Julio Menochelli talks about the motivational impact of teachers on language language learners

1. The motivational
impact of teachers on
language learners
What do studies in the language
teaching field have to say to us?

2.  What was your favourite subject at school in your
old school days? Can you explain all the reasons
why?
 Describe a teacher you really liked . What qualities
did you admire in him/her? Did this have any impact
on your enjoying/learning the subject?
 Describe a teacher you did not like from your
school days. Why didn’t you like him or her? Did this
have an impact on your enjoying or learning the
subject?
 Describe the first teacher that comes to your mind
from your old school days. Explain why you
remembered this specific teacher.

3. Can we really positively or
negatively influence our
learners’ motivation to learn
English?
What do you think?

4. Most important
contributors to learning a
second/foreign language
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES (IDs)

6. The strongest ID predictors of L2
achievement?

7. Motivation can override the
aptitude effect

8. “ It is motivation
that is
responsible for
achievement in
the second
language”
(Gardner 2001:6)

10. “Motivation is more
highly related to
second language
achievement than
any other factors”
(Masgoret and
Gardner 2003:205)

11. What is motivation? Williams and
Burden’s definition (1997)

13. The motivated L2 learner (Gardner
2001:6)

14. What happens in the absence of
motivation?
Even individuals with the most remarkable
abilites cannot accomplish long-term
goals.

17. “…concerns specific external forces that
reduce or diminish the motivational basis
of a behavioral intention or an ongoing
action”.

18. • Examples of studies on L2
learning demotivation around
the world

19. Chamber’s investigation (UK 1993)
 191 secondary school students from 4 schools
in the UK learning German.
 Focus: learners who “dismantled” L2 lessons.
 50% of the pupils loathed language learning.
 Some demotivating reasons clearly stemmed
from the the learners’ negative appraisal of
their teacher.

20. Learners’ negative apparaisal of
their language lessons
“The teacher goes on and on without realising they’ve
already lost everybody.”
“Instructions are not clear enough.”
“Activities are uninteresting.”
“The teacher does not explain things sufficiently.”
“The teacher criticizes students in front of everyone
else.”

21. Oxford’s investigation (U.S.A, 1998)
• 250 American high school and university
students studying a foreign language.
• Foreign language learning experiences
over a period of 5 years.
• Demotivation: 4 main causes emerged.

22. Causes of demotivation (Oxford
1998)
The teachers’ personal relationship with the
students (lack of caring, hypercriticism, favouritism)
The teachers’ attitude towards the course or the
material (lack of enthusiasm, sloppy management)
Style conflict between teachers and students
(teaching and learning style conflicts)
The nature of classroom activities (irrelevance,
repetitiveness, overload, uninteresting)

23. Dornyei’s investigation (Hungary,
1998)
• Focused on language learners identified as low-
achievers/demotivated by their teachers.
• Interviewed 50 secondary school pupils in Hungary
studying either French or German as a foreign
language.
• Most comments as to why they did not like learning
the L2 directly concerned the teacher:

24. “The teacher always had her favourites and she
always concentrated on them. I was never one of
them”
“I realised no matter how hard I studied – the teacher
was picking on me or something – I wouldn’t get
anything better than a C or D.”
“If it is raining or cold or windy the classes are never
interesting.”

25. Nikolov’s investigation (Hungary,
2002)
• Interviewed 94 low-achieving young adult
Hungarian language learners.
• A great number of reasons for demotivation related
to the teachers: unenthusiastic, bored and boring,
constantly picked on errors.
• ....“negative classroom experiences must have
strongly influenced interviewees’ motivation…”
• ...“a lot seems to depend on us, the language
teachers”.

26. Inbar et al’s investigation (Israel,
2002)
• Research in Israel with adult learners of arabic.
• Which variables best predict the learners’ motivation
to continue studying arabic?
• Most cited category: the quality of language
instruction, or the quality of the languge learning
experience.
• The teachers’ instructional qualities had a major
motivational impact on their students’ willingness to
persist in learning the L2.

27. Trang’s investigation (Vietnam,
2007)
• Demotivation in English Language Learning.
• Interviewed 100 Vietnamese university students studying
English as L2.
• Teacher-related factors = most frequently cited source of
students demotivation.
• Categories cited: teaching method, teacher behaviour,
teacher competence.
• Corroborates previous studies: the largest source of
demotives relate to the teacher.
• “Teachers were found to have a strong impact on students’
demotivation.”

28. Muhonen’ s investigation
(Finland, 2009)
• Surveyed 91 ninth graders studying English in Finland on the
topic of demotivation.
• The teacher was the primary source of demotivation, being
the most cited demotivating factor. The negative aspects of
the teacher were more thoroughly described than any other
theme.
• The negative aspects of the teacher were divided into three
subthemes: teaching methods, lack of competence and
personality.
• “Undoubtedly, the teacher is a powerful source of
demotivation”.

29. Question: what can we do to try avoid
demotivation in our learners?
Answer ?

30. By taking measures to positively influence
their motivation
By acknowledging that we can
positively influence their motivation

31. Dornyei & Czisér 1998:
motivational strategies study
• Which motivational strategies do language teachers
most widely use with their L2 students?
• Surveyed 200 Hungarian teachers of a foreign
language.
• “Ten Commandments for Motivating L2 Learners” (or
for not demotivating them!)

32. Ten Commandments for Motivating Language Learners
(in descending citation frequency order)
1. Set a personal example with your own behaviour.
2. Create a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere in the classroom.
3. Present the tasks properly (success-oriented).
4. Develop a good relationship with the learners.
5. Increase the learners’ linguistic self-confidence.
6. Make the language classes interesting.
7. Promote learner autonomy.
8. Personalize the learning process.
9. Increase the learners’ goal-orientedness.
10. Familiarize learners with the target language culture.

33. I believe....
Whatever level of motivation our learners
bring to the classroom will be
transformed, for better or worse, by
what happens in that classroom.

34. THANK YOU!
...hope you’ve enjoyed it!

35. Julio Menochelli
Sales & Marketing Manager
j.menochelli@helblinglanguages.com
Mobile: 11 98819 6226