Chapter 5 Discussion
5.3 Extrinsic Motivation on Learners’ English Learning Experiences
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5.3 Extrinsic Motivation on Learners’ English Learning Experiences
Research has shown that in Asian countries, instrumental motivation orientation has been pervasive since the teaching and learning contexts in Asia lay a heavy emphasis on memorization and test-taking strategies for instrumental motivations such as job promotion, school application, social values on prestige and fame, accompanied by higher advancement of socio-economic status. For example, Taiwanese schools require students to pass the threshold of the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) or other internationally recognized standardized tests, such as TOEIC, TOEFL, among others in the college English threshold. In Taiwan’s English language teaching context, exam-oriented teaching played an important role in shaping L2 pragmatics instruction.
All the participants expressed their negative attitudes toward treating English as a subject or exam preparation at school; rather, they hoped to use the language and increase their chances of interacting with native speakers of English. The majority of the students favored the university teacher’s use of English since hardly could they get immersed in an English-speaking environment in Taiwan. Since Taiwan is not an ESL environment where foreigners abound, students may not have ample chances or investment of time and money, which was similar to Ishihara’s (2009) findings in the Japanese EFL context. In order to have more communicative feel of the target
language, students wished to have more time to engage in-class language practices in class rather than drill-and-kill practices in the classroom, especially in secondary schools. In one study conducted by Chang, Chen and Warden (2005), they attempted to modify Dörnyei’s (2005) idea of instrumental motivation orientation given that it could not fully explain the contextual factor that greatly influences the teaching and learning embedded with overemphasis on the social value upheld by
Chinese-speaking people. The emphasis of exams often lead to an overreliance on
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memorization, as evidenced in the media reports or the proliferation of cram schools attended by EFL learners whose parents expected their children to accomplish the socially accepted values (Tsai & Kuo, 2008), such as meeting filial obligations by gaining jobs, increasing prestige and climbing the corporate ladder for upward social movements (Chen, Warden & Chang, 2005). The wash-back effect, or
teaching-to-the-test effect, has exerted a profound influence on the learning and teaching of English in Taiwan, as the interviewees mentioned: “English is for exams.”
It may not be entirely accurate from the participants’ verbal reports that English language teaching is all about tests given that self-reports may be partially biased and under-representative of the entire population. However, exam-oriented language teaching has become the norm rather than the exception, at least to the students in the study. This kind of wash-back did influence English teaching in secondary school, where the proclaimed pedagogical principles that emphasize learner autonomy and communicative approach are violated (LoCastro, 1997).
In Williams and Burden’s (1997) framework of L2 motivation, the results could be explained by both internal and external factors. First, the internal factors included the learners’ intrinsic interest of activity, curiosity or optimal degree of challenge. It seems that in secondary school the majority of students wished to enjoy learning English and to be immersed in an English-speaking environment. However, grammar, vocabulary and exam-focused teaching dominated the whole class. The goal of language learning and teaching is for exams only, which may make students bored, uninterested or even de-motivated to learn English as a subject. Second, some students considered their English proficiency to be weak, thus unable to carry on conversation and to undertake schoolwork. This feeling of incompetence or inability to meet teachers’ and parental expectations may make the participants helpless, lost or diffident (i.e. lack of self-efficacy). As mentioned before, the Chinese imperative may
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be a collective experience for students in Chinese-speaking culture, such as getting good grades, entering a good university, obtaining a well-paid job, and leading a luxurious and comfortable life as one part of filial obligations, which could be adequately explained by the external factors mentioned by Williams and Burden’s (1997) social constructivist model.
In their model, the significant others, such as parents, teachers and peers, may exert a profound influence on their thinking and conceptions about learning. Through interaction with the significant others, their learning experience may be loaded with such societal values and expectations to succeed in a competitive society, to avoid punishments and receive rewards if they fulfill such a stipulated requirement (e.g., the GEPT). In addition, the local educational system as well as cultural norms may interfere with student learning. Students expressed their preferred ways of learning English in a non-threatening environment and they hoped to enjoy learning with more interesting activities that could encourage learner autonomy and develop intrinsic interest in learning English. A case in point is the practical use of the target language, such as teaching and learning L2 pragmatics in the study (e.g., Brown, 2007).
However, students generally seemed not satisfied with secondary school teachers’
teaching and the educational system in Taiwan. As the students expressed, learning English is for exam preparation, especially grammar and vocabulary exercises. The classroom teacher (Yuan-Yuan) also felt the same way, adding that more efforts could be made to incorporate empirical pragmatics research findings into current classroom settings only if all acknowledge the importance of learning and teaching pragmatics, and that students should benefit from the balanced form-function instruction for improving their motivation and communication skills. The teacher shared with the researcher that she is quite willing to support the reform of current language teaching with a shifted focus on L2 pragmatics. As Ishihara (2009) advocated, a unanimous
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consensus should be reached among professionals, researchers, and the authorities concerned, corresponding to Taguchi’s (2011) appeal to incorporating L2 pragmatics into the mainstream curriculum. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, forming a cohesive school-university partnership can facilitate the professional development and growth of in-service teachers. Through the collaboration with the university resoures (professors and recent research output) current in-service teachers may better
understand how to access the resources and apply what they learn into real practices.
In retrun, the in-service teachers can offer research sites for researchers to disseminate research findings and contribute to an informed understanding of the combination of theory and practice
5.4 The Relationship between Intrinsic Motivation and Sociolinguistic Instruction