• Marta Toledo

• Ema Loo

MOTIVATION IN A SLA

What is Motivation?

It is the reason or reasons for engaging in a particular behaviour especially human behaviour as studied in psychology and neuropshychology.

Reasons may include basic needs such as food or a desired object, hobbies, goal,etc.

Motivational Concepts

Reward: It is presented after the occurrence of an action with the intent to cause the behaviour occur again.

Intrisic rewards are internal to the person; for example, satisfaction or a feeling of accomplishment.

Reward can also be organized as:

Extrinsic rewards are external to the person; for example, praise or money.

Motivational Concepts

Reinforcement: It is intended to create a measured increase in the rate of a desirable behavior following the addition of something to the environment.

Intrinsic motivation: It is when people engage in an activity, such as a hobby, without obvious external incentives. It comes from inside the performer.

Example: Amateur sportsmen compete for the love of the sport.

Motivational Concepts

Extrinsic motivation: It is motivated by external factors. It drives to do things for tangible rewards or pressures.

Self- Control

Self-control of motivation is understood as a subset of emotional intelligence.

Drives and desires do not need external stimuli, they are originated within the individual.

Drives and desires are described as a deficiency or need that activates behavior that is aimed at a goal or a incentive.

Motivation in a Second Language Acquisition

Motivation in a second language acquisition is a complex phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two factors: learner’s communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language community.

Motivation in a Second Language Acquisition

Robert Gardner and Wallace Lambert (1972) coined the following terms:

INSTRUMENTAL MOTIVATION:

It is primarily associated with the potential pragmatic gains of L2 proficiency, such as getting a better job or a higher salary.

INTEGRATIVE MOTIVATION:

It reflects a positive disposition toward the L2 group and the desire to interact with and even to become similar to valued members of that community.

Motivation in a Second Language Acquisition

Motivation, to learn the second language is viewed as a requiring three elements:

First, the motivated individual expends effort to learn the language.

Second, the motivated individual wants to achieve the goal.

Third, the motivated individual will enjoy the task of learning the language.

All three elements, effort, desire, and positive affect, are seen as necessary to distinguish between individual who are more and those who are less motivated.

Motivation in a Second Language Acquisition

CONSIDERING THE TEACHER:

The teachers must have knowledge and skill in the language; it means they must be proficient.

The teachers must have the training, personality characteristics, the ability to teach the fundamentals of the language, to encourage students to learn the material and use it correctly.

Motivation in a Second Language Acquisition

CONSIDERING THE STUDENT: The majority of students who are studying a

foreign or second language in a school are doing it because it is part of the curriculum.

They have a number of duties and responsibilities:

- acquiring language content - language skills

When the students first enter the language, they are motivated by dreams of speaking the second language in a short period of time.

Motivation in the Classroom Setting

Graham Cookes and Richard Schmidt (1991) point several areas where educational research has reported increased levels of students in relation to pedagogical practices:

Motivating students into the lesson. At the opening stages of lessons (and within transitions), it has been observed that remarks teachers make about forthcoming activities can lead to higher levels of interest on the part of students.

Motivation in the Classroom Setting

2. Varying the activities, tasks, and materials: Students are reassured by the existence of classroom routines which they can depend on. Varying the activities, tasks, and materials can help to avoid the boredom and increase the students interest level.

Using co-operative, rather than competitive goals: Co-operative learning activities are those in which students must work together in order to complete a task or solve a problem. Every student in a co-operative task has an important role to play.

• Marta Toledo

• Ema Loo

MOTIVATION IN A SLA