UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD

Nombre escuela: Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación, Pregrado

Nombre programa: Licenciatura en inglés como lengua extranjera

TASK 2

SUMMARY

DIDACTICS OF ENGLISH

PRESENTED BY:
JULIETH ALEJANDRA MONTOYA
ID: 1127233409

MILLY ANDREA MUÑOZ

TUTORA

GROUP: 551026_12

National Open and Distance University

School of Educational Sciences ECEDU
BA in English as Foreign Language
FEBRUARY 29TH, 2016
 UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Nombre escuela: Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación, Pregrado
Nombre programa: Licenciatura en inglés como lengua extranjera

Motivational strategies in the language classroom by Zoltan Dörnyei asserts in the

importance to motivate students in their learning process with 8 motivational strategies that
can help the teacher help the students achieve their goals by stimulating their learning and
keeping them on the right track of their process, the strategies made by Zoltan Dörnyei are
summarized below.

First of all it is necessary to make learning stimulating and enjoyable that according to
theoreticians and practitioners making classes more enjoyable would help students learn
and be more interested in the classes than wanting to be someplace else because the classes
are monotonous and repetitive. To make learning more stimulating the author mentions 3
strategies: first breaking the monotony of learning: In this case would be important to vary
the tasks. Second making the tasks more interesting: Activities can include new tasks, but if
they are boring students are not going to engage in the activity, that is why is important not
to just design new tasks but make them interesting for the students. Last increasing student
involvement: It is possible to do this with activities that require their constant participation,
they’ll feel part of the activities instead of the teacher being the active participant.

Second of all It is of great importance to present tasks in a motivating way, because how
you present them is how students are going to learn and remember the new information, it
is possible to change the traditional ways in which you give instructions for the students to
do with the following functions: first explaining the purpose and the utility of a task: is
important to say what the objective of a task is, what they will acquire when doing this task,
this would help students feel like they are part of the task and do the best in the activity
provided. Second whetting the students’ appetite, when the introductions of the activity are
done in a different way like guessing, with enthusiasm, or with twists student will feel
engaged and will want to know what is going to come next, lastly providing appropriate
strategies to do the task, is very important to provide Instructions in an effective way
because this would help them understand what to do and follow the steps, some ways that
can work out is to take some time planning, other way is to say the instructions right before
 UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Nombre escuela: Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación, Pregrado
Nombre programa: Licenciatura en inglés como lengua extranjera

the activity and finally would be to model the activity this way will help them understand
what to do

Third of all setting specific learner roles is of great importance for learners to make short-
term goals that will help them and motivate them in their process of acquiring the language,
this is also a way that will help them evaluate their own process and know what needs to be
done to improve. As a teacher you can help student make their own goals following these
steps: define it, write the steps, think of the problems you may encounter, solutions, make a
time line, evaluate your process, and reward yourself. Also is important to take into account
the characteristics of the goals when writing them, they should be: clear and specific,
measurable, challenging and difficult, have an ending date, and last teachers should give the
students feedback to motivate them to reach the goals. Making goals will even help
demotivated student to have a purpose in their learning process.

The fourth strategy is about protecting the learner’s self-esteem and increasing their self-
confidence, it is necessary to build self-confidence and self-esteem because this will help
them to open up and feel secure as a learner. As teachers is important to promote an
environment in which students feel protected to let them gain confidence and feel safe
during their process. To help them gain confidence the author recommends the following
strategies: first of all providing experience of success, Success is an important part of this
strategy, because when the students feel that they succeeded they are going to feel like
doing more to succeed, to promote this is necessary to give them equal opportunities to do a
task, that is why you need to know their abilities to know what activities you can do that
works for their needs. Second of all encouraging the learner, when giving feedback as
teachers you need to provide students with encouragement by telling what their positive
traits are, thirdly reducing language anxiety, it is necessary because Language anxiety is a
problem that can affect motivation and what the students want to accomplish as a learner,
that is why is important to take into account the following situations: comparing students is
a bad habit in the classroom, it is necessary to reduce competition, and correcting the
students all the time, and finally giving them options when testing them, finally Teaching
learner strategies, because if we teach learning strategies to students will help them make
their learning more effective as a way to remember the new topics or to overcome their
 UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Nombre escuela: Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación, Pregrado
Nombre programa: Licenciatura en inglés como lengua extranjera

communication difficulties, as teachers you need to let students find out how they learn
easily and what strategies work for them.

The fifth strategy is about allowing learners to maintain a positive social image, according
to the article is important for students to maintain a positive social image that is why as
teachers you need to stimulate their image by giving everyone time to be the main character
in the classroom. We should provide students enough activities in which they can
participate and feel that they belong to the class, also finding their strengths can help you
understand what works for them and do it during the activities. And last teachers should
avoid: criticism and corrections, putting them in the spotlight, disciplining them in a
humiliating way, all this is important to avoid so the students don’t feel insecure when
doing a task.

The sixth strategy mentions Promoting cooperation among the leaners, because it is a great
way to help students learn, also because it increases motivation among students greatly and
their self-esteem and self-confidence, the impact on motivation is as follows: it fosters
solidarity among them, they know that they can count on each other and this help them to
succeed when learning a language, also this can help them to lower their anxiety because
they have some common goals to achieve, furthermore they are autonomous, so without the
teacher providing help, they investigate on their own to help each other, and last this helps
to increase their effort when doing a task, they don’t feel the pressure of the teacher, but
they feel motivated to do something.

The seventh strategy explains how to create learner autonomy, because it can be a great
way for learners to gain knowledge and learn on their own. According to the self-
determination theory is important to motivate students to make their own decisions instead
of telling them what to do. Here are some key points to take into account when providing
autonomy in the classroom: first increased learner involvement in organizing the learning
process, in this case teachers should let students take responsibility and participate in their
process, second is necessary a change in the teacher´s role, because as teachers is necessary
to change from the traditional style to the facilitator style in which teachers let students
discover and create their own meaning in a meaningfully way, teachers can be a guide in
their process and help them without forcing them to receive knowledge.
 UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Nombre escuela: Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación, Pregrado
Nombre programa: Licenciatura en inglés como lengua extranjera

The last strategy explains how to promote self-motivating learner strategies that can be a
great help for teachers when they want students to feel motivated, this will increase the
chance that the motivational strategies will work and be successful. To promote self-
motivational strategies it needs to take into account the classes of strategies that are there:
the first strategy would be Commitment control strategies: this can be done by constantly
imagining what is going to come up next, this help learners to maintain their goals and opt
for the best, other way is to think of the negative things that may happen, this would push
students to give their best. The second strategy is Metacognitive control strategies that are
some ways to make students work in achieving what they want but without leaving things
to the end. The third strategy is Satiation control strategies that is when the activities lose
the motivation they require this strategies can help students feel engage in the activities,
one way is by adding a twist to the task as a way to challenge students to do the tasks, and
lastly is important to use fantasy in the tasks to make them fun and entertaining. The fourth
strategy is Emotion control strategies that are ways that can help you manage your
emotions and stick to your goals without being cut off on what you want, some ideas are
self-encouragement, praying, using relaxation techniques, sharing your feelings. And last
strategy is Environmental control strategies that can be done by eliminating the bad
influences and bringing up the good influences in order to achieve your goals.

In conclusion the author Zoltan Dörnyei asserts in the importance of this strategies to
motivate students when learning a new language that can help them overcome their
weaknesses and insecurities and help them succeed when learning a second language. Also
in the importance of the role of the teacher to satiate students appetite and help them as a
guide in their process.
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Nombre escuela: Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación, Pregrado
Nombre programa: Licenciatura en inglés como lengua extranjera

Bibliographical references

 Zoltan Dörnyei. (2010). Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom.

Cambridge University Press.