Investigation into high school students motivation in learning english how to improve = nghiên cứu động cơ học tập của học sinh trung học phổ thông trong việc học tiếng anh làm thế nào để cải thiện

Reasons for Choosing the Topic Motivation is perhaps the key that leads to consecutive success in the learning process in general and in second language acquisition in particular.. Moti

Vinh University Foreign Language Department

-    -

Investigation into high school students’ Motivation in learning English: How to improve (Nghiên cứu động cơ học tập của học sinh THPT trong việc

học tiếng Anh: Làm thế nào để cải thiện)

Graduation thesis

Field: English Methodology

Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Vân Lam, M.A

Student: Phan Thị Mai

Class: 4 5A - English

Vinh-2008

Additionally, I wish to express my deep gratitude to the dean and the teachers in the Foreign Languages Department for accessing this subject to be in our curriculum and their valuable advice I also benefited greatly from useful reference books offered

Vinh, May 10, 2008

FLA : First Language Acquisition

SLA : Second Language Acquisition

SLL : Second Language Learning

Lists of figures

Figure 1.1: Sources of Motivational Needs 11

Figure 1.2: A Combination of Internal or External Focus of Control 12

Figure 1.3 Integrative and Instrumental Motivation Contrasted by Intrinsic and Extrinsic Sources 16

Figure 2.1.Students and their Interest in Learning English 27

Figure 2.2 Chart Showing Students and their Interest in Learning English 27

Figure 2.3 Number of Motivated students in Studying English 27

Figure 2.4 Motivation in High School Students 28

Figure 2.5 Realization of Integrative Motivation in Students 28

Figure 2.6.Characteristics of Good English Learners 28

Figure 2.7 Students‟ Feeling When Making Presentation (1) 28

Figure 2.8 Students‟ Feeling When Making Presentation (2) 30

Figure 2.9 Students‟ Instrumental and Integrative Motivation 31

Figure 2.10 Students‟ Opinion about the Content of the Lecture 32

Figure 2.11 Students‟ Opinion about the Learning Goals 33

Figure 2.12 Students‟ Opinion about the Classroom Atmosphere 33

Figure 2.13 Students‟ Opinion about the Techniques of Motivating Students (1) 34

Figure 2.14 Students‟ Opinion about the Techniques of Motivating Students (2) 34

Figure 2.15 Students‟ Opinion about the Techniques of Motivating Students (3) 35

Figure 2.16 Students‟ Opinion about the Techniques of Motivating Students (4) 35

Figure 2.17 Pedagogical Practices used to Increase Levels of Motivation 35

Figure 2.18 Students‟ Opinion about the Techniques of Motivating Students (5) 36

Figure 2.19 The Final Marks of Students in 11A8 and 11A9 36

Figure 2.20 The Final Marks of Students in 11A8 and 11A9 (percentage) 36

Figure 2.21 The Learning Outcomes of Students 36

Table of content

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABBRIVIATION ii

LIST OF FIGURES ii

TABLE OF CONTENT iv

Part A - introduction 1 Reasons for choosing the topic 1

2 Aims and Objectives of the study 1

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Methods of the study 2

5 Design of the Study 2

Part B - development 4

Chapter 1- theoretical background 4

1.1 First and second language learning 4

1.1.1 First and second Language 4

1.1.2 Learning and Acquisition 4

1.1.3 First and Second Language Learning 4

1.2 Factors affecting second language learning 6

1.3 Motivation 8

1.3.1 Definition 8

1.3.2 Classification of motivation 9

1.3.2.1 Internal and external motivation 10

1.3.2.2 Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation 12

1.3.2.3 Integrative and instrumental motivation 14

1.3.2.4 Global, situational, and task motivation 16

1.3.3 Levels of Motivation 16

1.3.4 Motivating learners in Learning Second Language 18

1.3.4.1 Motivating second language learners into the lessons 18

1.3.4.2 Varying the activities, tasks and materials 19

1.3.4.3 Using cooperative rather than competitive goals 20

1.3.4.4 Motivating Second Language Learners through Feedback 22

1.3.4.5 Increasing Second Language Learners‟ Extrinsic Motivation 23

Chapter 2- investigation into motivation in classroom settings in NguyÔn Du high school – Hµ TÜnh 25

2.1 Overview of the survey 25

2.1.1 Aims of the survey 25

2.1.2 Informants and Settings 25

2.2 Description of the survey questionnaires 26

2.2.1 Survey questionnaires 26

2.2.2 Results and Findings 27

Chapter 3- suggestions for motivating students in language Learning 38

3.1 Motivating Students to Learn English at the Classroom Level 38

3.2 Motivating Students to Learn English at the School Level 41

3.3 Motivating Students to Learn English at Home 42

Part C- Conclusion 47

1 Recapitulation 47

2 Suggestions for Further Studies 47

Reference 49

Appendix 51

Part A- introduction

1 Reasons for Choosing the Topic

Motivation is perhaps the key that leads to consecutive success in the learning process in general and in second language acquisition in particular In fact many learners achieve fruitful results in second language acquisition, while others do not There raises a question for the classroom teacher of every discipline: “how to motivate students or how to create a motivating classroom?” The author herself is really fond of finding the answer for this question and takes it as her concern and preoccupation

In addition, the author would like to rightly focus on the motivation of students

in the classroom settings, where the learning process takes place and where students are eager to learn new knowledge By making the classrooms places where students enjoy coming due to the interesting and relevant content, suitable learning goals and supportive atmosphere, teacher can positively contribute to the students‟ success in learning process Motivation in classroom is, therefore, of great importance and practical value for teaching and learning

Additionally, recent research has shown that the classroom teachers tend to use pedagogical techniques of creating motivation for their students by only preoccupying about external motivation Thus, the author would like to present what she learns about motivation in classroom settings with the hope of providing a little help for those who also care about motivation and are really in need of it

non-Last but not least, the author is training to be a teacher of English in the near future and teaching is considered as a demanding job Teaching not only requires the teacher to know how to “teach” but also how to “educate”, i.e nurture the learners‟ soul Hence, she is keen on finding out about what motivation is and how to motivate the students Through a full, if not profound, knowledge about motivation, she would like to know how to make the learning process easier for the students and be a good and understanding teacher to make her dream come true

With all the reasons above, the author is to conduct her research entitled:

“Investigation into High School Students‟ Motivation in Learning English: How to Improve.”

2 Aims of the Study

Motivation to learn is necessary and paramount to student success, especially in second language learning Due to this fact, there have been a large number of theories and techniques proposed in order to explore motivation and its benefit The study also aims at investigating into motivation in classroom and its benefit in students‟ second language learning Hopefully, this study can contribute a little understanding and implication to those who are also interested in this topic Furthermore, this study is designed to interest and serve a number of people involve in language teaching such as the teachers, trainee teachers, etc It heads for demonstrating some techniques to motivate students in language learning; thus, the classroom can be a positive environment Besides, investigating into motivation is object-oriented; therefore, the object of this study is the students from two classes 11A8 and 11A9 in NguyÔn Du high school who are engaged in learning English as a main subject in their curriculum.

3 Scope of the Study

Many people believe that motivation to learn is the key element in language learning However, it is also a complex concept with related items Due to the small scope of the study, the author only wishes to concentrate on motivation in classroom and how its applied theory works in practice referring to a survey on a certain language classroom Also, she would like to present some techniques of motivating students into learning English at three levels: at home, at school and class level

4 Methods of the Study

Due to the limitation and the characteristic of the study, the following methods and procedures were employed:

 Analytic and synthetic methods

 Comparative and contrastive methods

The first is reviewing the theories related to the matter in concern in order to shape up a framework for the analysis, collecting books and materials, finding and select necessary information, and carrying out the survey

The next is analyzing selected information and data, then arrange results into categories for comparison

In the end, the information and data obtained will be dealt with, analyze so as to come to conclusion, and accordingly, to make critical comments

5 Design of the Study

The thesis consists of three main parts

Part I- Introductions

This part includes five sub-parts: the reasons, aims, scope, methods and design

of the study

Part II - Development

Chapter 1 - Theoretical Background of Motivation

In this chapter, the author discusses first and second language learning and factors that affect SLL including motivation She also presents her understanding about motivation as an important factor in the success of learning second language The study looks into what is motivation to learn and kinds of motivation as well as levels of motivation Besides, the thesis indicates several ways of motivating students into second language learning

Chapter 2 - Investigation into Motivation in Learning Second Language

This chapter describes the actual situation of motivation that the author has observed and carried out survey in Nguyen Du high school during her teaching practice there

Chapter 3 - Suggestions for Motivating Students in Language Learning

Chapter 3 introduces several strategies with sample of activities to increase students‟ motivation in learning second language withdrawn from experimental experience that the author gleamed and collected after her teaching practice

Part III - Conclusion

This part summarizes what has been discussed in the two parts above and offers some suggestions for further studies

The references listed the references book from which the author gleams information and cites words in support for her study

In the appendix is the questionnaire the author uses in her study

Part B -development

Chapter 1-theoretical background

1.1 First and Second Language Learning

1.1.1 First and Second Language

First language is the language(s) that an individual learns first First language is also called native language or mother tongue

Second language is defined as any language other than the first language learned

in a broader sense In a narrower sense, it is a language learned after the first language

in a context where the language is used widely in the speech community For example, the Vietnamese people in England have their first language Vietnamese and their second language English

1.1.2 Learning and Acquisition

According to Krashen (cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong, 2007) the Acquisition- Learning Hypothesis claims that there are two distinctive ways

of developing competence in a second or foreign language „acquisition‟ and „learning‟ Acquisition is the “natural” way and refers to an unconscious process that involves through using language for meaningful communication Sometimes acquisition occurs

in class while we are exposed to samples or patterns of the second language that we understand In contrast, learning refers to a conscious process of study and attention to form and rule learning The result of learning is the explicit knowledge about the forms

of a language and the ability to verbalize this knowledge Learning occurs in class and errors corrections can help to develop learned rules Krashen (1982, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007) claims that acquisition is by far the more important process and learning cannot turn into acquisition

1.1.3 First and Second Language Learning

In order to explain for how language is learned, linguists and psychologists proposed several theories, namely behaviorism, innatism, and interactionist position

1.1.3.1 Behaviorism

Behaviorism is considered as the earliest psychological theory in explaining FLL Behaviorism accounts for SLA with the same theory as for FLA Behaviourists

believe that language learning is the result of imitation, practice, feedback on success and habit formation They claim that all learning take place and imply to the same underlying process, in spite of their form verbal or non-verbal The role of the speakers

is to provide learner with the input so that they can form so-called “associations or relations” between words, objects or events By forming these associations, learner can practice When experiences are repeated, the associations become stronger

Behaviourism in explaining SLA was often associated with Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) The CAH predicts that where there are similarities between the first language and the target language, the learners will acquire target-language structures easily, and vice versa Also, CAH denotes that first language is the main sources of errors in second language (Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007)

1.1.3.2 Innatism

According to Noam Chomsky (1959, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007), children are biologically programmed for language and language develops in children in just the same way that other biological functions develop The availability of people who speak to the child acts as a basic contribution of the environment and the child‟s biological endowment will do the rest In Chomsky (1959,

cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007), children‟s minds language

acquisition device was often described as an imaginary „black box‟ which was believed

to contain all and only the principles universal to all human languages Another term in

Chomsky‟s writing is Universal Grammar that is thought to consist of a set of

principles that are common to all languages

The biologist Eric Lenneberg argued that the language acquisition device works successfully only when it is stimulated at the right time called the “Critical Period” The Critical Period Hypothesis refers to the notion that there is a specific and limited time period for the acquisition of language

Linguistics working within innatist theory also account for SLA through Universal Grammar Additionally, Krashen (1982, in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh phuong 2007) presented five “hypothesis” which constitute what he called the

“Monitor Model” by origin

 The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis

 The Monitor Hypothesis

 The Natural Order Hypothesis

 The Input Hypothesis

 The Affective Filter Hypothesis

The „affective filter‟ is an imaginary barrier functioning to prevent learners from acquiring language from the available input The „affect‟ refers to such things as motives, needs, attitudes, and emotional states The filter is up when a learner who is stressed, upset, or even unmotivated (a high affective filter), which prevents acquisition from taking place The filter is down when the learner is relaxed and motivated (a low affective filter) Therefore, it is desirable to acquire language with a low affective filter

1.1.3.3 Innteractionist Position

According to interactionist position the complex and intricate interplay between the uniquely human characteristics of the child and the environment in which the child develops brings about the development of language Jean Piaget (cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007) viewed that children‟s cognitive development partly determines their use of language Besides, Lev Vygotsky had the sociocultural theory of human mental processing which assumes that language develops entirely from

social interaction, and referred to the child‟s zone of proximal development

Some interactionism theorists have developed their ideas mainly within SLA research itself (Hatch 1992; Pica 1994; Long 1983; cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007) Interactionists view SLA as the process-taking place through conversational interaction and concern with the necessity of comprehensible input for language acquisition

Lighbown and Spada (1999, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong, 2007) have presented three theoretical approaches to explaining first and second language acquisition Behaviorism can explain how some aspects of the language such as word meanings and some language routines are learned Innatism can account for the complexity of the knowledge that all learners eventually attain Interactionists view that learners develop language through one-to-one interaction

1.2 Factors Affecting Second Language Learning

Many beliefs based on anecdotal evidence assumed that second language learners must have some certain characteristics that foster their success in language learning The five main categories of learner characteristics listed including motivation, aptitude, personality, intelligence, and learner preferences Although these beliefs are

empirical and lack relevant theories, they raise for linguists a question of how these factors affecting SLL and the correlation between them and learners „success The followings are a brief overview on each characteristic

Firstly, it is intelligent that considered affecting SLL In the past, linguistics tended to use the term intelligence referring to the performance on certain kinds of tests that are linked to the success of learners at school Many years passed by, the new way

of testing the relation between intelligence and second language learners‟ success called

IQ (intelligence quotient) came into being However, some recent findings express the view that intelligence can relatively bias to certain kinds of language abilities more strongly than to others and that intelligence measured by verbal IQ tests has a correlation with metalinguistic ability in second language, not with oral competence

Secondly, aptitude also has an impact on the learning process of second language learners Aptitude is considered as a special ability to learn a foreign language quickly It consists of different types of abilities such as the ability to identify and memorize new sounds, to understand the function of particular words in sentences; how words function grammatically in sentences, to figure out grammatical rules from language samples and memory for new words It should be noted that in a formal setting intelligence and aptitude are dominantly important in learning; meanwhile they exert a weaker effect in an informal setting

Thirdly, personality is also one factor affecting SLL There are a vast number of personality characteristics such as extroversion and introversion, inhibition and risk-taking, self-esteem, anxiety, empathy, etc However, there are some misty problems over the association between personality characteristics and success in SLL For instance, some people think that learners with high-leveled extroversion (assertiveness and adventurousness) have fruitful results in language learning On the contrary, others find that many successful language learners do not get high score on measures of extroversion In contrast to intelligence, personality plays an important part in the acquisition of conversational skills, not in the acquisition of literacy skills

In addition, the forth factor affecting SLL is the learner preferences Learning style is an individual‟s natural, habitual, and preferred way of absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skills Two main types of learning styles related to SLL are perceptual learning styles and cognitive learning styles Also, all learners exert

a strong belief about how their language instruction should be delivered Their beliefs are counted on the previous learning experiences and the assumption that how the

instruction is delivered to them The learners‟ preferences for learning decide the kinds

of strategies that the learners choose for learning new material

The fifth factor is viewed to be affecting success in the SLL is motivation and positive attitudes Motivation in SLL is defined in terms of two factors learners‟ communicative needs (i.e the wants or needs to speak the second language in a wide environment full of social situations or to fulfill professional ambitions) and learners‟ attitudes towards the second language community (i.e favorable attitudes towards the speakers of the language and learner will develop their desire for more contact with them) In addition, it is noted that an individual‟s identity has a close-knit relation with the way he speaks Their identity and attitudes towards the second language community can either be positive or negative If it is a positive attitude, learning a second language will be a source of enrichment in which the learners take delight in learning language and improve their knowledge In contrast, if it is a negative attitude, language-learning process will become a source of resentment In this case, learners will find language learning a kind of burden due to their absorption of no knowledge from the language Additionally, the social dynamic and power relationship between languages is one factor that affects motivation In other words, a minority group member learning the language of a majority group expresses different attitudes and motivation from the one who comes from a majority group and studies a minority language

1.3 Motivation

1.3.1.Definition

In general, student motivation “refers to a student‟s willingness, need, desire and compulsion to participate in, and be successful in, the learning processes (Bomia et al., 1997: 1, cited in Wilder 2004)

Student motivation naturally has to do with students' desire to participate in the learning process But it also concerns the reasons or goals that underlie their involvement or noninvolvement in academic activities Although students may be equally motivated to perform a task, the sources of their motivation may differ (Lumsden 1994)

Moreover, Gardner states that a specific second language learning motivation is

„the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language„ (Gardner 1994: 361, in Lins, 2005)

Some linguists develop definition of motivation further to motivated and unmotivated language learners Skinner and Belmont (1991: 3, cited in Brewster and

Fager 2000) assumed that students who are motivated to engage in school “select tasks

at the border of their competencies, initiate action when given the opportunity, and exert intense effort and concentration in the implementation of learning tasks, they show generally positive emotions during ongoing action, including enthusiasm, optimism, curiosity, and interest” Naiman, Froelich, Stern and Todesco (1978, cited in Ur 1996: 275) conclude that those to whom a language comes very easily are not the most successful learners In fact, students exhibit certain typical characteristics, most of which are clearly related to motivation The followings are some of characteristics of motivated learners

 Positive Task Orientation: the learner orients to task with positive manner and

is willing to encounter and tackle challenging tasks with confidence on their success

 Ego-involvement: with a view to saving face, or maintaining and promoting his or her own (positive) self-image to others, the learner realizes the importance of success in his language learning

 Need for Achievement: the learner has a need to overcome difficulties, to achieve and to attain his objectives, and to succeed in what he sets out to do

 High Aspirations: the learner is highly aspirated and ambitious, pursues demanding challenges, high proficiency and top grades

 Goal Orientation: As the goals of learning or of specific learning activities are set out, the learner is very conscious of them and directs his efforts towards them

Perseverance: the learner consistently devotes a high level of effort to and invests time in learning He is not dismayed by setbacks, failure or apparent lack of progress

Tolerance of Ambiguity: the learner is not discouraged or frustrated by situations in which there is a temporary lack of understanding or confusion

There are many other personality traits that have taken into consideration such as field-dependence or independence, empathy, and introversion or extroversion However, these traits appear to be less conclusive and convincing

On the other hand, less motivated or disengaged students “are passive, do not try hard, and give up easily in the face of challenges” (Skinner and Belmont 1991: 4, cited

in Brewster and Fager 2000)

1 3 2 Classification of Motivation

There are many ways of classifying motivation in second language classroom settings from different angles of approach, among which we can recognize several frequently used couples of terms intrinsic and extrinsic motivation; internal and external motivation; integrative and instrumental motivation, and “global” and “situational” and

“task” motivation We cannot say which classification is exact or most satisfactory Personally thinking, we should thoroughly look into the three ways of classifying and build up a small comparison to find whether they are the same or distinct or misnomers

1.3.2.1 Internal and External Motivation

Internal motivation means that your motivation to accomplish your goal comes from within you Your motivation is from you It is determined by your own values and goals (Weinstein and Woodruff 2001) The learner can reach near native like or even native like levels of proficiency that has been proved in reality Internal motivation can

be relatively classified into 5 subtypes

 Curiosity is defined as the need for understanding Human being is naturally and innately curious about a variety of things around their environment On their way of combing for new experiences, people enjoy learning new things, solving problems and developing skills and competence

Self-efficacy or self-confidence is a belief on the ability of the students that they will

be able to succeed or not Students who are not self-confident in their ability or chance

to succeed are not motivated to learn

Competence is also an intrinsic motive for learning that is much related to efficacy Through competence of doing things well, students tend to be pleasant and happy which can result in their desire for success in many fields of learning or in many subjects of learning

self-Need plays an important role in motivation in SLL It is the need to speak his second language in a wide range of social situations or to fulfill professional situations The sources of motivational needs can be viewed as follows

Figure 1.1 Sources of Motivational Needs

 Attitude is the behavior towards the second language community It can be the favorable attitude towards the speakers of the language or towards the culture of that country Especially, in some cases, judging the behavior of students can reveal their attitude On the other hand, the attitude of the students towards learning may have an intrinsic characteristic and not always show off through behaviors

External motivation is in contrast to internal motivation “External motivation means that your motivation to attain your goal comes from a source outside yourself” (Weinstein and Woodruff 2001) External motivators must be accepted, valued and endorsed by students External motivation, similar to internal motivation, can be highly influential to success in SLL There are many forms of external motivators such as grade, reinforcement, praise, etc It is plausible to externally motivate the students by giving higher grades, praising or giving chance for them to earn money However, this way of motivation appears not to last or maintain long

According to the attribution theory (Heider 1958 and Weiner 1974, cited in Huitt 2001), we can see the chart presents the four attributions that result from a combination

of internal or external focus of control and whether or not control is possible From the

Sources of

motivational

needs

chart the teacher can make an effort to decide which kind of motivation should be used

in certain circumstances

Figure 1.2 A Combination of Internal or External Focus of Control

1.3.2.2 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

According to Ur (1996: 280), “Global intrinsic motivation-the generalized desire

to invest effort in the learning for its own sake- is large rooted in the previous attitudes

of the learners: whether they see the learning as worthwhile, whether they like the language and its cultural, political and ethnic associations” Intrinsic motivation is the urge in the learning activities for its own sake Ur (1996: 276) Intrinsic motivators like challenge, mastery and curiosity frequently lead a person to great efforts in order to attain a goal…no obvious reward in material form results from such effort (Waklin 1990:1)

Intrinsically motivated student are those who are motivated from within, actively engage themselves in learning out of curiosity, interest or enjoyment, or in order to achieve their own intellectual and personal goals A student who is intrinsically motivated undertakes an activity "for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the learning it permits, or the feelings of accomplishment it evokes" (Mark Lepper 1988, in Lumsden, 1994) According to Kohn (1993, in Strong and Silver and Robinson 1995) it

is generally considered more durable and self-enhancing and is what motivates people

to do something when we do not have to do anything

Intrinsic motivation in classroom learning refers to the desire of students to learn because of their internal motivation and provokes students to engage in learning activities for the sake of learning Learners do activities and carry out the tasks just because they are interested and find them enjoyable It should be noted that some factors promote intrinsic motivation such as challenge, curiosity, control, fantasy, competition, cooperation, and recognition Intrinsic motivation that comes from learners‟ curiosity and competence has the strongest impact on learning success Despite its getting much better emphasis than extrinsic motivation, it has several weaknesses Kohn (1993, cited in Strong et al 1995) claims that intrinsic motivation “is a concept that exists only in the context of the individual”; consequently, teachers find it difficult

to apply the proposed prescriptions which are often too extremely individualized, or too bland and abstract in classroom settings

Extrinsic motivation derives from the influence of some kind of external incentive, as distinct from the wish to learn for its own sake or interest in tasks (Ur 1996: 277) Extrinsic motivators involve the satisfaction of needs such as the desire for recognition, praise or financial reward (Waklin 1990:1) An extrinsically motivated student performs "in order to obtain some reward or avoid some punishment external

to the activity itself," such as grades, stickers, or teacher approval (Lepper 1988 cited

in Lumsden 1994) Extrinsic motivation in classroom settings provokes the learners to

do the tasks or assignments because they assume that their participation will cause desirable outcomes that can be a reward, a prize, the teacher‟s praise or avoidance of punishment Extrinsic motivation is very helpful in motivating unmotivated students and encouraging them to fulfill learning tasks Nonetheless, extrinsic motivation has long been perceived as the bad boy of motivational theory Kohn (1995, cited in Strong et al 1995) presents his arguments against extrinsic rewards like grades, gold stars and those who rely on factors external to the task and to the individual constantly fails in producing any deep and long-lasting commitment to learning

More importantly, students who are intrinsically motivated are assumed to enjoy doing the kind of tasks that are moderately challenging Those who are extrinsically motivated appear to prefer the one that are “low in degree of difficulty” (Lumsden 1994) Therefore, when students of both kinds of motivation encounter complex intellectual learning tasks, the intrinsically motivated ones have the tendency of using strategies that are testified to be more logical and intellectually engaged into the problems than that of those who are extrinsically motivated However, intrinsic motivation is in its turn associated with what has been termed “cognitive drive”, the urge to learn for its own sake, which is very typical of young children and tends to deteriorate with age (Ur, 1996: 276) Also, it is said that traditional separation of intrinsic and extrinsic is incorrect In fact, most successful people are those who are motivated by both internal and external factors (Brewster and Fager, 2000) Robert Sternberg and Todd Lubart (1995, cited in Strong et al 1995) claim that a blend of both types of motivation actually makes a highly creative people In consequence, both of these have an important part to play in classroom motivation, and both are at least partially accessible to teacher influence

After investigating into internal and external motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, we can realize that they are almost similar or coincident In many documents, the term intrinsic motivation is used instead of internal motivation, and extrinsic, similarly used for external motivation

1.3.2.3 Integrative and Instrumental Motivation

Gardner and Lambert (1972, Lightbown and Spada 1999, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007) coined the terms integrative motivation and instrumental motivation that are proved to link to the success in SLA

It is thought that 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 (Falk 1978) It is also theorized "integrative motivation typically underlies successful acquisition of a wide range of registers and a native like pronunciation" (Finegan 1999) An individual is integratively motivated when he or she wants to learn another language “to learn more about the cultural community, because he is interested in it in an open-minded way to the point of eventually being accepted as a member of that group” (Gardner and Lambert 1972:3; cited in Mackay 1992: 25-26)

Instrumental motivation is generally characterized by the desire to obtain something practical or concrete from the study of a second language (Hudson 2000)

In contrast to the integrative motivation, instrumental motivation is featured by the desire to achieve something immediate, practical or concrete from the study of a second language like to achieve a career goal An individual is instrumentally motivated when he or she wants to learn another language for the social benefits or economic rewards this knowledge brings such as getting a job or passing a university entrance examination (Mackay 1992: 25-26)

In the past learners with integrative motivation were considered to be more successful than those with the “lesser” drive of instrumental It was considered that it is integrative motivation that maintains the long-term success in learning second language The second language learners who fostered by an integrative motivation to study a language are usually more highly motivated and overall have fruitful outcomes in language learning

Famous research carried out in the second half of the twentieth century by Gardner and Lambert suggested that students

who felt most warmly about a language and who wanted to integrate into the culture of its speakers were more highly motivated (and learnt more successfully) than those who were only learning a language as a means to an end (e.g getting a better

job) In other words integrative motivation was more powerful than instrumental motivation (Harmer, 1998:8)

However, Giles and Byrne (1982; cited in Wajnryb) and Burstall, Jamierson, Cohen and Hargreaves (1974, cited in Ur 1996) assume that the categories of instrumental and integrative motivation are not quite as distinct as in the old days: a learner's motivation might compose a blend of elements from both categories Additionally, the previous belief about the correlation between integrative motivation and success and between instrumental motivation and less success is quite facile This correlation also cannot reflect the true complexity of motivation Harmer (1998:8) states, “Integrative motivation was more powerful than instrumental motivation But whatever kind of motivations students have, it is clear that highly motivated students do better than ones without any motivation at all”

In comparison between intrinsic and instrumental motivation, it is easy to recognize that the term intrinsic or internal motivation is used to represent the individual satisfaction derived or rooted from achievement of goals or tasks Meanwhile, instrumental motivation materializes extrinsic motivation, i.e instrumental rewards lead

to certain extrinsic tangible outcomes or results like payment, professional promotions, bonuses, and so on Shortly, instrumental motivation is different from the classic extrinsic or external motivation for its motive derives from tangible external rewards, whereas the classic definition includes social rewards and interpersonal relations (in this typology, these are termed self-concept-external) Therefore, extrinsic motivation is further divided in this typology into two categories of motives, tangible (instrumental) and social (self-concept-external)

In 1986, Bailey (cited in Mckay 1992:26) made a further distinction between integrative and instrumental motivation according to whether or not the motivation roots from intrinsic or extrinsic sources

Integrative Learner wishes to integrate with

the second language culture (e.g for immigration or

Someone else wishes the learner to know the second language or integrative reasons (e.g Japanese

marriage) parents send kids to

Japanese-language school)

Instrumental Learner wishes to achieve goals

utilizing second language (e.g

for a career)

External power wants learner to learn second language (e.g corporation sends Japanese businessman to US for language training)

Figure 1 3 Integrative and Instrumental Motivation Contrasted by Intrinsic and

Extrinsic Sources (Bailey, 1986; cited in Mckay, 1992:26)

“Intrisically derived instrumental motivation is based on an individual‟s belief that economic rewards will accrue from learning Engish, while extrinsically motivated instrumental motivation is based on actual economic benefits given an individual by a corporation or government” (Mckay 1992: 27) In classroom settings, we take notice of intrinsic instrumental motivation, not extrinsic instrumental motivation An indication

of whether or not an individual of economic betterment is realized through an investigation into that person‟s reasons for studying English

1.3.2.4 Global, situational, and task motivation

A third distinction is that between “global”, “situational” and “task” motivation (Brown 1987, cited in Ur 1996: 276)

Global motivation is the learner‟s overall orientation towards the learning of the foreign language It appears to chiefly be determined by previous education and a multitude of social factors Additionally, according to Ur (1996), global motivation is affected by the teacher‟s own attitudes conveyed either unconsciously or through explicit information and persuasion

Situational motivation has to do with the context of learning (classroom, total environment) (Ur, 1996:276)

Task motivation has to do with the way the learner approaches the specific task in hand In practice, people are likely to invest much effort with an aim to make the task

in hand as attractive as possible, as well as encourage language learners‟ engagement and help them to invest effort and succeed (Ur 1996: 276)

1.3.3 Levels of Motivation

According to Green (1993) “ although motivation is a deeply personal impulse,

it is possible to identify levels of motivation under which individualistic factors are largely subsumed” There are three main levels of motivation which are readily identifiable They are in constant parallel interaction

1.3.3.1 Holistic

The individual as organism seeking to realise its fullest potentialities; physical, emotional, mental and spiritual The drive is egocentric

Holism: the Whole –Student Approach

In 1954, Abraham Maslow presented a unified hierarchy of individual needs that naturally motivate human behaviour It is built on the assumption that maximal ego-centered development is the goal of every individual The hierarchy describes the progress of individual in meeting needs and wants whose ranges are from pure physiology to high creativeness, from survival to self-actualisation Below is an attempt

to place the five needs identified by Maslow into a classroom setting enclosed with some examples which the teacher can take advantage of in order to promote learner‟s achievement of that need

1 Physiological needs, such as food, water, oxygen, activity, and sleep Needs that

4 Esteem, being respected as a useful, honorable individual

5 Self-actualization, becoming all that one is capable of

1.3.3.2 Cultural-Linguistic

The individual as user of non-native languages in relation to others within and across cultures.The drives are instrumental and integrative

The Cultural -Lingusistic Dimension

At this level, motivation to learn a foreign or second language has tended to be stated in dichotomous, namely, instrumental and integrative motivation (Gardner 1968

&1979, cited in Green 1993)

1.3.3.3 Cognitive-Linguistic

The individual in formal language-learning situations The drives are security and progress, involvement in the learning programme, cognitive engagement, incentive

to sustain impetus, perception of language unity

The Cognitive-Academic Dimension

The term „cognitive-academic‟ refers to the level of the individual in formal learning situation at which teachers are most preoccupied with students‟ motivation

Brurstall‟s findings (1975)strike an intuitive and positive chord for many teachers: that no matter how poorly motivated a learner may appear to be, the aware and sensitive teacher can actively develop strategies to generate, harness, and sustain a motivational dynamic not entirely directed towards instrumental ends (cited in Green, 1993: 87)

In order to provide a practical framework for the enhancement of motivation in the second-language classroom, Green (1993) proposed an integrated five-point plan which has been stated in the drives

1.3.4 Motivating Students in Learning Second Language

In order to maintain student interest and increase the levels of motivation as well

as help them to obtain short-term goals, the teachers and educators should try their best

to work out the pedagogical practices or techniques Reviewing some of this work, Crookes and Schmidt (1991, in Lightbown and Spada 1999, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong 2007) figure out some areas in which educational research has reported to be of great help

1.3.4.1 Motivating Students into the Lessons

In order to create a motivation atmosphere classroom, teachers usually use forthcoming activities at the opening stages of lessons or with transitions to the new lessons The forthcoming activities can be warm-up activities, brainstorming, interesting games, etc For example, before starting the lesson of “sport”, the teacher can have students to do some kinds of warm-up activities such as making a spider word in which students have to list as many sport-related words as possible Thanks to this activity, the students then find it much easier in learning about sports with the knowledge already existing within their mind This way of motivating also enhances the students‟ self-confidence

1.3.4.2 Varying the Activities, Tasks and Materials

It is clear that not all students are alike Varying the activities, tasks and materials or differentiating instructions which is one of the commonest ways of generating learners‟ motivation can provide students with multiple options for taking in information and making sense of ideas and knowledge It is advisable that teachers and educators do not always maintain the same old routine in the lessons that can cause the boredom and less attentiveness among second language learners Through varied activities, tasks and materials we can step by step increase interest levels of students in the subject matters Teacher should use effective ways of giving instructions, instructions must be motivating and outcome-based so as for the slower students to experience success without having to compete with faster students A number of motivational techniques have a great bearing on instructional design There are many potential benefits of motivation that both teachers and students can gain from the design of instruction The following are several ways of varying the activities, task and materials

First of all, the teacher had better use a wide variety of activities and symbols to attain motivational goals Visible symbols can illustrate and demonstrate what the learner really needs For example, we can use the pictorial text named “a photomotivational text” offered by Dean Curry In this book, photographs are used as the motivating element that will lead to written communication in English This book presents a kind of visual variety show which is meant to be enjoyed even as learning takes place Because students are asked to contribute of themselves in response to visual stimuli, interest level should remain high

Secondly, the use of an interesting text can also help to increase motivation levels of students in the classroom settings The research shows that the text that overemphasizes vocabulary and grammar will fail to catch the interest of the students Meanwhile, the text which can create a great deal of classroom interaction can be helpful in motivating students to develop their language skills It is important for teachers and educators to focus on such discussion topics for interaction We can use some techniques to increase students‟ interest and curiosity by asking them to create their own questions or a problematic situation instead of providing the so-called ready-made statements of fact Students will be curious and eager to do things in their own ways

In addition, teachers can make tasks various or to divide them into chunks to stop the boredom that the previous tasks may cause Tasks or assignments must be

challenging but fair Several tasks that are well constructed can contribute greatly to the learning process They are fun and easily built in such as puzzle solving or games In addition, the topic of tasks also helps to generate the student‟s interest and enjoyment Teacher can diversify the topic of task according to the levels of students To those who are at lower levels, topic is not much of a problem as the vocabularies only surrounding family, school, animals, the body and so on To those who are at higher level, they have

a wider opportunity to choose the topic which must be made sure not boring or theoretical, but interesting and practically relevant For example, this time, teacher can ask students do the tasks at the school with the help of their classmates Next time, teacher can ask students to do the task at home and collecting the data from the reality

over-to fulfill the task Another example over-to differentiate the tasks, teacher may provide students with optional tasks so as for them to choose their own tasks While students are learning about the factors affecting SLL, teacher can suggest and assign students to select one factor in which the student is interested and engaged Having the choices in learning, consequently, increases the students‟ pleasure in learning Also, the teacher should make sure that „tasks should be success-oriented‟ (Ur 1997:27) If students succeed in one such task, they will be so much more willing to tackle another This, therefore, can improve motivation

1.3.4.3 Using Cooperative Rather than Competitive Goals

Cooperative learning can be defined as a strategy for the classroom that is used

to increase motivation and retention, to help students develop a positive image of self and others, to provide a vehicle for critical thinking and problem solving, and to encourage collaborative social skills (Calderon 1987; cited in Christison 1990) According to Ur (1996: 232) the success of group work depends to some extent on the surrounding social climate, how habituated to class is to use it and the selection of an interesting and stimulating task whose performance is well within the ability of the group

Cooperative learning activities are the ways of holding activities in which the learners have to work together to fulfill a task or to work out a problem There are many studies supporting that effective cooperative work has enormously potential in increasing the motivation of the language learners as well as their learning process (Benjarano 1987, Long and Porter 1985; cited in Ur 1996: 232)

- Remove motivational barriers or prevention

- Redirect student behaviors away from failure-avoiding activities in academic settings

- Help students realize that personal effort can contribute to group as well as individual goals

- Help students order cognitive exchanges and concentrate on their task during classroom activities

In comparison to cooperative learning activities, the students of competitive learning activities seem to have more negative self-evaluations after every time they fail Therefore the teacher should foster teamwork or group work through group learning and experiences in solving problems and only use competitive learning activities when necessary

However, group work is not really common As a rule, groups are formed because of factors like classroom layout, classroom management, instead of making the learning process easier It is recommended that the teacher should use cooperative learning activities flexibly and consistently Also, he should make sure that group work

or teamwork are not fixed but dynamic, i.e teacher can appoint group members varying according to the times of cooperative learning activities For example, for the first time, teacher may group A, B, C and D Next time, teacher may mix the members in group A with group B, C, D Obviously, the differences in culture and age is the determinant of the most appropriate way for teachers to motivate students Students may be keen on competitive learning interaction in some classrooms while in others they may be more motivated by cooperative learning activities

Johnson and Johnson (1975; cited in Christison 1990) and Ur (1996) have presented 4 steps that the teachers must follow to teach cooperative skills

Step 1: Having students to see value in-group work: Students may have confusion when teachers using cooperative techniques It is better if teachers have them

to understand at least some of the many reasons for such experience Teacher should have them know why and how they can carry out the tasks To help students to see the value in cooperative skills, teacher can simply explain why they are doing cooperative work The suggested lists of benefits as follows may not be exhaustive: interacting with classmates, more opportunities to talk, hearing more English, getting chance to be a leader, seeing other points of view, learning more new words, and more fun, etc

Step 2: Helping students with being aware of the necessary skills for successful group work Students should know what cooperative skills they need to use to function

in a group situation They are the skills of getting information, responding to questions, give- and- take discussion, etc

Step 3: Helping students to practice the skills they have been aware of Teacher should take responsibility to design and set up practice situation in which students can practice the skills For example, the situations in which students can use the skills of gathering the information by asking questions and giving the answers to questions Step 4: Helping students to process the skills they have practiced Once they have become aware of what the things they have practiced are and how successful they have practiced those skills, they process them Teacher can prepare questions or worksheets for students to help them with evaluating their own performance or the performance of other group members

According to Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong (2007) there are five steps for using pair work and group work in classroom management

1.Give instructions to the whole class

2 Divide the students in pairs or groups

3 When the activity is going on, move from pair or group to pair or group, but do not interrupt more than is necessary

4 When most pairs or groups have finished, stop the activity

5 Ask some pairs/ one member from each group to make presentation on what they have done

1.3.3.4 Motivating Second Language Learners Through Feedback

In 1994, Reece and Walker found a way of motivating students; it is to motivate students through feedback Feedback is the main aspect of formative assessment If feedback is to lead to the improvements in performance of students, then it must have a motivational effect This motivation helps students to know where they have done well and where they have not done so well, so that they can make a greater effort and maintain the efforts for the other subject matter in future Feedback can be recognized

as either mark/grade or comment or a combination of them In fact, mark/grade has an immediate effect Students appear to look at the mark first of all and perhaps it is the only thing they look at Comment, however, takes time to write and may not be taken into consideration It is of great help for future development, though

It is worth noting in passing that immediate feedback brings the most beneficial value since the work is still fresh in the students‟ mind This can happen only when teacher provides objective-type questions that can be marked in a short period of time

after the work has been finished or through direct observation when teacher gives comments either verbally or in written form and when students can questions what is said Reece and Walker (1994: 405) presented a checklist for giving feedback to students

1 Keep the time short between the student writing and feedback Where possible, make

4 Follow-up written comments with oral feedback and aim for a dialogue

5 Make the criteria clear to students when setting the work and give them written criteria where possible

6 Make further suggestions (ex for further reading or for further developing ideas)

7 Give periodic oral feedback on rough drafts

1.3.4.5 Increasing Second Language Learners’ Extrinsic Motivation

Reece and Walker (1994, 88- 89) also described guidelines for the provision of extrinsic motivation that are the result of many teachers‟ experience

Verbal praise is a powerful motivational technique It can be “well done!” or “good answer!” or “that‟s an interesting observation!”

Test results/ marks gives students the chance to see how well they have done, how much they have improved and how to diagnose and remedy the learning difficulties if they have poor results

 Arousal: Human beings are naturally curious and teacher should take advantage of this and enhance students‟ motivation If teacher can arouse students‟ interest and curiosity students will be motivated

 Unexpected: it is advisable that sometimes we should create an unexpected event so that the interests of the students are aroused For instance, teacher can ask students to design the test themselves instead of setting the test himself

 Use material familiar to the students: familiar material and examples samples can ease the learning process for the students

 Unusual contexts: students can learn better when attaining concepts with familiar examples but applying them in an unfamiliar situation