MOTIVATIONTKT module 1

by Aleksandra Sekulić

Learning outcomes

By the end of this session you will be able to:

1. describe the characteristics of motivated learners

2. explain why motivation is important to learning

3. link various classroom activities to motivational factors

Motivation MOTIVATION

aking conclusionsbserving othershinkingnvolvementideo materials (making and watching)udio materials / awareness raisingaking part in discussionsmaginative tasksptional activitiesew approaches (e.g. use of technology)

What are the characteristics of a motivated learner?

• positive attitude to doing tasks and activities• desire to succeed• able to persevere• goal-focused• previous positive learning experiences• outgoing and willing to communicate• not put off by making mistakes• etc.

Students might be motivated because:

• They know that improving their English will help in some aspect of their life, e.g. job, going to study/live in an English-speaking country, etc

• They like the school and/or the teacher• They are made to feel that they can learn

the language – they have confidence in the teacher and in their own ability

• They are given support from the teacher and the other students in the class

• They are interested in the lessons – the activities and topics are interesting

Students might be motivated because:

• They enjoy the social interaction with the teacher and with other students

• They are in control of their learning and can do things on their own

• They are interested in the culture of the country

• Learning English will allow them to pursue a personal interest, e.g. music, internet, etc

• They gain pleasure from learning another language

Videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29xGvc5QbiU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JguyK0XKug&p=D13A72E78DD44DE7&playnext=1&index=12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh_cHUgHVKwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_6GUx1Zx0whttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZokqjjIy77Y

A good teacherSkills• Is creative• Provides sufficient support to students• Provides sufficient challenge to students• Can vary the pace of lessons• Helps students become more

independent learners• Uses a variety of materials and methods

to make his/her lessons interesting

A good teacherSkills• Uses a variety of materials and

methods to cater for mixed levels in class

• Can present language concepts and give instructions clearly and simply

• Establishes discipline and order in his/her lessons

• Helps students correct their mistakes without demotivating them

A good teacher

Attitude• Is interested in his/her students as

individuals – understands their individual needs

• Is patient and does not give up on a student

• Is enthusiastic• Has a sense of humour

A good teacher

Attitude• Is encouraging• Is friendly and helpful to colleagues• Is open about strengths and

weaknesses as a teacher

A good teacherKnowledge• Knows his/her subject and keeps up to

date• Knows about theories of learning and

keeps up to date• Understands the particular problems

due to students’ first language• Can react to students’ questions and

give on-the-spot explanations

Motivating all learners

Here’s what Alan McLean, Area Psychologist, Glasgow City Council, said about motivating all learners. He talked about this at HMIE Good Practice Conference in 2008:

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/video/a/video_tcm4531622.asp?strReferringChannel=search&strReferringPageID=tcm:4-615801-64

Motivating all learners

So, some of the key concepts he mentioned here are the following:

• children’s needs – children need to meet their needs; children need to be self motivated and as teachers can’t directly motivate children, they need to create the classroom climate that allows children to motivate themselves.

Motivating all learnersAnd how can they do that?They have to:1. give children a sense of belonging (show

that they are interested in them)2. provide unambiguous feedback (give

children information about how well they’re doing)

3. provide stimulation (give a sense of purpose and relevance to the things they teach)

4. provide good structure (set clear goals)5. be able to energise their students

And don’t forget...

Praise is very important for motivation and engendering self-confidence. Whilst learners need feedback on where they went wrong, it shold be done as positively and sensitively as possible. Negative feedback can be embarrasing and demotivating.

Discussion

1. How important is it that your learners feel positive about the target language culture?

2. How can you help your learners to set goals for their language development?

3. Why is it important for learners to develop independence in their learning?

4. Why is personalisation important?

Discussion

How important is it that your learners feel positive about the target language culture?

• Research into language learning suggests that interest in and positive feelings towards the target language culture are important motivational factor. So, how can we develop this?

Discussion

How can you help your learners to set goals for their language development?

• Setting goals helps learners to focus and develops learner independence. Raising awareness of lesson aims and giving learners an overview of the syllabus can help learners thing in terms of their own goals. Diagnostic tests or activities that help students identify their strong and weak points can also help focus learners.

DiscussionWhy is it important for learners to

develop independence in their learning?• Developing learner autonomy may be

quite difficult in countries where the culture expects teachers to be experts and learners to be passive recipients. Some of the possible things we can do with our learners in order to work on this are: getting learners to fill in a chart about what kind of learner they are, doing learner training activities (dictionary work, recording vocabulary, inferring meaning from context, etc), using authentic reading materials, etc.

Discussion

Why is personalisation important?

• Because learners’ interest is likely to be stimulated if they are dealing with topics of genuine interest, finding out about their classmates and giving their own views. It can also help them to process language at a deep emotional level and make it more ‘real’ and memorable to them.

So, do we want our students to be like this:

Or like this:

Thanks

A quote

"The good teacher tells, the better teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates, the great teacher inspires".

taken from ‘SOME HINTS FOR THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER’ by Ricardo San Martín Vadillo