國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
example, in “promote group dynamic”, the item “prevent the rigid seating” couldn’t be seen in a class. Also, in most of the classes in Taiwan, the learning style concerned more about personal performance than group dynamic. Goal-orientedness, as we can see, this macro-strategy was not used so often in class, which means that Taiwanese English teachers in language education setting have not yet consider this important domain. The possible reasons can be summarized as follows: a) it is impossible for teacher to assist each learner to design his or her own course plan; b) teachers might think that there is no need to individual or class goals because the school and government have already made up the institutional goals that are readily servable and c) it is hard for everyone in the classroom define and agree goals. Hadfield (1992) states, it is fundamental to the successful working of a group to have a sense of direction and a common purpose. Defining and agreeing aims is one of the hardest tasks that the group has to undertake together. Lastly, talking about supportive climate, although the researcher didn’t get much data on this domain, the finding can still show that teachers do have good relationship with students. Students were all comfortable taking intellectual risks in class because they knew that they would not be embarrassed or criticized even if they made a mistake. All of the teachers are patient, willing to help students, hard-working, and it is believed to be the basic element of creating a motivating learning environment.
Students’ Perceived Effectiveness of Motivational Strategies
Additionally, in the present study, the researcher also wanted to find out which motivational strategies were viewed important from students’ points of view. Students were asked about their opinions toward the effectiveness of these strategies in promoting their motivation toward language learning. The final means and the rank-order of the ten clusters of students’ expectation are
presented in Table 20.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Table 20. The result of student questionnaire on the effectiveness of motivational strategies
Rank-order Conceptual Domains
Mean
1 Promote learner autonomy 4.751
2 Creating a pleasant classroom climate 4.727
3 Recognize students’ effort 4.722
4 Proper teacher behavior 4.624
5 Promote learners’ self-confidence 4.556
6 Make the learning tasks stimulating 4.418
7 Present tasks properly 4.32
8 Increase learners’ goal-orientedness 4.315
9 Familiarize learners with L2-related values 4.224 10 Promote group cohesiveness and group norms 4.07
In addition, the micro-strategies are discussed in detail here. Here are the top ten motivational strategies which students considered as more helpful in enhancing their motivation in learning:
Table 21. The top ten motivational strategies which students think more helpful
Motivational strategies Mean
1 Teachers monitor students’ accomplishments, and take time to celebrate any success or victory.
4.97
2 Teachers bring in and encourage humor and laughter frequently in the class. 4.94 3 Teachers create a supportive and pleasant classroom climate where students are
free from embarrassment and ridicule.
4.92 4 Teachers establish a good relationship with students. 4.86 5 Teachers show students that their effort and achievement are being recognized. 4.86 6 Teachers introduce in the lessons various interesting content and topics which
students are likely to find interesting
4.85
7 Teachers show students that they respect, accept and care about each student. 4.84 8 Teachers try to be themselves in front of students without putting on an artificial 4.81
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
9 Teachers make sure grades reflect not only the students’ achievement but also the effort they have put into in the task.
4.79
10 Teachers notice students’ contributions and progress, and provide them with positive feedback.
4.70
As we can see on the ten strategies, students wanted to be equally treated, and they liked to be treated as capable and important individuals. Once their teachers successfully comforted their anxiety, they were willing to learn more. Having a good relationship was another main issue.
Students thought it was very important that their teachers showed some positive appraisals and applauses to them. Teachers not only could develop learners’ self-confidence but learners would deeply feel that the teacher really cared about them, and they would put more effort in learning.
Generally speaking, teachers’ role was an essential component that affected students’ motivation in learning. If teachers know better about how to help students more and do more, students could get a lot of benefit.
Summary
The results of this study revealed that data from student and teacher questionnaire, when ordered according to means of individual strategies as well as larger strategy clusters, indicated that the relative frequency of strategies was generally quite similar between teachers and students. But the means as reported by teachers and stated by students were statistically different. That may be because the motivational strategies which teachers said they used often didn’t actually match how students experienced in class. Researcher observation indicated that although some activities were noteasily observed in class, teachers focused on how to present tasks most and paid least attention to provide a supportive learning climate. Teachers did take notice of providing feedback and their
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
behavior, but the researcher did not observe much on how teachers promoted group dynamic and created supportive climate. The result from the student questionnaire asking about students’
perceived effectiveness toward the motivational strategies also indicated that students’ ideas toward them were different from classroom reality.