or famous people they like.
- Play songs
- Play intersting videos
- Use english games: To get fluency or to learn vocabulary
That is my opinion on this great topic. I will be checking other's comments.
If you are interested on the use of Information and communication technologies in English language teaching, enter my blog:
http://ictsinthirdworldcountries.blogspot.com/
hello sandris, this blog is cute... I like the butterflies(I already told'ya so.
The topic is very similar to Marylin's blog, but she uploaded an essay, I really apreciate the fact that you care about motivation in this class, because nothing better than a motivated student☺
here is a link that I found useful
enjoy coke(the soda)
Juanits...
pd: comment in my blog!
http://juanitspractish.wordpress.com/
Great blog!
I think you made it. Motivation is the most important factor in learning a language. that article was awesome.
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