Attitudes and motivation in second language teaching

Promptings in training to the second language. A problem of prompting and the relation of students in the various countries. Factors of research of growth of cultural level. Integrated and promoting type of prompting. The Humanistic Perspective.

Рубрика Иностранные языки и языкознание
Вид реферат
Язык английский
Дата добавления 21.01.2011
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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF UKRAINE

IVAN FRANKO NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF L'VIV

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Teaching

Course paper

presented by

a 4th-year student

Ivanna Linitska

Supervised by

Zadunayska Y. V.,

Teacher of English

L'VIV - 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Main Body

1. Motivation as a Contributing Factor in Second Language Acquisition

2. Traditional Motivation Theories

3. Initiating and Sustaining Motivation

Conclusions

List of References

INTRODUCTION

The theme of the course paper is “Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Teaching”.

The objectives of the paper are to highlight the importance of the attitudes and motivation, to discover what motivation and attitude are in essence and how they influence students in different cultures.

The research tasks are set as follows:

1. To consider the importance of motivation in second language teaching;

2. To study the problem of motivation and attitudes of students in different countries;

3. To analyze some various strategies to help students set goals and plans.

The given problem is important for many reasons:

1. Motivation is a critical aspect of teaching and learning;

2. Unmotivated students will not expend the necessary energy and effort to learn;

3. The attitude of the students toward learning the second language

Understanding current perspectives of motivation allows teachers to learn and use a specific language that goes further than any generalizations like, “She is just not motivated” or “He just does not want to put in the effort”. Using this new language to discuss motivation allows teachers to understand problems they come across every day with their students. These problems are studied from every side and the results are not always satisfying but, nevertheless, a lot of teachers find some methods useful in the class.

The educational process is filled with many uphill battles regarding student willingness to learn, there have been made various researches in the area of motivation and education attitudes and various factors have been isolated that can predict the teacher's success or failure in motivating the students to become engaged in the process of learning, and the attitude of students to the process of studying and the methods that are used.

The most fundamental researches on the given problem were carried out by such famous educators and researchers in this field as Maslow A., Gardner R. C., Finegan E., Berry J. W. and many others who developed the hierarchy of human needs to show how we have to satisfy certain basic needs before we can satisfy higher needs.

Most theorists assume that motivation and attitude are involved in the performance of all learning responses. That basically means that a learning behaviour will not occur unless it is energized. It is a task of every good teacher to boost that kind of behaviour. To make students motivated is to make them see the information or task as personally relevant and believe that they can be successful - it is to convince students that the learning is important and that there is plenty of space for growth in the student.

Educating students is a challenging, rewarding and worthwhile endeavour. Much of what ails the educational process today is perceived to be the student's lack of “motivation” to learn.

The theoretical value of the course paper lies in providing a detailed and comprehensive account of the importance of motivation and attitude for language learning learners, in analyzing and describing the existing motivation theories.

1. MOTIVATION AS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Motivation is defined as the learner's orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language. Motivation is divided into two basic types: integrative and instrumental. Integrative motivation is characterized by the learner's positive attitudes towards the target language group and the desire to integrate into the target language community. Instrumental motivation underlies the goal to gain some social or economic reward through second language (L2) achievement, thus referring to a more functional reason for language learning. Both forms of motivation are examined in light of research which has been undertaken to establish the correlation between the form of motivation and successful second language acquisition.

Integrative Motivation

Generally, students who are most successful when learning a target language are those who like the people that speak the language, admire the culture and have a desire to become familiar with or even integrate into the society in which the language is used [8; 469]. This form of motivation is known as integrative motivation. When someone becomes a resident in a new community that uses the target language in its social interactions, integrative motivation is a key component in assisting the learner to develop some level of proficiency in the language. It becomes a necessity, in order to operate socially in the community and become one of its members. It is also theorized that "integrative motivation typically underlies successful acquisition of a wide range of registers and a nativelike pronunciation" [14; 167].

In a setting such as Japan it is important to consider the actual meaning of the term "integrative." As Benson suggests, a more appropriate approach to the concept of integrative motivation in the context would be the idea that it represents the desire of the individual to become bilingual, while at the same time becoming bicultural [10; 34]. This occurs through the addition of another language and culture to the learner's own cultural identity. As Japan is predominantly a monocultural society, opportunities to use the target language in daily verbal exchanges are relatively restricted. There is also limited potential for integrating into the target language community.

Instrumental Motivation

In contrast to integrative motivation there is the form of motivation referred to as instrumental motivation. This is generally characterized by the desire to obtain something practical or concrete from the study of a second language [11; 47]. With instrumental motivation the purpose of language acquisition is more utilitarian, such as meeting the requirements for school or university graduation, applying for a job, requesting higher pay based on language ability, reading technical material, translation work or achieving higher social status. Instrumental motivation is often characteristic of second language acquisition, where little or no social integration of the learner into a community using the target language takes place, or in some instances is even desired.

Integrative Versus Instrumental Motivation

While both integrative and instrumental motivations are essential elements of success, it is integrative motivation which has been found to sustain long-term success when learning a second language [9; 478]. In some of the early researches conducted by Gardner and Lambert integrative motivation was viewed as being of more importance in a formal learning environment than instrumental motivation [9; 495]. In later studies, integrative motivation has continued to be emphasized, although now the importance of instrumental motivation is also stressed. However, it is important to note that instrumental motivation has only been acknowledged as a significant factor in some research, whereas integrative motivation is continually linked to successful second language acquisition. It has been found that generally students select instrumental reasons more frequently than integrative reasons for the study of language. Those who do support an integrative approach to language study are usually more highly motivated and overall more successful in language learning.

One area where instrumental motivation can prove to be successful is in the situation where the learner is provided with no opportunity to use the target language and therefore, no chance to interact with members of the target group. Lukmani found out that an instrumental orientation was more important than an integrative orientation in non-westernized female learners of L2 English in Bombay [12; 261]. The social situation helps to determine both what kind of orientation learners have and what kind is most important for language learning. Braj Kachru also points out that in India, where English has become an international language, it is not uncommon for second language learners to be successful with instrumental purposes being the underlying reason for study [12; 280].

Brown makes the point that both integrative and instrumental motivations are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Learners rarely select one form of motivation when learning a second language, but rather a combination of both orientations [7; 355]. He cites the example of international students residing in the United States, learning English for academic purposes while at the same time wishing to become integrated with the people and culture of the country.

Motivation is an important factor in L2 achievement. For this reason it is important to identify both the type and combination of motivation that assists in the successful acquisition of a second language. At the same time it is necessary to view motivation as one of a number of variables in an intricate model of interrelated individual and situational factors which are unique to each language learner.

Sources of Motivation

In order to make the language learning process a more motivating experience instructors need to put a great deal of thought into developing programs which maintain student interest and have obtainable short term goals. At university level this may include, as suggested by Berwick [15], any number of foreign exchange programs with other universities, overseas "homestay" programs, or any other activities which may help to motivate students to improve their target language proficiency [16; 230]. At the secondary school level, and especially in the senior years, this task may prove more difficult. With the focus of study being directed toward university entrance students may have little desire or indeed motivation to improve language proficiency. For the foreign language teacher this may result in a certain level of frustration due to the general lack of interest and commitment by some students. Teachers need to create interesting lessons in which the students' attention is gained. This can sometimes be accomplished by the use of teaching strategies which are not often called upon by other teachers in mainstream subject areas. Encouraging students to become more active participants in a lesson can sometimes assist them to see a purpose for improving their communication skills in the target language. Successful communication using the target language should result in students feeling some sense of accomplishment. Research in the area suggests L2 achievement strongly affects learner motivation [9; 510].

The use of an interesting text can also help to increase the motivation level of students in the classroom. Many texts often contain material which fails to capture the interest of students due to the heavy emphasis on vocabulary and grammar. Many foreign texts, however, often contain topics which can create a great deal of classroom interaction and help to motivate students to develop their language skills. It is important for the instructor to take advantage of such discussion topics and help students to realize that, even though they may see no need to become proficient in a second language, the study of another language and culture can only enhance their perception and understanding of other cultures.

No matter what the underlying motivation to study a second language, what cannot be disputed is the fact that motivation is an important variable when examining successful second language acquisition. Although change may be slow to the education system, the introduction of the English language as a subject in elementary school can only help to further motivate students to achieve higher levels of proficiency in the future.

Acculturation Attitudes

This pattern puts forth a model to enhance understanding of second language acquisition (SLA) by integrating factors from acculturation research.

In a series of studies, Berry and others have suggested attitudes toward acculturation which have an important impact on the process. Initially, two subject groups were featured in most of these research projects: aboriginal peoples in Australia and North America, and immigrant groups predominantly in North American settings. Sommerlad and Berry [22; 23] used patterns of acculturation among aboriginal Australians to assess levels of cultural assimilation. A five-point Likert scale measured social proximity in attitudes presented by young students between precepts of their aboriginal first cultures and the dominant European-Australian society. Attitudes individuals held toward the relative desirability of integrating into the lager society were found to be significant determinants of the level of acculturation they had attained. These findings are supported in a number of studies within the context of involuntary minority and aboriginal groups in North America. These concepts can be adapted for us in broadening current understanding of learner motivation for SLA.

Berry's work established a relationship between attitudes held toward the perceived importance of maintaining contact with home and host cultural groups, and the levels of acculturation an individual demonstrated. The working model of acculturation attitudes Berry produced features four distinct patterns of acculturation: integration, assimilation, separation and marginalization [15; 5]. In order to place an individual into one of the four categories, Berry combines items that demonstrate support for either maintenance of the home culture or a desire to integrate into the host culture. Subjects concerned with both maintaining their own cultural identity and extending relations in the host community are considered to have an integrated acculturation attitude. At the opposite extreme, an individual reporting little concern in either area is seen to be marginalized. In an assimilated acculturation attitude an individual shows a greater concern for integrating into the host culture than maintaining their home culture. The final category, separation, involves individuals with a greater focus on maintaining elements of the home culture over connecting with the host ones.

The four acculturation attitudes in Berry's model do not at first appear to support Gardner's work on motivation. Berry's focus on attitudes toward home and host cultural groups, however, offers an element that can be added to Gardner's work to create a more inclusive theory of learner motivation in SLA. Gardner's two spheres of motivation (instrumental and integration) are both paralleled in, and extended by Berry's approach. Greater sociolinguistic proficiency is likely among individuals showing an increased desire for integrating into L2 speech norms and cultural patterns. Therefore, learners with a stronger integrative motivation would be expected to demonstrate this with a greater concern for contacting members of the L2 speech communities (as outlined by Berry) [16; 9]. Likewise, students with a more instrumental-based motivation may show a greater tendency to remain within native cultural and language use contexts while studying an L2, as evidenced by less desire to interactive with L2 speakers or to delve into cultural aspects of their speech communities. To further discuss how Berry's model of acculturation attitudes can be related to Gardner's work on motivation, it is necessary to look closer at this model and adaptations made to it by other researchers.

Berry associated each of the four acculturation attitudes with differing levels of acculturative stress and adaptation difficulties. The most negative acculturation stress is described as resulting from marginalized or separated attitudes. Individuals with these acculturation attitudes are believed to be more likely to see intercultural experiences as threatening. In contrast, an interest in maintaining and extending contact with home and host cultures, an integrated acculturation attitude, is described as resulting in less acculturative stress. Berry suggests sojourners with integrated or assimilated attitudes experience fewer adaptation difficulties because they are likely to see adaptation as a salient and even desirable feature of moving to a host setting (See Table 1).

Acculturation Attitudes

- Is it considered to be of value to maintain cultural identity and characteristics?

Yes

No

- Is it considered to be of value to maintain relationships with other groups?

Yes

Integrated

Assimilated

No

Separated

Marginalized

Table 1. Berry's Acculturation Attitudes

Berry's original model of acculturation has been used in studies of acculturation among minority and immigrant groups in culturally plural societies in North America, Hawaii, and Australia. In the Canadian context, many studies have looked at acculturation among members of aboriginal communities across the country using this approach. Consistently positive correlations have been found between measures of Euro-Canadian acculturation, such as years of formal schooling, and levels of assimilation attitudes [17; 406].

The techniques used for determining levels of the four acculturation attitudes do not vary much among studies using Berry's approach. Questionnaires, typically involving Likert's scale items, ask subjects to agree or disagree with statements expressing ethnic identification between native and acquired cultures. Table 2 illustrates an example of items from a study of Korean immigrants to Canada.

Acculturation attitude suggested

Friendship patterns maintained

Attitudes toward the L2 speech community (Canadian Society)

Separated

- Most of my friends are Koreans, because I feel very comfortable around them, but I don't feel as comfortable with Canadians.

- Because we live in Canada, we are always pressured to assimilate to Canadian lifestyle. Thus, we must emphasize our distinct Korean identity and restrict our association with Canadian society.

Integrated

- The kinds of relationships that I have with Koreans are valuable while the kinds of relationships I have with Canadians are also worthwhile.

- While living in Canada, we can retain our Korean cultural heritage and lifestyle and yet participate fully in various aspects of Canadian society.

Marginalized

- These days it's hard to find someone you can really relate to and share your inner feelings and thoughts.

- Politicians use national pride to exploit and deceive the public.

Assimilated

- Most of my friends are Canadians, because they are enjoyable and I feel comfortable around them but I don't feel the same way with Koreans.

- We're living in Canada and that means giving up your traditional way of life and adopting a Canadian lifestyle, thinking and acting like Canadians.

Table 2. Acculturation Attitudes - Korean Immigrants in Canada

Statements in Table 2 can be seen to represent each of the four acculturation attitudes in Berry's approach. The methodology typically used to assess these responses adds a subject's score on items in four different scales to produce a grouped score. The results are variable and can be correlated with socio-demographic variables, such as gender, age, language use, years of schooling, ethnic identity, cultural group membership, or achievement variables like standardized test scores [16; 234]. Concurrent validation of the acculturation attitude scales have shown consistently positive, although somewhat weak correlations between assimilation and integration (ranging from +14 to +28). Stronger negative correlations have been found between assimilation and separation (ranging from -27 to -69) [15].

Ward and Kennedy support Berry's framework in finding that sojourners with integrated and assimilated acculturation attitudes demonstrated lower levels of sociocultural difficulties than ones with separated or marginalized attitudes. In a study of sociocultural adjustment of New Zealand government employees on sojourn programs, they found strong patterns of association with others from the same language and cultural background related to lower levels of psychological distress, while strong association with members of the host culture correlated to a lower level of sociocultural difficulties [18; 220].

Ward developed a new instrument to examine the two dimensions of acculturation attitudes used by Berry. He supported the concept of acculturation attitudes in Berry's model, but felt the descriptive power of the model was enhanced if the two spheres of acculturation perspectives (toward home and host groups) were kept distinct. Acculturation attitudes were found to relate to a number of adjustive outcomes. To further illustrate features resulting from these outcomes, Ward's approach stressed a distinction between sociocultural adjustment, characterized by the learning of everyday operational skills within the host environment, and psychological adjustment. Psychological adjustment includes personal well-being and psychological coping within the transitional experience. Sociocultural adaptation was found to be dependent on four features of the sojourn in particular: the cultural proximity between a sojourner's home and host cultures, the amount of contact with host culture group members, the length of residency in the host setting, and a sojourner's ability to use the local language in a socially appropriate way. The approaches from Berry and Ward can be combined to establish a framework for acculturation attitudes among sojourners that can offer insight into the process of SLA learner motivation in a more general sense.

To sum up, the researchers who explored the methods of motivation and attitude in different situations came up to the conclusion that motivating students is a hard task if we don't take into consideration all the circumstances that influence them outside and inside. So we have to study all the possible sides of the problem in order to motivate students to be willing to and study the second language.

2. TRADITIONAL MOTIVATION THEORIES

Motivation is the reason why the student is behaving in a particular way and the extent to which the student's behaviour is energized, directed, and sustained. If a student does not complete an assignment because he/she is bored, lack of motivation is involved. If a student encounters challenges in researching and writing a paper, but persists and overcomes the hurdles, motivation is involved.

In psychology, motivation refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of conduct. Motivation is a temporal and dynamic state that should not be confused with personality or emotion. Motivation is having the desire and willingness to do something. A motivated person can be reaching for long-term goal like learning how to spell a particular word [25]. Education cannot exist without all those aspects. Most motivation theorists assume that motivation is involved in the performance of all learned responses; that is, a learned behaviour will not occur unless it is energized.

Motivation in education can have several effects on how students learn and their behaviour towards subject matter. It can:

· Direct demeanor toward particular goals

· Lead to increased effort and energy

· Increase initiation of, and persistence in, activities

· Enhance cognitive processing

· Determine what consequences are reinforcing

· Lead to improved performance [1; 627].

Different psychological perspectives explain motivation in different ways. Let us explore three of these perspectives: behavioural, humanistic, and cognitive.

The Behavioural Perspective

The behavioural perspective emphasizes external rewards and punishments as key in determining a student's motivation. Encouragements are positive or negative stimuli that can motivate a student's behaviour [2; 288].

Incentives that classroom teachers use include numerical scores and letter grades, which provide feedback about the quality of work the student has performed, and checkmarks or stars for competently completing work. Other incentives include giving them a certificate of achievement, placing them on the honor roll, or verbally mentioning their accomplishments. Another type of incentive focuses on allowing students to do something special, such as a desirable activity, as a reward for good work. This might include extra time at recess, playing computer games, a field trip, or even a party.

The Humanistic Perspective

The humanistic perspective stresses students' capacity for personal growth, freedom to choose their destiny, and positive qualities. This perspective is closely associated with Abraham Maslow's belief that certain basic needs must be satisfied before higher needs can be satisfied. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, individuals' needs must be satisfied in the following sequence:

Physiological: hunger, thirst, sleep

Safety: ensuring survival, such as protection from war and crime

Love and belongingness: security, affection and attention from others

Esteem: feeling good about ourselves

Self-actualization: realization of one's potential [3; 369].

In Maslow's view, for example, students must satisfy their need for food before they can achieve.

Self-actualization, the highest and most elusive of Maslow's needs, has been given special attention. It is the motivation to develop one's full potential as a human being. In Maslow's view, self-actualization is possible only after the lower needs have been met.

Maslow cautions that most people stop maturing after they have developed a high level of esteem and therefore never become self-actualized. The idea that human needs are hierarchically arranged is appealing. Maslow's theory stimulates discussion about the ordering of motives in students' and teachers' lives. However, not everyone agrees with fundamental that esteem needs. Other students might meet their cognitive needs even though they have not experienced love and belongingness.

The Cognitive Perspective

According to the cognitive perspective on motivation, students' thoughts guide their motivation. In recent years there has been a tremendous rush of interest in the cognitive perspective on motivation [4; 489]. This interest focuses on such ideas as students' internal motivation to achieve, their attributions about success or failure (especially the perception that effort is an important factor in achievement), and their beliefs that they can effectively control their environment, as well as the importance of goal setting, planning, monitoring progress toward a goal [5; 328].

Thus, whereas the behaviourist perspective sees the student's motivation as a consequence of external encouragements, the cognitive perspective argues that external pressures should be deemphasized. The cognitive perspective recommends that students should be given more opportunities and responsibility for controlling their own achievement outcomes.

The cognitive perspective on motivation fits with the ideas of R. W. White, who proposed the concept of competence motivation, the idea that people are motivated to deal effectively with their environment, to master their world, and to process information efficiently. According to White, people do these things, not because they serve biological needs, but because people have an internal motivation to effectively interact with the environment [6; 297]. According to this view, activities in the learning situation should be planned in such a way that the problem of learning provides a rewarding experience to the learner. Then the individual will be motivated by his/her success to seek further learning. All learners want to be competent and often seek learning experiences as a means to this end. Confidence is gained as a result of some external indicators of success such as test scores, praise or reward.

However, the true significance of this motivation is derived more from the internal experience of the learner than from external rewards. The competence theory of motivation is in keeping with intrinsic motivation where the “doing” is considered to be the primary reason for the performance or the behaviour.

3. INITIATING AND SUSTAINING MOTIVATION

Among the best overall strategies for improving students' motivation are being a competent achievement model as a teacher; creating an atmosphere of challenge and high expectations; communicating expectations that your students will achieve and providing them with the necessary support; encouraging intrinsic motivation, guiding students in setting goals, planning, and self-monitoring; selecting learning tasks that stimulate interests and curiosity; using technology effectively; and involving the community.

Teachers are to always keep in mind that they and their classroom are not the only sources of motivation. Parents are especially important in this regard. They should be involved as partners with teacher in motivating students to learn. If a student is not achieving, teacher is supposed to meet with the parents and develop a strategy for helping the student. When parents are uncooperative or do not have the ability to work with the teacher in helping their child, a mentor who will share responsibility for helping the student succeed can be found.

If we want to see good results from our teaching, we have to always remember to motivate, challenge and reward our students. At all times we have to keep in mind that:

a) each student in our class is accepted by us, as a teacher, and by his/her peers;

b) our classroom has to be a secure, orderly and comfortable place, where every person is treated equally;

c) constant feedback on the student's work has to be made;

d) every student has to be a part of learning process, feel as an important part of the whole and valued.

Discouraged students include:

1) low achievers with low ability who have difficulty keeping up and have developed low achievement expectations;

2) students with failure syndrome;

3) students obsessed with protecting their self-worth by avoiding failure.

Low-ability, low-achieving students with low expectations for success need to be consistently reassured that they can meet the goals and challenges set for them and that they will be given the help and support they need to succeed. However, they need to be reminded that their progress will be accepted only as long as they make a real effort. They might require individualized instruction materials or activities to provide an optimal challenge for reaching these goals. These students have to be required to put forth considerable effort and make progress, even though they might not have the ability to perform at the level of the class as a whole.

Failure syndrome refers to having low expectations for success and giving up at the first sight of difficulty. Failure syndrome students are different from low-achieving students, who fail despite putting forth their best effort. These students do not put forth enough effort, often beginning tasks in a halfhearted manner and giving up quickly at the first hint of a challenge. Failure syndrome students often have low self-efficacy or attribution problems, ascribing their failures to internal, stable and uncontrollable causes, such as low ability.

A number of strategies can be used to increase the motivation of students who display failure syndrome. Especially beneficial are cognitive retraining methods, such as efficacy retraining, attribution retraining and strategy retraining.

Some students are so interested in protecting their self-worth and avoiding failure that they become distracted from pursuing learning goals and engage in ineffective learning strategies. Following are some strategies for protecting self-esteem and avoiding failure [23]:

Nonperformance. The most obvious strategy for avoiding failure is not to try. Students' nonperformance tactics include these: appearing eager to answer a question but hoping the teacher will call on other student, sliding down in the seat to avoid being seen by the teacher, and avoiding eye contact. These might seem like minor deceptions, but they can signify other more chronic forms of noninvolvement such as dropping out and excessive absences.

Sham effort. To avoid being criticized for not trying, some students appear to participate but do so more to avoid punishment than to succeed. Some student behaviours that reflect a sham effort are these: asking a question even though they already know the answer, adopting a thoughtful, curious expression and pretending focused attention during a class discussion.

Procrastination. Students who postponed studying for a test until the last minute can blame their failure on poor time management, thus deflecting attention away from the possibility that they are incompetent. A variation on this theme involves students who take on so many activities and responsibilities that they have an excuse for not doing any one of them in a highly competent manner.

Setting unreachable goals. By setting goals so high that success is virtually impossible, students can avoid the implication that they are incompetent, because virtually all students will fail to reach this goal.

The academic wooden leg. In this strategy, students admit to a minor personal weakness to avoid acknowledging the greater feared weakness of being incompetent. For example, the student might blame a failing test score on anxiety. Having test anxiety is not as devastating to a personal sense of self-worth as lack of ability [23; 370].

Here are a number of strategies to help students reduce their preoccupation with protecting their self-worth and avoiding failure. Teachers are supposed to:

1) Give these students assignments that are inherently interesting and stimulate their curiosity. The assignments should challenge but not overwhelm their skill. Allow them some choice of which learning activities to pursue. As their expertise increases, increase the level of challenge correspondingly.

2) Establish a reward system so that all students - not just the brightest, highest-achieving students - can attain rewards if they put forth enough effort. Make sure that rewards reinforce students for setting meaningful goals. Also, try to make the act of learning itself a desirable goal. Help students set challenging but realistic goals, and provide them with the academic and emotional support to reach those goals.

3) Strengthen the student's association between effort and self-worth. Encourage students to take pride in their effort and minimize social comparison.

4) Encourage students to have positive beliefs about their abilities.

5) Improve teacher-student relationships by emphasizing teacher's role as a resource person who will guide and support student learning efforts rather than an authority figure who controls students behaviour.

Brothy believes that the most difficult motivation problem involves students who are apathetic, uninterested in learning, or alienated from school learning [24; 414]. Achieving in school is not an important value for them. To reach apathetic students requires sustained efforts to resocialize their attitudes toward school achievement.

CONCLUSIONS

prompting training language

The objective of the course paper was to highlight the importance of motivation and attitude, to discover what they are in essence, how to achieve motivation in students in class and how to keep students motivated. On the basis of the researches studied we can come to the following conclusions.

Motivation is defined as the learner's orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language. According to Gardner motivation is divided into two basic types: integrative and instrumental. Integrative motivation is characterized by the learner's positive attitudes towards the target language group and the desire to integrate into the target language community. Instrumental motivation underlies the goal to gain some social or economic reward through second language achievement.

Gardner believes that in order to make the language learning process a more motivating experience instructors need to put a great deal of thought into developing programs which maintain student interest and have obtainable short term goals. The use of an interesting text can also help to increase the motivation level of students in the classroom.

On the other hand, Berry's work established a relationship between attitudes held toward the perceived importance of maintaining contact with home and host cultural groups, and the levels of acculturation an individual demonstrated.

According to the working model of acculturation attitudes, Berry produced four distinct patterns of acculturation: integration, assimilation, separation and marginalization.

The results of the researches were variable and could be correlated with socio-demographic variables, such as gender, age, language use, years of schooling, ethnic identity, cultural group membership, or achievement variables like standardized test scores.

Ward and Kennedy, who support Berry's framework in finding the sojourners with integrated and assimilated acculturation attitudes, demonstrated lower levels of sociocultural difficulties than ones with separated or marginalized attitudes, and came to the conclusion that motivation is the reason for engaging in a particular behaviour. The reason may include basic needs such as food or desire object, goal, state of being, or ideal. The motivation for conduct may also be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism or normality. Motivation refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of human performance.

It is widely recognized that the motives people bring with them to learning situations strongly affect how and what they learn. Motivation is important because it has a direct effect upon outcomes of learning, standards of performance, and the desire to continue to learn. It is generally known that when motivation to learn is low, learning achievement will be diminished.

Motivation is not only important because it is a necessary element for effective learning but also because it mediates learning and besides is a consequence of learning. Most teachers are aware that when learners are motivated during the learning process things go more smoothly, communication flows, and creativity and learning are more evident. Teaching in that situation actually becomes joyful and exciting for both the students and the teacher. The students leave the learning situation feeling motivated because of what they have accomplished and also because they have a future interest in pursuing learning. It is logical to assume that the more students experience motivating learning the greater the likelihood that they will become lifelong learners.

Intrinsically motivated students are bound to do much better in classroom activities, because they are willing and eager to learn new material. Their learning experience is more meaningful, and they go deeper into the subject to fully understand it. On the other hand, extrinsically motivated students may have to be bribed to perform the same tasks.

Before being intrinsically motivated a learner must first satisfy five basic human needs: physiological, safety, social, esteem needs and need for self-actualization. We as teachers must make sure our students have satisfied their deficiency needs in order to move on to their growth one. Intrinsic motivation will not occur until they are well fed, safe in their environment, and can love and respect the teachers and their classmates. From there on motivation will be a breeze.

Motivation may be of two types: integrative motivation which is characterized by the learner's positive attitudes towards the target language group and instrumental motivation which underlies the goal to gain some social or economic reward through second language achievement. The influence of motivation and attitudes in different cultures depends on socio-demographic variables, such as gender, age, language use, years of schooling, ethnic identity, cultural group membership, or achievement variables like standardized test scores.

To sum up, in their everyday work teachers should always remember to create highly challenging atmosphere in class, to encourage students and show that they are believed in. Guiding students in setting goals, planning, and self-monitoring; selecting learning tasks that stimulate interest and curiosity; using technology effectively; and involving the community should be main priorities of a truly professional teacher, an enthusiast in his/her field.

LIST OF REFERENCES

1. Ormrod J. F. Education Psychology: Developing Learners. - Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. - 627 p.

2. Emmer E. T., Evertson C. M., Worsham M. E. Classroom Management for Successful Teachers (4th edition). - Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1997. - 288 p.

3. Maslov A. - The Further Researches on Human Nature. - New York: The Viking Press, 1997. - 369 p.

4. Pintrich P. R. Learning and Motivation. Encyclopedia of Psychology. - Washington, DC & New York: American Psychological Association and Oxford U. Press, 2000. - 489 p.

5. Zimmerman B. J. Attending Self-Regulation: A Social Cognitive Perspective. - Orlando, FL: Academic Press, 2000. - 328 p.

6. White R. W. Motivation Reconsidered: The Concept of Confidence. - New York: Harper, 1999. - 297 p.

7. Brown H.D. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (4th edition). - Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. - 320-355 p.

8. Crookes G., Schmidt R.W. Motivation: Reopening the Research Agenda. Language Learning, 1991. - 469-512 p.

9. Ellis R. The Study of Second Language Acquisition. - Oxford University Press, 1997. - 510 p.

10. Benson M.J. Attitudes and Motivation towards English. - RELC Journal, 1991. - 48 p.

11. Hudson G. Essential Introductory Linguistics. - Blackwell Publishers, 2000. - 80 p.

12. Lukmani Y.M. Motivation to Learn and Language Proficiency. - Language Learning, 1997. - 280 p.

13. Finegan E. Language: Its Structure and Use (3rd edition), 1999. - 158 p.

14. Gardner R.C., Lambert W.E. Attitudes and Motivation: Second Language Learning. - Newbury House, 1997. - 200 p.

15. Berry J.W. Immigration, Acculturation and Adaptation. Applied Psychiatry: An International Review, 1997. - 89 p.

16. Berry J.W. Psychology of Acculturation. - Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1999. - 255 p.

17. Berry J.W., Annis, R.C. Acculturative Stress. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1994. - 406 p.

18. Berry J.W., Kim U., Power S., Young M., Bujaki, M. Acculturation Attitudes in Plural Societies, Applied Psychology, 1995. - 220 p.

19. Berry J.W., Kim U. Acculturation and Mental Health. In P.R. Dasen J.W. Berry N. Sarorius Health and Cross-Cultural Psychology: Toward Applications. - Newbury Park, California: Sage, 1990. - 235 p.

20. Berry J.W., Trimble J., Olmeda E. The Assessment of Acculturation; In W.J. Lonner J.W. Berry, Field Methods in Cross-Cultural Research. London: Sage, 1996. - 104.

21. Berwick R. Acquiring a Second Culture through Discourse in a Second Language. - Polyglossia, 1999. - 24 p.

22. Berry J.W., Sommerlad E. The Role of Ethnic Identification in Distinguishing Between Attitudes Toward Assimilation and Integration, Human Relations, 1995. - 82 p.

23. Brophy J. E. Motivating Students to Learn. - New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998. - 336 p.

24. Pressley M., Woloshyn V. - Cognitive Strategy Instruction That Really Improves Children's Academic Performance (2nd edition). - Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books, 1995. - 414 p.

25. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation

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