How to motivate students in learning English as a second language

Studying a second language involves assimilating elements of another culture, such as vocabulary,
pronunciation, language structure; being able to communicate with others at varying degrees;
aiming for making the language part of the self: to think in the language not about it. It is an
immense process with vast implications that requires time, effort, energy, risk taking, perseverance.
But probably the most important factor in learning a new language is motivation.

Motivation refers to the forces that account for the arousal, selection, direction, and continuation of
behaviour, especially goal-directed behaviour. The student who is motivated to learn English as a
second language wants to do this and has reasons for it, keeps this goal in mind all the time, makes
efforts, is attentive and persistent, feels positive about it and shows self-confidence.

Teachers play a significant role in enhancing students’ motivation. The most successful strategy is
making the learning meaningful and worthwhile by showing students how studying English expands
their horizons, enables them to explore other cultures or even become part of them, make friends,
travel, have better opportunities in life. Sparkle their interest by sharing positive English language
related experiences in class, showing films or TV recordings, playing relevant music, and inviting
interesting native speaking guests. To go even further, you could organise school trips to English
speaking places, exchange programs or find pen-friends for your students. You should make the
learning process as authentic as possible, giving the students plenty of opportunities to experience
English in natural contexts. And, of course, you should be the most enthusiast and passionate person
about the English language, showing how learning this second language has brought you satisfaction
and enriched your life.

To respond well to your motivational efforts, students need a learning community where they feel
comfortable, valued and secure; where they can express themselves without fear of being judged,
knowing that mistakes are part of the learning process. Get to know your students! Addressing them
by their preferred name, spending some individual time to learn about their backgrounds, greeting
them warmly every day will make them more genuine and open in their interactions and respect you
even more as a teacher. Also, get them to know each other by interviewing them publicly, by
creating situations where they can share personal information (feelings, desires, fears) or by
introducing game like inter-group competitions. Pay attention to the classroom environment, as
well, make it as inviting as possible by displaying photos of the students or products of their work in
which they can take pride.

As a manager of the classroom, you should empower your students by projecting the belief that they
will achieve their goal, praising and reinforcing rather than punishing, making sure that all of them
experience some degree of success and a sense of achievement whilst staying realistic, encouraging
them to take their time and telling some of your own difficulties in language learning. Focus on
group work based on friend-ships, common interests, or other considerations in addition to
achievement level and encourage students to cooperate rather than compete.

Communication, both verbal and nonverbal, is key in motivating students, therefore try to use
appealing communicative practices such as: eye contact, smiling, positive gestures, vocal variety,
forward body lean, and a relaxed body position as well as use of humour, personal examples, “we”
and “our” language, and students’ preferred names. Complement with clear instructions, structure
and boundaries and you have active, self-regulated learners as opposed to obedient ones. Of course,
as a role model, you should be the first to comply.

To keep your students curious and aroused, involve them in the actual planning, discuss with them
about the text books and let them choose some of the extra materials and activities; vary the
lessons by introducing unfamiliar, exotic events; have the students move from time to time through
physical games or changing the seating; design challenging and new activities including game-like
features, such as puzzles, flash cards, problem-solving, role play, avoiding traps, stories and songs,
overcoming obstacles, elements of suspense, hidden information; use cassette player, video,
projector, computer, interactive board to engage students even more.

Feedback is also part of the learning and motivating process: try to avoid generic evaluative
comments and instead make your feedback informational to help students recognise their
accomplishments but also recognise their weaknesses; keep it private; focus on individual
improvement and progress as opposed to comparing the students to each other; focus on the care,
concentration, or effort that students put into the work as opposed to praising their ability or
intelligence. Equally important, ask your students for their feedback, this way you show that you
care about them and it will help you plan the classes in accordance with their needs and interests.

Remember to prepare students for the assessments and help reduce the eventual test anxiety.
Emphasise that assessments are opportunities for providing informative feedback about progress
rather than a pressure to learn for grading. Be there as a helper not just as a remote evaluator.

Being the most commonly spoken language, being the language of science, aviation, computers,
diplomacy, media and tourism, the language of the internet, learning English as a second language
gives access to the whole wide world. Motivating students in learning it is a great and rewarding
challenge. Be creative! Be kind! Be enthusiastic!

References:

Brophy, J. (2004). Motivating students to learn (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates Publishers.

Gardner, R.C. (2007). Motivation and second language acquisition. Porta Linguarum, 8: 9-20
http://hdl.handle.net/10481/31616

Dornyei, Z. (Autumn, 1994). Motivation and Motivating in the Foreign Language. The Modern
Language Journal, Vol. 78, No. 3, pp. 273-284 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/330107