MOTIVATION IN A SLA

• Marta Toledo
• Ema Loo
 What is Motivation?
 It is the reason or reasons for
engaging in a particular behaviour
especially human behaviour as
studied in psychology and
neuropshychology.

Reasons may include

basic needs such as food
or a desired object,
hobbies, goal,etc.
 Motivational Concepts
Reward: It is presented after the
occurrence of an action with the intent
to cause the behaviour occur again.

Reward can also be organized as:

Extrinsic rewards are external to the
person; for example, praise or money.

Intrisic rewards are internal to the

person; for example, satisfaction or a
feeling of accomplishment.
 Motivational Concepts
 Reinforcement: It is intended to
create a measured increase in the
rate of a desirable behavior
following the addition of something
to the environment.
 Motivational Concepts
 Intrinsic motivation: It is when people
engage in an activity, such as a hobby,
without obvious external incentives. It
comes from inside the performer.
Example: Amateur sportsmen compete
for the love of the sport.

Extrinsic motivation: It
is motivated by external
factors. It drives to do
things for tangible
rewards or pressures.
 Self- Control
 Self-control of motivation is
understood as a subset of
emotional intelligence.

Drives and desires are

described as a deficiency or
need that activates behavior
that is aimed at a goal or a
incentive.

Drives and desires do not need

external stimuli, they are
originated within the individual.
 Motivation in a
Second Language Acquisition

 Motivation in a second language

acquisition is a complex phenomenon
which can be defined in terms of two
factors: learner’s communicative needs
and their attitudes towards the second
language community.
 Motivation in a
Second Language Acquisition
 Robert Gardner and Wallace Lambert
(1972) coined the following terms:

INTEGRATIVE MOTIVATION:
It reflects a positive disposition toward the
L2 group and the desire to interact with
and even to become similar to valued
members of that community.
INSTRUMENTAL MOTIVATION:

It is primarily associated with the

potential pragmatic gains of L2
proficiency, such as getting a better
job or a higher salary.
 Motivation in a
Second Language Acquisition
 Motivation, to learn the second language is viewed as a requiring
three elements:

 First, the motivated individual expends effort to learn the language.

Second, the motivated individual wants to

achieve the goal.
Third, the motivated individual will enjoy the
task of learning the language.

All three elements, effort, desire, and positive

affect, are seen as necessary to distinguish
between individual who are more and those who
are less motivated.
 Motivation in a
Second Language Acquisition
CONSIDERING THE TEACHER:

 The teachers must have knowledge and skill in

the language; it means they must be proficient.

The teachers must have the training,

personality characteristics, the ability to
teach the fundamentals of the language, to
encourage students to learn the material
and use it correctly.
 Motivation in a Second
Language Acquisition
CONSIDERING THE STUDENT:
 The majority of students who are studying a foreign or second language in a
school are doing it because it is part of the curriculum.

When the students first enter the

language, they are motivated by dreams
of speaking the second language in a
short period of time.

They have a number of duties and

responsibilities:

- acquiring language content

- language skills
 Motivation in the
Classroom Setting
 Graham Cookes and Richard Schmidt (1991) point several areas
where educational research has reported increased levels of
students in relation to pedagogical practices:

Motivating students into the lesson. At the

opening stages of lessons (and within transitions), it
has been observed that remarks teachers make
about forthcoming activities can lead to higher levels
of interest on the part of students.
 Motivation in the
Classroom Setting
2. Varying the activities, tasks, and materials: Students
are reassured by the existence of classroom routines
which they can depend on. Varying the activities,
tasks, and materials can help to avoid the boredom
and increase the students interest level.

Using co-operative, rather than

competitive goals: Co-operative learning
activities are those in which students must
work together in order to complete a task or
solve a problem. Every student in a co-
operative task has an important role to play.
MOTIVATION IN A SLA

• Marta Toledo
• Ema Loo