Izabela Świć

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Renata Zdanowska Siedlce 2011

Definition of motivation• Motivation is the most frequently used catch-all term for

explaining the success or failure of virtually any complex task.

• Many studies and experiments in human learning have shown that motivation is a key to learning in general.

• In the field of second language acquisition, in particular, the subject of motivation has garnered plenty of attention.

Definition of motivation

• Motivation is an integral part of learning a second language. It is learning how to keep on being motivated that is the key to language fluency.

• Motivation is often defined as the psychological quality that leads people to achieve a goal. The goal for language learners is mastery of a language.

Theories of motivation

The term motivation theory is concerned with the processes that describe why and how human behavior is activated and directed.

Three views of motivation

• Behavioral Views of Motivation;

• Cognitive Views of Motivation;

• Constructivist View of Motivation

Behavioral Views of MotivationBehaviorism suggests that motivation results from:

• Effective reinforcers;

• Anticipation of reward;

• External forces like parents, teachers, peers, educational requirements etc.

Critics of behavioral approaches to motivation contend that reinforcers detract from intrinsic motivation and cause learners to focus on the reinforcers instead of learning. Reinforcers can be effective, however, if they’re based on quality of the work and communicate increasing competence.

Skinner, Pavlov, Thorndike put motivation at the center of their theories of human behavior.

• Skinner demonstrating that organisms tend to repeat actions that are reinforced and that behavior can be shaped by reinforcement,

• Skinner developed the technique of programmed instruction to make it possible for students to be reinforced for every correct response.

• According to Skinner, supplying the correct answer--and being informed by the program that it is the correct answer--motivates the student to go on to the next frame; and as the student works through the program, the desired terminal behavior is progressively shaped.

Cognitive Views of Motivation

Cognitive views places much more emphasis on the individual’s decisions. The choices people make as to what experiences or goals they will approach or avoid, and the degree of effort they will exert in that respect.

Cognitive theories of motivation focus on learners’ beliefs, expectations, and needs for order and understanding .

Six needs undergirding the construct of motivation by Ausubel:

Exploration – for seeing the other side of the mountain;

Manipulation – for operating on the environment and causing change;

Activity – for movement and exercise both physical and mental;

Stimulation - by the environment, by other people, by ideas, thoughts, feelings;

Knowledge – need to process the results of exploration, manipulation, activity and stimulation to resolve contradictions, to quest for solutions to problems and for self-consistent systems of knowledge;

Ego enhancement – for the self to be known and to be accepted and approved of by others.

Constructivist view of motivation

Constructivist view of motivation places emphasis on social context as well as individual personal choices.

Each person is motivated differently, and will therefore act on his or her environment in ways that are unique.

These unique acts are always carried out within a cultural and social milieu and cannot be completely separated from that context.

Maslow's motivation theory

The basis of Maslow's motivation theory is that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs, and that certain lower factors need to be satisfied before higher needs can be satisfied.

According to Maslow, there are general types of needs (physiological, survival, safety, love, and esteem) that must be satisfied before a person can act unselfishly. He called these needs "deficiency needs. „As long as we are motivated to satisfy these cravings, we are moving towards growth, toward self-actualization. Satisfying needs is healthy, while preventing gratification makes us sick or act evilly.

Studies of motivation in second language acquisition often refer to the distinction between integrative and instrumental

orientations of the learner.

Instrumental Integrative

Orientations

furthering a careerreading technical material

translation

integrating into the culture of the second language

becoming involved socially

Motivation or orientation?

• Dornyei, Gardner and MacIntyre point that instrumentality and integrativeness are not types of motivation.

high motivational intensity

low motivationalintensity

Research studies

1

2

Spolsky (1968)

Gardner & Lambert (1972)

'Integrativeness' gets higher

scores in proficiency tests in learning L2

Lukmani (1972)

'Instrumentality' gets higher

scores in proficiency tests in learning L2

Research studies

3

4

Gardner & MacIntyre (1992)

In certain contexts either

instrumental or integrative

orientation were more effective

Gardner (2004)

Lamb (2004)

It is difficult to distinguish

which orientation has better

impact on tests' results

What is more effective?

• There is no single means of learning of

a second language

Some students are

more successfulif they areintegrativeorientated

Some students need

an instrumentalfactorto be

successful

Why is that?

Most situations 'contain' a mixture of both orientations and the integrative –

instrumental

construct

is able to bring

student to his/her

success in

language learning.

Motivation

Intrinsic Extrinsic

belonging to or part ofthe real nature of

somebody or something,true; genuine; real; essential

not belonging naturally to somebody,coming from outside somebody

or something rather than within them

intrinsically motivated activitiesare these for whichthere is no reward

except the activity itself

COMPETENCEAND

SELF-DETERMINATION

Intrinsic motivation

extrinsic motivationcomes from outside

and beyondthe self

MONEY, PRIZES, GRADES,POSITIVE FEEDBACK,

AVOIDING PUNISHMENT

Extrinsic

Which form of motivationis more powerful?

“An unpublished study reported an experiment in which two groups of junior high school girls were asked to teach a simple game to kindergarteners”.

1. A reward.

2. No reward.

Results and conclusion

• “The results showed that the latter group did a better job of successfully teaching the game and reported greater satisfaction in doing so than the first group”

• Intrinsic motivation in second group was a stronger motivator.

Motivational dichotomies

Intrinsic Extrinsic

• Integrative

• Instrumental

L2 learner wishes to integrate with

L2 culture

L2 learner wishes to integrate with

L2 culture

L2 learner wishesto achieve

goals e.g., for a career

External power wants L2 learner to study L2

e.g., business cooperation

L2 learner wishes to integrate with

L2 culture

L2 learner wishes to integrate with

L2 culture

Someone else wishesthe L2 learner

to know the L2 for integrating

reasons

Sum - up

• Motivation plays a significant role in the process of learning a second language. Language teachers cannot effectively teach a language if they do not understand the relationship between motivation and its effect on second language acquisition .

• The core of motivation is what might be called passion. Passion, which relates to a person’s goals and desires, is intrinsic. Successful learners know their preferences, their strengths and weaknesses, and effectively utilize strengths and compensate for weaknesses. Successful language learning is linked to the learner’s passion. Instructors should find ways to connect to this passion.

References

H. Douglas Brown (2007): Principles of language learning and teaching, chapter 6.“Second Language Acquisition Through Motivation”,

http://socyberty.com/languages/second-language-acquisition-through-motivation/

Jacqueline Norris-Holt, “Motivation as a Contributing Factor in Second Language Acquisition’’, The Internet TESL Journal, http://iteslj.org/Articles/Norris-Motivation.html ;

Motivation to Learn Another Language (2008), http://www.suite101.com/content/motivation-to-learn-another-language-a66954

Motivation Excerpted from Chapter 11 of Biehler/Snowman, PSYCHOLOGY APPLIED TO TEACHING, 8/e, Houghton Mifflin, 1997. http://college.cengage.com/education/pbl/tc/motivate.html

Theories of Motivation, http://wps.prenhall.com/chet_eggen_education_6/13/3460/885789.cw/index.html