Teach English in SAnhe Jiedao - Chongqing

Motivation in classroomThe motivation aspect can be defined as the constant companion in daily life and engine power for obtaining our goals. If we weren?t motivated at all, most of our efforts would result vacant and insignificant. Scott T. Rabideau from the Rochester Institute of technology refers to motivation as the dynamics of our behaviour, which involves our needs, desires, and ambitions in life. Indeed, this definition is fully applicable to the teaching objective in classroom as exactly these characteristics set the base of success and satisfaction, for both students and teachers. In closer examination these two groups complement each other synergistically. As to the teachers, they automatically assume a role-model function that inevitably assigns them a major responsibility. In general, teaching qualities are often equated with motivation abilities: a ?good? teacher is supposed to create and keep up a certain level of motivation in the class. Principally, there are essential teaching methods to further students? motivation process: ? set challenging but achievable goals ? encourage students to realize what they have learned ? show them how their skills can be applied to real life situations ? give individual feedback ? involve all equally ? promote collaboration rather than competition among students ? reward and praise students (with care) ? assure confidence in a safe classroom atmosphere ? keep up humour but also practice positive discipline techniques ? vary material, activities and equipment ? create groups, promote team work ? use fun games and creative activities ? work a lot on students? self-esteem The self-motivation of teachers plays a very important part when talking about transmitting motivation to students. For instance, a study research presented in ?Teacher motivation: a factor for classroom effectiveness and school improvement in Nigeria? revealed that teachers almost collectively agreed that their motivation is a crucial factor for classroom and school effectiveness. Indeed, if a teacher experiences the classroom as a pleasant and safe ambient with supportive resources for teaching, he/she tends to participate in lesson with greater enthusiasm. student motivation is expressed by a strong desire to learn the language and a constant work on willingness to overcome any emerging obstacle. In this regard, there are interesting efforts how to intensify student motivation. The Boston Learning Center for example offers surveys on www.student-motivation-for-better-grades.com in order to identify the ?motivation quotient?: aspects like behaviour in class and school, dedicated time to homework, personal habits, organization, and students? sense of duty are evaluated in order to develop a strategy for individual motivation augment. Even fear of failures could turn into a benefit as students might be motivated by the avoidance of negative feedback which could actually help them in the long run. Moreover, students? age and level have a significant influence on motivation expressions. Regarding the different English levels, a higher level is likely to produce a higher motivation due to a stronger grammar and vocabulary base, a greater self-confidence in the language as well as defined future prospects with English involvement. This fact is confirmed by numerous surveys, (e.g. RELC SAGE journal online, University Pertanian Malaysia) revealing that the motivational intensity of advanced students is higher than that of lower level students. The other main feature is the age aspect. Very young student and adult motivation, for instance, have totally different starting points: adults are generally motivated to learn due to internal or inherent factors; older student are able to recognize a certain need of being taught for their self-improvement, whereas children have a natural curiosity and interest in discovering by learning, but at the same time lack on concentration due to a high energy level. In order to manage this fact, using a combination of clear but simple instructions and any type of creative and fun activities like games, drawing etc. can make use of children?s natural behaviour in a productive way. As to adults, studies (Beder / Darkenwald 1982; Gorham 1984, 1985) revealed that basing on teacher?s experience adults were considered to be significantly more intellectually interested, motivated to learn and willing to take responsibility for their learning. However, there might be cases that can have a rather negative influence on the motivation aspect, for example when adults are forced by outside influences to attend a course (e.g. by their company). Nevertheless, in order to increase adults? motivation, teachers should always be respectful and teach in practical ways, with frequent feedback and progress tracking. After all, to reach a proper student motivation in classroom for good quality lessons, both teachers and students need to consider learning and teaching as positive elements and see the mutual cooperation as a goal. Nevertheless, the teacher should go ahead as a good role model. A smile in the classroom will have positive effects on student motivation as well as a distinctive student?s sense of duty will satisfy the teacher. Sources: http://rel.sagepub.com/content/16/1/68.abstract http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wissen/motivation-von-kindern-loben-lernen-1.3831 http ://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/articles/index.pl?page=3;read=3300 http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9211/teaching.htm http://www.netc.org/focus/challenges/student.php http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.omo/young_child_motivation http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/articles/index.pl?page=3;read=3300 http://www.nasponline.org http://www.bostonlearningcenter.org http://www.virtualsalt.com/motivate.htm http://rel.sagepub.com/content/16/1/68.abstract http://www.assessmentgenerator.com/H/cRboslearn1171904074.html http://www.student-motivation-for-better-grades.com/index.htm http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/rabideau.html http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/motiv8rules.htm