MOTIVATING KOREAN STUDENTS IN EFL

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MOTIVATING KOREAN STUDENTS IN EFL

• Alton Rose- English Language Fellow 2010-11

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Why do Korean students learn English?

• 1. To get a better job in the future
• 2. For college studies.
• 3. Because its a part of their curriculum
• 4. Because English is the Lingua Franca
• 5. Korean parents are passionate about their
  children's education. Learning English is a part
  of that passion

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What is the meaning of motivation?

• A general definition says raising interest in
  a subject or an event
• In other words, Kangmins level of interests in
  studying, on a scale of 1 to 10 might be 3. So,
  if you are able to motivate him, his interests
  level in studying might move to 7

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Motivation

• There are two general kinds of motivation
• A) Intrinsic motivation, which is consequent to
  the joy experienced in learning, and
• B) Extrinsic motivation, which results from
  external factors, such as procuring good grades
  or getting a certificate
• Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can be
  focused upon by the teacher, in order to achieve
  better reception and absorption

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Reminder

• Students of English as a foreign language (EFL)
  are those whose mother tongue is not English
• Motivation is important in achieving results in
  any activity and this is all the more true, with
  regard to learning a language

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Impediments to motivation

• Students are more accustomed to their mother
  tongue and learn English with certain
  preconceived notions
• Some students have a a fear of being ridiculed
  or committing a mistake, which inhibits EFL
  students from participating freely in the
  classroom activities
• English is idiomatic and involves several
  grammatical rules. All this takes some time for
  proper assimilation
• Many students fail to realize the importance of
  learning English

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What are the characteristics of a motivated
learner ?

• Displays confidence and willingness to learn
• Is willing to accept challenges and aims for the
  summit
• Is cognizant of what a specific learning activity
  sets out to achieve
• Setbacks and temporary failures do not discourage
  such learners

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How do you go about motivating students ?

• Engender a friendly environment, where students
  can open their minds to learning, is
  indispensable
• Discourage derisive behavior by the other
  students
• Encouragement and praise should be given freely
• The EFL learners should be presented with a
  learning environment that is not intimidating

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The Teachers role in learner motivation

• 1.Set clear goals.
• 2. Explain purpose and usefulness
• 3. Vary classroom topics and tasks
• 4. Generate tension and challenge
• 5. Create a Fun "atmosphere
• 6.Personalize learning
• 7.Assess students
• 8. Give students a sense of autonomy

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Set clear goals

• Learners should be aware of the objectives of the
  task-both language learning and content. For
  example, a guessing game may have the language
  learning goal of practicing questions, and the
  content goal of guessing answers.

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Personalize Learning

• Include tasks, wherein students recollect their
  experiences
• Students should be encouraged to share their
  experiences, preferences and opinions with the
  class
• There should be a genuine attempt to make these
  learners feel special

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Usefulness

• Learners sometimes need to know why they have to
  learn something
• Before commencing an activity, if it is fully
  explained , along with what it sets out to
  achieve, the students will be more comfortable
  and understand why they are doing it. This
  bestows confidence upon them
• At the very least, they wont think that they are
  wasting their time learning something they dont
  need

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Variety

• Teaching with visual aids is more effective in
  getting the point across. Verily A picture is
  worth more than a thousand words
• Most Korean students love the internet and would
  love to utilize it in the learning process
• Activities, like commencing a newsletter for
  their class and joining mailing lists makes
  students more involved
• Motivation can be enhanced by requiring students
  submit their assignments online

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Sense of autonomy

• Its important to make students feel that they
  are responsible and in control of their own
  learning.
• Example Have students pick from a list of topic
  to debate
• Or you can have students find partners they would
  like to team up to take part in a specific game
  or activity

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Create a Fun atmosphere

• Entertainment produces enjoyment, which in turn
  adds motivation. Entertainment can be teacher or
  student produced, such as jokes, stories or
  songs. It can be in recorded format. Give
  students an assignment to produce a cell phone
  home movie. Next, give them permission to bring
  in their cell phone and show the movie to the
  class. Finally vote on the best production.

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Generate tension and challenge

• Game- like activities provide pleasurable tension
  and challenge through the process of attaining
  some fun goal while limited by rules. The
  introduction of such rules an arbitrary time
  limited, for example) can add zest to almost any
  goal-oriented task

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Assess students

• Conducting tests in class enables the students to
  assess the extent to which they have grasped what
  has been taught to them
• Tests can be made enjoyable and challenging by
  incorporating carefully graded questions,
  involving different levels of difficulty
• Tests should be entertaining and not daunting
• Such tests should be evaluated promptly and
  fairly, as such evaluation indicates the
  teachers interest in the activity

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Additional tools

• Inspirational videos ,documentaries and movies
  can be shown in class, say once a week, with
  English subtitles, as such viewing has the
  capacity to inspire the students
• Maintaining a diary is an exemplary technique for
  enticing students to write in English. Such
  activity brings them into the lime light, and
  there are very few who dislike writing about
  themselves

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Additional tools 2

• Students should be motivated to read books by
  organizing games dealing with the summarizing of
  books and by gifting them with books
• Maintaining a diary or getting a pen pal is an
  exemplary technique for enticing students to
  write in English

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Summary

• Motivation is the single most important factor in
  learning, and this is all the more true with
  regard to learning a language
• With confidence students develop an open mind
  towards learning