http://dx.doi.org/10.19183/how.22.1.135
Motivation in Second Language Learning: A Historical Overview and Its Relevance in a Public High School in Pasto, Colombia
Motivación en el aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera: un resumen histórico y su importancia en una institución educativa pública en Pasto, Colombia
Mario Guerrero
mguerrero3@fordham.edu
University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
Received: August 22, 2014. Accepted: December 12, 2014.
How to cite this article (APA 6th ed.):
Guerrero, M. (2015). Motivation in second language learning: A historical overview and its relevance in a public
high school in Pasto, Colombia. HOW, 22(1), 95-106. http://dx.doi.org/10.19183/how.22.1.135.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. License Deed can be consulted at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Motivation has a significant role in the process of language learning. It is important to understand its theoretical evolution in this field to be able to consider its relevance in the learning and teaching of a foreign language. Motivation is a term that is commonly used among language teachers and language learners but perhaps many are not aware of the different theories related to this topic and their teaching implications. This essay is an attempt to understand motivation over the past forty years in the different theories associated with language acquisition. Finally, there is a personal comment on motivation and its relevance at a public high school in Pasto, Colombia.
Key words: motivation, second language learning, second language teaching.
La motivación juega un papel importante en el proceso de aprendizaje de una lengua. Es primordial entender en detalle la evolución teórica de la motivación en el campo de la enseñanza. La motivación es un término que frecuentemente lo utilizan profesores y estudiantes de idiomas pero no obstante parecen desconocer las implicaciones teóricas de este término en la enseñanza. Este artículo pretende describir la evolución de las teorías de la motivación a lo largo de los últimos cuarenta años en el campo de la enseñanza de idiomas. Por último, se hace una reflexión sobre la motivación en estudiantes de idiomas en un colegio público en la ciudad de Pasto, Colombia.
Palabras clave: aprendizaje de una segunda lengua, enseñanza de una segunda lengua, motivación.
Introduction
It is common to hear that the success or failure of a language learner to master a second language (L2) depends on their motivation. Motivation is usually associated with commitment, enthusiasm, and persistence to achieve goals. The Oxford Online Dictionary defines motivation as the “desire or willingness to do something” (Motivation, 2014). The Psychology Dictionary Online defines motivation as: (1) the driving force setting a direction to the behavior of humans and animals at a conscious and unconscious level, and (2) the willingness of a person to achieve a goal at a physical or mental level (Motivation, n.d.). Therefore, teachers play a relevant role in this process as they should know how to motivate students. Unfortunately, it is said that keeping students motivated is the second most complicated challenge for teachers (Hadfield & Dörnyei, 2013). As a language teacher, you sometimes work with students who have very defined goals and a disposition to learn. Sometimes this translates into a more productive and satisfying teaching and learning experience. Nonetheless, other students seem to take a language class because they “have to” and their learning process might result in a slower or less enjoyable process.
The purpose of this essay is to describe and discuss theoretical L2 motivation principles in the field of second language learning over the past 40 years by reporting the key findings of relevant and recent research studies on motivation. Furthermore, a discussion on the relevance of L2 motivation to a pedagogical context in a high school in Colombia will be presented.
L2 Motivation: Historical Evolution
According to Dörnyei (as cited in Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011) there are three different stages in the history of motivation in foreign language teaching and learning. These phases are: (1) The social psychological period, (2) the cognitive-situated period, and (3) the process-oriented period.
The Social Psychological Period (1959-1990)
This period has been associated with the work of Robert Gardner in a bilingual context in Canada. According to Gardner (2010), motivation is a complex construct that does not have a simple definition, however, he states that a motivated individual is someone who sets a goal and perseveres to achieve it. Motivation is also the result of an interaction with the L2 culture and the target language. Therefore, considering Gardner’s theory, social context and attitudes towards the L2 and L2 communities are the foundation to understand language learners’ motivation. Fishbein and Ajzen (as cited in O’Rourke, 2011) define attitudes as the positive or negative response of an individual regarding a specific object. In terms of language learning, the authors mention that the “object” is evidently the target language.
Gardner and Lambert’s (1972) theory of motivation draws an important relationship between motivation and orientation or “goal”. Consequently, the authors proposed two terms that are commonly used in the field of motivation: Integrative orientation refers to the positive disposition of an individual to learn a language, its culture, and its community. Integrative motivated learners might have a significant and strong reason to learn the L2. On the other hand, instrumental orientation refers to the practical reasons of an individual to learn a language. Some people might be motivated to learn a second language as a required part of their studies, or to get a higher salary. Additionally, Gardner (1985) proposed integrative motive, which means the positive attitudes of an individual towards the L2 community.
It is important to mention that during this period there were other theories about motivation after Gardner and Lambert. Clément et al. (as cited in Kiil Molberg, 2010) developed the concept of linguistic self-confidence. This theory states that being part of a multilingual community may serve as a motivational aspect for any individual who may come in contact with the L2 community. In addition, Schumann (1986) proposed the acculturation theory. Acculturation is the integration of the learner into the L2 community. However, the simple intercultural contact with the L2 community is only the first step in this learning process. Being part of this environment allows the learner to interact with L2 speakers and provides the learner with the necessary input for the learning to take place.
In this period, Gardner proposed most of the theories in L2 motivation. Despite the criticism by other researchers in this field, Gardner’s theories have evidently served as the foundation and starting point to inspire other researchers in order to better understand motivation in the L2 field and in other fields. It is worth noting that Gardner’s bilingual context in Canada inspired his research and findings. The focus on the attitudes of the individual towards both the L2 and the L2 community is probably not transferrable or applicable to other contexts that are monolingual. Hence, it would have been important to consider other aspects of society in communities where there might be more limitations in terms of the interaction with other L2 communities. This might be the case in Colombia where Spanish is predominantly the language used to communicate and the opportunities for its nationals to leave Colombia can generally be a challenging task due to visa and immigration restrictions. Finally, it would be interesting to consider the attitudes of the L2 community towards the English-speaking foreigners in order to be able to consider to what extent Colombian citizens might be interested in using English as the language with which to communicate. Some other issues might impact the motivation of learners in a specific context. For example, based on personal experience, illegal Latino immigrants in the US are not often welcome to fully participate in the American society. Many laws restrict immigrants as regards social immersion in this L2 community. Therefore, the attitudes from the L2 community should also be relevant in this theory.
The Cognitive-Situated Period (1990’s)
While the social psychological period had its focus on the importance of attitudes and feelings of language learners towards the L2 communities and the L2, the cognitive period intended to bring the focus of the investigation back to the psychological field emphasizing mainly cognition (or mental processes.) The learning contexts and the needs of the students and teachers in the classroom were considered more significant than the community and the social context. This did not mean that the social and psychological findings were disregarded—in fact, the idea was to broaden the previous theories but with consideration for other cognitive perspectives.
The first researchers to criticize the theories of the social psychological period were Crookes and Schmidt (as cited in MacIntyre, 2002). They stated that there were aspects that needed to be considered and other aspects that had not been given the importance they deserved in L2 motivation. Crookes and Schmidt (as cited in MacIntyre, 2002) reviewed three different theories related to motivation. They were: (1) speech accommodation theory (Giles & Byrnes), (2) acculturation theory (Schumann), and (3) monitor model (Krashen). Finally, these two authors used Keller’s “determinants of motivation”—interest, relevance, expectancy, and outcomes—to understand motivation in more specific contexts such as the classroom and the syllabus (MacIntyre, 2002).
In addition, Dörnyei (1994) proposed motivation on three different levels, which also contributed to this period:
During this same cognitive-centered period of time, there was also an important interest in researching task-based instruction in the L2 field. Dörnyei (2002) defines an instructional task as a “discreet unit of situated learning behaviors” (p. 139) concerning the goal and outcomes of the same task. This made the analysis of motivation in this field less challenging due to the fact that the motivational theory proposed by Dörnyei involves previous aspects proposed by Gardner, but most importantly because this theory takes into consideration specific aspects inside the pedagogical process (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). Finally, Tremblay et al. (as cited in Dörnyei, 2002) proposed trait and state motivation. Trait refers to a particular person’s motivation whereas state motivation refers to a more specific or temporary learner motivation.
In this period the transition from a general to a more specific perspective in the understanding of L2 motivation becomes more evident. This does not disregard the previous theories in the social and psychological period—but it serves as the foundation to explore other areas where L2 motivation had not been studied. It is also interesting to see how Gardner’s instrumental and integrative terms have served as a basis for other terms that included more aspects of the learner as is the case in Dörnyei’s (1994) three level theory and the trait/state motivation terms proposed by Tremblay et al. Furthermore, during this period there was a greater interest in learners and their learning experiences as opposed to the focus on the attitudes towards the L2 in the previous period. This focus possibly proved to be fundamental for other researchers in order to understand that L2 motivation was not only influenced by social and psychological aspects, but it was also influenced by more specific aspects inside the classroom such as the curriculum, the syllabus, the learners’ needs, and the role of the teacher. Finally, the use of tasks as tools to measure L2 motivation, proposed by Dörnyei (1994), sets an easier way to break down the understanding of motivation in the learning process. With this in mind, motivational research can be analyzed into smaller and probably more tangible aspects in the learning process.
The Process-Oriented Period
This period has three important perspectives on L2 motivation:
This period clearly shows a more special interest in language learners and their specific circumstances. Williams and Burden (1997), for instance, considered the learning process before and during the classroom experience. Dörnyei and Otto (as cited in Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011) proposed the learner’s motivational stages suggesting that motivation needed to be explored from other perspectives at the learner’s personal level. Consequently, this period raises awareness on learners and their specific learning context in L2 motivational research. The latter will result in the beginning of the new and most recent phase of L2 motivational research (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011).
Recent L2 Motivational Theories
The socio-dynamic period is known to be the most recent phase in the research of L2 motivation. As its name suggests, the focus on constant change and the learner’s interaction play a fundamental role in this new phase. Furthermore, the use of English as an international language raises concerns in terms of motivation. In other words, there seems to be a greater interest from language policy-makers in the learning of English as an essential academic objective for the new generations (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). This new period has three approaches:
In this current period, there has been a major shift in terms of the focus of the research in L2 motivation compared to the one in previous periods. First of all, the approach is not linear or predictable as it was before. Learners are unique and possess different personal, social, familiar, and professional characteristics that might influence their motivation towards the L2 learning process. Also, there is a realization that individuals and L2 motivation involve a dynamic process rather than the static conception previously considered. This means that learners are in constant change, which also involves a constant change in their feelings and interests. Our globalized societies tend to offer individuals an opportunity to have more interaction with other language communities and access to learning resources. These opportunities might have an influence on the motivation towards the L2. The need to understand that L2 motivation is the result of more than two variables also plays a vital role in this period because it is clear that results are not predictable. Individuals have very distinct personal and emotional traits that cannot easily be measured with one approach. Some of the downfalls of the new approaches in this period seem to suggest that these studies are still too theoretical and the lack of evidence implies that no assumptions or generalizations can be made (King, 2014).
L2 Motivation in a Specific Pedagogical Context
Educational Context
Colombia is a developing country in South America. Spanish is the official language. I have been part of this institution (high school) as both a student and teacher trainee and have developed educational projects after I graduated. These endeavors involved the development of community-based projects between the department of English in this high school and the local public university in the same city. Pasto is a very small city located in the south of Colombia. Its economy is based on agriculture and due to the war conflict, tourism in this area has rarely attracted people from other countries in the past 40 years. The opportunities for people in this region to speak to others in a different language do not seem to be relevant. Nonetheless, it is important to mention that social media and the effort of the Colombian government to provide Colombian citizens with mobility opportunities seems to have broadened the travel and work abroad alternatives.
The institution. Normal High School is a public institution that was founded in 1911 with the purpose of preparing high school students to become future primary and high school teachers. The long trajectory of this institution and the support of the local and national governments have allowed this high school to become one of the most prestigious institutions. In addition, the current administration has not only invested in new technological equipment for all of the subjects but has also formed new partnerships with different universities and other educational institutions in order to provide faculty members and students with better learning and teaching opportunities. One of the new technology rooms in this institution includes cutting edge laptops, computers with access to the Internet with specialized dictionaries and subscriptions to English online laboratories. This is evidently a major opportunity for English language teachers and students because it serves as a tool to improve their proficiency skills. Unfortunately, the institution has only one English laboratory and the number of students is greater. This prevents students from having access to this room at any time.
The students. Normal High School had 3,772 registered students in 2010 (Burgos, 2011). Most of the students are from Pasto and the city’s surrounding villages. This is a public high school and, even though there are no official data sources, most of the students come from low-income families. The ages of the students are from 3 to 4 years old in kindergarten, 5 to 11 years old in primary school and 12-18 years old in high school. Students are required to pay a small registration and matriculation fee every year.
Faculty and English language curriculum. Normal High School’s curriculum has nine major subject areas. English language is part of the Humanities, Spanish Language and Foreign Language Department (Escuela Normal de Pasto, 2014). While it says foreign languages, the only foreign language offered is English. Normal High School students are not required to take English or any foreign language classes during their elementary studies. During the last six years in high school, students take compulsory English classes. English instruction is limited to two hours per week and classes have an average of 40 students in them. Students get prepared to take a national standardized test in all subjects including English. The test requires students to be able to read basic passages and to understand intermediate grammar concepts of the English language. No listening or speaking skills are tested. In terms of English language teachers, there are only four full time instructors. All of them are native Spanish speakers from Colombia. Their ages are 35 to 50 years old. In my role as a university lecturer, I was able to observe some English classes. Teachers deliver their classes mostly in Spanish and rely mostly on grammar-translation. Students are not required to use an English textbook due to the costs of the texts. The teachers bring into the class photocopies and other material relevant to the content of the lesson. I was also able to interact with some of the teachers in English and some of them were not able to maintain a basic conversation in English. Some of them have had the opportunity to visit the United States for holidays and the others have never been to an English speaking country. The teachers hold a bachelors degree in Modern Languages from the local university and some of them hold a “specialization degree” in English language teaching pedagogy. Specializations are degrees offered in Colombian universities after a bachelor’s degree and before a master’s degree.
Motivation and Its Relevance at Normal High School
After describing the theories on L2 motivation, let us consider their relevance to the aforementioned teaching context. I will consider the learning process of Normal High School students in three different contexts:
Conclusions
L2 motivation has gone through different stages over the past 40 years. Gardner’s theories served as a starting point to understand L2 motivation. Since then, the various motivation periods have gone through a process of evolution in which relevant theories were reformulated to specific learning contexts while some other approaches were criticized. The most recent period has interestingly brought our attention to the complexity of L2 motivation. This suggests that results cannot be predicted and more than two variables are involved in the learning process. Therefore, it continues to be difficult to agree on one single definition of L2 motivation. There are too many aspects and personal learners’ traits to consider in the process of understanding their motivation towards second language learning. Finally, it can be claimed that many of the L2 motivational theories might not be applicable to every context. There are social, political, financial, and personal aspects that need to be considered.
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The Author
Mario Guerrero holds a Masters in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from the University of Leicester (UK) and a Masters in Educational Leadership from Fordham University (USA). He has taught English as a Second Language and Spanish in British and American Universities as well as English as a Foreign Language in a Colombian university. His research interests are related to language and gender, male written and spoken discourse analysis.