What is Motivation?

Motivation is helping students find the desire or need to learn a task. It engages his interest, it does not just insist that the student try harder.

Suggestions to help you motivate students:

1. Tone of voice - The intonation of your voice can help. Small amounts of pleasant or unpleasant tone will increase motivation. Too much tone, or toneless monotone help decrease motivation.

2. Tension - Tension in small doses will help motivate a student. Too much tension may cause the student to think only of the tension and how to deal with it. Be careful using tension and treat each student individually.

3. Interest - The more interest that is caused the more likely the student will learn. Let students invent and create. Use their interests.

4. Success - If a task is too difficult or a student is unsuccessful, it hinders motivation. Make sure a task has the correct amount of difficulty.

5. Feedback - Feedback needs to be immediate (if possible) and the student needs to know the results of his efforts.

6. Reward - When a task is rewarding itself, motivation is intrinsic or from within the student.

Motivation from a student's point of view

Suggestions from a student's view

1. The instructor gives me a chance to answer as many questions as she does the other students.

2. The instructor tells me when I'm right and corrects me when I'm wrong.

3. The instructor spends time sitting or standing near me.

4. The instructor gives me individual help when I need it.

5. The instructor gives me praise when I've earned it.

6. The instructor is courteous with me.

7. The instructor waits long enough for me to think and then answer the question.

8. The instructor listens to me when I talk to her.

9. The instructor gives me clues and tries to help me get the right answer but, she doesn't do the problem for me.

10. The instructor tells me what I've done correctly when she praises me.

11. The instructor expects me to do well. She/he gives me as many jobs as the other students have.

12. The instructor ignores or discourages poor behavior and corrects me without embarrassing me.

13. The instructor asks me questions that make me think things out.

14. The instructor likes and encourages my ideas and helps me add on to them.

Working with bilingual students.

1. Always speak in a conversational voice at a normal speed.

2. Don't exaggerate intonation patterns.

3. Students need to practice producing sentences in English, therefore the instructor shouldn't talk too much.

4. Use gesture, movements, facial expressions, objects, pictures, ect., to help interpret the situation.

5. When talking to the students, stay reasonably within the vocabulary and sentence patterns they have learned.

6. Be sure all pupils have a chance to participate; don't allow the aggressive ones to monopolize class time.

7. Don't be tightly bound by the answers in the text. If a student gives a correct, plausible answer, accept it.

8. If you are instructing English, speak English. If you speak the student's native language, use it as little as possible.

9. Learning a language is difficult

a. need continual repetition

b. it takes time

c. make it meaningful

d. make it useful

e. give them time to answer

f. make it a good experience

10. Don't worry that they don't understand you. They pick up a great deal. Give them opportunity to converse back with you with no threats. Use anything in their environment to help them to talk. The more you get them talking the faster they will learn.

11. If a sound is not in their language, they will have difficulty hearing it in English. Practice the sounds that are difficult for them.

12. Before starting a lesson, have a warm-up lesson. Loosen up their speaking mechanism and remember drill and repetitive learning.

13. Give students time to answer. They hear it in English, translate it to native language, organize thoughts into native language, think up a response in the native language, and then translate to English.

14. Learn about your students' cultural backgrounds. This will help you understand their needs, their responses, and how to respond to them.