Introduction
Over the past couple of decades, there has been a focus on the connection between instructional practices and student motivation. Many works have contributed towards understanding what motivates students to perform better in their studies. If the factors that motivate students were known, it would be easy to design instructional methods that motivate students. However, most studies indicate that student motivation is positively correlated to student performance. So, to ensure students perform well in their studies, it is essential to keep them motivated.
Research questions
The basic questions that need to be answered in this regard are: Can the teacher motivate a student through his instructional practices? Are such practices common across all subjects? Are such motivational strategies universally applicable to all students? These are some questions that need to be further researched.
Concepts
Many factors affect the motivation of students including psychological or cognitive factors. Consequently, many motivational learning theories explore the motivational aspects of student performance. According to the self-efficacy theory of learning, motivation depends on a person’s self-belief regarding his ability to learn. Only those people who believe that ability is expandable can be motivated to take up challenges. Attribution theory states that motivation depends on the reasons to which people attribute their success or failure when completing various tasks. Hence, some students may be less motivated to learn when they believe they are powerless over their success. The self-worth theory holds motivation depends on the learner’s ability to accept success or failure. It is generally held that instructors should identify student goals, assess motivation, challenge and encourage, and be aware of differences in the entry-level of students (level of preparation in and previous experience with the subject matter, level of cognitive development, repertoire of learning styles, level of interest and motivation).
Literature Review
Writing is a difficult skill to teach as it is generally considered a complex form of communication. Researchers Shui-Fong Lam and Yin-Kum Law have investigated what and how instructional practices are related to students’ motivation to write. In a study that included six teacher interns and their secondary school students in Hong Kong, the researchers found that when teachers used motivating teaching strategies, the students were more motivated and performed better in writing. In the paper titled “Teaching writing for keeps”, researcher Sheila R. Alber-Morgan lists six instructional strategies for teachers to promote writing skills stage by stage of the writing process. The stages in the writing process are prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. The strategies to be used are: using natural contingencies of reinforcement; teaching enough examples; programming common stimuli; teaching loosely; programming indiscriminate contingencies and teaching self-management. Elaborating further on the last option of self-management, Lisa Helsel and Daphne Greenberg in their article titled, “Helping struggling writers succeed: A self-regulated strategy instruction program” (2007) describe a Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model of instruction. In this model, the students are first encouraged to use observational powers for writing and gradually they are taught to self-regulate. Helsel and Greenberg combine explicit teaching of writing strategies with instruction in self-regulatory skills. The article includes a report on how SRSD positively impacted a sixth-grade struggling writer. The model is particularly recommended for upper elementary and middle school teachers who work with struggling student writers. Kathryn Glasswell and George Kamberelis in their review of the book “Handbook of writing Research” point out the views of Suzanne Hide and Pietro Boscolo, who hold that writers’ affective dispositions and the amount and depth of their content knowledge contributes to motivation. They also conclude that the writers’ level of motivation affects the texts they produce. Bruce Saddler and Jennifer Preschern suggest improving sentence writing ability through sentence-combining practice. This is an effective instructional strategy that can motivate students to write better sentences. Duke et al suggest the use of authentic literacy to improve reading and writing, in their paper titled “Authentic literacy activities for developing comprehension and writing”. Authentic writing is often defined as writing on topics of one’s choice. Authentic literary activities have two dimensions – text type and purpose. These literary activities motivate students to write better. Heller et al have found that collaborative efforts through professional development schools (PDSs) s can positively affect the quality of teaching and learning of students in Grades K-16.
Summary of major themes
Thus we find that as far as writing is concerned, students can be motivated to write by the implementation of motivational strategies. Sheila R. Alber-Morgan lists six instructional strategies to motivate students the last of which is self-management. Lisa Helsel and Daphne Greenberg have put forth an instructional model called Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) which is aimed at helping students write using self-regulation. Moreover, Bruce Saddler and Jennifer Preschern have put forth a new technique to improve the writing capacity of students: sentence combining exercises are seen to improve sentence building capacity. Duke et al suggest the use of authentic literacy to improve reading and writing whereas Heller et al show that collaborative efforts can be very productive in motivating students to write.
How the present study will extend literature
The present study extends the literature by exploring the motivational strategies that can be used in the context of teaching writing skills.
Bibliography
Alber-Morgan, R. Sheila (2007). Teaching Writing for Keeps. Education and Treatment of Children. Volume 30, 2007.
Duke, K. Nell; Purcell-Gates, Victoria; Hall, A. Leigh (2006). Authentic literacy activities for developing comprehension and writing. International Reading Association. Pages 344-355.
Glasswell, Kathryn and Kamberelis (2007). Drawing and redrawing the map of writing studies. Reading Research Quarterly. Vol. 42, No, 2. 2007.
Heller, F. Mary; Wood, J. Naomi; Shawgo, Mary (2007). Journal of Educational Research. Heldref Publications.
Helsel, Lisa and Greenberg, Daphne (2007). Helping struggling writers succeed: A self-regulated strategy instruction program. International Reading association. 752-760.
Lam, Shui-Fong and Law, Yin-Kum (2007). The Roles of Instructional Practices and Motivation in Writing Performance. The Journal of Experimental Education. Vol. 75, Issue 2. Pages: 145-64. 2007.
Saddler, Bruce and Preschern, Jennifer. Improving Sentence Writing Ability Through Sentence-Comhining Practice. Teaching Exceptional Children. Volume 39, No. 3, pp – 6-11.