THE MOTIVATION TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE

LEARNING IN STUDENTS OF LAST YEAR OF FERROVIARIO HIGHSCHOOL

IN LA PAZ BOLIVIA

I. INTRODUCTION

This thesis profile, pretend to explain that the motivation is the first biggest element
in order to learn a second language, in this case English language. In order to
comprehend better this relation, we are going to explain about the background both
abroad as well within Bolivia, besides the theoretical bases between both
elements; motivation and english language learning.

In this thesis profile essentially we are going to focuse in the aspect of to take into
account two groups which are, students who will take some techniques of
motivation and in the other hand students who will take a normal routine in order to
compare two groups to demonstrate our hypothesis

We take into account two types of motivations those are: Instrinsic motivation and
extrinsic motivation, the relation of them, which of them are the most important for
students who will be object of study in this thesis. Besides that it is important to
specify the techniques of motivation, those are: to create goals, to purpose
challenges, to give prices.

Statement of the problem

English language is the Access to understand and to be understood in the major

part of the world, so it is necessary that students in the last year of formation in the
highschool. We consider that motivation is important in both cases, teachers and
students in order to learn English language, but currently they are lack of
motivation because though now a days exist many of new methods to teach and
learn English language, in many of schools in La Paz there is only a method that is
the traditional; memorization, to learn about grammar, to understand words by only
a dictionarie and so on.
Research question

Is the motivation technique based on Skinner’s theory applied to English language

learning which achieves better results compared with any kind of motivation
technique in students of last year of ferroviario highschool in La Paz Bolivia?

Objectives

General objective

To demonstrate the difference between two groups, students with the motivation
technique based on Skinner’s theory and the second with no motivation techniques
in ferroviario highschool in La Paz Bolivia.

Specific objectives

- To identify the results using awarding prices as a motivation technique in

English language learning
- To identify the results using the purposing challenges as a motivation
technique in English language learning
- To identify the results using the creating of goals as a motivation technique
in English language learning.

Hypothesis

The motivation technique based no Skinner’s theory used in English language

learning improves the spoken and written abilities in students of the experimental
group compared with students who don´t have any kind of motivation technique.

Independent variable

The motivation technique based in Skinner’s theory in students of the experimental

group of students
Dependant variable

The improvement in English language learning of the experimental group of

students compared to the second group (control group) with any kind of motivation
technique.

Operationalization of variables

Variables Dimension indicator

The motivation 1. Extrinsic
technique based no the motivation - Rewards
Skinner reinforcement (caused by external - Punishments
theory un students of Reinforcement
English language of last
factors )
year in the Ferroviario
high school

1. Oral expression and - Expresses

comprehension spontaneously, using
(understands and relevant vocabulary.
The adequate English expresses oral - Recognize the correct
language learning in messages) words related to specific
students of last year in topics.
Ferroviario high school 2. Understanding of
texts (includes - Predict the content of
messages written). the texts through
images, titles, Subtitle.
3. Text production - Identify the topic, the
(create and elaborates type of text that read.
texts) - Extract specific
information from the text.
- Identify the meaning of
 terms by the context.
- Build coherent
sentences.

Chapter II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Literatura review

“STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH” by Nemi Zuniarti, Urai Salam, Zainal Arifin
(2017).

“MOTIVATION TOWARDS ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING OF STUDENTS IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL

IN THAILAND” by YUHONG NING (2019).

“THE ROLE OF MOTIVATION IN THE LEARNING OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE” by Merck

Bernaus (2019)

“A Study on Motivation of the EFL Learners at Higher Secondary Level in Bangladesh” by SALEH
AHMAD (2018)

Precision teaching's unique legacy from B. F. Skinner by Ogden R. Lindsley (2020)

FOUNDATIONS

- Motivation

The Concept of Motivation Motivation refers to the reasons underlying behavior

(Parashar, 2016, p. 8). According to Rokeach (1973) motivation is one of the most
important factors for understanding and managing organizational behavior,
because it explains why employees behave or act in a particular way (Rokeach,
1973: cited in George & Jones, 2012, p. 156). Motivation is the energy that moves
employees forward towards performing a certain action; motivation will strengthen
the willingness of employees to work, and in turn it will increase the organization’s
effectiveness and competence (Parashar, 2016, p. 8). When looking at motivation,
managers want to assure that the direction of their employees’ behaviors goes
hand in hand with the organization, meaning that they come to work on time, are
independent when performing their tasks, are innovative and come up with creative
ideas, as well as help others in the organization (George & Jones, 2012, p. 157).
Employees that are motivated are more ambitious, innovative, creative, and are
more persistent to achieve desired goals, which in turn implies that a motivated
workforce will work more efficiently (Parashar, 2016, p. 8). As mentioned
previously, many definitions of motivation have been formulated throughout the
years. The definition we will use in this study is the one provided by George and
Jones (2012, p. 157), who define work motivation as “the psychological forces that
determine the direction of a person’s behavior in an organization, a person’s level
of effort, and a person’s level of persistence in the face of obstacles”. Wiley (1995,
p. 263) writes about work motivation as “motivation that is inferred from a
systematic analysis of how personal, task, and environmental characteristics
influence behavior and performance”. All in all, work motivation defines a process
where employees are stimulated in an organization to achieve organizational goals
(Parashar, 2016, p. 9). Since motivation is arguably one of the major problems
facing many organizations (Amabile, 2001, p. 185), it is an important aspect in
order to attract and retain employees inside organizations, acting as the connection
between individuals and the organizational objectives, leading employees to be
creative and innovative and go beyond limitations of a job (Parashar, 2016, p. 9).
Motivation and performance are sometimes used interchangeably. This is a
consequence of motivation explaining what employees do, and how hard and far
they are willing to go to do something, and therefore it is commonly confused with
an employee’s job performance (George & Jones, 2012, p. 158). Because of this,
we are going to give a brief description of performance and the difference between
job performance and motivation. George and Jones (2012, p. 158) state that
performance is the evaluation of the results of an employee’s behavior, by
evaluating how well or poorly an employee has performed a task or job, whereas
motivation is a factor that contributes to performance. Cerasoli et al. (2014, p. 980)
further state that motivation is a basic component of any credible model of human
performance. However, because motivation 9 is only one of several factors that
affect employee performance, a high level of motivation does not necessarily imply
a high level of performance and vice versa (George & Jones, 2012, p. 159). Often
the ability to perform the imminent job or task also plays a part in determining
performance levels (George & Jones, 2012, p. 159). Occasionally it may also be
the case that employees are not motivated to perform at high levels because they
do not believe that performing at a higher level will generate desired outcomes,
which in turn leads to that when employees think high performance goes
unrecognized, their motivation to perform at that level tends to be low (George &
Jones, 2012, p. 166).

- Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Two broad classes of motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, have been
defined and researched across a range of contexts throughout the years (Lin,
2007; Amabile, 1993; Ryan & Deci, 2000).

Motivation is defined in these two ways for practical purposes, guiding the
direction, the intensity, and the persistence of performance behaviors (Cerasoli et
al., 2014, p. 980). One of the basic distinctions that can be made between extrinsic
and intrinsic motivation is that while extrinsic motivation is driven by forces that are
external to an individual, intrinsic motivation is driven by forces that are internal and
within that individual (Giancola, 2014, p. 25). Further, extrinsic motivation is defined
as mainly focusing on factors that are goal driven, such as the rewards and
benefits of performing a certain task, whereas intrinsic motivation is usually
referred to as meaning the pleasure and satisfaction that an employee gets when
performing an activity (Lin, 2007, p. 137). Generally speaking, intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation influence employee intentions regarding activities and
behaviors (Lin, 2007, p. 137). Even though a number of theories have been
proposed to explain individual motivation to perform work related tasks (Nasri &
Charfeddine, 2012, p. 169), little is known about the underlying factors influencing
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Lin, 2007, p. 136). Intrinsic motivation is defined
as the performance of an activity for its inherent satisfactions rather than for some
separable outcome, reflecting the natural disposition in humans to assimilate and
learn (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p. 54-56). It refers to when employees engage in an
activity out of interest, for the sake of the activity, and for the satisfaction that the
experience of engaging in that activity will bring to them (Lin, 2007, p. 137).
Behaviors that are intrinsically motivated are thus engaged in for their own sake,
and not for any other outcome (Cerasoli et al., 2014, p. 980). Prior research have
indicated that increased intrinsic motivation can be related to employee willingness
to create a positive mood, in turn leading to increased learning and knowledge
sharing (Lin, 2007, p. 136). Employees are intrinsically motivated for some
activities and not for others, and it has been observed that not everyone is
motivated by the same activities (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p. 56). Many researchers and
theories confirm that intrinsic motivators can be more effective than extrinsic ones
in motivating employees (Nasri & Charfeddine, 2012, p. 169; Giancola, 2014, p.
25). Some previous research that has suggested that intrinsic rewards are superior
to extrinsic ones has done so with the reasoning that employees perceive them as
a more certain outcome of performing a task than extrinsic outcomes (Nasri &
Charfeddine, 2012, p. 171). Because intrinsic motivation exists in the connection
between an employee and a task, some researchers have defined intrinsic
motivation in terms of the task that is performed by the employee, while others
have defined intrinsic motivation in terms of the 10 satisfaction an employee gains
from performing the task (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p. 56). An example of intrinsic
motivation is how self-fulfilled an employee feels as a result of performing a task
well (Nasri & Charfeddine, 2012, p. 169). Renko et al. (2012, p. 681) write that an
employee who looks to learn and grow as a person while working, due to the work
itself, is motivated by intrinsic rewards. Research on altruism has showed that
people enjoy helping others, and that intrinsic motivators play an important role in
explaining human behavior (Lin, 2007, p. 137). Cerasoli et al. (2014, p. 984) further
state that when extrinsic motives are weak or absent, intrinsic motivation will
become the only functional driver of performance. It has also been suggested that
an efficient staff can be obtained by recruiting proactive employees, with high self-
esteem and that are intrinsically motivated (Lin, 2007, p. 145). In contrast to
intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation on the other hand pertains whenever an
activity is performed in order to obtain some separable outcome (Ryan & Deci,
2000, p. 60). There are varied types of extrinsic motivation, some represent active
states in employees while others represent impoverished forms of motivation
(Ryan & Deci, 2000, p. 55). Extrinsic motivation can vary depending on how
autonomous it is; an employee may perform a task because of fear of being
punished or fired, or the employee can perform an activity because this activity will
lead to a promotion, bonus, or raise in the future (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p. 60). Both
activities include external instrumentalities but vary in autonomy; the first one
involves more of an obligation to an external control, whereas the second one also
involves personal endorsement and the employee’s choice (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p.
60). From the perspective of extrinsic motivation, employee behavior is driven by
the perceived benefits of the action that he or she will perform, or the anticipation
of instrumental gain or loss (Lin, 2007, p. 139; Cerasoli et al., 2014, p. 980).
However, it has also been argued that extrinsic motivation varies considerably and
can reflect external control or true self-regulation (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p. 54). The
main goal of behaviors from employees who are extrinsically motivated is thus to
receive organizational rewards or benefits from the achievement of an
organizational goal or task (Lin, 2007, p. 139). Extrinsic outcomes are the rewards
that are distributed by some external agent in the organization, where an example
could be the monetary reward that an employee receives for putting in extra effort
at work, job security, and promotions (Nasri & Charfeddine, 2012, p. 169; Lin,
2007, p. 139). This implies that organizational rewards are useful for employees
who are extrinsically motivated in order for them to perform desired behaviors (Lin,
2007, p. 139). However, previous research has suggested that extrinsic rewards
only secure temporary compliance (Lin, 2007, p. 145). Further, research has also
suggested that when both intrinsic motivation and extrinsic rewards exist, the
reason for the employee to engage in a certain activity will be over-justified and in
this situation the extrinsic rewards are likely to replace the intrinsic motivation as
the main purpose for engaging in the activity, because the extrinsic rewards will be
the more salient of the two motivators (Urdan, 2003, p. 313). In our study we are
including managers from both public and private sector organizations, thus
exploring how managers within both sectors perceive the influence of intrinsic and
extrinsic motivational factors on employee engagement. Therefore, it is also
necessary to consider what previous research has indicated regarding differences
in motivation in the private and public sector. Much of the literature conducted on
the 11 topic of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and how it differs in the private and
public sectors has suggested that extrinsic motivation is valued higher by
employees in the private sector than those in the public sector, and motivational
factors of intrinsic nature are valued higher by employees in the public sector than
those in the private sector (Buelens & Van den Broeck, 2007; Jurkiewicz et al.,
1998; Houston, 2000). Research has suggested that privately employed individuals
are motivated by advancement opportunities, autonomy, high monetary rewards,
and status, and are less concerned with the importance and contribution with their
work (Jurkiewicz et al., 1998, p. 231). For public employees on the other hand,
research has suggested that motivation is mainly found in job stability, job security,
teamwork, and their contribution to society (Jurkiewicz et al., 1998, p. 231). In the
comparative study conducted by Jurkiewicz et al. (1998) on what motivates public
and private sector employees some of the proposed differences were supported
and some were challenged. While it was found that monetary rewards were of
higher importance in the motivation of private sector employees, and that job
security was of higher importance in the motivation of public sector employees, it
was also found that employees equally valued the desire for teamwork,
contribution to society, and advancement opportunities (Jurkiewicz et al., 1998, p.
244). Buelens and Van den Broeck (2007) conducted their research from a similar
framework of previous research; private sector employees value extrinsic rewards
higher, and public sector employees value intrinsic rewards higher in the light of
motivation. The results of this study also confirmed some of previous research but
contradicted other; while it was clear that private sector employees were motivated
by monetary rewards to a greater degree, it was also showed that private sector
employees valued the intrinsic motivational variables more than the public sector
employees contrary to what was hypothesized in the study (Buelens & Van den
Broeck, 2007, p. 67). Thus, some researchers have argued that the differences
that exist between private and public sector employees in their motivation have
been exaggerated by researchers (Gabris & Simo, 1995; cited in Houston, 2000, p.
717). Houston (2000, p. 713-714) in his study explains the phenomenon of public-
service motivation, that individuals who are employed in the public sector are
motivated by a sense of public service that is not found among privately employed
individuals; an ethic that values intrinsic motivation over extrinsic motivation. With
this Houston (2000, p. 714) argues that the concept of public-service motivation
exists, and that employees within this sector are motivated by a general concern
for the community and a desire to contribute to the public interest; portraying the
public sector itself as a sense of duty or a calling rather than a job for these
employees. While the findings of his study supported that private sector employees
value monetary rewards more than those working in the public sector, and that
public employees value shorter working hours to a greater extent as hypothesized,
the findings also showed that public and private employees had similar attitudes
concerning job security, chances of promotion, and meaningfulness of the work
(Houston, 2000, p. 720).

- Skinner´s theory

Skinner focused his time in studying observable kinds of human behaviors. He

spent much of his career trying to refine the theories of reinforcement. He always
said that personality is an element that develops in human beings and the behavior
responds depending on the external events. He defined personality as an aspect
that consists of the collection of human behaviors in a certain environment. He
proposed that the differences in learning experiences are the major reasons behind
the difference in human behavior. Therefore, learning differences affects human
personality. This means that people are the way they are because they are
rewarded to be that way. Skinner stated that this belief disregards thoughts,
emotions and choice of human freedom (Kuhlman, 2005).
He continued to say that it is natural for human beings to behave in certain ways so
that one can get favorable rewards. This means that if a person wants to
experience reinforcement, the person develops personality traits, which are
positive. Some of the traits acquired are included in category of agreeableness of
the Big Five, which include understanding, empathetic, compassionate and positive
thinker. He added that for a person to change his/her negative traits, the
environment must be changed before any other element. This behaviorist
viewpoint is strict and it tries to oppose the beliefs of other psychologists. This
viewpoint requires that a person must change the inner self before change can be
fully experienced. The inner self is the person’s personality traits.

- Skinner´s method

Skinner’s main work has been based in the principles operant (observable)
conditioning, whereby the organism’s behavioral responses in a situation are
reinforced or discouraged according to a system of rewards and punishments.
Skinner’s experiments have shown that, through such conditioning, animal
behavior can be controlled and predicted to a far greater than was ever thought
possible (Smith & Sarason 18). Burrhus Frederick Skinner was born in March 20,
1904 in Susquehanna, Pa.

After graduating from Hamilton College he spent a year trying to write fiction
and poetry but soon came to the conclusion that his talents law elsewhere
(although he did eventually write a novel, Walden Two (1948), in which he
describes a utopian community based on operant conditioning). He then went
to Harvard University where he obtained a Ph. D. in psychology. An important
influence there was the biologist W. J. Crozier, introduced him to animal
experimentation. After teaching for several years at Minnesota and Indiana
universities he joined the Harvard faculty in 1948.

Skinner’s most important is the Behavior of Organisms (1938), in which he

presents the basic principles of operant conditioning. These might best be
understood in the context of typical experiment of Skinner’s. A rat is the context at
80 to 90 percent of its normal weight and punt into a device now known as a
Skinner box. This device provides a stark environment that restricts what can
happen to the rat to those events the experimenter can control or observe. The box
contains an opening, through which food may be presented, and a lever.

The rat presses the lever a number of times to obtain pellets of food. The rat‘s bar-
press is called an operant. It does not matter how the rat presses the bar—with its
paw, its tail, or its nose—the operant is the same because the consequences are
the same, the eventual production of food (Smith & Sarason 18). By means of
scheduling the reinforcement—the reward of food—for various numbers of bar-
presses or at various time intervals, remarkably stable patters of bar-pressing may
be observed. Skinner has extended to education his idea that behavior can be
controlled best in restricted environments.

Teaching machines developed by him and his students immediately label correct
or incorrect students’ answers to questions programmed into the machines. Thus,
the students are given prompt reinforcement for the required response. According
to Skinner, operant conditioning may be used to control one’s own behavior as well
as he behavior of others. Only by arranging conditions so that one’s behavior is
reinforced can self-control and smoking clinic made use of operant conditioning.
Skinner’s ideas have also been used in behavior therapy. He believes that
undesirable behavior exists, at least in part, because it is reinforced.

For example, a parent may reinforce a child’s tantrums by paying more attention to
the child. Through therapy, undesirable behavior may be changed by removing the
reinforcement for it and reinforcing instead some other, preferable response. III.
Discussion A. Skinner and Radical Behaviourism By the end of the first decade of
the twentieth century, Freud’s method of introspection had dominated American
psychology. It has become the norm and a traditional method. However, a new set
of theory had developed out from dissatisfaction of the introspection method.

They were convinced that the introspective method has insurmountable limitations
for revealing the nature of man. They were certain that consciousness could not be
accurately studied at all and decided to discard it entirely from their scientific work.
Some had even denied the existence of consciousness merely because one
person cannot observe it in another. Instead, they turned to man’s overt behaviour,
which they studied through objective methods (Smith & Sarason 18). Their study
delved into the environmental causes and how these elicit a response from an
individual.

- Second Language Acquisition

Ellis (1997) defined second language (L2) acquisition as “the way in which people
learn a language other than their mother tongue, inside or outside of a 7
classroom” (p. 3). The language studied is referred to as the target language, and
Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is the study of this learning process. English
as a second language is learned in a country where English is spoken naturally,
while English as a foreign language (EFL) is learned in countries where English is
not spoken as an official language. Foreign language (FL) refers to any non-native
language learned anywhere it is not spoken naturally. For the purposes of this
review, the adjectives, target, foreign, and second language are practically
interchangeable but are specific in certain research examples cited. In addition,
results from research in one area are transferable to another, and ESL is the
ultimate focus.

RELATION OF CONCEPTS

The first main ter mis motivation, that in the investigation is essential to acquire a
second language, in this case English language, for students of the last year in
higschool. We relate this term with English language learning, because without
motivation the English language learning is very poor, as we mentioned in the
statement of the problem. The term intrinsic and extrinsic are related with
motivation, one refers to the motivation produce by oneself and the other one
refers to motivation created by a prize or external factors.
METHODOLOGY

- Experimental investigation

The type of investigation that we will use in this thesis profile is experimental,
because we will use a technique that was not used in the past, to demonstrate that
motivation techniques are useful to avoid the typical system of education in Bolivia,
actually there is not evidences of a similar work here in this country.

- Population and simple

The population is composed by all students of secondary of the Ferroviario

highschool located in La Paz Bolivia.

The sample is composed by the students of the last year of this highschool, It is
composed by two main clases; A, B at least 40 students by each class.

- Instrument

The instrument that we will use for this thesis is a test (after and before the
application of a motivation technique), in order to evaluate the two classes; one
with the motivation technique and the other one, without it. The main purpose is to
measure the abilities of the students and to demostrate their progress.

- Data Collection

For data collection, the test that was previously developed for students in the last
year of high school was carried out. The test was applied to the two parallels at the
end of the semester, both to the control group and to the experimental group,
which consisted of 10 questions on basic aspects of the teaching of the English
language. The test was taken in a surprising way to obtain more reliable data on
learning guided by the skinner method that was the object of study in the thesis
profile.

We can say that since they are open questions, the approach taken was the
quantitative approach, to measure the results in a non-exact way, but rather the
progress of each student, that is, dichotomous questions were not present in the
questions, because they could not be correctly analyzed in the evaluation of
students' English language learning progress.

A total of 80 tests were issued to 80 students, 40 from the control group, which was
parallel A, 21 women and 19 men. In parallel B, which was the experimental one,
there were 24 women and 16 men.

- Interpretation of data

students of both parallel

parallel A
parallel B

In the image we can observe, the same quantity of students in each parallel, it was
important to collect data in a more easy way.
 result of test in students of A parallel above 5 points

above 5 points
under 5 points

This image can show us, the results of the test applied to 40 students with any kind
of motivation (parallel A; control group). We can observe clearly that there was a
pour level of english learning with the traditional method used in public highschools
in this case Ferroviario highschool. We take into account a parameter base don
tests which were above 5 points, to consider them a good result (15 students) or
aceptable at least. In the other hand the tests under the five points were consider
as bad results (25 students) or non acceptable to consider them as an
improvement.

result of test in students of B parallel above 5 points

above 5 points
under five points
In this image we can observe the results of the test above the five
points were considered like aceptable, and under the five points like
non acceptable. Clearly there is a considerable improvement in the
parallel B (experimental group; with motivation technique, based on
Skinner´s theory), compared to the control group. In the experimental
group we can observe that (34 students) approbed the test, and only 6
students were under the five points.

In conclusión we demonstrated the hypothesis that affirms that the

motivation technique based on skinner´s theory, improves the English
language learning in students of last year in Ferroviario high school in
La Paz Bolivia.