Summary_PLLT_chapter 6_part 2

 

 

Chapter 6. Affective Factors

 

 

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

•  Intrinsic motivation (Edward Deci): “for which there is no apparent reward except the activity itself . . . and not because it leads to an extrinsic reward.”

- Characteristics of Intrinsically motivated behaviors:

driven by internally rewarding consequences

feelings of competence and self-determination

willingly engaged in through one’s own volition

 

•  Extrinsic motivation: fueled by the anticipation of a reward from outside and beyond the self

- Typical extrinsic rewards: money, prizes, grades, and even certain forms of positive feedback

+) Behaviors initiated solely to avoid punishment are also extrinsically motivated

- Maslow (1970): intrinsic motivation is clearly superior to extrinsic

hierarchy of needs: fundamental physical necessities (air, water, food)

community, security, identity, and self-esteem

self-actualization (“being all that you can be.”)

       - Flow theory: as a result of the intrinsically rewarding experience associated with flow, people push themselves to higher levels of performance

       - Bruner: “autonomy of self-reward” -> help students to think and learn is to free them from the control of rewards and punishments

         - Addictive nature: principal weaknesses of extrinsically driven behavior

         - Piaget: human beings universally view incongruity, uncertainty, and “disequilibrium” as motivating

 

• Which form of motivation is more powerful in SLA contexts?

-      For long-term retention -> intrinsic orientations

-      In non-English-speaking countries -> intrinsic and extrinsic factors across a variety of cultural beliefs and attitudes (ex. South Korea: higher levels of motivation when their teachers specifically focused on “teaching” motivation)

 

Social-Psychological Perspectives

• Instrumental orientation: means for attaining practical goals such as furthering a career, reading technical material, or translation
• Integrative orientation: learners who wished to integrate themselves into the culture of the second language group and become involved in social interchange in that group

- depending on whether a learner’s main focus or purpose is (1) academic or career related (instrumental), or (2) socially or culturally oriented (integrative), different needs might be fulfilled in learning an L2

- problem: two orientations did not constitute a dichotomy

         integrative and instrumental constructs to be almost indistinguishable!

 

• Motivational Intensity: within either orientation, one can have either high or low level of motivation

- demotivation: losing of interest that once was present

- demotivated learner -> “someone who was once motivated but has lost his or her commitment/interest”

- cause: external forces (a boring teacher, a dull textbook, poor test results) or internal phenomena (exhaustion, increased interest in more attractive options, feelings of embarrassment over one’s competence)

- Teacher’s role: embrace their learners / organize a curriculum well / create exciting classroom experiences / respect students

vs amotivation: the absence of motivation entirely / an individual’s feelings of incompetence and helplessness

 

• Other Orientations

-      Noels et al. (2000) and Dörnyei (2005): four orientations: travel, friendship, knowledge, along with instrumental orientations

-      McClelland (2000): one might distinguish between orientations toward a global community of speakers as opposed to native speakers of a language

-      Graham (1984): some learners experience a deep assimilative orientation , that is, a profound need to identify almost exclusively with the target language culture, possibly over a long-term period

Sociodynamic and Constructivist Approaches

• Dörnyei and Ushioda (2011): focus on individual persons “as thinking, feeling human beings with an identity, personality, a unique history and background”

-  By viewing motivation as contextualized and dynamic, we not only avoid the pitfalls of attempting to isolate elusive and possibly ill-defined factors, but we also free our inquiry to celebrate the individual differences among L2 learners

-  motivation is something that can be global, situational, or task-oriented

 

THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF AFFECT

•  John Schumann’s: one section of the temporal lobes of the human brain, the amygdala, as a major player in the relationship of affect to language learning

-  The amygdala is instrumental in our ability to make an appraisal of a stimulus

Ex) when a teacher in an L2 class suddenly asks you to perform, if your reaction is fear and anxiety, it means that the amygdala has sent neural signals to the rest of the brain indicating that the stimulus is perhaps unpleasant, unmanageable, or a threat to self-esteem

 

•  Schumann (1999): examined L2 motivation scales in terms of our biological appraisal system

- Conclusion: “positive appraisals of the language learning situation .  .  . enhance language learning and negative appraisals inhibit second language learning”

 

• Sustained deep learning (SDL): the kind of learning that requires an extended period of time to achieve

-rooted in the biological concept of value

-value: a bias that leads humans to certain preferences and to choosing among alternatives

Ex) homeostatic value: promotes an organism’s survival

       socio static value: leads us to interact with others, and to seek social affiliation

∴ Brains vary in an almost infinite number of possible ways so one size certainly does not fit all.

 

MEASURING AFFECTIVE FACTORS

• MBTI

-require self-ratings by the learner

-measure extroversion vs. introversion / self-esteem / empathy

 

•  Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS)

- test of measuring anxiety

-specifically designed for use within the field of SLA (<->MBTI)

 

• Attitude/ Motivation Test Battery (AMTB)

-attitudes toward the L2 culture, desire to learn the L2, L2-use anxiety, and integrative instrumental orientation 

 

•  Drawbacks

① The problem of validity is paramount since most tests use a self-rating method

② “self-flattery” syndrome

③ Using concepts and references that are difficult to interpret cross-culturally

∴ we should remain cautious in our use of various assessment instruments

 

CLASSROOM APPLICATIONS: INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

• Interplay in the classroom between intrinsic and extrinsic motives

Q. How to handle these extrinsic motives that are well established in most students?

- recognizing that such extrinsic drives are not necessarily “bad” or harmful

 

• Teacher’s job may be to capitalize on such factors through your own innovations

Ex) If school policy mandates a certain “boring” teacher-centered textbook, perhaps your own creative efforts can add interesting learner-centered group and pair work that gives students choices in topics and activity.

If institutional tests are a bit distasteful in their multiple-choice, impersonal format, your innovative action could add some peer evaluation, self-assessment, and/or portfolio compilation that would build intrinsic interest in achieving goals.

 

•  Considering how to array of classroom techniques

Ex) Suggestions for gauging the intrinsically motivating quality of classroom activities:

1. Does the activity appeal to students’ genuine interests? Is it relevant?

2. Do you present the activity in a positive, enthusiastic manner?

3. Are students clearly aware of the purpose of the activity?

4. Do students have some choice in (a) selecting some aspect of the activity?

5. Does the activity encourage students to “discover” on their own?

6. Does it encourage students to use effective strategies?

7. Does it contribute to students’ ultimate autonomy and independence?

8. Does it foster interactive negotiation with other students in the class?

9. Does the activity present a “reasonable challenge”?

10. Do students receive sufficient feedback on their performance?