Strategies To Motivate Students In A World Language Classroom

Goal: To motivate students using real-world scenarios in a world language classroom

Description: The primary emphasis of the project is on continuous engagement in the classroom through use of real-world scenarios as a motivational strategy support. How can teachers use real-world scenarios to drive students' motivation to learn world languages? Starting from a cognitive viewpoint, there are two forms of motivation that have been recognized: extrinsic and intrinsic. The use of external rewards or incentives such as grades, prizes, and awards to drive a specific behavior and action is an extrinsic motivation (e.g., students study a world language in order to complete a degree). Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is a specific behavior and action driven by internal rewards and incentives. This happens in the classroom where students learn a world language because of their personal interests to acquire new ways to communicate ideas, and not because they are asked by others to do so. One strategy to increase students' motivation is the use of real-world scenarios to learn languages, which provides opportunity for students to share their experiences. In fact, motivation has been a term used as a vehicle to integrate real-world scenarios for communicative purposes in world languages classrooms, either for extrinsic or intrinsic motivational reasons.

When: School Year 2018-2019 and continue applying strategies as necessary for long-life learning.

Contact: Rosa Bell - rmbell7004@gmail.com

Effective motivational strategies in a foreign language classroom

Perception of motivational strategies in the foreign language classroom

Perception of motivational strategies is a vital role in determining the success or failure in any learning environment.

Students are highly motivated when their are creating and working in subjects of their interest. In this picture, students are creating a Latin America Giant Map to study about the Latin America culture and the decisions for Latino immigrants to leave their countries of origin. This includes Latin America culture, traditions and music.

Students are working outside the classroom on the elaboration of the map geographical coordinates of the different countries.

Students compared the process of traveling in a normal airlines and we went hiking to simulate the immigrants walking from one country to other.

During the next two months, students will collect all of their group experiences and present it to the rest of the class in a comfortable and engaged environment also created by the students called a "tarde criolla" (a creole afternoon).

Questions

How does motivational strategies has influenced the role of teacher and students?

What motivates students to immerse themselves in learning the target language?

What teaching strategies enhance learners motivation?

What strategies are effective to trigger and maintain interest in a foreign language learner?

What are the impacts of motivational strategies/real-world scenarios on student learning in a foreign language classroom?

Answers

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Connections with Standards

How does motivational strategies influenced the role of teachers and students?

One of the motivational strategies that influence the role of teachers and students are the success criteria and learning for proficiency. The teacher provides students with weekly/daily curriculum, lessons, and activities that are accessible at all times in the classroom. Foreign language proficiency are part of the The Hawaii Standards System that supports standards-based education through curriculum, instruction and assessment components.

What motivates students to immerse themselves in learning the target language?

This subject is the most complex and challenging issue with language teachers today. However, the strand of COMMUNICATION directly addresses the first Standard: INTERPERSONAL, students use target language in real word scenarios to engage in conversations. Example: expressing feelings and emotions in a real word situations. Students work on a particular topic and create different situations that require their active participation during conversations.

What teaching strategies enhance learners motivation?

Language and culture education is part of the core curriculum. Motivational strategies/real-world scenarios that address the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages are program models that incorporate effective strategies, assessment procedures, and technologies. This are includes in Standard 4, CULTURES. Students acquire cultural Knowledge and are able to do cultural comparisons using real world scenarios. Examples of this teaching strategies involves day to day activities in which learners are able to explore cultural aspects of other countries using the target language. Students learn to dance, sing, and value important dates and holidays of other countries. Students are able to create activities that involve other cultures customs.

What strategies are effective to trigger and maintain interest in a foreign language learner?

A teaching strategy that will help trigger and sustain and interest to learners is the use of Standard 2, INTERPRETIVE. On this stage, students will understand and interpret written and spoken language on diverse topics applying real world scenarios in a given situation. Keeping students interest will require for teachers to include diverse use of technology, which is part of the 21st Century motivational strategies. Examples includes students creating "breaking news" where learners are able to identify the main idea and significant details of oral or written material using visual cues that aim details of a text or spoken message.

Which proficiency levels does the use of real-world scenarios as a motivational strategy support? Please use the level descriptors from the Hawai‘i Content and Performance Standards III (HCPS III) for World Languages and ACTFL proficiency levels

The use of motivational strategies supports all proficiency levels described in HCPS III for World Languages and ACTFL. The proficiency levels are divided into five levels of proficiency: Distinguished, Superior, Advanced, Intermediate, and Novice. Each of the levels depicts the specific range of students’ abilities using the target language.

Which standards from the HCPS III for World Languages does the use of real-world scenarios as a motivational strategy address?

Through real-world scenarios, all of the HCPS III for World Languages can be addressed with the goal of preparing students for the 21st Century.

Communication standards (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational): with the use of real-world scenarios to learn the target language, students gain confidence to participate in conversations, presentations, and writing with a level of clarity to express themselves using the language. They build competence in the target language and use their language skills to become lifelong learners.
Cultures standard: the standard addresses cultural aspects of the target language. Students learn about the target culture through real-world situations and compare with their own culture.
Comparison standard: students compare topics learned about the target culture with their own culture.

All of the standards were addressed through the real-world scenarios I chose to implement in the classroom.

How might motivational strategies/real-world scenarios address the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages?

I am currently using the HCPS III for World Languages only.

What are the impacts of motivational strategies/real-world scenarios on student learning in a world language classroom?

Using real-world scenarios in my classroom created situations in which students constantly use their learned language skills and helped them build confidence to use the language. As we all know, learning is best done through experience and in my classroom, students learn by doing rather than learning by listening or observing. I design my curriculum based on real-world scenarios so that it is a meaningful experience for students. For example, I implemented a unit about nature and the environment. The scenario motivated students to connect what has been taught with vocabulary and grammar to real-world issues, problems, and possible solutions. This creates a reflection of the entanglement and ambiguities of real life. Students developed their language knowledge by practicing in group conversations and writing “letters” to fictional companies that were “damaging the environment (or ecosystem).” Through this approach, students gained the language knowledge and skills necessary to communicate and express themselves to create final products, whether acting as “news reporters” and creating a video to report on possible solutions for the environmental issues.

Another example of a real-world scenario that I used in my classroom is "the ability to survive for a day or two in a foreign country." During this unit, students experienced how he/she would be able to live abroad in an unfamiliar country and identify possible solutions to address situations/solve problems. For example, they had to plan a dinner with friends, shopped for food and identified products to match what they would eat back home, and paid for the food using a different currency. Students discussed both abstract and concrete concepts, such as resolving unfamiliar problems/situations, hypothesizing, and supporting opinions from other groups using the target language.

Advice for World Languages Teachers

My advice for World Languages teachers interested in applying motivational strategies/real-world scenarios in their classrooms is:

Create units of study that involve real-world scenarios;
Establish effective communication by integrating grammar knowledge to avoid miscommunication during conversations (i.e. speech gets meaningless);
Provide students with the opportunity to propose solutions to real-world issues based on what they have learned from the unit of study;
Enable students to learn to negotiate for meaning based on their personal experiences through daily conversations and group discussions;
Offer opportunities for students to enhance both understanding of what they are doing when speaking the language (conjugations, explaining, etc), and retain the skills that they have learned over a long period of time. This does not mean that educators should just focus on teaching grammar, but to address grammar within contexts and through communicative tasks; and
Address grammar in context using authentic resources (texts, photographs, video selections). Instead of memorizing conjugations, educators should guide students towards an understanding of how grammar functions when communicating for a specific purpose within a specific context. This is possible by integrating meaningful conversations using real-world scenarios (e.g., asking and answering questions for directions to go to certain places) so students are able to analyze language structures, make a guess, and make conclusions about how the target language works through inquiry process rather than memorization. Learners will have the opportunity to perceive the rules and structures used in a sentence while the teacher engages them in conversational understanding and use of the target language.

There are unlimited real-world scenarios to incorporate into the world languages classroom. I choose topics that students prefer or even their own personal experiences as the real-world scenarios. Real-world scenarios stimulate active use of reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. I usually integrate a variety of skill areas such as questioning and responding for understanding. The use of oral language skills helps students focus and stay engaged during class.

Remember, each student’s language proficiency fluctuates. Therefore, the real-world scenarios used in the classroom should vary constantly to motivate and sustain learners’ interests over a long period of time.

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