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MOTIVATION IN LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Kosimova
Dilobar
Tursunalievna,
Alibayeva Munisa Rustamaliyevna
Academic Lyceum of Tashkent State
University of Economics, teachers of
English
E-mail:
Abstract:
Interest in the motivational aspect of learning a foreign language has increased
significantly in recent years in all disciplines related to language in one way or another not only
in psychology and pedagogy, but also in linguodidactics, methods of teaching foreign languages
at school, and psycholinguistics. In order to properly adapt to the current situation, when
Europe becomes a single multinational, multicultural and multilingual whole, representatives of
society at all its levels must realize the importance of learning foreign languages, since the study
of languages is a way to foster tolerance, the ability to cooperate, to achieve mutual
understanding between peoples, respect for the individual regardless of his race, national,
religious, political affiliation.
Key words:
Motivational aspect, linguodidactics, psycholinguistics, methods of teaching
foreign languages, internal motivational tendencies.
Аннотация:
Интерес к мотивационному аспекту изучения иностранного языка
значительно возрос в последние годы во всех дисциплинах, так или иначе связанных с
языком, — не только в психологии и педагогике, но и в лингводидактике, методике
обучения иностранным языкам в школе, психолингвистике. . Чтобы правильно
адаптироваться к современной ситуации, когда Европа становится единым
многонациональным, поликультурным и многоязычным целым, представители общества
на всех его уровнях должны осознать важность изучения иностранных языков, так как
изучение языков – это способ воспитания толерантности, умение сотрудничать,
добиваться взаимопонимания между народами, уважения к личности независимо от ее
расовой, национальной, религиозной, политической принадлежности.
Ключевые слова:
Мотивационный аспект, лингводидактика, психолингвистика,
методика обучения иностранным языкам, внутренние мотивационные тенденции.
INTRODUCTION
The problem of motivation is particularly rel to the term, the definition of the
concept of "moevant in both native and foreign psychology and tivation". First of
all, it is necessary to identify the methods of teaching foreign languages. On the
one meaning of the concepts "motivation" and " motive"; hand, this is because the
need to introduce psycho- next, it is logical to proceed to the establishment of
logical research into practice, access to real human the interaction between
motivation as a psychologybehavior, to its regulation, today requires knowledge
cal process and the types of motives in general, as of the laws of human behavior
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and, especially, in re- well as in relation to a foreign language; finally, it is lation to
motives and their implementation. On the necessary to consider the problem of
motivation in other hand, there is a need to reveal the connections domestic and
foreign psychology and methods of of the internal motivational tendencies of a
person to teaching foreign languages.
A review of the works of domestic and foreign is interpreted in different
ways. In one case-as a set psychologists shows that at present, psychology of
factors that support and guide, i.e., determine has accumulated data both for
clarifying some ini- behavior, in another case — as a set of motives, in tial
positions, and for further, broader and in-depth the third-as an incentive that causes
the activity of research of motivation problems. Let's take a closer the organism
and determines its direction. Thus, look at some of the main provisions directly
related S. Y. Golovin identifies the interests, values and ideals of the individual as
the meaning-forming factors of motivation: "In a person, the source of the
development of motives is the boundless process of social production of material
and spiritual values. Such potential motives in ontogenesis are the values, interests,
and ideals inherent in a given society, which, if internalized by the individual, can
acquire a motivating force and become real motives" [Golovin, 2001: 381]. In
addition, motivation is considered as a process of mental regulation of a specific
activity, as a process of motive action and as a mechanism that determines the
occurrence, direction and methods of implementing specific forms of activity, as a
total system of processes responsible for motivation and activity [6].
LITERATURE REVIEW
Motivation is an internal psychological characteristic of a person, which is
expressed in external manifestations, in the attitude of a person to the surrounding
world, various types of activities. The educational and cognitive motivation of
younger students is their active approach to learning, the realization of the desire to
learn well. In order for a child to have a strong internal motivation "I want to learn
well", it is necessary that everyone says to themselves: "I can do it! I will
succeed!»
There are five other types of motivation:
1. Target motivation-what is needed for this activity, what it is aimed at and
with the help of which it is carried out, is well absorbed.
2. Motivation for success — if the subject " succeeds", then it is studied with
double interest. Motivation in learning foreign languages increases significantly if
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the prospects for using knowledge are realized not only in the classroom, but also
in extracurricular activities.
3. Regional motivation-the language quickly reacts to all social changes in
the life of a particular country. It reflects the customs and customs of the country.
All this is of great value for understanding the social nature of language.
4. Aesthetic motivation helps to make learning a language a pleasure.
5. Instrumental motivation takes into account the temperament of students
and allows each student to express themselves in their favorite type of work. [2,
95]
Whether we know it or not, every moment of our lives we are motivated to
do something: whether to satisfy physiological needs (to eat, to sleep) or spiritual
needs (to write poetry, to go to the theater, to paint landscapes). If there is no
motivation at all, it means that the person is dead. If a person knows that he needs
to achieve something, that is, he is motivated to satisfy his need — he can move
mountains. In a fight, the winner is not the one who is stronger in physical
parameters, but the one who wants to win more. A sports team can have talented
players, but playing is gray and faded. To win, you need the will to win, that is,
motivation. The history of wars can provide many examples when a superior and
better-armed army lost a battle because it was less motivated to win.
The problem of motivation in teaching arises in every school subject.
However, the problem of motivation to learn foreign languages in secondary
school is particularly acute. Researchers of the question of motivation give data on
its decline from class to class. At the same time, it is noteworthy that until the
moment of learning a foreign language and at the very beginning, students usually
have high motivation. They want to express themselves in a foreign language with
their peers; it is tempting to recite poems and sing songs in a foreign language;
reading, learn about other countries. Many children see in learning a foreign
language something "adventurous", penetration into a new unfamiliar world; the
opportunity to reincarnate is attractive: "I am a speaker of my native language", "I
am a speaker of a foreign language". In short, almost everyone has a desire to
speak a foreign language, to be able to communicate directly, through a book and
correspondence. But now the process of mastering a foreign language begins and
the attitude of students changes, many are disappointed. After all, this process
involves a period of accumulation of "building material", a stage of inevitably
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primitive content, overcoming various difficulties, which postpones the
achievement of the goals that were dreamed of. [4, 23]
The successful start of learning a foreign language contributes to the creation
of a high motivation to learn foreign languages. The success of teaching and the
students ' attitude to the subject largely depend on how interesting and emotional
the teacher conducts the lessons. Of course, in the process of teaching foreign
languages to primary school students, the game is of great importance. The more
appropriate the teacher uses game techniques, visual clarity, the more interesting
the lessons are, the more firmly the material is absorbed.
In terms of methodological continuity, it is desirable to ensure a smooth
transition of children from one stage of education to another, avoiding the loss of
formed skills and injuring children as little as possible. This can be most easily
achieved if, throughout the entire course of learning a foreign language, you adhere
to a single learning strategy that ensures clear formulation and achievement of the
learning goals of each stage in the interaction between them. This interaction is
achieved through end-to-end programs and the use of manuals that consistently
lead the child from preschool to primary school and from primary school to
secondary school.
Mastering a foreign language at school involves intensive activity of the
student. One of the factors of ensuring the student's performance is the appropriate
motivation. Among the aspects that increase the level of motivation, it is necessary
to highlight, first of all, the constantly maintained interest of students in the process
of mastering a foreign language, its effectiveness, as well as the use of various
teaching methods that meet the needs of middle-level students in the novelty of the
material studied and the variety of exercises performed. The use of a variety of
teaching methods helps to consolidate language phenomena in memory, create
more persistent visual and auditory images, and maintain the interest and activity
of students. Let's look at some techniques for developing motivation to learn a
foreign language at the secondary level of education.
O. A. Kolesnikova notes that "the role-playing game is a conditional
reproduction by its participants of real practical activities of people, creates
conditions for real communication, so the effectiveness of training here is
primarily due to the explosion of motivation, increased interest in the subject" [3,
14]. Further, the author details the positive aspects associated with the use of role-
playing games in the lesson: "role-playing motivates speech activity, as students
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find themselves in a situation where the need to say something, ask, find out,
prove, share something with the interlocutor is actualized. Unlike a dialogue or a
play that teaches how to say something, a role-playing game answers the questions
ofwhy (motive) and why (goal) you need to say something" [3, 14]. Thus, the
focus of students 'attention becomes the content of the conversation, which helps
students to clearly see that the language can be used as a means of communication
and, as a result, role-playing contributes to the formation of students'
communicative competence, the necessary communication skills in a foreign
language: "In games, students master such elements of communication as the
ability to start a conversation, support it, interrupt the interlocutor, at the right time
to agree with his opinion or refute it, the ability to purposefully listen to the
interlocutor, ask clarifying questions" [3, 15].
DISCUSSION
In addition, the author notes that "the game activates the desire of children to
contact each other and the teacher, creates conditions for equality in speech
partnership, destroys the traditional barrier between teacher and student; the game
allows timid, insecure students to speak and thereby overcome the barrier of
uncertainty" [3, 15], thereby making a certain contribution to the formation of
educational cooperation and partnership in the classroom. Semyonova also notes
the significant educational opportunities of role-playing games: "Role-playing can
be regarded as the most accurate model of communication, since it imitates reality
in the most essential features and in it, as in life, the speech and non-speech
behavior of partners is intertwined" [5, 16].
The use of these methods and techniques is effective in the event that
students ' interest in learning a foreign language decreases, then it is possible to
arouse their cognitive interest, to awaken them spiritually. All children are close to
the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of communication and teamwork, and they need
to express themselves in creativity, fantasy, play, competition.
RESULTS
Motivation is regarded as an influential element in the success of any
activity. It plays a crucial role in achieving the desired goals. The results of the
correlational analyses indicated that students who had positive motivation and
attitudes toward language study tended to do well on the module tests and to
participate actively in learning English as the second language. Students’ learning
behaviors were rated by teachers and language assistants subjectively, thus their
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ratings were not always the same. However, it was interesting and useful to hear
how the teachers felt about the students’ participation in English lessons and
individual meetings since their evaluations were generally not used for grading
purposes.
A statistically significant correlation was not found between students’
motivation and attitudes and other achievement measures such as final exam scores
and final grades, the lack of correlation may have been due to students having
acquired “test-taking skills” by the time of the final exam. Other external factors
may have been involved in determining students’ final learning outcomes, as
Gardner [3] anticipated. One thing that students, teachers, material developers, and
researchers all agree upon is that motivation is an essential part of mastering
a second or foreign language. The concept of motivation seems complex since it
takes a respectable number of disciplines to arrive at a reasonable understanding of
its facets. Dornyei [2] believes that the complexity of the concept of motivation
resides in its endeavors to explain individual's actions on behavior which can not
be accounted for by one panacea approach. The problem as Dornyie [2] asserts is
not the lack of theories to explain motivation but rather the abundance of theories
and models. Luckily, there is now a very substantial research literature available on
the role of motivation in language learning. This article will overview as much of
this research as possible, focusing on the most recent studies, and will highlight
different facets of motivation. Gardner [3] defined motivation as “the combination
of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable
attitudes toward learning the language”. He believes that motivation is concerned
with the question “Why does an organism behave as it does?“. According to Yeok-
Hwa [5] motivation determines the extent of the learner's active involvement and
attitude toward learning. According to Dornyie [2] motivation consists of three
stages: pre-actional stage, in which motivation needs to be generated, actional
stage, in which motivation needs to be maintained and protected, and post-actional,
in which students evaluate the activity to which they are motivated. Williams and
Burden [6] also claim that motivation results from a combination of different
influences, some are internal and some are external. As it seems motivation does
not have a particular definition. Different people define motivation from different
views and it may be due to the existence of different contexts of language learning,
but the most important thing is that motivation is a key to learning a language.
There are two types of motivation that should be considered when referring to
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second or foreign language learning. They are language learning motivation and
classroom learning motivation. Language learning motivation refers to the
motivation to learn or acquire a second language. According to Gardner [3], it is
considered in the socio-educational model of second language acquisition. Based
on Clement [1], it is considered in the social context model. And based on Clement
and Noels [4],it is considered in the self-determination model. It is a general form
of motivation relevant in any second language learning context. It is a general
characteristic of the individual that applies to any opportunity to learn the
language. It is relatively stable, but it is amenable to change under certain
conditions. Classroom learning motivation is what Gardner [3] represents in socio-
educational model of second language acquisition, and it is also considered as an
integral part of motivation in general. It refers to the motivation in the classroom
situation, or any specific situation. It will be influenced by a host of factors
associated with language class. So, the teacher, the content of the course, materials
and facilities will influence the individual learning motivation. Gardner [3]
believes that both educational context and cultural context play an important role
in the formation of motivation. In order to make the language learning process
a motivating experience, teachers need to put a great deal of thought into learning
programs which sustain and boost students’ interest and help them to achieve their
term goal.
CONCLUSION
Teachers need to create interesting lessons in which the students’ attention is
gained. This can sometimes be accomplished by the use of teaching strategies
which are not often called upon by other teachers in mainstream subject areas.
Encouraging students to become more active participants in a lesson can
sometimes assist them to see a purpose for improving their communication skills in
the target language. Successful communication using the target language should
result in students feeling some sense of accomplishment. The use of an interesting
text can also help to increase the motivation level of students in the classroom.
Many texts often contain material which fails to capture the interest of students due
to the heavy emphasis on vocabulary and grammar. Many foreign texts, however,
which have been designed for EFL often contain topics which can create a great
deal of classroom interaction and help to motivate students to develop their
language skills. It is important for the instructor to take advantage of such
discussion topics and help students to realize that, even though they may see no
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need to become proficient in a second language, the study of another language and
culture can only enhance their perception and understanding of other cultures.
Probably the most important way to improve motivation is to use English. Using
English is fun. It is simply very enjoyable to use English to read a good book,
understand a song, watch an interesting movie, get an answer to a computer
problem, exchange e-mails with a native speaker, etc. The more someone uses
English, the more he will want to use it. This is great, because using English is
learning English.
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