Students may be motivated in numerous ways. They may, for example, be motivated to do well in class or do poorly. As Mouly (1973, p. 358) puts it, "The child is always motivated." Generally, when teachers talk about motivation, they are referring to students' efforts to learn. Thus, in this section the term motivation is used to mean "achievement motivation."
Motivation does not imply fun and games. Motivation does not necessarily imply interest in the task itself. Motivation is not synonymous with either noise or silence. Motivation, such as in those cases in which motivation is so high that extreme and debilitating anxieties are produced, is not always beneficial. Poor motivation is not necessarily the fault of the teacher, since influences on motivation are not limited to the classroom. Teacher enthusiasm, for example,
254 Part Two: Practice
may not be a motivating influence on all students. Motivation is not a cure-all for all instructional problems and difficulties. Motivation is not achieved by a bag full of tricks. Motivation is not generated in isolation. Motivation cannot convert any and all students into superior students. Factors that enhance motivation are not the same for all students. Motivation is not expressed in the same way by all students. Any given teacher does not motivate all students equally well. Neither student nor teacher motivation is equally high all the time.
Motivation does imply some incentive that causes the individual to participate in activity leading toward a goal and to persevere until the goal is reached. Motivation is affected by student self-concept, values, needs, and goals. Motivation is influenced by success or failure in past classroom activities, by the social environment of the class, and by teacher behavior. Motivation may be intrinsic as in the case of anxiety, need to achieve, self-concept, and aspirations, or extrinsic as in the case of sociocultural influences and social reinforcers (Schwartz, 1972). Sustaining classroom motivation requires continuous attention and effort. Motivation is an outgrowth of attending to both cognitive and affective-social variables. In order to achieve and maintain high motivation in class the teacher should be sensitive to individual differences in motivational influences and in the ways in which each student demonstrates his motivation.
Theories of motivation Basically, there are two theories of behavior. In the first, the external, motivation is not a factor (Gage & Berliner, 1975). External theorists emphasize "more direct control of student behavior through the systematic manipulation of relevant incentives along Skinnerian lines of selective reinforcement of progressively more adequate behavior" (Mouly, 1973, p. 355). That is, given the appropriate reinforcement the act will be repeated in response to the activating stimulus. In the classroom, students participate because they receive selected, positive reinforcement. In the second theory, the internal, motivation is an important factor in prompting and controlling behavior. Internal theorists conceive of individual action as being the result of internal drives. Actions are planned and purposive. In the classroom, students participate because they conceive of any given activity as being enjoyable in and of itself or as a means of achieving a goal.
Types of achievement motivation Students may be motivated by a desire to know. For these students, learning is a goal in and of itself. No additional incentives are needed. They seek to understand and to acquire new information simply because it is there. Other students are motivated as a means of enhancing their self-concepts. Thus, they strive for success, however that may be defined. Alternatively, ego-deflating failure is avoided just as vigorously.
Students may be motivated by goals, either short-term or long-term. Shortterm goals range from a gold star, to a party in class on Friday, to a desired grade on a quiz. Long-term goals range from wanting to be able to speak a second language to wanting to graduate from college. Students may also be motivated by social factors. They are trying to please their parents, they are responding to peer group standards important to their social standing in the class, or they are working to attain a certain power status in the group (Ausubel & Robinson, 1969; McClelland & Watson, 1973).
Individual students may be activated to participate by any or all types of achievement motivation. The teacher should be aware of each type with regard to each individual student and use any or all with each student to maximize classroom effort and perseverance.
Conditions of motivation One of the major problems of contemporary education is to motivate students. What are the conditions that enhance motivation? Oliva (1972, p. 269) lists the following:
1. Students learn when they conceive of themselves as capable individuals.
2. Students learn when they are dealing with materials geared to their level.
3. Students learn when they see purpose in their activities and study.
4. Students learn when they see their studies as important.
5. Students often do not like easy or trivial work. They grumble at difficult class work, but they respect demanding education.
6. Students are motivated if they live in a secure environment.
7. Students are motivated if they have the opportunity to express their psychological needs for success, recognition, and approval.
8. Students are motivated if they feel the learning is for them and not for the teacher.
9. Students are motivated when the subject matter is interesting.
10. Students are motivated when they have some opportunity to make decisions, enter into the planning, and feel responsibility for participating.
11. Students are motivated when they experience more success than failure. If they feel incapable, they will give up.
Improving motivation Within the context of the conditions of learning and within the context of the class itself, what can be done to promote achievement motivation? The teacher should recognize that to improve motivation she will be dealing with cognitive, affective, social, and perhaps even psychomotor variables. The following recommendations are being offered as positive suggestions for improving student achievement motivation:
COGNITIVE
1. Clarify for the students what the goals of the course, the unit, and the class are.
Part Two: Practice
2. Assist each student to set and achieve goals related to those of the rest of the class.
3. Give the students feedback as to their progress (Klausmeier & Ripple, 1971, pp. 328-29).
4. Summarizing important content of each class at the end of the period will help the students to focus on what they should be learning.
5. Resumes and review sessions help students organize the material in their minds (Oliva, 1972, p. 272).
6. Use examples familiar to the students. That is, learning of new material should begin with what the students already know.
7. If used appropriately, tests and grades do motivate students to do better work academically.
8. Classwork should require the use of previously learned material (Gage & Berliner, 1975, pp. 338, 347, 348).
AFFECTIVE
1. Avoid practices that produce temporary stress or continued anxiety.
2. Take advantage of each student's need to achieve in some area.
3. Give the students the opportunity to talk about their concerns.
4. Develop a system of rewards for good work or good conduct. Be prepared to punish poor work or misconduct as necessary (Klausmeier & Ripple,
1971, pp. 328-29).
5. Try to make the content of the course as close to existing student interests as possible.
6. Use audio-visual aids whenever possible within reason and within the teacher's available time and expertise to prepare.
7. Plan for a variety of activities during the class period.
8. Give assignments that appeal to the students, that they can accomplish, and that will improve their class performance the following day (Oliva,
1972, p. 271).
9. Use praise both during the class period and when grading papers.
10. If used inappropriately, tests and grades may create attitude problems with regard to the course.
11. Take advantage of any and all opportunities to arouse suspense and curiosity.
12. Do the unexpected sometimes.
13. When applying concepts, use contexts that are interesting to the students.
14. Simulations and learning games may be used in appropriate situations to enhance learning and heighten motivation (Gage & Berliner, 1975, pp. 335-48).
15. Success breeds success (Mouly, 1973, p. 359).
SOCIAL
1. Discuss desired "prosocial" behavior with the class (Klausmeier & Ripple, 1972, p. 329). 1
2. Try to establish an environment in which desired social behavior is the accepted norm. Desired behaviors are rewarded and undesirable behavior ignored or punished. If the teacher can gain the cooperation and good will of the class social leaders, their social power and prestige will do a great deal to assist in this goal.
3. Examine the social climate of the class, the school, and the community. The teacher must operate within the limits imposed by these climates.
4. The teacher should comprehend the power relationships operating in the classroom. He has various powers inherent in his position as the teacher: reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, referent power, and expert power. These powers give the teacher the advantage over the students. At the same time, he should realize that the students have a degree of social power also that can be employed individually and collectively to influence teacher behavior (Cage & Berliner, 1975, pp. 349-54). Obviously, the teacher should be responsive to student attitudes without being subject to manipulation by them.
5. Competition can be a motivating force in class. Classes can compete with other classes or with themselves, and students can compete with other students or themselves. Competition with self offers the greatest potential. Competition with others should not be allowed to reach the point at which it has a debilitating effect on some students.
The preceding recommendations are all concerned with what the teacher should attempt to do. There are also things that should not happen to participating students if high levels of motivation are to be maintained. Cage and Berliner (1975, pp. 350-51) offer the following list of warnings:
1. Students should not be made to suffer a loss of self-esteem as a result of trying to understand a concept or complete an exercise.
2. They should not be subject to physical discomfort such as prolonged periods of sitting, being unable to hear what is going on in the front of the room, being unable to see a visual located at the chalkboard, etc.
3. They should not be told that the content is uninteresting, that the book is no good, or that they will not be able to understand new material being introduced.
4. They should not be continually asked to put effort into work at which they are not achieving any success.
5. They should not be asked to take tests over material that has not been taught.
6. They should not have to take tests containing trivial or incomprehensible questions.
7. They should not be asked to learn material that is beyond their present capability level.
8. They should not be asked to continue without complete and clear indications of how well they are doing in the class.
9. They should not be asked to keep up with students who are superior learners.
10. They should not be grouped in a section of inferior students.
11. They should not be asked to compete in a class in which only a few students have the possibility of getting an A or a B, i.e., in a class graded on a curve.
12. They should not have to sit through repetitive, boring, unchallenging teacher presentations. For example, having the teacher read material out of the text is not likely to arouse student enthusiasm.
13. They should not be expected to be interested in and learn material in which the teacher herself is uninterested.
14. They should not be expected to behave differently from the teacher or the class social leaders.
Improving motivation in second-language classes Second-language educators have also focused their attention on ways and means of improving motivation. In many instances their suggestions parallel those previously outlined in this chapter. However, they do have additional points to offer. The following recommendations have been put forth as being beneficial in improving motivation in second-language classes:
COGNITIVE
1. Students remember the material better if it is based on a real-life situation.
2. Language instruction is better if language is considered to be a creative process (Grittner, 1974b).
AFFECTIVE
1. Enjoyable classroom learning activities increase motivation (Grittner, 1974b).
2. A positive attitude toward the speakers of the second language, toward learning a second language, toward the second-language class, and toward the second-language teacher improves motivation. Integrative motivation, i.e., motivation to get to know members of the second-language community and perhaps to become a member of that community, is said to be a
stronger motivator than instrumental motivation, i.e., the desire to complete second-language study as a means toward an unrelated goal (Gardner & Smythe, 1975).
3. Students tend to participate more in those activities that are under their own control, at least to some extent. The following are some tactics that can be used in the classroom.
a. Let the students ask the questions.
b. Ask brighter students to lead the class in some activities.
c. Have students prepare their own questions over a reading assignment and ask them in class.
d. Let students generate and give stimuli for drills (Jarvis, 1973, p. 12).
e. Discuss your goals and methods with the students. Try to get a continuing reading on their attitudes and reactions.
4. Students prefer activities that permit them some degree of individuality in completing the task.
a. Ask question that lend themselves to a variety of answers. Asking student preferences is one possibility.
b. Teach pattern variations, and encourage individual choice of response.
c. Ask students to bring conversational stimuli to class and to talk about them.
d. Recognize individuality in class (Jarvis, 1973, p. 12).
5. Activities should be relevant to the real language world. As Disick (1972) points out, first-language speakers do not go around reciting passages and asking the listener to pick the correct answer from A, B, or C choices.
SOCIAL
1. The use of small groups in class increases participation and improves student attitude (Disick, 1972).
In achievement motivation, as in cognitive learning, the desired model is an internally directed individual. However, this is a goal, not an educational prerequisite. After all, if all the students already possessed all those qualities and knowledge hopefully promoted by the educational program, the educational system would be forced either to adopt new curricula or to admit that their services were unnecessary. For those individuals who have not reached the stage of the self-starting, internally directed student, external procedures must be utilized. In fact, the teacher should be prepared to teach in the absence of motivation while applying external motivators to arouse interest. However, steps to promote internal tendencies should be undertaken for student personal and social growth. One interesting recommendation is that the teacher discuss the various causes and consequences of motivation with students. One theory is that getting the student to think about motivation and to understand it will improve his motivation (Gage & Berliner, 1975).
One goal for each student should be participation and perseverance to goal completion. Any and all means available to the teacher for fostering this goal should be explored and implemented. Needless to say, he will not always succeed with every individual, but the effort should be made. By arousing and sustaining motivation, the teacher can increase enrollments and decrease the attrition rate in second-language study.