Problem Statement
Discuss about the Motivational Dynamics In Language Learning.
It can easily be said that English is a foreign language now as much as any Indian language is to any other individual who resides outside India. English has been thoroughly taught in the schools and colleges of India for several decades and English occupies the rank of associate official language of India. Therefore it is evident how important teaching English to the secondary students of India. English is not a compulsory subject in the school level but for Secondary And Higher Secondary Level English is a compulsory subject that is taught thoroughly. It can be easily said that English is the language of Technology and Science and it had occupied the rank of a second language in the school curriculum and for education. In India it has been observed that English language particularly has been assigned the role of the library language and it has also been seen that all the students of secondary or higher secondary level has to learn English language to get through the exams. It is a matter of fact that being a foreign language students can face several challenges to acquire or to become comfortable in speaking and writing in English and only with proper training and development sessions the pupils who face challenges to learn English can overcome the challenges. The contemporary position of English language in India portrays that in the school level or the college level the method of teaching English has been given much more priority than ever and in India or large portion of the educated society A comfortable in speaking and writing in English language. It has been seen that being an international language English has gained a huge importance worldwide and in India also English has been given much more priority than any other foreign languages and therefore the culture of teaching and learning English in Indian schools and colleges has been given the highest priority. It has also been seen that in India English has become the language for education advancements jobs and in governmental purposes and has become a symbol of self improvement. In this context it is worthwhile to mention that all the teaching English in school levels are given much more priority than ever but a huge population of India has been facing numerous challenges to adapt the foreign countries and there for the teachers so proactively device ways to help them out and to motivate them to be able to learn English properly.
Purpose of the Research
English language can be very difficult when taught under foreign language setting as many times authentic language input may not be available outside the classroom and in many cases, character based language the learners motivation to learn the languages should be high as determination and persistence will be needed to deal with the stress of adopting a new and difficult language. It can be said that motivation represents and happily but complex variable that is utilised to explain the individual differences in learning a foreign language and this can exhibit the amount of complexity of the concept that the classroom instructors and the learners have faced before numerous motivational theories well published and were largely accepted. It has been seen that after 1950 when numerous motivational theories were published it became easier for the English language tutors to motivate the students to acquire proficiency in the language for the development of their career and for the overall development of the nation regarding the ability to communicate in an international circle. Therefore the purpose of this particular research will be to highlight the way of motivating the secondary school students to speak in English.
It has been seen that in India English as a foreign language and there are numerous instances where the school students feel uncomfortable to learn to speak and write in English properly in a short period of time. On the other hand English has given the rank of one of the official languages of India and therefore bears high significance in Indian subcontinent. Therefore the tutors in the secondary school levels should focus on implementing numerous motivational theories to attract the students and also to motivate them to learn to speak and write in English language and also to gain the proficiency over the language for the development of their careers and for the overall development of the country.
The purpose of this research work is to highlight the various ways of motivating secondary students to gain proficiency over English language in order to gain the ability to speak and write in English language fluently.
RQ1 does the secondary school students feel uncomfortable to acquire English language as a medium of conversation?
RQ2 how can the English teachers motivate the secondary school students to gain proficiency of word English language?
It has been seen that in a country like India English being a foreign language it has been a tendency of a huge population of the country to avoid learning it as a medium of communication. On the other hand after the end of British rule in India a huge population of the country is strictly against in adopting the language but it is a matter of fact that English language has become a major international language of communication and holds immense significance. Not only that in India also English language has been given the position of one of the associate official languages and therefore the importance of English language in India cannot be denied (You & Chan, 2015). Therefore the educators should focus on teaching the pupils specially the Secondary and Higher Secondary students to acquire English as a medium of conversation for their own development. While conducting the study it can be said that there will be a lot of limitations that the researcher will have to face as while collecting data with the researcher may not get the accurate data relevant to the topic of the research due to the unwillingness of the research participants. Not only that there are lack of proper evidences of the ways of motivating the secondary students of India to acquire English as a second language or a medium of conversation or communication.
Research Questions
It is a matter of fact that in a nation like India in the classrooms mixed ability groups are present in most cases and that affects the process of teaching how to communicate in English freely. It has been seen that in India the way of teaching English to communicate gets more difficult in the rural regions where the secondary students are less privileged and they feel uncomfortable to adapt to a foreign language (Henry, 2015). In India in most cases the classes are considerably large and that makes it difficult for the Teachers to communicate with each of everyone present in the classroom and that makes the process more slow and complicated. On the other hand it has been seen that in the urban or semi urban regions of India the teachers feel more comfortable to teach how to communicate in English fluently to the secondary students as the students are blessed with more exposure towards the wider world. It has been observed that the urban students are generally belonging to the privileged class and they have a great exposure and in most cases they do not feel uncomfortable to acquire a foreign language like English as a medium of communication (You & Chan, 2015).
It has been observed that the teachers face numerous challenges while teaching how to communicate in English fluently to the students in the rural regions and therefore they need to apply several motivational theories so that they can motivate the students to get familiar with the foreign language for their own development. As it has been already mentioned that Government of India has givenEnglish language the status of the associate official language and there lies the importance of learning how to communicate in English fluently. It can be said that learning English is becoming more important day by day as English has already been accepted as an international language and in order to communicate with others in an international platform English can potentially become a major tool for communication (Henry, 2015). Not only that in all the important sectors like banking governmental educational or any other sectors English has been recognised as an official language and therefore if the pupils in secondary or Higher Secondary Level do not acquire enough proficiency over the language they may get into serious trouble in the later phases of their lives.
In order to encourage the pupils to learn English as a medium of communication the teachers may take help of using various techniques in the classroom and in this section of this literature review those tactics will be discussed. When the teachers face in types of challenges to teach the students to communicate in English fluently they may use various motivational theories and those can be pretty effective at times. The tutors can initiate each of the lessons by asking the pupils regarding their area of weaknesses and then should proceed so that the students do not feel uncomfortable and do not get inferiority Complex that can effectively decrease the rate of teaching or the effectiveness of the lessons offered by the teacher. After the teaching process the teachers may ask the secondary or Higher Secondary students to explain what they have realised throughout the lessons and by doing so the teachers can boost up the level of motivation of the students as they may feel that they are slowly but surely being able to Grab the language for their own betterment (You & Chan, 2015). To motivate the students that teachers should prohibit the students from using English to their mother language and encourage them to use English to English dictionaries for their own improvement and that can effectively boost the level of confidence of the students.
Limitations of the study
At times the teachers can also involve the pupils to do the boardwalk with same as that can effectively boost the level of confidence of the pupils and they may get more motivated to acquire the foreign language as a medium of communication (Henry, 2015). It is a matter of fact that the tutors should always focus on the requirements and the demands of the students to keep them motivated towards the language and they should always engage themselves to identify the areas of improvements of the pupils so that all the issues that the pupils face can be taken care of.
It has been observed that there are numerous motivational theories which can effectively motivate the students to acquire proficiency over a foreign language like English and for this the tutors can effectively utilise Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (You & Chan, 2015). According to this Framework the teachers can motivate the pupils by satisfying the requirements of them as that can be an effective tool to enhance the motivation of the students. Not only that the teachers can also used recognition as an effective tool to motivate the pupils by giving their achievements recognition publicly. If the achievements of the students are recognised publicly that can also give a major boost to the confidence of the students and they may get more attracted to acquire the foreign language (Henry, 2015). It has also been observed that the teachers should proactively ask the pupils to discuss the areas where they are confused so that they can learn how to achieve proficiency over the foreign language and in this context it will be worthwhile to mention that confidence plays a major role in securing the ability to acquire a foreign language as a medium of communication.
Therefore to conclude it can be said that being a foreign language in most cases the students of India main face numerous challenges to add up to the language but it should be the duty of the teachers to make them understand how important the language is to achieve in order to communicate properly and international platform and also to communicate properly for any types of official businesses.
The research is mostly based on three types of designs such as the descriptive, explanatory and exploratory design styles. The design that is exploratory in nature allows the researcher in testing the hypothesis along with the objectives that has been taken up in the process of the research. This also allows in using the different theories and concepts that are with the topic so that the hypothesis can be proved as well. It also allows the researcher in taking the relevant information in to account so that the research can be conducted in a proper way (Mackey &Gass, 2015). The exploratory design style allows the researcher in providing better explanation regarding the incidences that are taking place within the process of the research. It helps the researcher in explaining the incidents based on certain events. The descriptive design is the combination of the two processes where the researcher usually tests the hypothesis on the objectives that are taken up as well as explain the incidents that arte taking place within the research (Taylor, Bogdan&DeVault, 2015).
Literature Review
This particular research will be conducted based on the descriptive style so that different theories and concepts can be taken in to account by the researcher. It will also help the researcher in explaining the incidences that are happening within the process of research.
The research will be conducted with the simple random probability sampling technique where the participants will have an equal opportunity to be selected within the research process. The research will be conducted by gathering responses of 100 participants so that the research can be done in an efficient manner (Glesne, 2015).
There are primarily four types of procedures that can be taken up for the research process to be conducted. They are interviews, surveys, and case study analysis and action research. The research that is done by analysing the case study allows the researcher in getting relevant information from proper case studies so that they are relevant to the topic that has been taken up for the research. The action research method is where the researcher needs to find various issues that are in the topic so that effective solutions can be provided (Brinkmann, 2014). The research that is conducted by using the survey and interview procedure allows in gathering proper information from the respondents so that it can be analysed in an efficient way. The use of close-ended questions takes place when the research is based on survey process and the open-ended questions are provided when the research is being done through an interview process. It helps the researcher in reaching the objectives in a proper manner that has been taken up for the study (Flick, 2015).
This particular research will be based on the survey process, as the researcher will be distributing a sample set of questionnaire to a particular population so that the responses can be gathered and analysed using software.
Validity of the research is where the degree of the device is measured so that it can help in conducting the research properly. This research will be done based on the internal validity approach.
Reliability of the research helps in measuring the consistency of the methodological tools that has been taken up for the research. This research will be based on inter-rater reliability (Silverman, 2016).
The data that will be collected through the process of survey will be analysed using the scientific tool so that the result can be authentic in nature. It will be done with the help of SPSS software so that the result can be represented with the help of bar and table diagrams. The researcher will also be explaining outcomes of the findings after the end of the complete set of data (Vaioleti, 2016).
The research will be conducted based on certain rules and procedures so that the researcher can conduct in a proper way. The responses that will be collected from the participants will be done without using any external force, which may influence the outcome towards the desired result of the researcher. The data that will be collected will be used for education and not for commercial purposes. The researcher will also not manipulate the data, which may create a problem in the result of the process (Smith, 2015).
Pragmatism, positivism and interpretivism are mainly the three types of philosophies that are used in the research process. The interpretivism philosophy allows the researcher in taking in to consideration the various views along with the opinions of the people so that it can help in understanding the topic in a better manner (Panneerselvam, 2014). It also allows in gaining a better idea regarding the topic that has been taken up for the research due to the observations that are done for the individuals. The positivism philosophy is the one where the observations of the individuals need to be quantified so that the process can be done in a scientific way. It also allows the data that has been collected to be verified and validated as well. The pragmatic philosophy is the combination of the other two philosophies where the research will be meaningful and quantifiable as well (Gast& Ledford, 2014).
This particular research will be conducted through the positivism philosophy, as the objectives will be assessed through a scientific approach by using the statistical tools for analyzing the data and taking the opinions of the individuals for the process to be completed.
The research that will be done will have some major issues that need to be solved in a proper manner. The major factor is the limitation of time, as less amount of time may prohibit the research to be conducted in a better way. The size of the sample is also less, as it would take more time in conducting the research in a genuine manner. Another factor is cost, which is limited to the researcher, as the study will not be funded by any external sources (Neuman& Robson, 2014).
Reference List
Brinkmann, S. (2014). Interview. In Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology (pp. 1008-1010). Springer New York.
Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner’s guide to doing a research project. Sage.
Gast, D. L., & Ledford, J. R. (Eds.). (2014). Single case research methodology: Applications in special education and behavioral sciences. Routledge.
Glesne, C. (2015). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction. Pearson.
Mackey, A., &Gass, S. M. (2015). Second language research: Methodology and design. Routledge.
Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2014). Basics of social research. Pearson Canada.
Panneerselvam, R. (2014). Research methodology. PHI Learning Pvt.Ltd..
Silverman, D. (Ed.). (2016). Qualitative research. Sage.
Smith, J. A. (Ed.). (2015). Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. Sage.
Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., &DeVault, M. (2015). Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Vaioleti, T. M. (2016). Talanoa research methodology: A developing position on Pacific research. Waikato Journal of Education, 12(1).
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You, C., & Chan, L. (2015). The dynamics of L2 imagery in future motivational self-guides. Motivational dynamics in language learning, 397-418.
Alharbi, H. A. (2015). Improving Students’ English Speaking Proficiency in Saudi Public Schools. International Journal of Instruction, 8(1), 105-116.
Henry, A. (2015). The dynamics of L3 motivation: A longitudinal interview/observation-based study. Motivational dynamics in language learning, 315-342.
Lasagabaster, D. (2016). The relationship between motivation, gender, L1 and possible selves in English-medium instruction. International Journal of Multilingualism, 13(3), 315-332.