Motivation: four steps
by Rhona Snelling
‘Motivation is a state of cognitive and emotional arousal, which leads to a conscious decision to act and gives rise to a period of sustained intellectual and/or physical effort in order to attain a previously set goal.’ (Williams and Burden, 1997)
This is a favourite definition of mine that captures the essence of motivation. But how does this translate into our classrooms? How can we create and maintain motivation in our students?
1 Foster a supportive learning environment
Think about the environment of your classroom in a holistic sense, from welcoming students at the door or via the camera, the time and length of the lesson, your facial expressions and body language, how and when you give feedback, the dynamics between students … and countless other variables specific to your own context. Do everything you can to ask – and observe – what makes your students feel comfortable in your lesson. Without this, there will be an absence of motivation, engagement, and, ultimately, attendance. But with this, you give full respect to each of your students alongside a genuine commitment to their learning.
2 Select your tasks wisely
Give due time and consideration to your lesson plan – not just the overall aims/objectives, staging or flow, but each individual task that makes up the different stages of your lesson. Is there a range of task types to suit as many of your students as possible? For example, if your neurodivergent students require a more reflective ‘heads down’ (or camera temporarily off) task; is that in your lesson plan? Or could you offer a choice of activities now and again, so students can select an activity that appeals to them? Research shows that choice and autonomy result in greater motivational effort (Locke, 1968).
3 Encourage English outside the classroom
If your students are not living or working in the L2 environment, then their exposure to the L2 (outside of your lessons) is likely to be low. Can you encourage them to find and enjoy L2 in their ‘real life’? Could they watch a Netflix series with English sub-titles (to learn new lexis and practise reading)? Or lip-synch to an English song (to practise the physical mechanics of phonology)? Could they do some extensive reading using graded readers or authentic material? Could you start a book club or film club for some additional (and semi-informal) English practice? Or a WhatsApp chat group or an Instagram account for your class?
4 Ascertain and pursue goals
The jewel in the motivational crown is the goal – from small and short-term (not using L1 in a lesson or speaking five times in a lesson) to large and long-term (getting a high score at IELTS or a new job using the L2). And they could be somewhere in the middle: writing an online review, confidently using future tenses, accurately producing /ð/ and /θ/, and so on. Invite your students to envision their ‘future L2 self’ (Dörnyei, 2005). Then work together to plan progress towards that personal goal – it’s the ultimate formative assessment. Don’t forget that lives and goals change, so evaluate progress and fine-tune whenever necessary.
Sources:
Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Lawrence Erlbaum.
Locke, E. A. (1968). ‘Toward a theory of task motivation and incentives.’ Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 3 (2).
Williams, M. and Burden, R. L. (1997). Psychology for Language Teachers: A Social Constructivist Approach. Cambridge University Press.