MATERIALS PRIMARILY FOR TEACHERS 5.4 Mot ivation Target audience: Primary and Simon Gi Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic Beta era saniences on waver The activities here are a series of tasks which are intended to: secondary teachers and teacher trainees motivating learners Time: 90 minutes+ take you through the process of thinking about ways of motivating learners; help you to think about the qualities of ‘good” and ‘bad’ teachers; encourage you to think about your own approach to teaching. Work in groups and brainstorm what you see as the qualities that characterise the practice of ‘good’ and ‘bad! teachers. You should record the qualities that identify the group, by producing posters for example. In 1961 McGregor produced his two theories of motivation - theory X and theory Y, which he claimed were self-fulfilling prophecies. Read the characteristics of the nwo theories below. McGregor's theories (1961) (in Littlejohn 1992-4) Theory X: * students hate work, avoid it, and cheat whenever possible © itis essential to coerce students and threaten them with punishment * students are devoid of ambition and need direction and security Theory Y: + students enjoy work * students can exert control and direct work * students are committed to course objectives and possess a sense of achievement * students are willing to take responsibility * students show a great deal of imagination in problem-solving Learner Independence Worksheets 2. © IATEFL 1999 63MATERIALS PRIMARILY FOR TEACHERS 5.4 3 Now imagine two classrooms, one run on strong Theory X principles, the other on strong Theory Y ones, with particular reference to these questions: What is the role of the teacher? Where is motivation seen as coming from? Who evaluates the success of learning? Who plans group activity? Why do learners work? What is the learners’ view of the teacher? What is ‘learning’? What is the subject matter of teaching? Do you consider the education system they work in is more influenced by Theory X or Theory Y? Practical suggestions for motivating students 4 Have you ever tried any of these with your students? Do you think they would work? * Consider alternative seating arrangements. * Use the classroom walls imaginatively + Start from the learners rather than from the textbook * Look for intrinsically interesting topics. What about a cross-curricular approach? ‘© Use the students’ own surroundings, culture and experience as a starting point. * Work from the learners’ L1 and adopt a comparative approach. * Use ‘open’ rather than ‘closed! tasks. * Give an overview in advance. * Group tasks together two or three at a time. * Agree timing with the learners. * Allow ‘processing time’. * Involve the learners in classroom decision-making * Provide choices. ‘+ Train them in skills which will help them be more independent (e.g. use of monolingual/blingual dictionaries, basic terminology, names of useful reference books, phonemic script, keeping @ vocabulary notebook). ‘© Approach problems as ‘our’ problem, not ‘your’ problem. + Get feedback from the learners (suggestion boxes, questionnaires etc.) * Encourage them to talk about the learning process. * Get learners to produce exercises, tasks, and tests themselves. * Build up classroom resources to be used by early finishers (e.g. a reading box, a puzzle box, a vocabulary box, a grammar exercise box). (ideas from Littlejohn, 1992-4, and Ellis, 1994) References Ellis M (1994) ‘Approaches co Mixed Ability Groups’, Polish Teacher Trainer 2/1 Littlejohn A (1992- 4) ‘Teaching young learners: a framework for understanding and some indications for change’, ELT News 21, 22 & 24 64 Learner Independence Worksheets 2. @ |ATEFL 1999 ATOAAKAHAAAPTAARIIAIEIAAnnnnaniiine