《How to Effectively Motivate Students in English Learning.doc》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《How to Effectively Motivate Students in English Learning.doc（6页珍藏版）》请在三一办公上搜索。
1、How to Effectively Motivate Students in English LearningAbstract With the requirement of economic development, English has become more and more important that people begin to learn English with fully enthusiasm even from younger age. Learning a foreign language is not a simple and easy job but somet
2、imes it is boring and dull. Motivation is critical in English learning, thus, how to effectively motivate students in English learning is an important problem. This paper expounds this importance and ways to motivate students. First, the author shows the definition of motivation and then explains in
3、trinsic and extrinsic motivation and their relations, following with some personal factors that influence motivation. At last, according to the rationale, the author suggests several effective ways to motivate students in English learning. Outline Thesis statements Motivation is critical in language
4、 learning according to psychology and ways to motivate students are more important to English learning. Introduction Among these factors that influence English learning, motivation makes up 33 per cent, thus, motivation is very important to English learning. Body . Theoretical rationale 1. Definitio
5、n of motivation A) In the term of psychology B) In language learning 2. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation A) Definition of intrinsic motivation B) Definition of extrinsic motivation C) Relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation 3. Personal factors in motivation A) Motivation and arousa
6、l B) Motivation and needs C) Motivation and beliefs D) Motivation and goals . Ways to motivate students in English learning 1. Using various and interesting activities 2. Involving new and effective techniques 3. High expectation and using rewards appropriately 4. Create a relaxed and positive learn
7、ing climate 5. Cooperative activities 6. Providing opportunities for students to experience success Conclusion Motivation and Ways to Motivate Students in English Learning Introduction In recent years in China, learning English has been a very prevalent tendency and it has become more popular and ur
8、gent as China succeeded in bidding to hold the 2008 Olympic Games and entering into the World Trade Organization. Mastery of a foreign language, especially English is viewed as a passport to ones future success, thus, more and more people swarm into the tide of English learning. In addition, the Eng
9、lish learners have become younger and younger that English courses are taught in Grade Three or Grade One of primary schools and even in kindergartens. Furthermore, most of parents send the children to some after-school English classes on the weekends in the hope of promoting the childrens English l
10、earning, yet some of the teachers and parents are in frustration of recognition of the childrens low attitude and grades in English learning. Therefore, as teachers should know the psychological theory and the process of English learning in order to encourage and enhance the English learning of stud
11、ents. Language learning is a very complicated process that is influenced by many factors. Besides the intelligent factor, the non-intelligent factors- motivation, attitude, interests, age, methods, will and character-are the direct and the most important factors to English learning. Because the beha
12、vior of English learners is dominated by cognition, in other words, the learners have a desire in which is a drive to persist in English learning. It is true that two students sit next to each other in a class. They look alike and are similar in ability, but they act very differently. One jumps into
13、 assignments, participates eagerly in class, and gets good grades; the other hesitates on assignments, seldom joins in discussion, and barely gets by. Why? This situation is typical. How many times have we heard teachers say, She could. Theories of motivation help us explain these differences. In Ja
14、kobovitss research, he shows that the mainly influential factors to English learning are: motivation which takes up 33%, aptitude which takes up 33%, intelligent which takes up 20%, and others which take up 14%(cited in Jia Guanjie, 1996). Therefore, teachers and parents are interested in motivation
15、, which can drive students in English learning actively. Body . Theoretical Rationale 1. Definition of motivation People are always motivated; in fact, they are never unmotivated. They may not be motivated to do what we would prefer they do, but it can never be truly said they are unmotivated (Combs
16、, 1962, p. 85). In psychology, motivation is a force that energizes and directs behavior toward a goal (Paul Eggen & Don Kauchak, 1994, p.427). Just as a force moves an object, motivation moves a person. More visualized, if individuals are machines, motivation is as the very engine that powers a
17、nd directs individuals behavior. Motives serve three important functions: 1) energizing us (i.e., turning the key and starting themotivational engine), 2) directing us (i.e., pointing us in a particular direction), and 3) helping us to select the behavior most appropriate for achieving our goals (Do
18、n Hamachek, 1989,p262). In a word, motivation is an inner state that arouses individuals desire for a goal and maintains their efforts in a certain direction and time. In language learning, motivation is not only an intensive desire for learning and acquiring knowledge of English, but also an inner
19、cause that push students forward in English learning with enthusiasm and willingness. It is something like the engine and steering wheel of an automobile that can moves students from boredom to interest. It is an inner power to drive and persevere students in English learning. Gardner indicates that
20、 the motivation of foreign language learning contains four aspects: a goal, effortful behavior, a desire to attain the goal and attitude (cited in Jia Guanjie, 1996). Students who have strong learning motivation take a correct and positive attitude towards study and make great efforts to master Engl
21、ish with clear goal and desire and consequently gain better grade than those who havent acquired motivation and those students usually regard English learning as a heavy and boring burden. It is true that motivation is such a basic factor in language learning that no teacher could avoid being concer
22、ned with students motivation. So it is necessary to understand motivation more deeply, an idea the author turns to next. 2. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation Motivation can be described in many types and the main broad categories are intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is a res
23、ponse to needs that exist within the learner, such as curiosity, the need to know, and feelings of competence or growth (Paul Eggen & Don Kauchak, 1994,P428). It exists when someone works because of an inner desire to accomplish a task successfully, whether it has some external value or not (Che
24、ryl L. Spaulding, 1992, p4). In other word, students are willing to learn the knowledge that is new and interesting in the purpose of fulfilling of their curiosity, the need to know and feeling of competence and growth that cause intrinsic motivation. Their purpose of learning is also the enjoyment
25、of the learning process not for praise or rewards. Students with intrinsic motivation orientation study English on their own initiative and tend to prefer moderately challenging tasks. This has a great value and importance in learning, for the inward interest makes them self-starting and self-perpet
26、uating and can keep the motivational machinery going for a long time. In contrast, extrinsic motivation is as an outward force in the form of expectation, praise and rewards powers students in English learning. It exists when individuals are motivated by an outcome that is external or functionally u
27、nrelated to the activity in which theyare engaged (Cheryl L. Spaulding, 1992, P4). When students work hard to win their parents favor, gain teachers praise, or earn rewards such as pocket money, we can rightly conclude that their motivation is primarily extrinsic, their reason for work and study lie
28、 primarily outside themselves and the aim of learning is not for the knowledge itself but the outward rewards in order to gain self-esteem. And the outward praise and rewards encourage students to study more actively. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are important, inseparable and complement
29、ary to each other in English learning. Intrinsic motivation is the type of inner drive that propels students forward and onward with continuous energy fueled by its own curiosity and interest. However, in the real world not all of the students are automatically energized to perform this or that task
30、, or to learn about this or that topic. Sometimes, a good grade, the threat of failing and praise move students from an inactive to an active state. The use of rewards as extrinsic motivators have sometimes been found to increase intrinsic motivation, especially when the rewards are contingent on th
31、e quality of the performance rather than simply on participation (Lepper 1983, P267). It is clear that extrinsic motivators are sometimes necessary either 1) to get students started in the first place, or 2) to start them down a track that they might not know exists (Don Hamachek, 1989, p267). Howev
32、er, overstressing the use of extrinsic motivation can stifle intrinsic motivation. 3. Personal factors in motivation A) Motivation and arousal Motivation can be explained as interactions among behavior, the environment, cognitions, and personal factors. And personal factors take a very important pos
33、ition in individual English learning. Here, lets focus on these four personal factors: arousal, needs, beliefs, and goals. Paul Eggen and Don Kauchak (1994) explains: Arousal is a physical and psychological reaction to the environment, including anxiety and curiosity motivation. Anxiety is arousal t
34、o the point of general uneasiness and tension and curiosity motivation is based on the idea that students derive pleasure from activities with an optimal (intermediate) level of surprise, discrepancy, or incongruityeach of which induces arousal (p438, 439). When a teacher hands out a test, the stude
35、nts are sitting nervously and curious about the content of the test, with elevated blood pressure, fast breath and sweaty hands. This time, the students are alert and wide-awake. They are aroused and their motivation is at a high level. An optimum level of arousal is needed for peak performance (Mor
36、ris, 1988, p438). So an appropriate arousal assists in enhancing motivation. B) Motivation and need A need is the lacking of something necessary or desirable. In Maslows hierarchy of needs, he divided needs into two categories. The bottoms four are called deficiency needs, and the top three are call
37、ed growth needs. Until the lower needs are met, people are likely to move to higher ones. His work has important implications for education. In classroom, students who are threatened by potential embarrassment are less motivated to learn, until they study in secure and relaxed environment, they will
38、 move to the need for competence which related to competence motivation that is an innate need in human beings that energizes people to master tasks and skills. The need for achievement drives students to fulfill their goals. Students with a high need for achievement tend to be motivated by challeng
39、ing assignments, high grading standards, explicit feedback, and the opportunity to try again. In contrast, students with a need to avoid failure avoid challenging tasks and experience anxiety in testing situation. Being aware of these differences can help teachers respond different students with dif
40、ferent needs and as a result, teach all students more effectively. C) Motivation and beliefs A third personal factor that affects peoples motivation is their beliefs. An optimistic belief about ones ability in English learning can help students increase their motivation. In incremental view of the b
41、eliefs about ability, human can hold the beliefs that ability can be improved with effort. Although students incline to be influenced by teachers evaluation of their ability in participating activities, they have an optimistic view of their ability to a certain extend which cause their self-confiden
42、t originally. They also react strongly to failure and self-doubt. A linking theory is attribution theory, which is an attempt to systematically describe students explanations for their successes and failures in classroom situations (Weiner, 1990, p444). So teachers can help students attribute their
43、successes o ability and effort while failure bad luck and task difficulty and provide them more opportunities to experience success for the sake of setting an optimal belief of the learning ability as well as enhancing learning motivation. D) Motivation and goals Students goals influence their motiv
44、ation and effort in English learning. With learning goal, students study purposefully and throw great effort into English learning. They are concerned about mastering of language and accomplishing tasks and not worried about failure or comparison to others. It is effective to help students setting r
45、ealistic and appropriate goals in motivating them in learning. . Ways to motivate students in English learning You can lead a horse to water,but you cant make him drink. Motivating students is a little like that. It involves not only leading them to English, but also making them thirsty for knowledg
46、e and understanding of English. As a language learning, English learning has its own characteristics that need the learners remember more, practice more and communicate more than other subjects. Students motivation is critical for English learning. English teachers are organizers or leaders in teach
47、ing. They have responsibility to increase their students inclination to perform willingly and actively on English learning. 1. Using various and interesting activities It is effective and functional to apply various and interesting activities with moderate challenge to attract students to arouse the
48、ir curiosity in English learning in view of intrinsic motivation, arousal and the characteristic of language learning. Language learning is a little different from other subjects that need students to develop roundly in four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing by remembering plenty of
49、 vocabulary, sentences and grammar, practicing and speaking more in class. Students are willing to participate in English learning by Combining English with recreation and to realize that English learning can be interesting and fun with their involvement in which is the key to maintaining motivation throughout a lesson. Games are welcomed in English teaching especially in elementary schools. As Aydan Ersoz explains: Well-chosen games are invaluable as they give students a break and at the same time allow students to p
