14 demotivating factors that affect interest and motovation of english learners’ in pantado technology development joint stock company

MINISTRY OF FINANCE ACADEMY OF FINANCE Student Vũ Phương Tú Group CQ56/51 01 GRADUATION THESIS Topic DEMOTIVATING FACTORS THAT AFFECT INTEREST AND MOTOVATION OF ENGLISH LEARNERS’ IN PANTADO TECHNOLOGY[.]

Hanoi – 2022

Hanoi – 2022

I, Vu Phuong Tu, confirm that the work for the following term paper with the

title: "Demotivating factors that affect English learners’ interest and

motivation in PANTADO technology development joint stock company" was

solely undertaken by myself and that no help was provided from other sources asthose allowed All sections of the paper that use quotes or describe an argument orconcept developed by another author have been referenced, including all secondaryliterature used, to show that this material has been adopted to support my thesis

Ha Noi, May 2022

Student

Vũ Phương Tú

Interest is a paramount aspect of human beings regarding personality andpsychology Parallel with motivation, interest in learning languages is a criticalfactor to enhance efficiency in class High motivation and interest generates positivecognition, helping students stay at peak learning performance and recall sources ofcreativity

Interest and motivation are not naturally created Even when that is the case,without good maintenance, they will disappear Lack of motivational spirit couldremarkably reduce students’ attentiveness and eagerness in class The educationalenvironment, incorporating the organization and guidance of teachers, plays adecisive role in discovering, nurturing or forming, and maintaining students’interest Thus, an imperative responsibility of the lecturer is to identify thedemotivating factors that negatively affect learners’ motivation to engage with thesubject From there, the lecturer can figure out the precise strategies to work on thesituation and make learners more interested in the subject

This paper looks into a range of old reports and studies in the last two decades andattempts to link those pieces of research with modern-day context to figure out whatissues are among language learners, particularly in Vietnam In a narrower scope, itlimits on assisting teachers in determining the causes of students’ demotivation andsolutions to this hearty concern Assumptions and ideas of factors affecting thepupils’ interest mentioned in the paper only apply to the English subject

Keywords: Demotivating factors, demotivation, interest, motivation, English.

If it had not been for the excellent support from my supervisor, Ms Bui Thi TuyetMai, this essay and the research behind it would have been impossible Her preciseattention to detail, knowledge, and devotion have inspired me so intensely andhelped keep my work stay on track from the very first idea to the final draft.

Miss Do Thi Minh Anh and Miss Hoang Thi Thuy, my seniors and supporters atPANTADO company, have also checked through my raw research and answerednumerous queries about relevant problems with unfading patience Also, Miss KieuLinh and Miss Hang Kieu, training managers of PANTADO company, not onlytaught me a lot about essential skills of a teacher but also helpfully shared thevaluable information about the company and teaching experience that they havebeen accumulating for almost six years Besides, I really appreciate the engagingcomments and opinions offered by my students and peers at PANTADO Theenthusiasm and generosity of all have innumerably contributed to this study andsaved me from tons of errors

Finally, I am most grateful for the help and support from teachers of the Faculty ofForeign Language of the Academy of Finance Without those amazing people, Iwould not have adequate knowledge and fundamental skills to complete myinternship

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATION iv

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the Study 1

2 Aims of the Study 1

3 Scope of the Study 2

4 Methodology 2

5 Organization of the Study 2

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Factors Affecting Motivation among English Learners In General 4

1.1.1 Teachers 4

1.1.2 Class environment 5

1.1.3 Class materials 6

1.1.4 Characteristic of the Language 7

1.1.5 Learners Themselves 8

1.2 Causes of Demotivation among English Learners in Particular Regions 9

1.2.1 Causes of Demotivation among European and North-American Students .9

1.2.2 Causes of Demotivation among Asian Students 10

1.2.3 Causes of Demotivation among Latin American Students 14

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 16

2.1 Overview of the factors affecting motivation and attentiveness of English students in PANTADO classes 16

2.2 Analysis of Demotivating Factors In Detail 20

2.2.1 Teacher’s fast teaching pace 20

2.2.2 Words & Grammar (particularly for groups aged 6 to 10) 22

2.2.3 Inappropriate levels of course books used 24

2.2.4 High expectations from family 25

2.2.5 Lack of habit of asking questions 27

2.2.6 Tedious homework 29

2.2.7 Lack of confidence 30

CHAPTER 3: RECOMMENDATIONS 33

3.1 Solutions for Teachers 33

3.1.1 Raise students’ awareness of the importance of the language 33

3.1.2 Flexibly adjust the pace of the lesson 34

3.1.3 Hold relevant games during classes and encourage students to ask questions 35

3.1.4 Assign game-based homework 36

3.2 Solutions for Students 37

3.2.1 Look at the language as an interest rather than a subject 37

3.2.2 Feel free to reach out to teachers 38

3.3 Solutions for Parents 38

3.3.1 Give the children inspiration instead of pressure 38

3.3.2 Help the kids practice English through daily communication 39

3.3.3 Keep encouraging and complimenting the children 40

CONCLUSION 41

REFERENCES 42

1 Rationale of the Study

A group of Vietnamese children are losing their motivation to learn English andbecoming easier-to-distract and more demotivated in class We can see thatdemotivation has spread throughout schools, increasing the number of demotivatedlearners That raises a considerable concern: What influences motivation in negativeways? In this study, we will call those influences demotivating factors or demotives.Students’ and teachers’ experience denote that particular demotivating factors maypose a considerable effect on interest and motivation

Dornyei defined demotivation as “specific external forces that reduce or diminishthe motivational basis of a behavioral intention or an ongoing action.” However,some researchers did not agree that demotives only came from the externalenvironment, for example Sakai & Kikuchi (2009), Falout & Maruyama (2004), orArai (2004) They strived to expand Dornyei’s initial definition and covered bothinternal and external factors reducing or diminishing the motivation to studyEnglish These influences limit the existing interest while other motives may still beactivated but are underrated That means an unmotivated student has not completelylost their motivation, but their interest in learning English has temporarily decreased

or disappeared for some reasons The lack of interest and enthusiasm could berooted in various sources of demotivation (demotives), such as an unprepared andunskilled teacher or an unsuitable, tedious textbook

2 Aims of the Study

Undoubtedly, demotivation is a red flag of impending reduced efficiency in learningand has noticeable educational implications In such an area of integration and theincreasing importance of foreign languages, particularly English, it is high time weinvestigated the related demotivating factors and came up with context-basedsolutions. 

Thus, this study attempts to answer two burning questions, which are the core points

of the hearty topic:

2 What is the best solution to each of these demotivating influences?

3 Scope of the Study

The research focuses on investigating demotivating factors among English learners

at the PANTADO centre and recommendations to fix the situation as well asimprove efficiency of learning and teaching

4 Methodology

The researcher have compiled the study and researched the above concerns based

on previously conducted reports and studies of many researchers in the early timecombined with the perspectives of two groups essentially involved in the learningand teaching processes, namely English learners and teachers in the PANTADOcentre In particular, the researcher picked up their views or opinions on thedemotives that can negatively affect the performance of students to see if there’sany differences or similarities between English learners of the last two decades andpresent time

- Questionnaire: In this study, the researcher used open form questionnaire whichallows participants to give any answer they have

- Observation

- Method of analysing, summarizing, synthesizing materials and books from thetheoretical background

- Information collection & comparison, judgment and conclusion

5 Organization of the Study

Besides the Introduction, Conclusion and References sections, the thesis consists of

3 primary chapters:

CHAPTER 1: This chapter refers to previous research conducted to find out

demotivating factors among English learners worldwide and lists out the mostcommon factors found in those studies

CHAPTER 2: This is the key section of the thesis, providing an overview of the

factors affecting motivation and attentiveness of English students in PANTADOclasses and detailed analysis of each of those factors

CHAPTER 3: This chapter discusses the practical solutions to minimize and deter

those factors from showing up again in the future, including those for teachers,students, and parents as well

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW1.1 Factors Affecting Motivation among English Learners In General

There is a large number of studies indicating that many English students loseinterest and motivation during the studying process And factors reducing ordiminishing motivational behaviours may originate from either the external orinternal world The five most common effective forces of demotivation mentioned

in research and studies worldwide are: teachers, class environment, class materials,the compulsory nature of the language, and learners themselves

of demotivation among Vietnamese EFL students originated from their teachers’teaching methods They also stressed that most language teachers utilized teachingtactics that relied on memorization, leading students to be unable to use thelanguage creatively

Participants in these two groups deemed the teachers’ teaching methods and lack offlexible, modern teaching tools in English classes a remarkable force that madethem uninterested in the language and engaging with their teachers This seems todenote that English learners are not into teacher-centred lessons where their teachersexercise dominance over the classes and do not rely on modern teaching tools thatallow them to engage in classroom activities This also means English learners aremore interested in having interactive lessons where their teachers hold interactiveactivities that use modern visual-audio aids

Chambers (1993), Mallala (2003), Keblawi (2005), Manasreh (2010), Amemori(2012) suggested that teachers’ incompetence, their personality, shouting/criticizing

at the pupils, ineffective or tedious teaching methods, lack of visual or audio

teaching tools, lack of focus and attention in their pupils, and intolerance aresignificant factors that ruin students’ motivation to learn a language efficiently andeffectively.

Falout and Falout (2004) performed research to investigate the factors thatdemotivated Japanese students in English classes and schools The final resultsindicated that factors associated with teachers were mentioned by the participants,including teachers’ behaviours, their incomprehensible tasks, inappropriate pace orlevel, not paying full attention to their usage, concentrating on abstract rules, andsticking too tightly to a single point

1.1.2 Class environment

When it comes to class environment, there are numerous factors that can affectstudents’ motivation when learning English, yet two of the most commonplace onesare unsuitable levels of classes or curriculums and friends’ attitudes

Arai (2004) discovered that 28% of the participants mentioned two reasons whyclassmates are the cause of their reduced motivation levels First, there was fiercecompetition among peers in a class and school, which put them under a lot ofpressure and stress Second, some classmates humiliated them, making them feelashamed and uncomfortable by making fun of them or distracting them when theywere speaking in front of the teacher and class Those bad behaviours depressedthem and made them lose motivation As some pupils expressed, their friendslaughed at them whenever they tried to speak or made some pronunciation mistakes.That’s why they did not want to show their English speaking skills in front of otherfriends, who would humiliate them with laughter and jokes

Besides, inappropriate levels of classes or programs have the equal influence onforeign language learners to friends’ attitudes Kikuchi & Sakai (2009) andBekleyen (2011) implied that the wrong levels of classes, either lower or higherthan the actual ability of the students, had a considerable impact on their motivation.Learning programs or courses that are too easy for them tend to reduce their interestsince there’s nothing new to learn, whereas those that are too hard would make

them struggle to catch up with the whole class’s pace and fail to soak up newknowledge, resulting in great demotivation and loss of confidence.

Previous research focused on demotivation during learning English has revealedthat class characteristics, such as grammar- and vocabulary-based instruction, exam-centered instruction, and monotonous lessons are effective causes of demotivatedattitudes (Cristophel & Gorham, 1995; Soureshjani & Riahipour 2012)

Apart from the two factors above, others related to class environment, such as classatmosphere (for example, inactive classes) and unequal levels of proficiencybetween classmates also play a critical role in reducing English students’attentiveness and interest in the language (Cristophel & Gorham, 1995; Meshkat &Hassani 2012)

Tsuchiya (2006) research showed the remarkable influence of the class environment

by comparing it to other demotivating encounters, and the final was that thisencounter accounted for 21% In particular, it generated five demotive groups,including improper textbook [selection/use] (2%), unfavourable class time (3%),unfavourable learning conditions (6%), lack of chances to communicate in English(5%), and unfavourable classroom atmosphere (5%)

1.1.3 Class materials

In 2011, Bekleyen carried out a study on the factors that demotivate Turkishuniversity students when learning English as a foreign language The researcherdetermined that insufficient use of technological types of equipment, course books,teaching methods and teachers themselves are major factors that demotivatestudents who are learning English as a foreign language

Likewise, focusing on the reason why students feel demotivated in languageclassrooms, Meshkat and Hassani (2012) conducted a study with the participation of

421 Iranian high school students As a result of the study, learning context andmaterials, insufficient school facilities, and test scores were found as basic sources

of language learning demotivation 8,2% of the participants indicated the education

system as a source of demotivation They mentioned that they do not take pleasurewhile learning English as the courses are boring and mostly teacher-centred.

Kawai (2000) pointed out, from a constructivist perspective, content relevance oflearning materials to the learner's existing knowledge is a key ingredient forintrinsic motivation Intrinsic motivation concerns behaviour performed for its ownsake in order to experience pleasure and satisfaction such as the joy of doing aparticular activity or satisfying one’s curiosity It is a state where the relevance forthe learner of the content of the material is the main reason for learning “Students,particularly more sophisticated adults, need to feel that the materials from whichthey are learning have to be connected with the real world and at the same time theymust be related positively to the aspects of their inner makeup such as age, level ofeducation, social attitudes, the intellectual ability and level of emotional maturity

1.1.4 Characteristic of the Language

The world is in a strong globalization process Globalization creates bothopportunities and challenges for each nation and each individual To be able tocompete on a global scale, students need to constantly develop and update theirknowledge and skills, and the ability to use English plays a large role in helpingeach individual keep pace with the world’s development and gain a goodemployment position in the future English is a compulsory subject in the generaleducation curriculum from grades 3 to 12 As a compulsory subject in the generaleducation curriculum, English is also directly inter-related with many othersubjects/educational areas such as Literature/Vietnamese, Natural and SocialSciences, History and Geography, Arts, Physical Education, Computing,Experimental Activities

Tsuchiya (2006) accused the compulsory nature of the English language somehowputs the students, particularly the younger who do not really have a knack forforeign languages, under a lot of pressure

Testing and assessment are important elements in the teaching process to providefeedback on the communicative competences acquired by students during and by

the end of a learning stage However, too high expectations of parents, teachers, andschools on their children’ test results and competition among peers in a class oftendecrease student motivation and lead to higher student retention and dropout rates.Wheelock, Bebell, and Haney (2000) investigated the degree to which external testsmotivated students to learn by examining the self-portraits of students in testingsituations Students depicted themselves as anxious, angry, bored, pessimistic, andwithdrawn from high-stakes tests Older students were more disillusioned andhostile toward tests than were younger students.

1.1.5 Learners Themselves

Almost all of the first and second grade students lacked interest in learning English.They thought that English was difficult so they did not enjoy English class Studentsshowed negative attitudes in learning English In addition, some students were notsatisfied with their English ability because they had difficulties in reading, listeningand speaking They looked confused when the teacher was explaining the lesson.Perhaps, the teaching was a little boring and monotonous There were some studentswho slept, talked with friends and played with their mobile phones Besides fromthe students’ attitude in the classroom, lack of interest in learning English can beseen from the results of their study, which were mostly below the passing grade.Another critical concern to look at is that students who lose their motivation at anearly phase of second language learning might suffer from long-term harmfulimpacts, such as failure, losing self-confidence, self-blaming and struggling toomuch to gain motivation during the learning process (Falout & Falout, 2005;Ushioda, 2001)

Besides, some students expressed that when they make mistakes/errors, teacherssometimes react negatively towards them That’s why students suffer from bothfears of negative evaluation and speaking anxiety As some of the participantsexpressed: “When I make mistakes while speaking, some of my teachers make fun

of me in front of the class That’s why, I don’t want to speak”, “When my teacheroffends me in front of the class because of some errors I have made, I feel

demotivated” Their low scores on tests also contributed greatly to theirdemotivation in learning English The test scores factor was part of what theresearchers hypothesized as relating to learner experiences of failures.

So, we can clearly see the connection between teacher & class-related factors andlearners’ intrinsic demotivated, negative attitudes toward the subject

Interference of another foreign language that pupils are studying should bementioned, too Learning a second language is a thought process, it is even moredifficult when the student uses his or her native language as crutches to helpstepping toward new information Learners of foreign languages often makemistakes resulting from language interference When two (or more) foreignlanguages are studied, then this kind of interference becomes “doubled” (or even

“more multiplied”)

Lott (1983) made a kind of a more precise classification of interference errors inwhich he distinguishes three types of them: The first type results fromoverextension of analogy (students misuse vocabulary items because they aresimilar, either phonetically, orthographically, semantically or syntactically toanother form in the Level 1) The second type of errors results from transfer ofstructure (students make errors because they apply the rules of their mother tongue).Interlingual errors (the third type of errors) are errors in grammar and vocabularywhich are made by students because certain phenomena, either lexical orgrammatical, existing in Level 2 do not exist in their native language Swan &Smith (2001) focus on learners of English and claim that “the mother tongue canaffect learners´ English in several ways”

1.2 Causes of Demotivation among English Learners in Particular Regions 1.2.1 Causes of Demotivation among European and North-American Students

Studies led by Chamber (1993) investigated four British schools with 191 JuniorHigh School (JHS) students aged thirteen and enrolled in eight classes and seventeachers of L2 The results of the questionnaire made by teachers showed that thedemotivation of students could be associated with lack of effort, self-confidence and

interest, poor concentration and refusal to cooperate in class cooperation They alsoperceived that these causes of demotivation could be related to psychological,attitudinal, social, historical, geographic factors On the other hand, half of thestudents responded that their demotivation was due to the fact that their teacherscriticized them, they did not provide clear explanations and the teaching materialsused were outdated; another percentage considered the L2 as a waste of time andanother group smaller expressed that their classroom was too small for an extensivegroup.

In another context, Oxford (1998) through analysis techniques contained in essayswritten by high school 250 (HS) American students and University students (US)about their past experiences in L2 learning, reported having demotivatingexperiences mainly generated by the teacher's role Similarly, Dörnyei (1998) inDörnyei & Ushioda (2011) indicated the possible factors that generate demotivation

in Learning English and German as L2 in 50 HS students from Hungary throughstructured individual interviews and content analysis The results of these analysesidentified that there were nine factors that negatively influenced the motivation ofthe HS students, for example, 40% of individuals emphasized the teacher´scompetence and style Gkonou (2012) analysed work diaries of 8 Greek studentsbelonging to EFL courses Although the qualitative study focused on determiningwhat factors cause anxiety to increase in EFL students, he noted that the factorsassociated with the pedagogy underlying the teaching of skills, and morespecifically the teaching of listening and writing are those that negatively affectedmotivation in the L2 class

1.2.2 Causes of Demotivation among Asian Students

Hasegawa (2004) established a quantitative study in which a questionnaire with sixdichotomous items (false-true) and open responses to 125 Japanese JHS studentsand 98 HS students The results indicated a demotivating factor with “strongimpact” associated with inappropriate teacher behaviour Keblawi (2005) presents amixed study with 137 JHS students and students of 157 HS Israelites From it,

Bryman studies (2001) developed a semi-structured interview with twenty-fivestudents and ten teachers of L2; for the other 269 students he applied aquestionnaire and evidenced by part of the students that the teacher, the learninggroup and the textbooks are factors that have a negative and considerable influence

on their motivation The overall result of the research denoted five factors

Hamada & Kito (2008) in a mixed study of students Japanese of second-year HS,applied a questionnaire with 35 items from Kikuchi & Sakai (2007) studies andstructured interviews with 26 students in the initial sample The results showed thepresence of five demotivating factors, where the low intrinsic motivation was themost relevant demotivating factor Similarly, Hamada (2008) conducted a mixedstudy simultaneously on 44 students of HS and JHS (n=36) to whom it wasadministered a questionnaire with 26 items based on research by Kikuchi & Sakai(in press) and Hamada & Kito (2008) showing that grammar and self-confidence forJHS students were the most demotivating factors; and for HS students, too muchInformation in textbooks contributed to its demotivation In the same context, Sakai

& Kikuchi (2009) in a quantitative study applied a questionnaire with 35 items to

562 students of language schools in four Japanese institutions where there wasdetermined through a factor analysis that there were five demotivating factors inwhich the learning content materials, and test results were the most incident in thestudents

On the other hand, Kim (2009a) in a quantitative study of Korean students using aquestionnaire with 31 items and a factor analysis, extracted five demotivatingfactors where the difficulty of learning English, dissatisfaction with English classesand grading system were the most substantial demotivating factors in both groups.Also, Kim (2009b) through a self-assessment questionnaire with 31 items, in hisFactor analysis identified five demotivating factors in 220 Korean students from 7

to 9 degree of JHS The most representative factors in this study focused on thedifficulty in learning English, loss of motivation and interest, and characteristics ofthe class

In a different context, Ghenghesh (2010) advanced a mixed study with 144 HSstudents of four different nationalities (Europe, Asia, Arabia and Africa) from 6 to

10 grade and five L2 teachers to whom he applied a questionnaire with 101 itemsthrough a semi-structured interview for both cases The results through an analysis

of variance concluded that the decrease in motivation in the acquisition of L2 might

be influenced by age, the context of learning and the role of the teacher Lee & Lee(2011) developed a mixed study with 170 students from 5 and 6 grade HS Koreans,

to whom they applied a questionnaire with 57 items based on demotivationconstructs and a semi-structured interview From an analysis of variance, theyobtained that the loss of motivation and interest, difficulty in English learning andclass characteristics were the most relevant demotivating factors In addition, hediscovered that male students tended to have a more negative attitude towards L2and that their low levels of competence towards L2 were as harmful as the factorsassociated with those already mentioned above, and additionally the negativeattitudes towards L2, the attitude of group members, scores and ranking of the tests.Kim (2011) developed a comparative quantitative study where he implemented aquestionnaire with 12 items with a closed response from Lamb studies (2007) inHigh school students and 10 L2 teachers in public and private institutions in Korea

of 3 to 6th grade of Elementary schools (ES) and HS He concluded that themotivation of the student's decreases considerably as they advance to another higherdegree, and to experience gained in previous private institutes, it also mentions thatthe students who attended private centers were harmed in their integrative andextrinsic motivation

In the same study area and with students, Kim & Seo (2012) developed a mixedstudy through interviews and questionnaires derived from the studies of Lamb(2007), Gardner's (1985, 2010) and Ryan & Deci's (2000) They raised openquestions to seventeen teachers of L2, which attributed three demotivating factorsdescribed by HS students as the negative impact of the teacher, an excessive socialexpectation of English proficiency, and the full range of English competence gap

between students In the same context, Kim (2012) in a quantitative studyestablished a structural model with a Likert questionnaire with 28 items treated inresearch by Lamb (2007) in Korean students of HS The constructs showed sixdemotivating factors, where the difficulty in learning English and the dissatisfactionwith the English classes and their classification system were the axes of thedemotivation of students.

Meshkat & Hassani (2012) established their research in four Iranian schools with

HS students, using a 21-item questionnaire, based on the research of Sakai &Kikuchi (2009) The results identified six demotivating factors where the lack ofschool facilities, excessive focus on grammar, and expectation when using Englishgrammar correctly were the most significant sources of demotivation Alavinia &Sehat (2012), in a quantitative study through analysis of variance, detected threedemotivating factors in students of Iranian HS through questionnaires with 50 itemsbased on research by Sakai & Kikuchi (2009), Warrington (2005) and Muhonen(2004), where learning environment, experience of failure and lack of success inEnglish class were the most relevant demotivation factors

Similarly, Hosseini & Jafari (2014) in a quantitative study following themethodology of Sakai & Kikuchi (2009) applied a questionnaire with 35 items to

604 students of Iranian HS The results pointed to three demotivating factors wherethe didactic material and inappropriate content were the main demotivating factors.Kim & Kim (2016) through a systematic literature review focused on the mostdistinctive demotivating factors in the different Korean education systems(Elementary School - ES; Junior High school–JHS; High school-HS and University-U) In the ES, the factors were: Reduced motivation and interest, teaching methodsfocusing on words and grammar, Social expectations for high English proficiency

In the same sense, in the HS, they highlighted: Difficulty of English learningfeatures and Lack of motivation or interest For JHS, the factors were: Difficulty ofEnglish learning and Lack of motivation and interest And for U, Lack of

confidence, Lack of meaningful purpose, Lack of improvement and experiences ofsuccess, and Lack of self-determination.

In the context of China, Li & Zhou (2017) applied a questionnaire to 128 JSstudents through an exploratory factor analysis The factors extracted in this studywere: Teaching Contents and Teaching Process, Teacher-related Factors, ClassroomLearning Environment and Facilities, Deficient English Learning Abilities, Lack ofIntrinsic Interest, Undesired Influences of Important Others, Textbooks andTeaching Materials, and Lack of Effective Learning Strategies

1.2.3 Causes of Demotivation among Latin American Students

In the Latin American context, Bastidas (2002) mentions that demotivation can belinked to the lack of practice and communication in English which is the reason forthe students of High school why not see the need of using the foreign languageoutside their environment; also their community and social context only use theirfirst language to communicate with each other Bastidas & Muñoz (2011)established a diagnostic study with a mixed approach and questionnaires based onthe work of Richards & Rodgers (1986) to eighteen urban public schools ofeducation (ES and HS) and thirty-four Colombian teachers The results mention thatthe decrease in motivation in HS students is critical and could be associated with thefact that the teachers are not well versed either in methodology or in the command

of the English language, there was no English syllabus, and didactic materials werenonexistent

Pinzón (2011), developed a mixed study with Colombian students of HS of 10 and

11 grade through a questionnaire with ten items and a semi-structured interview.The results showed that the methodology of teaching implemented by the teacherand the fear of being ridiculed by other classmates were the two most commondemotivating factors According to the previous literature review on studies thatconsider the different demotivating factors that may be present in the learning andacquisition of L2 expressed by students in EFL contexts, some associated harmfulcomponents can reduce the motivation in learning L2: the role and competence of

the teacher, the learning environment, low intrinsic motivation, didactic materialwith inadequate content, inferior instructional materials, excessive focus ongrammar, difficulty in Learning English, among others In any case, the evidence ofstudies on this field in secondary education in vulnerable rural populations isunknown, which provides a clear justification for the present study.

2.1 Overview of the factors affecting motivation and attentiveness of English students in PANTADO classes

Students' Questionnaire: The questionnaire items were classified into six categoriesbased upon the content of each questionnaire

Question 1: Do you ever feel demotivated when learning English? If yes, what

do you think is the cause?

In this section, Question 1 is discussed (Chart 1) Sixty students were asked, and asfor the responses to questionnaire items among all students, several remarkableitems in the questionnaire are described

The mean scores of Item 4 (English has many words and grammars that are toocomplex to learn), Item 1 (Inappropriate materials and poor school facilities) andItem 5 (Students have unsolved questions after lessons but are shy to raise their

hands to ask the teachers) showed very high numerical values on the 6-point likertscale, respectively (Table 1) Item 1 belongs to category Class environment &material, while item 4 belongs to category the Nature/characteristics of English anditem 5 belongs to category Learners themselves These high numerical values showthat demotivation among PANTADO students originates from either the internal orexternal world.

The highest values are assigned to the item Learning material & facilities and Word

& grammar, implying that pupils usually struggle with the subject because of itsdifficulty and the lack of facilities or unsuitable levels of classes and textbooks Theitem Word & Grammar is related to English syllabus and textbooks Students of allgroups, particularly those aged from 15 to 17, have reported that the Englishsyllabus is very large which is difficult to be properly covered in the limited timededicated to its teaching It seems that the participants have to move fast to finish itwithin the scheduled time and are unable to ensure comprehension and properunderstanding that causes demotivation among English learners

The second highest value is granted for the item ‘Unsolved questions because offear to ask,’ implying that students are shy and afraid to be judged when askingquestions or think asking questions is silly because they fail to understand whattheir friends can This result also indicates that teachers probably haven’t hadcontrol over their students’ understanding of the lessons or made them feelcomfortable raising their voices Notably, pupils aged at 6 to 11 are primarily thosewho announce this issue, meaning younger pupils tend to be more reluctant to askquestions than older ones, which goes against the concept that the younger, thebolder Other students are self-conscious and worry about what their peers willthink if they ask questions of the teacher Peer friendships and fitting in is especiallyimportant as students enter teenage years

The third, fourth, and fifth positions belong to items Homework, Teachers, andFamily, respectively While Homework seems to be a matter among students atyounger ages, Teacher-related problems (stringent attitudes, shouting, or fast