Exploring motivational strategies in higher education: Student and instructor perceptions

Year 2020, , 387 - 413, 30.11.2020

Zeynep Erdil-moody Amy S. Thompson

https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.834670

Cited By: 2

Abstract

This study offers cross-cultural validity of motivational strategies, as well as reliability and validity measures of an adapted questionnaire in a new context. Foreign/second language (L2) learning motivation has long been demonstrated to have a substantial impact on second language acquisition; L2 teachers play a major role in learner motivation with their use of motivational strategies in classes (Dörnyei, 2001; Dörnyei & Kubanyiova, 2014). Motivational strategies vary in their effectiveness and appropriateness in different EFL contexts (e.g., Dörnyei, 2001; Guilloteaux & Dörnyei, 2008). There is little research, however, in combining the theory and practice in motivation research; in other words, there are few studies that examine motivational strategy research in conjunction with the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS). To fill this gap, the current study examined college EFL instructors’ motivational teaching practices, informed by the ideal L2 self guide in Turkey, from both instructors and students’ perspectives. Quantitative data were collected via a motivational strategies questionnaire that was created and validated specifically for this study – Teachers’ Use of Motivational Strategies Scale (TUMSS). Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were conducted to analyze the data (N= 454). Results indicated that instructors frequently used a variety of motivation-enhancing strategies; group comparisons of perceptions and EFA results via the three latent variables raised some important issues; independent samples t-tests indicated a statistically significant group difference for the strategies in Factor 3, those related to the ideal L2 self, while showing no difference for the other two factors. Pedagogical implementations are discussed.

Keywords

L2 Motivation, L2 motivational self system, motivational strategies, motivational teaching practice, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), Turkish EFL context, SPSS select case

References

• Alrabai, F. (2016). The effects of teachers' in-class motivational intervention on learners' EFL achievement. Applied Linguistics 37(3), 307-333. doi:10.1093/applin/amu021.
• Arnold, J., Puchta, H., & Rinvolucri, M. (2007). Imagine that! Mental imagery in the EFL classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Begić, I., & Mercer, S. (2017). Looking back, looking forward, living in the moment: Understanding the individual temporal perspectives of secondary school EFL learners. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 11(3), 267-281. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2017.1317261
• Bernaus, M., & Gardner, R. C. (2008). Teacher motivation strategies, student perceptions, student motivation, and English achievement. The Modern Language Journal, 92(3), 387-401. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00753.x.
• Busse, V., & Walter, C. (2013). Foreign language learning motivation in higher education: A longitudinal study of motivational changes and their causes. The Modern Language Journal, 97(2) 435–456. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2013.12004.x
• Cheng, H. F., & Dörnyei, Z. (2007). The use of motivational strategies in language instruction: The case of EFL teaching in Taiwan. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 153-174. doi: 10.2167/illt048.0.
• Csizér, K., & Kormos, J. (2009). Learning experiences, selves and motivated learning behaviour: A comparative analysis of structural models for Hungarian secondary and university learners of English. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 98-119). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
• Conway, J. M., & Huffcutt, A. I. (2003). A review and evaluation of exploratory factor analysis practices in organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 6(2), 147- 168. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1094428103251541
• Deci, E., L., & Ryan, R., M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behaviour. New York: Plenum.
• Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivation strategies in the language classroom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah, New jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Creating a motivating classroom environment. In International handbook of English language teaching (pp. 719-731). Springer, Boston, MA.
• Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The L2 motivational self system. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 9-42). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
• Dörnyei, Z. (2019). Towards a better understanding of the L2 Learning Experience, the Cinderella of the L2 Motivational Self System. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 9(1), 19-30. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2019.9.1.2
• Dörnyei, Z., & Chan, L. (2013). Motivation and vision: An analysis of future L2 self images, sensory styles, and imagery capacity across two target languages. Language learning, 63(3), 437-462. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12005
• Dörnyei, Z., & Csizér, K. (1998). Ten commandments for motivating language learners: Results of an empirical study. Language Teaching Research, 2(3), 203-229. doi: 10.1177/136216889800200303.
• Dörnyei, Z., & Kubanyiova, M. (2014). Motivating learners, motivating teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Dörnyei, Z., & Taguchi, T. (2010). Questionnaires in second language research: Construction, administration, and processing. (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
• Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (2011). Teaching and researching motivation (2nd ed.). Harlow, UK: Pearson Education.
• Erdil, Z. (2016). Promoting L2 motivation via motivational teaching practice: A Mixed- methods study in the Turkish EFL context. Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6496.
• Erten, I. H. (2014). Understanding the reasons behind choosing to teach English as a foreign language. Novitas-ROYAL (Research on Youth and Language), 8(1), 30-44.
• Erten, I. H. (2015). Social desirability bias in altruistic motivation for choosing teaching as a career. Journal of Education, 30(1), 77-89.
• Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (4th ed.). London, UK: Sage Publications.
• Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London, UK: Edward Arnold.
• Griffiths, K. M., Christensen, H., Jorm, A. F., Evans, K., & Groves, C. (2004). Effect of web- based depression literacy and cognitive–behavioural therapy interventions on stigmatising attitudes to depression. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 185(4), 342- 349. doi: 10.1192/bjp.185.4.342.
• Guilloteaux, M. J., & Dörnyei, Z. (2008). Motivating language learners: A classroom‐oriented investigation of the efffects of motivational strategies on student motivation. TESOL Quarterly, 42(1), 55-77. doi: 10.1002/j.1545-7249.2008.tb00207.x.
• G*Power: Statistical Power Analyses (n.d.). (Software). Available from http://www.gpower. hhu.de/en.html.
• Hadfield, J., & Dörnyei, Z. (2014). Motivating learning. NY, USA: Routledge.
• Henry, A., Korp, H., Sundqvist, P., & Thorsen, C. (2018). Motivational strategies and the reframing of English: Activity design and challenges for teachers in contexts of extensive extramural encounters. TESOL Quarterly, 52(2), 247-273. https://doi. org/10.1002/tesq.394
• Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: a theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94(3), 319. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.94.3.319.
• Kormos, J., Kiddle, T., & Csizér, K. (2011). Systems of goals, attitudes, and self-related beliefs in second-language-learning motivation. Applied Linguistics, 32(5), 495- 516. doi:10.1093/applin/amr019
• Kubanyiova, M. (2006). Developing a motivational teaching practice in EFL teachers in Slovakia: Challenges of promoting teacher change in EFL contexts. TESL-EJ, 10(2), 1-17. Retrieved October 14, from http://tesl-ej.org/ej38/a15.pdf.
• Larson-Hall, J. (2016). A guide to doing statistics in second language research using SPSS and R. New York, NY: Routledge.
• Loewen, S., & Gonulal, T. (2015). Exploratory factor analysis and principal components analysis. In L. Plonsky (Ed.), Advancing quantitative methods in second language research (pp. 182-212). New York, NY: Routledge.
• Mackay, J. (2019). An ideal second language self intervention: Development of possible selves in an English as a Foreign Language classroom context. System, 81, 50-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.01.003
• Magid, M., & Chan, L. (2012). Motivating English learners by helping them visualise their Ideal L2 Self: Lessons from two motivational programmes. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 6(2), 113-125. doi: 10.1080/17501229.2011.614693.
• Markus, H., & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41(9), 954. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.41.9.954.
• Moskovsky, C., Alrabai, F., Paolini, S., & Ratcheva, S. (2013). The effects of teachers’ motivational strategies on learners’ motivation: A controlled investigation of second language acquisition. Language Learning, 63(1), 34-62. doi: 10.1111/j.1467- 9922.2012.00717.x.
• Noels, K. A. (2003). Learning Spanish as a second language: Learners’ orientations and perceptions of their teachers’ communication style. Language Learning, 53(S1), 97- 136. doi: 10.1111/1467-9922.53225.
• Papi, M., & Abdollahzadeh, E. (2012). Teacher motivational practice, student motivation, and possible L2 selves: An examination in the Iranian EFL context. Language Learning, 62(2), 571-594. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00632.x
• Plonsky, L., & Oswald, F. L. (2014). How big is ‘big’? Interpreting effect sizes in L2 research. Language Learning, 64(4), 878-912. doi:10.1111/lang.12079.
• Raviv, A., Raviv, A., & Reisel, E. (1990). Teachers and students: Two different perspectives?! Measuring social climate in the classroom. American Educational Research Journal, 27,(1), 141–157. https://doi.org/10.3102%2F00028312027001141
• Ruesch, A., Bown, J., & Dewey, D.P. (2012). Student and teacher perceptions of motivational strategies in the foreign language classroom. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching 6(1), 15-27. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2011.562510
• Safdari, S. (2018). Iranian EFL learners’ perception of the importance and frequency of teachers’ motivational strategies. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(1), 17- 25. doi: 10.32601/ejal.460625
• Sato, M., & Loewen, S. (2019). Do teachers care about research? The research–pedagogy dialogue. ELT Journal, 73(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccy048
• Schulz, R. A. (2001). Cultural differences in student and teacher perceptions concerning the role of grammar instruction and corrective feedback: USA–Colombia. Modern Language Journal, 85(2), 244–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/0026-7902.00107
• Thompson, S. A. (2017). Don't tell me what to do! The anti-ought-to self and language learning motivation. System, 67, 38-49.
• Thompson, S. A., & Erdil-Moody, Z. (2016). Operationalizing multilingualism: Language learning motivation in Turkey. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 19(3), 314-331. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2014.985631.
• Thompson, S. A., & Lee, J. (2013). Anxiety and EFL: Does multilingualism matter? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 16(6), 730-749. doi:10.1080/13670050.2012.713322 .
• Thompson, S. A., & Sylven, L. K. (2015). Does English make you nervous? Anxiety profiles for CLIL and non-CLIL students in Sweden. Journal of Applied Language Studies, 9(2), 1- 23. https://doi.org/10.17011/apples/urn.201512093950