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【Abstract】Many language teachers believe that motivation is one of the most powerful influences on language learning. The author of this article tries to introduce some psychological views on motivation, types of motivation and probes into some ways for the language teachers to direct their own practice in motivating their students.
【Key words】motivation; language learning; language teachers
Introduction
It is very necessary for a language teacher to know something about Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Second language acquisition theory leaves no doubt about the crucial importance of a further affective variable, motivation, which is actually a cluster of factors that ‘energize behavior and give it direction’ (Hilgard, Atkinson and Atkinson 1979:281). Chomsky(1988:181) also points out the importance of activating learners’ motivation: ‘The truth of the matter is that about 99 percent of teaching is making the students feel interested in the material’. Since motivation is so important for language learning, what is the definition of motivation? How has the conception of motivation changed in recent years? What can the teachers do to influence motivation? With these questions the author would focus on those ideas and approaches which is useful and the most helpful for the teachers.
Some psychological views on motivation
Early research on motivation is based on behaviorism, thus, psychologists tried to explain motivation in term of how animals behaved in order to meet their basic biological needs. Modern behaviorism would tend to consider motivation largely in terms of external force because they believe in the nature and scheduling of reward system as the most effective way of motivating desired behavior. Atkinson believes that people have their need to achieve something or to be successful and he put forward ‘achievement motivation’. A cognitive view of motivation , however, emphases individual making decisions about their actions but not the external force. Constructivists view of motivation centers around the premise that each individual is motivated differently. From these theories we know that different learners have different definitions of motivation. The following is only one of them which is based on the psychological view.
Definitions and types of motivation
Marion Williams
【Key words】motivation; language learning; language teachers
Introduction
It is very necessary for a language teacher to know something about Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Second language acquisition theory leaves no doubt about the crucial importance of a further affective variable, motivation, which is actually a cluster of factors that ‘energize behavior and give it direction’ (Hilgard, Atkinson and Atkinson 1979:281). Chomsky(1988:181) also points out the importance of activating learners’ motivation: ‘The truth of the matter is that about 99 percent of teaching is making the students feel interested in the material’. Since motivation is so important for language learning, what is the definition of motivation? How has the conception of motivation changed in recent years? What can the teachers do to influence motivation? With these questions the author would focus on those ideas and approaches which is useful and the most helpful for the teachers.
Some psychological views on motivation
Early research on motivation is based on behaviorism, thus, psychologists tried to explain motivation in term of how animals behaved in order to meet their basic biological needs. Modern behaviorism would tend to consider motivation largely in terms of external force because they believe in the nature and scheduling of reward system as the most effective way of motivating desired behavior. Atkinson believes that people have their need to achieve something or to be successful and he put forward ‘achievement motivation’. A cognitive view of motivation , however, emphases individual making decisions about their actions but not the external force. Constructivists view of motivation centers around the premise that each individual is motivated differently. From these theories we know that different learners have different definitions of motivation. The following is only one of them which is based on the psychological view.
Definitions and types of motivation
Marion Williams