In the classroom, there are many factors that influence the motivation of both the teachers and the students. These factors can either be external or internal. Internal factors are mainly the characteristics for each person such as the capability, interests and the responsibilities. External factors include practises in the school that may either prevent or influence motivation.
Examples of external factors are characteristics of the classrooms, instructional methods used and the peer groups. In the EFL and ESL classes, motivation has been a major problem. It is one of the essential factors for both the students and the teacher since most of the students have a very low motivation in learning English while others think that English may not be very useful in their future.
EFL and ESL students are well motivated by pairing them so that they can work in groups. This is more successful to both the teacher and the students because language is better learned through communication that takes place among the students. This type of teamwork and cooperation is very beneficial since learners assist each other in various tasks (Little Wood 45).
Secondly, a slight change in the seating arrangement for the students results to their satisfaction and may also determine the success or failure of that lesson. In addition to that, the number of the students in a class may also motivate or discourage the teacher. For instance, an average class motivates the teacher since it is more manageable as compared to a large class.
Moreover, during error correction, the teacher should do it in way that the student will not feel hurt or humiliated. The teacher gets motivated after correcting the student in the right way since most of the students participate during the lesson. This is very important for the ESL and EFL classes because there is a lot of debate and discussions.
An example of a quotation that motivates the teacher is, “a teacher who is attempting to teach, without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn, is hammering on a cold iron” (Mann 213). Students also get motivated when they are corrected in the right manner.
The teacher gets motivated when he is using an audio or visual material such as a video or a computer during the lesson because explaining becomes much easier and students tend to concentrate and understand better. The students also get motivated because the lesson becomes very enjoyable and their minds become focused thus leading to success.
Besides, the use of realia and flash cards is very motivating to both the students and the teacher especially when introducing a foreign language. They act as a facilitator especially on the vocabularies. The following is an example of a quotation that motivates the students; “anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young” (Ford 147).
One of the advantages of motivation by use of group work is that there is mastery of the skills by the students which is very essential in language. The teacher then enjoys marking good grades from the students. Motivation of any kind encourages the students thus making them put more effort and creates much interest in the teacher towards that class.
A disadvantage of using visual and audio materials for motivation is that they are very expensive and so much time is needed for the preparation of the lesson. Use of the first language (L1) in the ESL and EFL class as a motivation may be quite disadvantageous because it can lead to the students becoming dependent on that language or make them translate the context, which is not acceptable while learning language (Little Wood 68).
Motivation is therefore an important concept to use in the teaching of ESL and EFL since it arouses the students as well as the teacher. A teacher who is motivated will always work hard towards the success of the students. A student who is highly motivated will strive hard to achieve better grades.
Works Cited
Ford, Henry. “Moving Forward”. Garden City. New York, USA. 1930.
Little Wood, William. “Foreign and Second Language Learning”. Language Acquisition. 1987.
Mann, Horace. “The Life and Works of Horace Mann”. With introduction by his second Wife. 1859. Mary Peabody Mann. Web.