In this unit I familiarized with the language teaching in order to be successful in learning a foreign language, three factors have to be taken into account: the first one is motivation, the second exposure and the last one is usage. But what is motivation, and how does it help during the learning process? According to the TKT book (modules 1,2 and 3) “Motivation is the thoughts and feelings we have which make us want to do something, continue to want to do it and turn our wishes into action.” So it means that motivation is what inspires people to do something in order to achieve a goal.
There are theories of motivation, some of the most known are the behavioral, the cognitive, and the constructivist. According to the behavioral point of view, motivation is the anticipation of a reward in which individuals are inspired to get a positive reinforcement. Douglas Brown, in his book entitled Principles of Language and Teaching fifth edition (2007), says that "behaviorists see motivation subordinated to external influences, such as” parents, teachers, peers and educational requirements.
Learners could be intrinsically or extrinsically motivated. A learner is intrinsically motivated when the inspiration comes from an internal desire, in this case, to learn a language. For example, it could be for an integrative purpose (the desire to integrate into the target language culture) or just because the learner is encouraged to learning languages. An individual is extrinsically motivated when the inspiration is external, it means when there is an external prise, such as money, acknowledgement, prizes, grades at school, promotion at work etc. for example: some people get motivated to study English to get a better position in the company they work for.
Sum up, language teachers need to be aware of the importance of motivation in language learning, so when they plan their lessons they have to think about activities and strategies that motivate learners and make them enjoy the language process. Educators also have to encourage students to be autonomous. To do this they need to be good motivators, this is really good, especially, for those students who need extrinsic motivation.
LINKS:
I agree with your comment about the teachers' role when teaching students, it is important that the teacher behaves all the time as colaborator, guider and advicer in order to help students kee trying to reach what they motivated to learn English. Furthermore, as you mention there are some experts who say that motivation is the main point for reaching something.
ReplyDeleteDearest Veronica
ReplyDeleteI liked the way you make the summary because you let´s know the role of motivation in the teaching classroom as well as the kinds, so now I know that professors are an important factor to make the students´ learning process successful.
Dear Verito I am strongly agree with your reflection about Motivation I could notice that you researched more about this topic for example you mentioned the two types of motivation then you let me clarify my doubts about the definition for each of them. Finally, I liked the part when you said that teachers need to be aware about the importance of motivation in learning.
ReplyDeleteGreat reflection!
ReplyDeleteIt shows your entirely comprehension of the unit and what is more the knowledge you got about exposure and form. The sources that you are suggesting are very useful. I really enjoyed watching the speech on strategies and approacher from which I get new information.