The best way of engaging foreign language learners and motivating them to become autonomies



Motivation is the key to all effective learning. You may have intended a wonderful training programme but if the learners are not motivated to learn, your efforts are hopeless to failure. There should be a motivational list including several motivation strategies. Let us have a look at two of them: a) increasing the learners' self-confidence; and b) creating learner autonomy.

Increasing the learners' self-confidence. In an inherently face-threatening context, as the language classroom is likely to be, it is important to find out how to maintain and increase the learners' self-confidence. There are five approaches that purport to help to this end. [1, p 130]

1. Teachers can foster the belief that competence is a changeable aspect of development.
2. Favourable self-conceptions of L2 competence can be promoted by providing regular experiences of success.
3. Everyone is more interested in a task if they feel that they make a contribution.
4. A small personal word of encouragement is sufficient.
5. Teachers can reduce classroom anxiety by making the learning context less stressful.

We know that engaging learners in as many ways as possible will service them give to and take from any learning experience, as much as possible. As you prepare to teach, plan for ways to involve learners psychologically, mentally, emotionally and physically. Direct them to readings, web-based resources, mental or written exercises or hands-on activities that can heighten their interest in and knowledge about the content. Direct them to readings, web-based resources, mental or written exercises or hands-on activities that can increase their interest in and knowledge about the content. Your objective: to have learners arrive at your program with mental wheels already turning. Teaching variety is not only the spice of life, it’s an essential ingredient for learning! Different types of making presentations helps language learners to grasp information easily. Try to balance your presentation with an engaging mix that stimulates all of your learners’ senses -- the visual, auditory, reading-writing and kinesthetic dimensions of learning. Passive listening and viewing do not generate learning. Keep lectures to a minimum. Discussing about given materials and stimulating critical thinking is very essential.

Language teaching should take account of a variety of factors that are likely to promote, or even influence against, success. Language is part of one's identity and is used to convey this identity to others. As a result, foreign language learning has a significant impact on the social being of the learner, since it involves the adoption of new social and cultural behaviours and ways of thinking. Sometimes, we can easily identify some members of the group, as they are dependent on the leader and they have to find out what behaviour is acceptable. As a teacher we cannot motivate them to say something because of dependence. Also, there is conflict between sub-groups and rebellion against the leader. Members of the group don’t want to become active in participating the team work. Here, teachers have to find motivational approaches, ways in order to challenge them. Members of the group begin to support each other. At this stage, there is co-operation and open exchange of views and feelings about their roles and each other.

Learning should be fun and that any motivation problems that may appear should be certified to the teacher's attempt to convert an enjoyable activity to drudgery; and school activities are inherently boring and unrewarding, so that we must rely on extrinsic rewards with a view to forcing students to engage in these unpleasant tasks.

Speaking about motivation and engagement, we can imagine appropriate teacher behaviour and good teacher-student rapport, pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere and etc. On the other hand, learner motivation will reach its peak in a safe classroom climate in which students can express their opinions and feel that they do not run the risk of being ridiculed.

To be motivated to learn, students need both ample opportunities to learn and steady encouragement and support of their learning efforts. Because such motivation is unlikely to develop in a chaotic classroom, it is important that the teacher organize and manage the classroom as an effective learning environment. Furthermore, because anxious or alienated students are unlikely to develop motivation to learn, it is important that learning occur within a relaxed and supportive atmosphere (3, p215.).

Maintaining and protecting motivation. Unless motivation is sustained and protected when action has commenced, the natural tendency to get tired or bored of the task and succumb to any attractive distractions will result in demotivation. Therefore, there should be a motivational repertoire including several motivation maintenance strategies. Let us have a look at two of them: a) increasing the learners' self-confidence; and b) creating learner autonomy. [1. p130.]

Increasing the learners' self-confidence

In an inherently face-threatening context, as the language classroom is likely to be, it is important to find out how to maintain and increase the learners' self-confidence. There are five approaches that purport to help to this end:

1. Teachers can foster the belief that competence is a changeable aspect of development.
2. Favourable self-conceptions of L2 competence can be promoted by providing regular experiences of success.
3. Everyone is more interested in a task if they feel that they make a contribution.
4. A small personal word of encouragement is sufficient.
5. Teachers can reduce classroom anxiety by making the learning context less stressful.

One of the main learning experience tasks for teachers is to provoke interest and involvement in the subject even when students are not initially interested in it. t is by their choice of topic, activity and linguistic content that they may be able to turn a class around. It is by their attitude to class participation, their conscientiousness, their humour and their seriousness that they may influence their students. It is by their behavior and enthusiasm that they may inspire. Teachers are not, however, ultimately responsible for their students’ motivation. They can only encourage by word and deed. Real motivation comes from within each individual. [2, p8.]

Teachers develop a range of the basic skills of designing lessons, managing classroom, assessing performance, etc. a learning strategy is like a performer. It is a series of skills used with a particular learning purpose in mind. Thus, learning strategies involve an ability to monitor the learning situation and respond accordingly. This means being able to assess the situation, to plan, to select appropriate skills, to sequence them, to co-ordinate them, to monitor or assess their effectiveness and to revise the plan when necessary. In addition to an outgoing personality, other characteristics often believed to predict success in language learning are intelligence, aptitude, motivation, and the age at which learning begins.

Educators hope to find ways of helping learners with different characteristics achieve success in foreign language learning by motivating and challenging. Teachers have to make professional decisions for themselves and language learners have to use English independently outside the classroom. The given recommendations, instructions value and encourage participants’ autonomy, based on the belief that without being autonomous themselves teachers cannot encourage their students to take on personal responsibility for their own learning.

Motivational strategies aimed at increasing learner satisfaction usually focus on allowing students to display their work, encouraging them to be proud of themselves and celebrate success, as well as using rewards. It is important that you should help your students understand the necessity of learning English. Those of your students who will be going on to university or institute will find that especially in the sciences, many of the textbooks and articles they will be asked to read will be in English. If possible, you could try to invite outside speakers, such as a librarian or science teacher from a local University. Their testimony should go a long way toward convincing your students that learning English could be very beneficial. It is also one of the ways how to engage and motivate our language learners.

You can expand your own professional ability to assess your students' needs, identify problems and develop solutions. You become more familiar with your teaching job you will find that you learn to trust your instincts and your ability to judge when to switch techniques. At first we need to learn about methods and approaches, motivation, engagement, and you should look for opportunities to talk to experienced teachers about what they think of different types of working with language learners.

We discovered the pleasure of observing, measuring, and analyzing students’ knowledge at our Institute. We are satisfied with the most of our students’ success and achievements. Class work can be modified in a variety of ways: shortened assignments, extra response time, or enrichment activities. We found that teachers whose students consistently gained in achievement provided more responses by working with students to arrive at their answers, had fewer but appropriate behavioral contacts, and monitored students’ work, motivated their psychological features more watchfully.

We try all the best to motivate students by showing them that they can be successful in the classroom. Teachers can differentiate instruction to meet the students' needs by regulating the corresponding class work to the appropriate levels. By practicing some of these guidelines and by sharing this information with others on our Institute, higher education may be able to take a giant step forward as it strives to address the specific needs of the language learners.

References:

1. Dornyei, Z. Teaching and Researching Motivation. England: Pearson Education Limited, 2001.
2. Jeremy Harmer, How to teach English, Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1998.
3. Good, T. L. and Brophy, J. E. 1994. Looking in classrooms. 6th edition. New York: Harper Collins.