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Motivation and Student Achievement 1

Running head: MOTIVATION AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Motivational Strategies in a Foreign Language Classroom and How

They Affect Student Achievement

Lisa Wierzbicki

ED 646

7/10/06


Table of ContentsAbstract 1Chapter One 2Liturature Background of the Study 2Purpose of the Study 5Problem Statement 5Research Questions 6Definition of Terms 6Pilot Study 7Data Collection Methods 9Data Analysis Methods 12Significance of the Study 13Limitations of the Study 14Proposal Summary 15References 16Chapter Two 18Literature Review 18References 32Chapter Three 35Research Setting 35My School 36My Classroom 36My Students 37Clinical Faculty 37Author 38Ethics 39Data Collection Methods 39Data Analysis 41Summary 43Chapter 4 44Findings from Baseline Question 44Concluding Statement from Baseline Question 46Findings from Intervention Question 48Concluding Statement on Intervention Question 52Relevance to Literature 53Summary 54Chapter Five 55Summary of the Study 55Recommendations 56My Action Plan 57Summary 59Appendix A: Example of Student Survey 60Appendix B: Example of Pesos from Argentina 61Appendix C: Pilot Study 62


Abstract

The purpose of my study was to find out what motivates

students in a foreign language classroom. I wanted to understand

if the students in a select Spanish class were more intrinsically

or extrinsically motivated to study the language. I also wanted

to know what specific strategies motivated those students, and if

I integrated those motivational strategies into my classroom,

would there be a positive impact on the students’ grades. The

data collection methods I used were: questionnaire, conversation,

passive and active observation, and examining archival documents.

By using these methods of data collection I was able to form

inductive and deductive codes which I used to analyze my data, as

discussed in chapter three.

In the fall of 2005 my pilot study data pointed toward a

specific class of foreign language students as being more

extrinsically motivated. The study also showed that those

students were more extrinsically motivated by the usefulness of

the language, extra credit, candy, games and parental pressure.

This study is about those findings and some further research and

intervention.


Chapter One

In chapter one, I will introduce the reader to a few major

literature sources that provide a foundation to the study, the

purpose of the study, the problem I have to chosen to study, and

my research questions. I will also briefly mention the data

collection methods that were used and the data analysis methods

used. Lastly, I will discuss the limitations of the study and its

significance.

Literature Background of the Study

The overall topic for this literature review is what

motivates students in a foreign language classroom? In order for

me to further examine this topic I have chosen to focus on the

themes of what is motivation, what are some different types of

motivation, and what are some motivational strategies for a

foreign language classroom setting for this literature review.

Before I start in on my literature review, I want to state that

all of the italics belong to the respective authors.

Most authors who write on the topic of motivation have

formed a definition of their own to explain motivation. Woolfolk

(2004) writes “motivation is usually defined as an internal state

that arouses, directs, and maintains behavior” (p.350). Likewise

Ryan and Deci (2000) have a similar view on motivation, defining

motivation as, “To be motivated means to be moved to do

something…someone who is energized or activated toward an end is


considered motivated” (p. 54) A slightly different perspective on

motivation comes from Dörnyei (2001) who states, “‘motivation’ is

a general way of referring to the antecedents (i.e. the causes

and origins) of action” (p.6) These are the different definitions

I found for motivation while working on my research.

Another prominent theme found in my research is the many

different types of motivation. The two most common types of

motivation are intrinsic and extrinsic. According to Woolfolk,

“When we are intrinsically motivated, we do not need incentives

or punishments, because the activity itself is rewarding,” and

then she states, “In contrast, when we do something in order to

earn a grade, avoid punishment, please the teacher, or for some

other reason that have very little to do with the task itself, we

experience extrinsic motivation” (p.351). Another view on

intrinsic and extrinsic motivation comes from Ryan and Deci who

writes, “The most basic distinction is between intrinsic

motivation, which refers to doing something because it is

inherently interesting or enjoyable, and extrinsic motivation,

which refers to doing something because it leads to a separable

outcome” (p. 55). A different type of motivation is classified by

Dörnyei (1994). He argues that there are three motivational

components “course-specific motivational components, teacher-

specific motivational components, and group-specific motivational


components” (p.277). These are the types of motivation I found in

my research.

The final major theme I found in my research is motivational

strategies. In Dörnyei’s 1994 article he lists thirty

motivational strategies to use in a foreign language classroom.

These strategies range from, “facilitate student satisfaction by

allowing students to create finished products that they can

perform or display, encouraging them to be proud of themselves

after accomplishing a task,” to “promote student contact with L2

speakers by arranging meetings with L2 speakers in your country;

or, if possible, organising school trips or exchange programs to

the L2 community; or finding pen-friends for your students”

(p.281, 282) This author provides an extensive list of all the

motivational strategies one could ever ask for to use in a

foreign language classroom setting. These are the examples I

found of motivational strategies for a foreign language

classroom.

Through these four sources I was able to find an abundance

of information on the following themes: what is motivation, what

are the different types of motivation, and what are some

motivational strategies that would be useful in a foreign

language classroom setting.


Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to find out what motivates

students in a foreign language classroom. I want to understand if

the students in a select Spanish class were more intrinsically or

extrinsically motivated to study the language. I also want to

know what specific strategies (i.e. extra credit, candy,

usefulness of the language, etc) motivated these students to

learn the language, and if I integrate those motivational

strategies in my classroom, will there be a positive impact on

the students’ grades.

Problem Statement

Throughout this quarter I have been studying the motivation

of students in a specific foreign language classroom. The

students at my placement range from extremely motivated to not

even turning in their homework. While this teacher is

enthusiastic about the subject, some of the students are just not

interested in learning Spanish. The reason I want to address this

problem is because when I start teaching, I want to be the best

foreign language teacher I can be. My goal is for my students to

walk away with an interest in Spanish. In order for this to

happen, I want to study what motivates these students, as well as

find out if the students are more intrinsically or extrinsically

motivated to study the language. I also want to find out how to

motivate the unmotivated and how to keep the enthusiastic


motivated, and find out if the more popular types of motivational

strategies has a positive correlation with the students’ grades

when integrated into an everyday lesson plan. This study centers

on discovering what actually motivates the students in a Spanish

classroom, and what can be done to motivate more students as well

as improve their grades.

Research Questions

Baseline Question:

1. Are students in a specific foreign language classroom

more extrinsically or intrinsically motivated?

a. Which strategies from the preferred motivation are

the most successful?

Intervention Question:

1. If I integrate the more popular motivational strategies

into my lessons, will the students’ grades improve?

Definition of Terms

Before starting my definition of terms I am going to state

upfront that all italics in this section belong to the authors.

1. Motivation- According to Woolfolk (2004) “is usually

defined as an internal state that arouses, directs, and

maintains behavior” (p. 350). When looking at how this


definition applies in the classroom, it is best to split the

definition down even farther.

2. Intrinsic motivation- Woolfolk writes, “When we are

intrinsically motivated, we do not need incentives or

punishments, because the activity itself is rewarding,”

3. Extrinsic motivation- Woolfolk states,“In contrast, when

we do something in order to earn a grade, avoid punishment,

please the teacher, or for some other reason that have very

little to do with the task itself, we experience extrinsic

motivation” (p.351).

4. Motivational strategies- Döryei (1994) best explains this

definition when he states that motivational strategies,

“facilitate student satisfaction by allowing students to

create finished products that they can perform or display,

encouraging them to be proud of themselves after

accomplishing a task” (p. 282).

Pilot Study

For my pilot study, I used the same baseline and

intervention questions, but due to time I did not have the

opportunity to do my intervention question. I was located at a

middle school and I used an eighth grade Spanish class of twenty-

five students. The methods I used to conduct my research were,

active observation of the students, a questionnaire for the

students (Appendix A), and I had casual conversations with two


foreign language teachers to find out what motivational

strategies worked best for them.

To analyze my data, I used deductive codes for motivation,

intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and an inductive code

for strategies. Then, I read all twenty-five questionnaires

returned by the students and then I decided which responses were

most common, and I went back and tallied the responses from the

students’ questionnaires. I also reviewed my notes from the

informal conversations I had with the teachers at my placement,

as well as reviewed my active observation notes.

After analyzing the data that I collected for my research I

have narrowed down the best strategies to motivate the students

of a specific foreign language classroom. To analyze my

observation notes, questionnaire answers, and conversation notes,

I applied the inductive codes of intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation. To further analyze the questionnaires, I found which

responses were most common and tallied the number of times that

response was found and produced percentages.

The majority of the students were extrinsically motivated.

Seventy-six percent of the students were motivated by the

usefulness of the language in a future job. Seventy-two percent

of the students were motivated by extra-credit. However, only

forty-eight percent were motivated by candy, thirty-two percent

were motivated by in class games, and twenty-eight percent were


motivated by pressure from parents. This pattern demonstrates

that the majority of the class was motivated through future use

of the language and extra-credit, which are both extrinsic

motivators.

Another type of example of the pattern lies in the

questionnaire itself. One of the students who cited future

usefulness is stated: “I know that in the U.S., the second most

common language is Spanish. So speaking it might help get a job.”

On the other end of the spectrum a student who cited parental

pressure in their questionnaire stated: “Well, I’m plenty

motivated, because if I fail (C or lower) my dad will rip my

lungs out through my nose.” These are the examples of the pattern

I found from my pilot study.

Data Collection Methods

I will employ a variety of data collection methods

throughout my study. These methods will include: a questionnaire,

passive informal conversations with teachers, and active

observations in the Spanish classrooms, passive observation, as

well as examining archival documents. The following section

explains why I chose each data collection method for this study.

Questionnaire:

I used the questionnaire in my pilot study in order to

find out from the students themselves what motivates them in

the foreign language classroom as well as what would help


them become more motivated. This method worked so well that

I plan on using it in my continued research. The students

will be asked what motivates them in a foreign language.

They will also be asked what will help them to become more

motivated in the foreign language classroom. As well as why

they chose to study the language, and if they have someone

who speaks the language so they can practice outside of

school. See Appendix A for an example of the questionnaire.

Conversation:

Another method I will use is informal conversations to

find out what motivational strategies work the best for the

teachers at my placement. In these informal conversations I

will ask the teachers what strategies really work in a

traditional foreign language classroom setting. Through

these informal conversations I will discover what my

teachers think is the best strategy for motivating students

and which strategies never seem to work in their classrooms.

Active Observation:

A third data collection method I will use is active

observation. I will actively observe the students of the

foreign language classrooms I will work in. In this time I:

will help out the teacher, observe the interactions between

the students, and help out the students when they have

problems with the lesson for the day. I will actively


observe how the students react to different motivational

strategies and how they affect the students’ motivation. As

well as implement different strategies during my student

teaching.

Passive Observation:

Another method of data collection I will use is passive

observation. I will observe the students at my placement, as

well as the teacher at my placement to view which

motivational strategies she implements and how well the

strategies motivate the students.

Examining Archival Documents:

A final method of data collection I plan to use is to

keep record of the students grades before I determine which

motivational strategies are the most preferred as well as

afterwards. By doing this, I will be able to see if by

changing the motivational strategies used in class has a

positive effect on the students’ grades.

In order to find out what strategies motivated students I

will employ all five of these methods throughout my research. I

used the questionnaire in my pilot study to find out what

strategies motivate students, and because the questionnaire

worked so well, I plan to use it again for my study. By using

informal conversations with the teachers at my placement I will

be able to find out what strategies they think best motivate


their foreign language students. Through active observation I

will be able to observe which motivational strategies work in the

foreign language classroom.

Data Analysis Methods

In the course of my research and data analysis I defined the

following codes: Motivated, Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic

Motivation, and Strategies. All of the italics are the author’s.

Motivated: Woolfolk (2004) writes “motivation is usually

defined as an internal state that arouses, directs, and

maintains behavior” (p.350).

Intrinsic Motivation: According to Woolfolk, “When we are

intrinsically motivated, we do not need incentives or

punishments, because the activity itself is rewarding” (p.

351).

Extrinsic Motivation: Then Woolfolk states, “In contrast,

when we do something in order to earn a grade, avoid

punishment, please the teacher, or for some other reason

that have very little to do with the task itself, we

experience extrinsic motivation” (p.351).

Strategies: Through my research I have defined strategies as

the activities used to motivate students. Some examples

consist of candy, extra credit, and games that are played in

class.


In order to analyze these data I will read all the returned

questionnaires and then I will decide which responses are the

most common. Then I will go back and tally the most common

responses from the students’ questionnaires. I will also review

my notes from the informal conversations I had with the teachers

at my placement, as well as review my active and passive

observation notes.

Significance of Study

The study that I am performing holds more significance than

how it applies to my classroom, because this study can be applied

to other classroom situations. For my own use, the data I

gathered will helped me know how to better motivate students in a

foreign language classroom, and as a result help me to become a

better foreign language teacher. This study will prove useful to

other foreign language teachers because the findings will apply

directly to them. The findings may also apply to teachers of

other subjects and to the parents or guardians who might want to

know how to better motivate their child to do his or her

schoolwork. My study would also be significant to my clinical

faculty because my study applies directly to their classroom, as

well as all future foreign language teachers to help educate them

in effective motivational strategies for foreign language

students. By providing these people with the information from my


study, it is possible that they can add to or adapt my research

in order to help another student in a different situation.

Limitations of the Study

As with any study ever done, mine has limitations. My

research has a few limitations. The first limitation I will

discuss is the most obvious, the fact that my study is done in a

foreign language classroom. Therefore, this might make it harder

to transfer my findings to other classrooms, but with

modifications the transfer is possible. A second limitation to my

study is the age group used. I am currently placed in a middle

school setting, so my findings might be difficult to use in a

high school or elementary school setting. Middle school students

in a foreign language classroom, however, may be motivated by the

same principles as a high school or elementary student in a

foreign language classroom setting. A final limitation to my

study is I am placed in a suburban upper-middle to upper class

school district. The findings of my study may not apply to rural

or urban school settings, or middle, or lower class settings.

However, I feel that some of the motivations are probably going

to be the same. These are some of the limitations to my study.

Proposal Summary

In summary, this study centers on discovering what actually

motivates the students in a Spanish classroom, and what can be


done to motivate more students. I want to do this study because I

want to become the best foreign language teacher I can be, and I

want my students to walk away with an interest in Spanish. In

order to do my study, I intend to both actively and passively

observe a foreign language classroom, give questionnaires to the

students over the topic of foreign language motivation, looking

at archival documents, and have causal conversations with several

foreign language teachers at my placement to find out which

strategies work best and which strategies do not work at all when

they are trying to motivate their students. Then I will analyze

my data using my inductive and deductive codes: Motivation,

Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Strategies. I will hopefully find out

which motivational strategies work the best, and if I integrate

those strategies into my lessons will there be a positive change

in their grades?


References

Bräuer, G. (Ed.). (2001). Pedagogy of language learning in higher

education. Westport: Ablex.

Blaz, D. (1999). Foreign language teacher’s guide to active

learning. Larchmont: Eye on Education, Inc.

Dörnyei, Z. (1994). Motivation and motivating in the foreign

language classroom. The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 78,

No.3, 273-284.

Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivational strategies in the language

classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic

motivations: classic definitions and new directions.

Contemporary Educational Psychology, Vol. 25, 54-67.


Appendix A

Questionnaire

1. Why did you choose to study this foreign language?

2. What motivates you in the foreign language classroom?

3. Do you have someone to practice the language with

outside of school?

4. What would help you to become more motivated in the

foreign language class?

5. What helps motivate you? (ex: candy, extra credit, etc)


Chapter Two

In chapter two, I will provide a through review of relevant

literature. I will also show how this literature is relevant to

the important aspects of my action research project.

Literature Review

The overall topic for this literature review is what

motivates students in a foreign language classroom and if the

motivation affects the students’ academic achievement in a

positive way? In order to further examine this topic one needs

focus on these varying themes: what is motivation, what is

intrinsic motivation, what is integrative motivation, what is

extrinsic motivation, what is instrumental motivation, what are

some types of strategies for a foreign language classroom

setting, and the students’ academic achievement in general for

this literature review. As a side note, all italicized and

underlined words belong to the aforementioned author.

Most authors who write on the topic of motivation have

formed a definition of their own to explain motivation. Woolfolk

(2004) writes “motivation is usually defined as an internal state

that arouses, directs, and maintains behavior” (p.350). Likewise

Ryan and Deci (2000) have a similar view on motivation, defining

motivation as, “To be motivated means to be moved to do

something…someone who is energized or activated toward an end is

considered motivated” (p. 54). A slightly different perspective


on motivation comes from Dörnyei (2001) who states, “‘motivation’

is a general way of referring to the antecedents (i.e. the causes

and origins) of action” (p.6). Brown (2000), on the other hand,

defines motivation as a, “catch-all term for explaining the

success or failure of virtually any complex task. It is easy to

assume that success in any task is due simply to the fact that

someone is ‘motivated’”(p.160). Chamot, Barnhardt, Beard El

Dinary, and Robbins claim, “Motivation affects how hard students

are willing to work on a task, how much they will persevere when

they are challenged, and how much satisfaction they feel when

they accomplish a learning task” (p. 176). An explanation of how

motivation affects students in a foreign language comes from a

book edited by Oxford (1996), Oxford and Shearin explain:

Is motivation important to second or foreign language (L2)

learning? What does motivation contribute to L2 success,

over and about that which is contributed by a talent or

aptitude for learning languages? The answer is that

motivation is on of the main determining factors in success

in developing a second or foreign language (Gardner, 1985b;

Scarcella and Oxford, 1992). Motivation determines the

extent of personal involvement in foreign or second language

learning. Conversely, unmotivated students are

insufficiently involved and therefore unable to develop

their potential L2 skills. (p.121)


A clear and complete definition comes from the same book edited

by Oxford in a section by, Okada, Oxford, and Abo:

One comprehensive definition of language learning motivation

is that of Crookes and Schmidt (1991), who state that such

motivation consists of seven elements: (1) interest, (2)

relevance, (3) expectancy of success or failure, (4) belief

in forthcoming rewards, (5) decision to be involved, (6)

persistence, and (7) high activity level (p.106).

These are the different motivational themes I found while working

on my research.

One theme authors tend to separate motivation into is

intrinsic motivation. According to Woolfolk if someone is

intrinsically motivated they, “do not need incentives or

punishments, because the activity itself is rewarding” (p.351).

Another view on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation comes from

Ryan and Deci who writes, “The most basic distinction is between

intrinsic motivation, which refers to doing something because it

is inherently interesting or enjoyable” (p. 55). Another view on

intrinsic motivation comes from Brown who states, “Intrinsically

motivated behaviors are aimed at bringing about certain

internally rewarding consequences, namely feelings of competence

and self-determination” (p. 164). A final definition for

intrinsic motivation is found in the book by Hammerly (1985), who

explains intrinsic motivation as, “learning for the satisfaction


of learning” (p. 104). Intrinsic motivation is how most teachers

wish their students would be motivated, but usually that is

usually not the case. This was a look at intrinsic motivation in

the foreign language classroom.

A type of motivation that is similar to intrinsic is

integrative motivation. Integrative motivation, however, is

directly linked with learning a foreign language. Johnson (2001)

refers to integrative motivation as, “if they learning the

foreign language through a desire to learn more about a culture,

its language and people- to ‘integrate’ more within the target

language society” (p. 129). This type of motivation is not a new

theory. In a 1973 book edited by Oller and Richards, Gardner

implies that integrative motivation is the, “successful second

language acquisition depends upon a willingness (or desire) to be

like valued members of the ‘other’ language community” (p. 237).

In another book edited by Arena in 1990, Yoshida suggests that

integrative motivation is, “to learn about the target people and

culture that correlates positively with their linguistic ability”

(p. 20). This implies that they do not have to want to become a

member of the society, only want to learn about the people and

their culture. Another definition of instrumental motivation

comes from a book edited by Bräuer. In this book Galbreath-

Jernigan describes instrumental motivation as a type of

motivation, “for those learning the language to ‘communicate


with, interact with, or to become (in some small way) a part of

the other language community’” (p. 25). In the book that was

edited by Harley, Allen, Cummins, and Swain (1990) definitions of

integrative and anti-integrative sentiments are given. Bourhis,

the author of this section says, “Integrativeness refers to the

desire to become an accepted member of the outgroup culture; fear

of assimilation refers to the fear that belonging to this ‘other’

culture might result in the loss of the first language and

culture” (p. 141, 142). Lastly, Hammerly states that integrative

motivation as, “wanting to be a part of the other linguistic

group” (p. 104). This section was an in depth section on

integrative motivation in the foreign language classroom.

Another distinction authors make in the topic of motivation

is with extrinsic motivation. Ryan and Deci later state,

“extrinsic motivation, which refers to doing something because it

leads to a separable outcome” (p. 55). These are the types of

motivation found in research. Another definition of extrinsic

motivation comes from Woolfolk who writes, “In contrast, when we

do something in order to earn a grade, avoid punishment, please

the teacher, or for some other reason that have very little to do

with the task itself, we experience extrinsic motivation”

(p.351). Brown echoes these authors when he explains,

“Extrinsically motivated behaviors, on the other hand, are

carried out in anticipation of a reward from outside and beyond


the self. Typical extrinsic rewards are money, prizes, grades,

and even certain types of positive feedback” (p.164). Another

view on extrinsic motivation comes from Hammerly who states:

As language teaching to unwilling students tends to be

ineffective, there seems to be little point in doing it. It

can be argued, of course, that all students should be

exposed to another language and that if, thorough extrinsic

motivation (such as good grades), they do study, they will

learn” (p.82).

This section was an overview of extrinsic motivation and how it

can apply to the foreign language classroom.

A fourth type of motivation is instrumental motivation.

Instrumental motivation is similar to extrinsic motivation, but

instrumental is specifically related to learning a foreign

language. Johnson tells that instrumental motivation, “involves

learning in order to achieve some other goal. So, if you learn

French because you will get a better job if you speak the

language, then your motivation is…instrumental” (p. 129). In a

book edited by Omaggio-Hadley in 1993, O’Malley and Uhl-Chamot

explain that instrumental motivation include, “deriving

advantages from knowing the language in an occupation or to

accomplish external goals for learning…” and they argue

“Instrumental motivation was hypothesized to be less effective

because it is less personalized and more dependant on external


motivation, resulting in less sustained effort to learn and use

the language” (p. 106). Through research it shall be discovered

if this theory is correct. Yet another definition of instrumental

motivation comes from a 2001 book edited by Bräuer. Galbreath-

Jernigan clarifies instrumental motivation as, “for students with

pragmatic reasons for language study, including job opportunities

or social recognition” (p. 25). A final definition of

instrumental motivation comes from Hammerly who says that it is

the “learning for a practical purpose” (p. 104). These are

varying definitions on instrumental motivation.

Another theme which can be found is types of strategies.

Brown best defines strategies when he claims:

Strategies are specific methods of approaching a problem or

task, modes of operation for achieving a particular end,

planned designs for controlling and manipulating certain

information. They are contextualized ‘battle plans’ that

might vary from moment to moment, or day to day, or year to

year. Strategies vary intraindividually; each of us has a

number of possible ways to solve a particular problem, and

we choose one – or several in sequence – for a given problem

(p. 113).

In Dörnyei’s 1994 article he lists thirty motivational

strategies to use in a foreign language classroom. These

strategies range from, “facilitate student satisfaction by


allowing students to create finished products that they can

perform or display, encouraging them to be proud of themselves

after accomplishing a task,” to “promote student contact with L2

speakers by arranging meetings with L2 speakers in your country;

or, if possible, organising school trips or exchange programs to

the L2 community; or finding pen-friends for your students”

(p.281, 282). This author provides an extensive list of all the

motivational strategies one could ever ask for to use in a

foreign language classroom setting. About the use of strategies

Chamot, Barnhardt, Beard El-Dinary, and Robbins state, “Student

motivation is an important consideration when presenting learning

strategies instruction, and in turn, strategies instruction can

be quiet powerful in building student motivation for language

learning” (p. 178). Some strategies they suggest include, gauging

the students’ level of confidence and promoting their self-

efficacy. In a book edited by Brickbichler, Galloway and Labarca

claim:

“that every living being is motivated, albeit to different

aims, and that it is the teacher’s task to discover the

‘springs of motivation’ in individual students and channel

this motivation, through course content and classroom

activities, in the direction of language acquisition.

Whitehead (104) appeals for more vitality in the classroom

context: ‘Pupils have got to be made to feel they are


studying something and are not merely executing intellectual

minuets’ (p.9) Lubasa (67) cites such driving elements

as interest, freedom of choice, and confidence about being

on the right route and contends, further, that motivation is

goal oriented and supported by perseverance. Among those

factors that influence perseverance are the pleasure of

struggling with a task or problem, and the satisfaction

resulting from solving it” (p. 132).

According to a book edited by James and Garrett (1992) contains

another theory by Hedge and Gosden on a motivational strategy to

use in the foreign language classroom. This theory states:

in their desire to raise their student’s learner-ego, seeing

task-awareness as the most obvious means to this end…They

see one positive advantage to the sentence grammar approach:

it gives the learners confidence in their own abilities and

eventually prepares the way to a natural and authentic

concern for discourse (p. 164).

By using this strategy the teacher builds student confidence,

which in turn builds student motivation. About foreign language

strategies, McDonough implies:

First, strategies are effective: they are related to

solutions in specific ways, and they are productive in

solving the problem for reasons which theorists can

articulate. Second, strategies are systematic: learners do


not create or stumble upon the best strategy for solving a

problem but uncover the strategy from their knowledge of a

problem and employ it systematically. Third, strategies are

finite: a limited number of strategies can be identified.

Strategies are not idiosyncratic creations of learners…This

systematicity of strategies should be kept as a guiding

factor in the search for descriptions and explanations of

the strategies used by second language learners... A fourth

way of conceiving of strategies is to think of them as plans

for action… Stern’s original ten strategies – ‘features that

mark out good language learning’ (1975: 31) – are as

follows:

1. A personal learning style or positive learning

strategies;

2. An active approach to the learning task;

3. A tolerant and outgoing approach to the target

language and empathy with its speakers;

4. Technical know-how about how to tackle a language;

5. Strategies of experimentation and planning with the

object of developing the new language into an

ordered system and of revising this system

progressively;

6. Constantly searching for meaning;

7. Willingness to practise;


8. Willingness to use the language in real

communication;

9. Self-monitoring and critical sensitivity to language

use;

10. Developing the target language more and more as a

separate reference system, and learning to think in

it. (p. 5, 6).

This author provides an extensive list of what students should be

doing as well as how teachers can encourage the development of

these strategies in their students. In a book edited by Austin –

Haggstrom, Zarker – Morgan, and Wieczorek (1995), all of the

authors point out exceptional strategies for a foreign language

classroom. One strategy that was particularly interesting was the

think- aloud procedure, this procedure is:

The technique of asking learners to think aloud as they

attempt to solve problems encountered in the L2 has been

used extensively in recent L2 strategy research (Hosenfeld

1997 and 1979; Block 1986; Abraham and Vann 1987; Feldmann

and Stemmer 1987; Manghubai 1987; Vann and Abraham 1990). It

is seen to provide a unique opportunity to probe the inner

workings of a learner’s mind so as to gain insight into an

L2 learner’s mental activity when encountering problematic

situations (p. 22).


This was an extensive look at different strategies to use in the

foreign language classroom environment.

A final topic that needs to be covered is academic

achievement. Achievement has both positive and negative sides.

From a book edited by Bailey and Nunan (1996), the author

Hilleson points out, “There was certainly anxiety about future

academic achievement, particularly among lower proficiency

students…A recurring theme, however, was that there was no time

to worry about the future (p. 268). This shows that while

students may care about their academic achievement they just may

not have the time available. On a slightly contradictory note,

Johnson argues, “The basic finding is that there is little

relationship (correlation) between intelligence and achievement

in FL learning” (p. 119). Johnson later contradicts himself when

he states:

Genesee’s attempt to correlate French achievement and

intelligence find no relationship between intelligence and

what he calls ‘communication skills’ (basically, speaking

and listening). Be he does find a correlation between

intelligence and what he calls ‘academic language skills’ –

that is, reading and writing. This suggests that being

intelligent will help you to learn reading and writing, but

not speaking and listening (p. 119, 120).


Lastly, in Dörnyei’s 2001 book he cites the achievement

motivation theory. This approach:

is determined by conflicting approach and avoidance

tendencies. The positive influences are the expectancy (or

the perceived probability) of success, the incentive value

of successful task fulfillment and need for achievement. The

negative influences involve fear of failure, the incentive

to avoid failure and the probability of failure (p. 10).

These are several examples of achievement in a foreign language

classroom.

Overall this literature review covered what is motivation,

what is intrinsic motivation, what is integrative motivation,

what is extrinsic motivation, what is instrumental motivation,

what are some types of strategies for a foreign language

classroom setting, and the students’ academic achievement in

general for this literature review. Hopefully this helped to

define these topics so the question of, what motivates students

in a foreign language classroom and if the motivation affects the

students’ academic achievement in a positive way?


References

Arena, L. A. (Ed.). (1990). Language proficiency: defining,

teaching, and testing. New York, NY: Plenum Press.

Bailey, K.M., Nunan, D. (Eds.). (1996). Voices from the language

classroom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Bräuer, G. (2001). Pedagogy of language learning in higher

education: an introduction. Westport, Connecticut: Ablex

Publishing.

Birckbichler, D. W. (Ed.). (1990). New perspectives and new

directions in foreign language education. Lincolnwood,

Illinois: National Textbook Company.

Brown, D. H. (2000). Principles of language learning and

teaching: fourth edition. White Plains, NY: Pearson

Education Company.


language classroom. The Modern Language Journal, V. 78, 3,

273-284.


classroom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Hadley-Omaggio, A. (Ed.). (1993). Research in language learning:

principles, processes, and prospects. Lincolnwood, Illinois:

National Textbook Company.


Haggstrom-Austin, M., Morgan-Zarker, L., Wieczorek, J.A. (Eds.).

(1995). The Foreign language classroom: bridging theory and

practice. New York, NY: Garland Publishing, Inc.

Hammerly, H. (1985). An Integrated theory of language teaching:

and its practical consequences. Blaine, WA: Second Language

Publications.

Harley, B., Allen, P., Cummings, J., Swain, Merrill. (Eds.).

(1990). The Development of second language proficiency.

Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

James, C., Garrett, P. (Eds.). (1992). Language awareness in the

classroom. Essex, England: Longman Group UK Limited.

Johnson, K. (2001). An Introduction to foreign language learning

and teaching. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

McDonough, S.H. (1995). Strategy and skill in learning a foreign

language. London, England: Edward Arnold.

Mills, G. E. (2003). Action research: a guide for the teacher

researcher 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill

Prentice Hall.

Oller, J. W. Jr., Richards, J.C. (Eds.). (1973). Focus on the

learner:pragmatic perspective for the language teacher.

Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers, Inc.

Oxford, R.L. (Ed.). (1996). Language learning motivation:

pathways to the new century. Honolulu, HI: University of

Hawai’i Press.


Ryan, R. M., Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic


Contemporary Educational Psychology, V. 25, 54-67.

Uhl-Chamot, A., Barnhardt, S., Beard-El-Dinary, P., Robbins,

Jill. (1999). The Learning strategies handbook. White

Plains, NY: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.

Woolfolk, A. (2004). Educational psychology. Boston: Pearson

Education.


Chapter Three

In chapter three, I will begin by telling the reader about

the research setting (e.g., classroom, school) and the people in

it who are relevant to this study (e.g., students, myself,

clinical faculty, and other teachers through simple demographic

information-age, maybe appearance, number of years teaching, and

anything else that might be useful-that would help the reader

visualize my research). I will discuss in detail the data

collection methods used (why chosen, the context when used, any

problems/unexpected successes in their use). I will also discuss,

in detail, the data analysis procedure used and the codes found

to be most useful.

Research Settings

My research took place in one school, a middle school. This

middle school is one of three in the community. The first part of

my research was completed in fall of 2005 and the second part of

my research was completed in spring of 2006. The school district

I did my research in was an upper-class suburban school. Out of

the 653 students at the middle school I did my research at: 87.2%

are White, 6.0% are Asian or Pacific Islander, 3.7 % are African

Americans, and 1.9% are Multi-Racial. Of those 653 students:

10.7% are students with disabilities, 3.7% are economically

disadvantaged, and 2.4% are limited English proficient. There are

approximately 25,000 people in this community. The living


accommodations in this city range from apartments to four or more

story homes. This school has been awarded the title of

“Excellent” by the Ohio Department of Education for the 2004-2005

school year.

My School

The school where I did my research is around 30 years old,

but a new gymnasium and wing were being built throughout the

school year, and during the summer of 2006 all of the classrooms

are being revamped. All of the teachers seem to love being there

and everyday you will see several teachers coming in early and

staying late. This school is a pleasant working environment. The

teachers follow a strict discipline policy and the

“troublemakers” are dealt with in an appropriate fashion.

Overall, this is a jovial school that made my research enjoyable.

My Classroom

During the fall of 2005 my classroom was on the school’s

stage. In my room there were 28 desks, a teacher’s desk, a TV and

DVD player, a file cabinet, a white board and a bulletin board.

Occasionally there would be loud foot-traffic because the multi-

purpose room was right below the stage, but the removable wall

helped tone down the noise below.

In the spring of 2006 the stage was under construction so I

became a traveling teacher during my student teaching. My

classrooms ranged from a science classroom, to an English


classroom, to a math classroom. I was all over the school. Being

a traveling teacher forced me to adapt to the environment I was

in for that period because I was at the mercy of that teacher’s

classroom. The classrooms varied from lab tables and a

chalkboard, to regular desks and a white board.

My Students

My students were 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who, for the most

part, had a genuine interest in Spanish. These students seemed to

be fascinated by learning about another culture and that

culture’s language. Not only were they captivated by the idea of

learning about some of the world around them, but some were more

economically minded by telling me that knowing Spanish would help

them get a job in the future, while others liked the culture, and

some liked the grammar aspect of the language. However, there

were the typical middle school disciplinary problems with some of

the students, but overall the students seemed to genuinely enjoy

Spanish.

My Clinical Faculty

My clinical faculty was a man of thirty-seven years old. He

has taught Spanish for eleven years, but only four of those years

were at this middle school. The other seven years were taught in

the same school district, but at the high school level. Not only

did my clinical faculty teach Spanish, but he also was the middle

school athletic director, middle school girl’s softball coach,


and the assistant principal. Needless to say he was busy. My

clinical faculty taught Spanish very well, and I learned a lot of

good techniques from him. On the flip side, I also learned some

techniques not to do in class from observing him. He would

occasionally use sarcasm and tease some select students. Some of

the students were fine with these tactics, but a few others were

honestly hurt by what he would say. In general he was friendly

with the students and he got along well with the rest of the

staff. Overall, he is well liked by his students, and he was a

good example to me of how to be an effective teacher as well as

how I should not use sarcasm or tease some students as he did.

Author

At the start of my research I was twenty-two, and I had just

started graduate school for my Multi-Age License in Spanish. At

the end of my research I was twenty-three, and finishing up

graduate school. I was born and raised in a middle class family

in a city in northwest Ohio. The community I lived in is a

diverse community in both race and economic status that is

comprised of mostly democrats. Because of my environment I grew

up with liberal ideas, and I believe that everyone is entitled to

a solid education no matter of race or economic background. Along

with this belief my values include: honesty, open-mindedness,

equality, and justice. My passion for Spanish and exploring other

cultures helps me to share this love with others.


Ethics

As appropriate to any code of ethics, I will not divulge any

name or location so as to uphold the anonymity of those people

and places involved in my study. I will refer to those people

with pseudonyms or no name at all, and the school name and its

location will not be revealed. All of my research was collected

anonymously.


Questionnaire

I used the questionnaire in my pilot study in order to find

out from the students themselves what motivates them in the

foreign language classroom as well as what would help them become

more motivated. By using this method, I was able to gather all

the necessary research for what motivates foreign language

students. There are between twenty-five and twenty-seven students

in each class. The students were asked what motivates them in a

foreign language. They were also asked what will help them to

become more motivated in the foreign language classroom. As well

as why they chose to study the language, and if they have someone

who speaks the language so they can practice outside of school. I

distributed and collected the five question questionnaires on

December 7, 2005 in all of my classes. See Appendix A for an

example of the questionnaire.

Conversation


Another method I used was informal conversations to find out

what motivational strategies work the best for the teacher at my

placement. I used this informal method with my teacher in fall of

2005 and in spring of 2006. In those informal conversations I

found out that in the teacher’s point of view on which

motivational strategies work and which do not in a traditional

foreign language classroom setting. I was also able to use my

teacher as a sounding board to bounce my motivational ideas off

of him. This was a very effective method.

Active Observation

A third data collection method I used was active

observation. I actively observed the students of the foreign

language classrooms I worked in during fall 2005. In this time I:

helped out the teacher, observed the interactions between the

students, and helped out the students when they have problems

with the lesson for the day. I actively observed how the students

reacted to different motivational strategies and how they affect

the students’ motivation. From these observations I implemented

several different strategies during my student teaching in spring

2006. During this time I continued to observe the students as I

taught to gauge their reaction to the strategies I executed.

Passive Observation

Another method of data collection I used was passive

observation. I passively observed the students throughout fall


2005 to see if what their teacher told me what motivates them is

actually what worked. This was helpful because I got to see what

worked before actually trying what I intended to do.

Examining Archival Documents

A final method of data collection I used was I kept a record

of the students’ grades from just before I started student

teaching (the end of third quarter), and compared them to their

grades at the end of my research (their fourth quarter grades).

This comparison of their grades before I implemented the

motivational strategies to the grades after I implemented the

motivational strategies was quite helpful to my research. By

doing this, I was able to see if by changing the motivational

strategies used in class has a positive effect on the students’

grades.

Data Analysis



Motivation, and Strategies.

Motivated: I define motivated as a student who wants to do

well in Spanish or wants to study Spanish. These reasons are

because of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.

Intrinsic Motivation: Throughout my research intrinsic

motivation has come to mean: students who do want to study

Spanish and do well in Spanish simply for the fact that they


love Spanish. They may love the culture, the history, the

grammar, but either way they just want to be there and study

Spanish.

Extrinsic Motivation: In my research I have identified

extrinsic motivation as students who want to study Spanish

and do well in Spanish for one or multiple of these reasons:

parental pressure to do well, knowing Spanish will be

beneficial in today’s job market, an overall drive for good

grades, and receiving prizes or extra credit for proper

behavior and good grades.




class.

In order to analyze these data I will read all the returned

questionnaires and then I will decide which responses are the

most common. Then I will go back and tally the most common

responses from the students’ questionnaires. I will also review

my notes from the informal conversations I had with the teacher

at my placement, as well as review my active and passive

observation notes, and archival documents.

Summary

In this chapter, I informed the reader about the settings:

my school, the classrooms, my students, my clinical faculty,


myself and my ethics. I also discussed my methods of data

collection. Also, I discussed, in detail, the data analysis

procedure used and the codes found to be most useful.

For chapter four, I show the results of my research, and

then I will connect them to my literature review in chapter two.


Chapter Four

In chapter four, I will present my findings as answers to

the research questions. I will discuss these findings and show

their connection with the literature presented in chapter two.

Also, I will illustrate these findings by providing data

excerpts.

Findings from Baseline Question

The first research question was: “Are students in a specific

foreign language classroom more extrinsically or intrinsically

motivated?”

I researched this question using the aforementioned methods

in chapter three. After analyzing the data that I collected for

my research I have narrowed down the best strategies to motivate

the students of a specific foreign language classroom. To analyze

my observation notes, questionnaire answers, and conversation

notes, I applied the inductive codes of intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation. To further analyze the questionnaires, I found which

responses were most common and tallied the number of times that

response was found and produced percentages. To keep the sample

simple I limited it to one class, an eighth grade Spanish class

of twenty-five students. I chose to limit the sample because upon

reviewing the other classes’ questionnaires, they all had similar

answers.



These patterns were found in analyzing questionnaire answers.


usefulness of the language in a job in the future. Seventy-two

percent of the students were motivated by extra-credit. However,

only forty-eight percent were motivated by candy, thirty-two

percent were motivated by in class games, and twenty-eight

percent were motivated by pressure from parents. This pattern

demonstrates that the majority of the class was motivated through

future use of the language and extra-credit, which are both

extrinsic motivators.

Figure One:

The following is a bar graph that demonstrates the number of

students who cited: usefulness, extra-credit, candy, games, and

parental pressure as motivators in the foreign language

classroom. The bars represent the number of students out of

twenty-five who cited those motivators. This questionnaire was

given on December 7, 2005.






An example of extra-credit as a motivator comes from another

student’s questionnaire which says: “The teacher is very funny

and all his extra-credit opportunities motivate me.” On the other

end of the spectrum a student who cited parental pressure in

their questionnaire stated: “Well, I’m plenty motivated, because

if I fail (C or lower) my dad will rip my lungs out through my

nose.”

These are different types of example of the pattern I found

in my research about what type of motivation is prevalent in my

classroom and from that type of motivation, what strategies best

motivate the students in a specific foreign language classroom.

Concluding Statement from Baseline Question

Once my data had been collected and analyzed, I have found

that sixth, seventh, and eighth graders are surprisingly

knowledgeable about what motivates them. I originally thought

that it would be difficult for some, if not all, of the students

to write what motivates them. What do middle school students know

about motivation? More than I thought apparently. Without saying

or even understanding the words extrinsic or intrinsic, the

students were incredibly capable of putting their thoughts of


what would help them learn Spanish, or what would motivate them

to learn Spanish onto paper. A possibility as to why they were so

well spoken is the fact that I was in an affluent school

district, but since I did not perform any of my research in a

less-affluent school district I have nothing to back that theory

up.

In a way, I was not surprised when extrinsic motivation was

far more popular than intrinsic in my research, but the Spanish

enthusiast that I am was hoping for a couple intrinsic students.

I was slightly surprised however, that games and candy were not

higher on the list. This could be because parents and the media

are pushing the practicality of the ability to know a second

language. This is especially true with Spanish because it is

quickly becoming the second most spoken language in the United

States because of the rising Hispanic population.

Another reason I am not too surprised about extrinsic

motivation winning out over intrinsic motivation is because of my

other data collection methods. Through talking with my clinical

faculty he believed, based on his eleven years of teaching

experience, that the students would be more extrinsically

motivated. This is because as he said, “Kids will be kids, and

they will always love the prizes, extra credit and games over

just a love of the language.” Also through conversations and from


observing my students, it became apparent that the students would

be more extrinsically inclined.

Findings from Intervention Question

My intervention question was, “If I integrate the more

popular motivational strategies into my lessons, will the

students’ grades improve?”

I used all the same research methods as mentioned in chapter

three for my intervention question. However, with the

intervention question an extra step was added, the peso program.

For this program I search on the internet and found an image

of a peso from Argentina. I copied it to a word document

(Appendix B) and then had them printed on blue paper and had cut

the pesos out. I then explained the peso system to them as such:

For the fourth quarter we are going to try something a

little different. We are going to use the peso system! With

this system you collect ten pesos, and once you have

collected them you can turn them in for five points extra

credit or for a prize in my tin.

The five points extra credit, the points were added into the raw

score extra credit column. In the tin I put objects like: small

containers of Play-Doh, bouncy balls, pencils with Spanish on

them, candy, and toys from McDonald’s happy meals. I did give the

students a warning that if they got caught with their toys in

another teacher’s class, that I am not responsible for their


irresponsibility, and that the toys were meant for after school.

All of the students respected this rule.

Then I continued to explain how you earn pesos. The

students could earn a peso for: getting an A on a test or a quiz,

doing all of their homework for the week, class participation,

and for helping me out (i.e. taking the attendance down).

According to their surveys this program was tapping into the

second and third highest forms of extrinsic motivation, extra

credit and candy/prizes. A nice part about this system is the

students have the ability to choose. Do I want a prize, or do I

want to better my grade by extra credit? By introducing this

program the students were excited and the students’ participation

and homework completion immediately increased, but the real test

would be comparing their third quarter grades (pre-peso grades)

with their fourth quarter grades (post-peso grades).

Figure Two:

The following table demonstrates the overall average change

in grades from the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. This grade

change is shown in percentage form and each average is an average

from the whole grade level.

Grade Level Average Grade Change in %

Sixth Grade + 6.654%


Seventh Grade + 5.296%

Eighth Grade + 5.833%

As figure two shows, all three grade levels had at least a

five point two percentage change. That change can make a letter

grade difference to some students. If not a whole letter grade,

this change could make a B- into a B+, but what does that show of

individual students?

Figure Three:

Figure three is a table that shows the highest and lowest percent change from each grade

level. This will demonstrate that the peso program affected some students differently, and that

not all students were around the five percent mark.

Student/Grade Level 3rd Quarter Grade 4th Quarter Grade % Changed

Tommy, Sixth Grade 40% F 81% B- 41%

Matt, Sixth Grade 90% A- 90% A- 0%

Sally, Seventh Grade 66% D 85% B 19%

Brad, Seventh Grade 87% B+ 84% B -4 %

Meg, Eighth Grade 91% A- 105% A+ 14%

Sarah, Eight Grade 93% A 93% A 0%

This table exhibits that the peso program affected almost

all of the students positively. Only one student out of all three

grade levels had a grade decrease from third quarter to fourth


quarter, all other students’ grades either stayed the same or

went all the way up forty-one percentage points.

Another example of the peso program’s success comes from

informal conversation. During my last week at my placement I

asked my students one simple question, “What did you think of the

peso program?” and the response was overwhelming. The following

are examples of what students said about the peso program.

The sixth graders were excited to share their thoughts. Greg

said, “It makes kids participate. I didn’t use to participate.

Now I do”. While Brittany stated, “It motivated us to do good”.

Caroline thought, “The pesos taught us responsibility it was our

fault if we lost them.”

The seventh graders also love the program. Austin said, “The

peso program was good because it gave you something to strive

for”. While Tyler said, “I never participated until I got pesos

for it”. Kyle stated, “It was a good way to get people interested

in the class”.

The eighth graders were equally as enthusiastic. Jill

explained, “I liked the program because it rewarded you for doing

what you should do anyhow”. Jack said, “I wish our other teacher

would have done it. It motivates me to do good”. While Brian

thought, “It gave me a chance to get extra credit, which I

definitely need”.


I was really interested to see that not only did I think the

peso program was a success, and the grades showed the program to

be a success, but the students thought the pesos were a success

as well. This success encourages me to try the program again when

I teach on my own.

Concluding Statement on Intervention Question

After all of the research and number crunching is done I

have realized that no matter how much I, and probably all

teachers, desire intrinsic learners who are there for the pure

love of Spanish, those students are few and far between. However,

I do realize that all students have some form of extrinsic

motivation within them. When I first thought about doing the peso

program I was uncertain how the students would take to it, and I

was unsure if the peso program would help at all. My clinical

faculty loved the idea and he has told me that if he continues

teaching Spanish (he might take a job as a permanent Athletic

Director) he will use the peso program. From my research and

intervention I think that the peso program worked well.

Overall, I think my peso program that I designed and

installed at this middle school was a success. I had more

students raising their hands to participate, I had more questions

from those that did not understand but wanted to so they could do

their homework, and I had an improvement in grades overall with

huge leaps in some specific students. I would love to do this in


my current position in fall of 2006, but I will be working with

high school students and I do not know if they will take to the

peso program as well as the middle school students did.

Relevance to Literature

After reviewing books and articles and performing my own

research in the field it has become obvious to me that all

foreign language students are motivated. Whether the students

motivation is intrinsic or extrinsic, instrumental or

integrative, or a combination of all four (because instrumental

and integrative is very similar to extrinsic an intrinsic) they

are all motivated. By researching all the forms of motivation

found in a foreign language classroom it was easier for me to

identify the types of motivation that my students have within

them.

Through the study of these types of motivation and how they

apply to the classroom it becomes easier for a teacher to

formulate which strategies will work best in his or her

classroom. Students will always have a form or several forms of

motivation within them. However, it is up to the teacher if he or

she wants to delve into their students to find out how to become

a better teacher for them.

Also by researching academic achievement I was able to

understand further which the formal definition of academic


achievement and how it applies to my research because academic

achievement gave me a bar to which I could compare my students.

In addition to researching those topics I found a subject

that came up in the classroom, but not in the books. This topic

is the relevance of age. Are middle school students motivated

differently than high school students? I think this topic

warrants further study.

Summary

In chapter four, I took you through my research and

presented my findings to you. I also showed how the literature I

reviewed in chapter two is connected to my research. I clarified

my research by illustrating my findings through graphs and

tables.


Chapter Five

In chapter five, I will summarize my study, present

recommendations for others, and discuss my plan of action for

future teaching based on the findings of this study.

Summary of the Study

The purpose of my study was to find out what motivates




to know what specific strategies motivated those students, and if

I integrated those motivational strategies into my classroom,

would there be a positive impact on the students’ grades. The

data collection methods I used were: questionnaire, conversation,

passive and active observation, and examining archival documents.

By using these methods of data collection I was able to form

inductive and deductive codes which I used to analyze my data, as

discussed in chapter three.

In the fall of 2005 my pilot study data pointed toward a

specific class of foreign language students as being more

extrinsically motivated. The study also showed that those

students were more extrinsically motivated by the usefulness of

the language, extra credit, candy, games and parental pressure.

This led the way to continue my research and intervention in

spring of 2006. By implementing the peso program, as described in


chapter four, I was able to see if those motivational techniques

found in both the program and in the questionnaire would

positively affect those students’ grades. Then I calculated the

data to find out if the students’ fourth quarter grades (post

peso program) were higher than their third quarter grades (pre

peso program). As it turned out, by employing those extrinsically

motivating techniques the students’ grades increased with class

averages of 6.654% for the sixth graders, 5.396% for the seventh

graders, and 5.833% for the eighth graders. I find it exciting

that if research into what motivates your students and if you use

those methods in class your students’ grades will improve.

Recommendations

From my experience with this study, I would like to give

some recommendations to all educators including: my cooperating

teacher, foreign language teachers, non-foreign language

teachers, parents and myself.

To my cooperating teacher, I recommend that you take the

time to find out what motivates your students and apply

strategies involving what motivates them into your classes. Once

you find out what motivates and them and put it into action you

hold the key to their attention. Not only do you have their

attention, but you also will see an improvement in attention and

grades.


To other foreign language teachers, be innovative with your

students. Find out what motivates them and run with it. If you

establish a program like the peso program into your class your

students will develop an interest for your class and their grades

will improve.

To non-foreign language teachers, all those this study has

been foreign language centric, the principles of this study can

cross into other subjects. Motivation is not foreign language

specific, find your students’ interest and spark it.

To parents, if you do not know the foreign language your

child is studying do not shut it off. Learn with your child for a

bonding experience, and always encourage and support your child

in all academic subjects. If your child has your support and if

you motivate them to do well they will go far.

My Action Plan

At the beginning of my study I wanted to find out what

motivates foreign language students in a specific foreign

language classroom and if I apply strategies that contain that

type of motivation if it will improve their grades. I found out

that the students were extrinsically motivated and by applying

the specific strategies grades did improve.

What I must keep in mind is that not all students are the

same. I should not assume that because the peso program was a

success at the middle school that it will be a success when I


start my new position in the fall. Every student is an individual

and should be treated as such.

However, I have learned that I need to keep plugging away

until I find out what motivates my future students. I must not

walk into this new position blindly; I need to be open to new

ideas and new strategies to motivate those students.

Although I have realized that not all students are

intrinsically motivated to learn Spanish, I must show my passion

for the language. If I maintain a positive attitude towards

Spanish and share my love for it and my stories and experiences I

will hopefully spread my passion for Spanish to other students

and therefore intrinsically inspire them.

I want to have a classroom where I employ many ideas,

theories, and strategies of how to teach a foreign language and

how to keep my students motivated to learn. I do not want to be

afraid to try new approaches or teaching techniques. I want to be

constantly evolving like my students. For in the end, we are all

still learners.

If I live up to these ideals not only will I become a better

teacher, but my students will benefit from me being a better

teacher. From that, just maybe I will be able to help a future

generation of teachers to become more passionate about their

subject content as well as being a motivator for them to find out

what motivates their students, and as my research shows that is


one of the best strategies to do because it will help improve

their students’ grades.

Summary

In chapter five, I summarized my study, presented

recommendations for others, and discussed my plan of action for

future teaching based on the findings of this study.


Appendix A

Questionnaire



3. Do you have someone to practice the language with

outside of school?

4. What would help you to become more motivated in the

foreign language class?

5. What helps motivate you? (ex: candy, extra credit,

etc.?


Appendix B


Appendix C

Running head: WHAT MOTIVATES STUDENTS

What Motivates Students in a Foreign Language Classroom

Lisa Wierzbicki

ED 715

Pilot Study

10/20/05


Purpose of Study

The purpose of this study was to find out what motivates




to know what specific strategies (i.e. extra credit, candy, etc)

motivated these students to learn the language.

Problem Question

Throughout this quarter I have been studying the motivation

of students in a specific foreign language classroom. The

students at my placement range from extremely motivated to not

even turning in their homework. While this teacher is

enthusiastic about the subject, some of the students are just not

interested. The reason I want to address this problem is because

I want to be the best foreign language teacher I can be. My goal

is for my students to walk away with an interest in Spanish. In

order for this to happen, I want to study what motivates these

students. I also want to find out how to motivate the unmotivated

and how to keep the enthusiastic motivated. This study centers on

discovering what actually motivates the students in a Spanish

classroom, and what could be done to motivate more students.

Research Question

Baseline Question:


1. Are students in a specific foreign language classroom

more extrinsically or intrinsically motivated?

2. What strategies help motivate students in a specific

foreign language classroom?

Intervention Question :

1. What different strategies motivate more students in a

foreign language classroom?


I employed a variety of data collection methods throughout

my study. These methods included: a questionnaire, passive

informal conversations with teachers, and active observations in

the specific Spanish classroom. The following section explains

why I chose each data collection method for this study.

Questionnaire: I used the questionnaire in order to find out

from the students themselves what motivates them in the

foreign language classroom as well as what would help them

become more motivated. The students were asked what

motivates them in a foreign language. They were also asked

what would help them to become more motivated in the foreign

language classroom. As well as why they chose to study the

language, and if they have someone who speaks the language

so they can practice outside of school. See Appendix A for

an example of the questionnaire.


Conversation: Another method that I used was informal

conversations to find out what motivational strategies work

the best for the teachers at my placement. In these informal

conversations I asked the teachers what strategies really

work in a traditional classroom setting? Through these

informal conversations I was able to discover what my

teachers thought was the best strategy for motivating

students and some teachers even supplied which strategy

never seemed to work in their classrooms.

Active Observation: A third data collection method I used

was active observation. I actively observed the students of

this specific foreign language classroom for a week. In this

time I: was in charge of running an extra credit game,

observed the interactions between the students, and helped

out the students when they had problems with the lesson for

the day. I actively observed to find out how students react

to different motivational strategies and how they affect the

students’ motivation.

In order to find out what strategies motivated students I

employed all three of these methods throughout September and

October 2005. I used the questionnaire to find out what

strategies motivate students. By using informal conversations

with the teachers at my placement I was able to find out what

strategies they think best motivate their foreign language


students. Through active observation I was able to observe which

motivational strategies work in the foreign language classroom.

Data Analysis Method



Motivation, and Strategies.

Motivated: According to Ryan, Richard M. and Deci, Edward L.

(2000), “To be motivated means to be moved to do something…

someone who is energized or activated toward an end is

considered motivated.”

Intrinsic Motivation: Also according to Ryan and Deci

intrinsic motivation, “refers to doing something because it

is inherently interesting or enjoyable.

Extrinsic Motivation: Is also defined by Ryan and Deci who

state, “refers to doing something because it leads to a

separable outcome.”




class.

In order to analyze these data I read all twenty-five

questionnaires returned by the students and then I decided which

responses were most common. Then I went back and tallied the most

common responses from the students’ questionnaires. I also


reviewed my notes from the informal conversations I had with the

teachers at my placement, as well as reviewed my active

observation notes.

Results of Analysis

“What different strategies motivate more students in a foreign

language classroom?” After analyzing the data that I collected

for my research I have narrowed down the best strategies to

motivate the students of a specific foreign language classroom.

To analyze my observation notes, questionnaire answers, and

conversation notes, I applied the inductive codes of intrinsic

and extrinsic motivation. To further analyze the questionnaires,

I found which responses were most common and tallied the number

of times that response was found and produced percentages.


These patterns were found in analyzing questionnaire answers.


usefulness of the language in a job in the future. Seventy-two

percent of the students were motivated by extra-credit. However,

only forty-eight percent were motivated by candy, thirty-two

percent were motivated by in class games, and twenty-eight

percent were motivated by pressure from parents. This pattern

demonstrates that the majority of the class was motivated through

future use of the language and extra-credit, which are both


extrinsic motivators. This is best illustrated in the following

figure, Figure One.

Figure One: The following is a bar graph that demonstrates

the number of students who cited: usefulness, extra-credit,

candy, games, and parental pressure as motivators in the foreign

language classroom. The bars represent the number of students out

of twenty-five who cited those motivators.





An example of extra-credit as a motivator comes from another

student’s questionnaire which says: “The teacher is very funny

and all his extra-credit opportunities motivate me.” On the other

end of the spectrum a student who cited parental pressure in

their questionnaire stated: “Well, I’m plenty motivated, because

if I fail (C or lower) my dad will rip my lungs out through my


nose.” These are different types of example of the pattern I

found in my research about motivational strategies in a foreign

language classroom.

Concluding Statement

Overall, I regret not having more time to perform this study

in other classes. I feel like a sample size of one foreign

language class is not sufficient enough to come to a definite

conclusion. If I had more time to do my study I would be able to

come to a clearer conclusion. I believe the topic of motivational

strategies in a foreign language classroom warrants further

study, so I can learn how to become a more effective and

motivational foreign language teacher for my future students.


References

Bräuer, G. (Ed.). (2001). Pedagogy of language learning in higher

education. Westport: Ablex.

Blaz, D. (1999). Foreign language teacher’s guide to active

learning. Larchmont: Eye on Education, Inc.


language classroom. The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 78,

No.3, 273-284.


classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic


Contemporary Educational Psychology, Vol. 25, 54-67.


Appendix A

Questionnaire



8. Do you have someone to practice the language with outside of school?

9. What would help you to become more motivated in the foreign language class?

10. What helps motivate you? (ex: candy, extra credit, etc)

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