The teaching of foreign languages – how can teachers motivate their learners?

Abstract

Recent studies show that, notwithstanding all efforts being done by education authorities, schools, individuals across most European countries, the number of students studying foreign languages is waning. Such a sad situation makes leading scholars and experts in this field think about the reasons why. Although they are not always in agreement on all issues involved, there is one common factor on which they all agree – that motivation is a key factor in foreign language learning. There can be different forms of student motivation, namely that which is duty bound, motivation as a result of need, and motivation that comes as a result of enjoyment. There are also various aspects in teaching that can lead to motivation in class. Variety of teaching materials and methods, originality, novelty, challenging activities, types of input presented in class, are just a few of them. The scope of this paper is to analyse deeply all these factors and aspects associated to motivation and how these can be adapted to the foreign language class. Another very important aspect is teacher self-motivation and how teachers of foreign languages are to choose and present the linguistic and/or cultural input in class in a pleasant and innovative way.