Motivation anxiety in SLA Dr Gabriela Meier Objectives
Motivation & anxiety in SLA Dr Gabriela Meier
Objectives Review language learner strategies (LLS) in peer groups Critically engage with learning contexts presented by peers Gain an initial understanding of L 2 motivational theories and theories related to anxiety 2
Motivation 3
What motivates you? Think about your main motivation to learn an L 2? Talk to others and form groups according to your main motivation. 4
What motivates your students? 5 (Cook, 1996: 95)
Two dimensions of motivation Integrative motivation: Affinity with the TL community The learner’s desire to identify with the TL culture Instrumental motivation: L 2 is learnt as a means to an end, not for its own sake For utilitarian purposes: e. g. To get a better job, to pass an exam, to enter university. (Gardner & Lambert, 1972) 6
Another important dichotomy: Intrinsic motivation: Deriving from the personal needs and interests of the learner e. g. Curiosity; enjoyment at learning L 2 Extrinsic motivation Provided by the learning situation / teacher / course book / tasks / exercises / influence of parents / etc. (Brown 2000) Notes: a) These types of motivation are not mutually exclusive. b) Motivation can be influenced by many other factors. 7
A. H. Maslow, A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review 50(4) (1943): 370 -96. (See also: Straubhaar & La. Rose, 2000)
Krashen’s input hypothesis 1980 s (Based on UG)
What is motivation? 10
A motivated student is one who… • Wants to achieve a certain goal; • Experiences satisfaction when engaged in activities associated with achieving that goal; • Gains satisfaction from the achievement of the goal. (Gardner, 1985) 11
(Williams & Burden, 2000: 120) 12
Motivation expressed as formula Effort + Desire to Achieve a Goal + Attitudes = motivation Skehan (1989: 54) attitudes are defined as: ‘An evaluative reaction to some referent or attitude object, inferred on the basis of the individual’s beliefs or opinions about the referent. ’ (Gardner, 1985: 9) 13
The definition researchers agree on: Motivation concerns direction and magnitude of human behaviour Observed behaviour Based on Dörnyei (2011) Motivation is responsible for why people decide to do Choice of a particular action something The persistence with it how long the are willing to sustain the activity The effort expended on it how hard they are going to pursue it. 14
(Brown, 2000: 162) 15
History of L 2 motivation theory Social psychologic al period Cognitive situated period Processoriented period Socio-dynamic system 1959 -1990 During 1990 s Turn of the century Around 2004 to present Robert Gardner (Canada) Based on cognitive theories Interest in motivational change (temporal/ stages) motivation-cognitionaffect combinations, based on complexity theory and dynamic systems theory 16
Social psychological period Gardner (1985: Motivational intensity or effort Desire to learn the language Attitudes towards learning the language Based on bilingual situation in Canada 17
Conceptualisation of integrative motive 18
Cognitive situated period Trends: Bring language motivation research in line with cognitive revolution in mainstream motivational psychology Move from integrative views and attitudinal explanations to more situated analysis of motivation in specific learning contexts. 19
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Tremblay and Gardner 1995 Goal salience specificity of learner’s goals and the frequency of goal-setting strategies Valence desire to learn the L 2 and attitudes towards L 2 = L 2 -learning-related value component anxiety and performance expectancy Self-efficacy 21
Dörnyei’s framework of L 2 motivation 1994 Level of motivation Types of motivation Language level Integrative and instrumental Learner level Need for achievement Self-confidence -Language use anxiety -Perceived L 2 competence -Causal attributions -Self-efficacy Learning situation level -Course specific Interest, relevance, expetancy, satisfaction -Teacher specific Please the teacher, authority (controlling vs. autnonomy supporting), socialisation -Group specific Goal-orientation, norm and reward, group cohesiveness, classroom goal (cooperative, competitive, individualistic) 22
(Williams & Burden, 2000: 140) 23
Process-oriented period Increasing interest in: Changing motivation over time Successive stages of motivational process 24
25 (Williams & Burden, 2000: 121)
A temporal view of L 2 motivation 26
From process-oriented to socio-dynamic perspectives Based on view that L 2 motivation is not a linear process Linear models seek to explain cause and effect, and make predictions (based on positivist ontology) 27
Socio-dynamic system models Relational view (Sealy and Carter 2004) Not concerned with variables but on dynamic system of relations among relevant features, phenomena and processes (complex, unpredictable, non-linear and unique) Person-in-context view Organically evolving interactions (Ushioda 2009) among motivation, self and context. complex individuality or real persons. The L 2 Motivational self system (Dörnyei 2009) (Macintyre et al. 2009) 28 “natural progression from Gardner’s theory”. -Possible selves and future selfguides -Ideal and ought selves
Complexity is not new! (cited in Dörnyei, 2001: 13) 29
• Dichotomous models of motivation (e. g. instrumental vs. integrative, intrinsic vs. extrinsic) are too simplistic. • Our view of motivation must take into account multiple factors. • Demotivating factors (e. g. high affective filter, poor or negative attitudes, feelings of inferiority) vs. motivators (e. g. fear of ridicule, need to provide for a family) ‘An investment in the target language is also an investment in a learner’s own identity, an identity which is constantly changing across time and space. ’ (Norton, 2000: 7) Next topic 30
Csizér and Dörnyei (2005: 30) Redefinition of L 2 motivation: “as the desire to achieve one’s ideal language self by reducing the discrepancy between one’s actual and ideal selves. “ This is dependent on: “the learner’s ability to develop a salient vision of the self as an agreeable, competent, and successful L 2 user. “ 31
What demotivates students? What demotivates you to learn an L 2? What demotivates your students? 32
Demotivation/demotivational factors ‘teacher’s personal relationship with the students (i. e. lack of caring, general belligerence, hypercriticism and patronage/favoritism); the teacher’s attitude towards the course or the material (i. e. lack of enthusiasm, sloppy management and closemindedness); style conflicts between teacher and students (i. e. conflicts about the structure or detail, conflicts about the power distance of the class); the nature of the classroom activities 33 (i. e. irrelevance, overload, and repetitiveness). Oxford 1998
Demotivation 1. Teachers’ personalities, commitments, competence, teaching methods 2. Inadequate school facilities (large class sizes, unsuitable level of classes or frequent change of teachers) 3. Reduced self-confidence due to their experience of failure or lack of success 4. Negative attitude toward the foreign language studied 5. Compulsory nature of the foreign language study 6. Interference of another foreign language that pupils are studying 7. Negative attitude toward the community of the foreign language spoken 8. Attitudes of group members 9. Course books used in class 34 (Dörnyei 2001)
Motivation and significant others Parents Context (policy/environment) Peers Teachers
Parental attitude (Izzo, 1982: 8) 36
Policy Education = function of government (Torres 1998) language acquisition (and status) planning Which languages are given status in society/school? India – trilingual language policy Kazakhstan – trilingual language policy Luxembourg – trilingual language policy EU – 1+2 (mother tongue + 2 other languages) UK? Your country?
2002 MFL dropped at 14 -16 Debbie Andalo Education Guardian, Monday 12 March 2007 13. 00 GMT Modern languages [in England] were dropped as a compulsory subject for 14 to 16 -year-olds in 2002, despite protests from teachers and other organisations with an interest in promoting language. This year's GCSE results reflected a fall in the number of teenagers choosing to study a modern language. The number of candidates studying French fell by 13. 2% compared with last year, while those teenagers opting for German fell by 14. 2%. There was also a small fall in students choosing GCSE Spanish.
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(Tsui, 1996 a) 41
Peer pressure (cited in Izzo, 1982: 9) 42
Peers as reference group “Maintaining face is a central concern for most school children: for them school is the most important social arena and their peers are the main reference group. ” (Dörnyei 2011: 121) 43
Teacher attitudes Attitudes held by the teacher have considerable influence on a student’s achievement. Izzo 1982: 9 Teacher attitudes towards …are closely related to achievement Language per se The language taught The students Their language learning Savignion 1976, Burstall 1975 44
What can teachers do to motivate students? Some suggestions: (Dörnyei, 1998) 45
Motivational strategies Creating the basic motivational conditions Generating initial motivation Maintaining and protecting motivation Encouraging positive self-evaluation “Some of the most motivating teachers often rely on a few basic techniques!” 46
Motivational strategies Dörnyei, Z. (2007) Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom (8 th ed. ). Cambridge: CUP. “What we need is quality rather than quantity. A few well chosen strategies that suit both you and your learners might … creat[e] an overall positive motivational climate in the classroom. “ Invitation to try it out (Dörnyei 2007: 136 -145) See hand-out 47
Recap Main points about motivation? ? 48
Anxiety 49
Q: What aspects of SLA are likely to cause anxiety? Some possible sources of language anxiety: • • 50 public performance peer comparison competitiveness desire to gain teacher’s approval tests importance of task learner’s own targets (perfectionism? ) particular L 2 contexts
Krashen’s input hypothesis 1980 s (Based on UG)
Aspects of language anxiety 1. ‘Communication apprehension’: related to the real or anticipated act of speaking 2. ‘Test anxiety’: fear of failure in tests, quizzes, exams (common in many formal learning environments) 3. ‘Social evaluation apprehension’: how one’s actions are viewed in the social setting of the classroom (Horwitz at al, 1986) 52
At all stages Language anxiety can occur at each stage of the language acquisition process Stage: Input : Central processing: input Output: 53 Anxiety related to: to process external stimuli store and organise retrieve previously learned material Mc. Intyre and Gardner (1994)
Effects of anxiety on learning and performance • Inhibits the efficient pre-processing of new information: student has difficulty in attending to or organising the material presented. • Interferes with processing: student cannot apply problem-solving strategies; student may understand new material but is unable to remember it. • Interferes with output: the student has grasped the correct answer, but then loses it before being able to verbalise it. 54
Learner characteristics and anxiety low self-esteem, self-perceived low level of ability, communication apprehension, competitiveness, lack of group membership with peers, beliefs about language learning. ” Tallon (2009: 115) “anxious students are desperately trying to avoid humiliation, embarrassment, and criticism, and to preserve their self-esteem” (Tsui, 1996: 159). 55
Teacher factors “The teachers’ intolerance of silence, also creates a great deal of anxiety. ” Tsui (1996: 158) A judgmental teaching attitude and a harsh manner of teaching are also connected to students’ fear in class (Tallon, 2009) 56
Q: Is anxiety always a bad thing? An important distinction: • Debilitating anxiety: if excessive, this can prevent learning • Facilitative anxiety: keeps the student alert, focused, poised (Gardner & Mac. Intyre, 1993) Sometimes, being a little bit anxious can help sometimes. BUT… 57
Achievement anxiety (Stipek, 1988) 58
Self-esteem situational anxiety 1)Trait and (global) self-esteem (trait anxiety) Is a stable personality characteristic; a permanent disposition. • Does not vary according to situation. • Is based on self-perceptions of competence in areas such as: academic achievement, athletic ability, social interaction, physical appearance, etc. • Is associated with the learner’s personal assessment of the relative importance of these areas. • 2) State self-esteem (situational anxiety) • Is a temporary emotional state. • Relates to a specific situation, event or activity at a specific point in time. • May explain some elements of learner variability; e. g. varying levels of (Oxford & Ehrman, 1993) 59 • proficiency in different tasks.
60 (reproduced in Allwright & Bailey, 1991)
61 (Oxford, 1990: 141)
Q: What can teachers do to alleviate anxiety? Reduce stress in learning environments “building a supportive and friendly classroom environment is just as important to the success of the class as developing the curriculum. ” Elkhafaifi 2005 “some practices perceived as comfortable by one group of learners may prove stressful for a group from a different background”. Horwitz (2001) discussed in Elkhafaifi 2005) 62
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Classroom norms and rules Research has shown that institutional norms mandated by the teacher are unlikely to be effective group norms. 64
Related concepts L 2 identity L 2 socialisation 65
Main points Anxiety hinders achievement Different types of anxiety Facilitating or debilitating Can occur at all stages (input, processing, output) Less stressful environments help to reduce anxiety What reduces anxiety in one context may not work in another 66
Objectives Review language learner strategies (LLS) in peer groups Critically engage with learning contexts presented by peers Gain an initial understanding of L 2 motivational theories and theories related to anxiety 67
Reading: Cziser and Dörnyei 2005 The article is about motivation. It is reporting findings of a questionnaire survey, based on a complex quantitative (statistical) design. Don't worry if you don't understand this part of the article, concentrate on the parts listed below, and try to answer the questions (also below) when you read the text: Parts: • Introduction • Background • Participants • Discussion (especially 'a closer look at integrativeness with L 2 motivation' • Conclusion • Limitations of the study 68 Questions • What are the dimensions of motivation according to Csizer and Dörnyei? (Background) • Who are the participants in the study? (What and where do they study? ) (Participants) • What is the most important dimension and what are its antecedents? (Discussion) • Do these findings resonate with your experiences of L 2/bilingual learners?
Motivation: Csizér, K. Dörnyei, Z. (2005) The Internal Structure of Language Learning Motivation and Its Relationship with Language Choice and Learning Effort. In the Modern Language Journal (19 -36) Dörnyei, Z. , Ushioda, E. (2009) Motivation, Language Identity and the L 2 Self (Second Language Acquisition). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Dörnyei, Z. , Ushioda, E. (2011) Teaching and Researching: Motivation (Applied Linguistics in Action). Edinburgh: Pearson Education Ltd. Gao, Fang (2010) Learning Korean language in China: motivations and strategies of non-Koreans. In International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 13. 3: 273 -284 Matzuzaki Carreira, Junko (2005) New Framework of Intrinsic/Extrinsic and Integrative/Instrumental Motivation in Second Language acquisition. In Keiai Journal of International Studies, 16. Dec: 39 -64. Available from http: //www. ukeiai. ac. jp/issn/menu/ronbun/no 16/039. pdf Murray, G. , Gao, X. , Lamb, T. (2011) Identity, Motivation and Autonomy in Language Learning (Second Language Acquisition). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Yihong, G. , Yuan, Ying, C. , Yan, Z. (2007) Relationship between English Learning Motivation Types and Self-Identity: Changes among Chinese Students. In TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Mar. , 2007), pp. 133 -155
Anxiety Atay, D. , & Kurt, G. (2006). Prospective teachers and L 2 writing anxiety. Asian EFL Journal, 8(4). Batumlu, D. Z. & Erden, M. (2007). The relationship between foreign language anxiety and English achievement of Yıldız Technical University School of foreign languages preparatory students, Theory and Practice in Education, 3(1), 24 – 38. Gregersen, T. S. (2003). To err is human: A reminder to teachers of languageanxious students. Foreign Language Annals, 36(1), 25 -32. Horwitz, Elaine (2010) Foreign and second language anxiety. In Language Teaching, 43. 2: 154 -167 Mac. Intyre, P. D. , & Gardner, R. C. (1994). The subtle effects of language anxiety on cognitive processing in the second language. Language Learning, 44, 283 -305. Marcos-Llinas, M & Garau, M. J. (2009). Effects of Language Anxiety on Three Proficiency-Level Courses of Spanish as a Foreign Language Annals, 42(1), 94 -111. Spielman, G. & Radnofsky, M. (2001) ‘Learning language under tension: New 70 directions from a qualitative Study’. The Modern Language Journal 85/ii: 259
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