- Title
- The effect of teachers’ motivational strategies on EFL learners’ achievement
- Creator
- Alqahtani, Saleh Mohammad A.
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2015
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Motivation has been found to be a key factor in learning a foreign/second language (L2), and motivation theories have been fine-tuned and tested for the last 60 years. However, empirical investigations into teacher practice as an antecedent to learner motivation, and as influence on L2 achievement, are only a recent trend. L2 research has already established a more or less uniform ranking of motivation strategies across cultural contexts. However, there are few empirical investigations focusing on the effectiveness of the motivational strategies in the classroom on the learner’s proficiency measured with objective L2 tests. The present study is, to our best knowledge, only the first of this kind in L2 motivation research. The study was conducted to investigate the effects of motivational strategies on learner motivation and proficiency in English language classes in Saudi universities, and is quasi-experimental by design. The study was conducted in two stages. At a first stage of the study, 117 English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers with varying demographic characteristics (age, qualifications, teaching experience, and the like) rated 55 motivational micro strategies on a 5-point scale, which were then grouped into 10 macro strategies in accordance with previous research. At the second stage, the participants were 189 learners divided almost equally into two groups (experimental vs. control) and 10 EFL teachers. Participating learners received EFL instruction for two months as a part of their education. Four instruments were used to assess teacher motivational practices and learner motivation levels before and after treatment: a student motivation survey; a classroom observation protocol; post-evaluation lesson; and, an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test as an objective measure of the learners’ English language proficiency. Inferential statistical analyses (e.g. ANOVA and ANCOVA) were applied on the collected data. The findings revealed that the use of classroom motivational strategies by teachers led to an increase in learners’ motivation, in the learners’ self-evaluation of English language proficiency, and in the learners’ objectively-measured proficiency. Correlation and regression analysis revealed that employing motivational strategies positively affected teacher motivational practice, which in turn promoted learner motivation and subsequent learner achievement in the experimental group. The results may have implications for teacher training and theory development.
- Subject
- L2 motivation; motivational strategies
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1305665
- Identifier
- uon:21084
- Rights
- Copyright 2015 Saleh Mohammad A. Alqahtani
- Language
- eng
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