Vol. VI No. 1
March 1994



Editorial

Teachers Ask

Ten "motivational"
suggestions for
the SL teacher

Return to:


Ten "motivational" suggestions for
the second language teacher

  1. Encourage and support students at all times but especially when they are struggling or lacking confidence in certain areas.

  2. Be energetic and enthusiastic about what you are teaching and on those days when you do not have that energy, provide activities that require the learners to put forth the majority of the energy.

  3. Be knowledgeable about your subject and the lesson you are presenting. If from time to time you do not have the answer, let your students know. They do not expect perfection.

  4. Through preplanned and spontaneous activities, provide opportunities for interaction in the target language in and outside the language learning environment.

  5. Use variety in your teaching methods, learning activities, resource people and seating arrangements.

  6. Reduce, as much as possible, the physical distractions such as unsuitable temperature and uncomfortable furniture that may impede motivation.

  7. Encourage goal setting and a sense of dedication and continuous commitment to the language learning task through meaningful, relevant and authentic language learning activities.

  8. Encourage learners to seek out opportunities in their lives that will help in the learning of the target language.

  9. Create, through the presentation of attainable goals and reasonable challenges, a learning environment with a definite potential for success.

  10. Recognize the "little successes", improvements and progress of all students both individually and with the entire group.

The previous suggestions had their origins in adult second language learner insights into motivation. The following are a few examples of these learner accounts:

"The fact that we have excellent instructors who are smart, caring and enthused and have a good sense of humour, greatly affects my motivation."

"There are definitely those days when you feel you have accomplished something and you have done more than you thought you could. Probably that is what keeps you going. That is motivation."

"That's why I thought it was so important to participate in discussions... when you see that blank 'do I have to be here' look, they lose it when they get involved because they have some ownership into the subject matter. They have a share in it."


"Motivation is not only important because it is a necessary causal factor of learning but because it mediates learning and is a consequence of learning as well. (Wlodkowski, 1985)