MOTIVATION

TKT module 1

by A
leks
and
ra S
eku
lić
 Learning outcomes
By the end of this session you will be
able to:
2. describe the characteristics of
motivated learners
3. explain why motivation is important to
learning
4. link various classroom activities to
motivational factors
 Motivation
M aking conclusions
O bserving others
T hinking
I nvolvement
V ideo materials (making and watching)
A udio materials / awareness raising
T aking part in discussions
I maginative tasks
O ptional activities
N ew approaches (e.g. use of technology)
What are the characteristics
of a motivated learner?
• positive attitude to doing tasks and activities
• desire to succeed
• able to persevere
• goal-focused
• previous positive learning experiences
• outgoing and willing to communicate
• not put off by making mistakes
• etc.
Students might be motivated
because:
• They know that improving their English will help
in some aspect of their life, e.g. job, going to
study/live in an English-speaking country, etc
• They like the school and/or the teacher
• They are made to feel that they can learn the
language – they have confidence in the teacher
and in their own ability
• They are given support from the teacher and
the other students in the class
• They are interested in the lessons – the
activities and topics are interesting
Students might be motivated
because:
• They enjoy the social interaction with the
teacher and with other students
• They are in control of their learning and can do
things on their own
• They are interested in the culture of the
country
• Learning English will allow them to pursue a
personal interest, e.g. music, internet, etc
• They gain pleasure from learning another
language
 Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29xGvc5QbiU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JguyK0XKug&p=D13A7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh_cHUgHVKw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_6GUx1Zx0w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZokqjjIy77Y
 A good teacher
Skills
• Is creative
• Provides sufficient support to students
• Provides sufficient challenge to students
• Can vary the pace of lessons
• Helps students become more independent
learners
• Uses a variety of materials and methods
to make his/her lessons interesting
 A good teacher
Skills
• Uses a variety of materials and methods
to cater for mixed levels in class
• Can present language concepts and give
instructions clearly and simply
• Establishes discipline and order in
his/her lessons
• Helps students correct their mistakes
without demotivating them
 A good teacher
Attitude
• Is interested in his/her students as
individuals – understands their individual
needs
• Is patient and does not give up on a
student
• Is enthusiastic
• Has a sense of humour
 A good teacher
Attitude
• Is encouraging
• Is friendly and helpful to colleagues
• Is open about strengths and weaknesses
as a teacher
 A good teacher
Knowledge
• Knows his/her subject and keeps up to
date
• Knows about theories of learning and
keeps up to date
• Understands the particular problems due
to students’ first language
• Can react to students’ questions and give
on-the-spot explanations
 Motivating all learners
Here’s what Alan McLean, Area
Psychologist, Glasgow City Council,
said about motivating all learners.
He talked about this at HMIE Good
Practice Conference in 2008:
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/video/a/video_tcm
 Motivating all learners
So, some of the key concepts he
mentioned here are the following:
• children’s needs – children need to meet
their needs; children need to be self
motivated and as teachers can’t directly
motivate children, they need to create
the classroom climate that allows
children to motivate themselves.
 Motivating all learners
And how can they do that?
They have to:
• give children a sense of belonging (show that
they are interested in them)
• provide unambiguous feedback (give children
information about how well they’re doing)
• provide stimulation (give a sense of purpose
and relevance to the things they teach)
• provide good structure (set clear goals)
• be able to energise their students
 And don’t forget...
Praise is very important for
motivation and engendering self-
confidence. Whilst learners need
feedback on where they went
wrong, it shold be done as positively
and sensitively as possible. Negative
feedback can be embarrasing and
demotivating.
 Discussion
1. How important is it that your learners
feel positive about the target language
culture?
2. How can you help your learners to set
goals for their language development?
3. Why is it important for learners to
develop independence in their learning?
4. Why is personalisation important?
 Discussion
How important is it that your learners
feel positive about the target language
culture?

• Research into language learning suggests that

interest in and positive feelings towards the
target language culture are important
motivational factor. So, how can we develop
this?
 Discussion
How can you help your learners to set
goals for their language development?
• Setting goals helps learners to focus and
develops learner independence. Raising
awareness of lesson aims and giving learners an
overview of the syllabus can help learners thing
in terms of their own goals. Diagnostic tests or
activities that help students identify their
strong and weak points can also help focus
learners.
 Discussion
Why is it important for learners to develop
independence in their learning?
• Developing learner autonomy may be quite
difficult in countries where the culture expects
teachers to be experts and learners to be
passive recipients. Some of the possible things
we can do with our learners in order to work on
this are: getting learners to fill in a chart about
what kind of learner they are, doing learner
training activities (dictionary work, recording
vocabulary, inferring meaning from context,
etc), using authentic reading materials, etc.
 Discussion
Why is personalisation important?

• Because learners’ interest is likely to be

stimulated if they are dealing with topics of
genuine interest, finding out about their
classmates and giving their own views. It can
also help them to process language at a deep
emotional level and make it more ‘real’ and
memorable to them.
So, do we want our students
to be like this:
 Or like this:
Thanks 
 A quote
"The good teacher tells, the
better teacher explains, the
superior teacher
demonstrates, the great
teacher inspires".
taken from ‘SOME HINTS FOR THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE TEACHER’ by Ricardo San Martín
Vadillo