Learning teaching or how to motivate students to learn foreign languages

Renata Botwina

Uniwersytet Warszawski, Wydział Lingwistyki Stosowanej, Katedra Ukrainistyki

Abstract

The role of motivation in education has been described from different perspectives and in various contexts. All researchers underline its complex nature. The answer to the question: “How to get pupils to do what you would like them to do” is not as easy as it might seem. Opposition, apathy, aversion and distraction, in one form or another, are almost always to confront educators in any learning environment. This would indicate that now, possibly more than ever, the ability to motivate creatively is a highly desirable prerequisite for every teacher. Modern school does not create ideal conditions for motivating students. School attendance is obligatory and learning actions are chosen and based on public beliefs what a student needs to be learning. Teachers work with a great number of students who often become frustrated, tired, confused and bored. This article is an attempt to prove that teachers can successfully affect their students’ motivation in the process of effective and creative foreign language teaching. If teachers want to achieve their definitive goal of helping students to make the most of their language learning experience, they should employ appropriate and effective motivational strategies.

Keywords:

motivation, extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, creative foreign language teaching, motivating strategies