Motivation Foreign and Second Language Learning

What is motivation to learn L2?

It is the composition of different overlapping factors

such as interest, curiosity, or desire to achieve. These

in turn will differ in different situations and

circumstances, and also be suject to various external

influences such as parents, teachers and exams.

Early psychological views on motivation Biological needs Behaviourism Maslow’s formulation Freud’s unconscious motivation

Reformulated approaches to motivation Achievement motivation: people differ quite

markedly in their need to achieve or to be successful.

Optimal arousal: humans seek a level of “optimal arousal” at which they function best without having to meet any other basic needs.

Motivation in foreign and second language learning Learning a foreign language implies a social venture.

Language belongs to a person’s whole social being; it is a part of one’s identity, and is used to convey this identity to other people.

It involves an alteration in self-image, the adoption of new social and cultural behaviors and ways of being, and has a significant impact on the social nature of the learner.

Learning a second language is learning to be another social person. It’s acquiring the skill and behavior patterns which are characteristic of another community.

There’s a number of models of language learning motivation that are social-psychological in nature.

Gardner’s socio-educational model: This model incorporates the learner’s cultural beliefs, their attitudes

towars the learning situation, their integrativeness, and their motivation.

He defines motivation as the combination of effort plus the desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favourable attitudes towards learning the languge. Other factors, such as attitude towards the learning situation and integrativeness can influence these attributes

In short words: Motivations to learn a languages is defined by Gardner as “the desire to

learn a language, the motivation intensity, and attitudes towards learning such language”.

Instrumental Orientation: the reason to learn a language lies on external goals such as passing exams, financial rewards, a career or gaining promotion.

Integrative Orientation: the reason to learn a language lies on the wish to identify with the culture of speakers of that language.

Confidence and friendship are other important motivating factors.

Dörney’s model: The language level encompasses various orientations and

motives related to aspects of the second language. These will influence the goals learners set and the choices they make.

Dörney’s learner level involves individual characteristics that the learner brigs to the learning task.

The situation level is related to the course, the teacher, and the group dynamics.

Cognitive view of motivation From a cognitive perspective, motivation is

concerned with such issues as why people decide to act in a certain way and what factors infuence the choices they make. It also involves decisions as to the amount of oeffort people are prepared to expend in attempting to achieve their goals. The role of the teacher becomes one of helping, and enabling learners to make suitable decisions.

A social-constuctivist view of motivation A constructivist view of motivation centres around the premise that each

individual is motivated differently. People will make their own sense of various external infuences that sorround them in ways that are personal to them, and they will act on their internal disposition and use their personal attibutes in unique ways.

What motivates one person to learn a foreign language and keeps going will differ from individual to individual.

An individual’s motivation is subject to social and contextual influences. These will include the whole culture and context and the social situation, as well as significant other people and the individual’s interactions with these people

Dimensions of motivation:Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Preference for challenge Curiosity/interest Independent mastery Independent judgement Internal criteria for success

Preference for easy work Pleasing teacher/getting

grades Dependence on teacher in

figuring out problems Reliance on a teacher’s

judgement about what to do

External criteria for success

Perceived value of the activity The greater value that individuals attach to the

accomplishment of or involvement in an activity, the more highly motivated they will be both to engage in it initially, and to put sustained effort into succeeding in the activity. This would appear to be true whether they are influenced by intrinsic or extrinsic reasons.

Arousal Curiosity Flow

People who are highly motivated or aroused are likely to apply: All of their minds and bodies are completely

involved; Their concentration is very deep; They know what they want to do; They know how well they are doing; They are not worried about failing; Time passes very quickly; They lose the ordinary sense of self-conscious

gnawing worry that characterises daily life.

Learner’s beliefs about themselves: A sense of agency

Locus of causality: origins, pawns Locus of control: learned helplessness Effectiveness motivation: self-efficacy Motivational style: learned helplessness, mastery

oriented, self-worth

Setting and achieving goals Performance vs. Learning Effort-avoidance Attunement strategy

The role of significant others Two main factors can be seen as contiuting to the

learner’s motivation to participate in learning activities:

The personality or nature of the person introducing the acitivity. The way in which the person presents the activity and works with

the learner during the completion of that activity.

Pros and Cons of feedback

Internal and External Intrinsic interest of activity Perceived value of the

activity Sense of agency Mastery Self-concept Attitudes Affective states Developemental stage Gender

Significant others Nature of interaction with

significant others Learning environment Broader content

Suggestions for language teachers : Recognise the complexity of

emotion Be aware of oth initiating and

sustaining motivation Discuss with learners why they

are carrying out activities Involve learners in making

decisions related to learning the language

Involve learners in language learning goals

Regonise people as individuals

Build up individuals’ beliefs in themselves

Develop internal beliefs Help to move towards a mastery

oriented style Enhance intrinsic motivation Build up a supporting learning

environment Give feedback that is

informational.