1.3. Motivational differences

To know exactly how or why your students are motivated will mean finding out how they feel about learning English. It is unlikely that everyone in class will have the same motivation, and we have already said that motivation is a mixture of different factors. Nevertheless it is possible to make some general statements about motivational factors for different age groups and different levels. We will look at children, adolescents, adult beginners, adult intermediate students and adult advanced students.

1.3.1. Children

More than anything else, children are curious, and this in itself is motivating. At the same time their span of attention or concentration is less than that of an adult. Children will often seek teacher approval: the fact that the teacher notices them and shows appreciation for what they are doing is of vital importance.

Children need frequent changes of activity: they need activities that are exciting and stimulate their curiosity: they need to be involved in something active (they will not usually sit and listen!), and they need to be appreciated by the teacher, an important figure for them. It is unlikely that they will have any motivation outside these considerations, and so almost everything for them will depend on the attitude and behaviour of the teacher.

1.3.2. Adolescents

Adolescents are perhaps the most interesting students to teach, but they can also present the teacher with more problems than any other age group.

We can certainly not expect any extrinsic motivation from the majority of our students – particularly the younger ones. However, we may hope that the students’ attitude has been positively influenced by those around them. We have to remember that adolescents are often brittle. They will probably not be inspired by mere curiosity. Teacher approval is no longer of vital importance. Indeed, the teacher may not be the leader, but rather the potential enemy. Peer approval will be important.

The teacher should never forget that adolescents need to be seen in a good light by their peers. The teacher should also remember that with the changes taking place at that age they are easily prone to humiliation if the teacher is careless with criticism. But adolescents also can be highly intelligent if stimulated, and dedicated if involved. At this age, getting the level of challenge right is vital. Where this level is too low the students may simply ‘switch off’; where it is too high they may become discouraged and de-motivated. It is the teacher’s task, too, to put language teaching into an interesting context for the students. More than anything else they have to be involved in the task and eager to accomplish it.

1.3.3. Adult beginners

Adult beginners are in some ways the easiest people to teach. Firstly, they may well come to the classroom with a high degree of extrinsic motivation. Secondly, they will often succeed very quickly. Goals within the class, such as learning a certain piece of language or finishing a unit are easy to perceive and relatively easy to achieve.

But it is still difficult to start a foreign language at this age. Unrealistic challenge coupled with a negative teacher attitude can have disastrous effects on students’ motivation.