Teach English in YanzhuAng Zhen - Tianjin

Motivation in the ClassroomsWhat motivated you to read this paper today? According to Webster?s dictionary, it defines Motivation as ?a force or influence that causes someone to do something.? It is also defined as a desire to achieve a goal, combined with determination to work towards that goal. Motivation is at the heart of successful language learning. What are some of the causes for lack of motivation? We will just look at a few: Expectancy ? this can be defined as a low value in one?s will to succeed which will result in a lack of motivation. If a student doesn?t believe she/he will be successful in learning than the chances for her/him to succeed had been greatly reduced in the classroom. As this student will show no interest because in her mind, she will not succeed and what is the use of studying if I am just going to fail. Lack of Challenge in the classroom ? young learners and adults need to be challenged in their abilities but not have the material presented in manner that is too hard and beyond their abilities. Fear of Failure ? Students want to do well comes from avoiding a negative outcome. Some students are afraid of making a mistake in front of class. They do not want to be made fun at and therefore chooses, not to speak or participate. Instead of seeing it as a positive thing, they view it as a negative. Fear of losing social support can be devastating to a student. One of the most significant challenges educators face is how to motivate students. As a part of my personal experience as a Teacher Assistant, I have found that motivation may have a significant impact on students? learning. Some factors that we have to consider when motivating students is their cultural background, interests, family etc. Educators need to help students to find ways to help them to motivate themselves to learn. As adults, we are motivated to improve our well being through weight loss and reward programs, sales in stores. Students are the same as adults, we all need motivation to push or encourage us to move forward in life. Educators may provide valuable rewards and privileges to help motivate them. Rewards are one of the strongest incentives for human behaviour. Through by experience in the classroom, I observed several effective motivating techniques: 1. The lesson needs to be challenging and engaging but geared to individual needs and abilities; ie: debates, discussions, using jokes and humour, using engaging questions. The teacher may use visuals, drawings, pictures, charts etc. 2. Any assignments should be developed to meet individual learning styles for example: computer abilities, coloring, graphic design, worksheets, games. 3. Students should be made aware, at the beginning of the lesson, of the expected outcome and how it is to be evaluated; ie: group marks, oral presentation, individual write up etc.. Research shows that many students do poorly on assignments or in participation because they do not understand what to do or why they should do it. Teachers should give clear expectations. 4. Teacher?s enthusiasm will be transmitted to the students, who will be more likely to become interested in the lesson. It is so important to establish a relationship of mutual trust and respect with young learners and adults. We can do that by talking to them on a personal level. This trust could lead to enthusiasm. 5. We can encourage student set attainable goals for themselves as to what they want to achieve or accomplish in this class. The feeling of satisfaction, confidence and success has an important effect on motivation at this level. It is then up to the teacher to develop and implement challenging lessons to empower student?s success. 6. Getting to know the students interests, likes and dislikes can benefit the teaching when planning their lesson plans. It also important the teacher get feedback from the students as to what ideas, lessons, projects was useful to their learning. Recognizing little successes, improvements, and progress of all students will motivate them to even go to greater lengths to achieve. Educators can empower students to be lifelong learners through motivation.