Teacher Motivational Strategies for EFL Learners: For Better or Worse

Abstract

This study examines how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ motivational practice affects learners based on a motivational design for learning and performance, the Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction (ARCS) model of motivation. There was also an examination of how learners’ perceptions of teachers’ motivational practices were contributing to learners’ L2 proficiency. A total of 242 high school EFL learners completed questionnaires on their teachers’ motivational practice, and 12 of the learners’ teachers completed complementary questionnaires to indicate their use of motivational tactics or strategies. One-to-one interviews with eight learners were additionally conducted. Results indicated that the learners were underutilizing the motivational strategies (MS) that their teachers claimed to use. On the other hand, teachers’ attention-getting strategies and confidence-building strategies were significant predictors of learners’ language proficiency. Interview data revealed that the learners’ underutilization of teachers’ motivational practices was due to problems in lack of MS variability, motive mismatching, and natural consequences. Although teacher’s use of MS is generally believed to enhance learners’ motivation, the findings provide empirical evidence on how MS need to be implemented to accommodate learners’ vocational aspirations, and support classroom climates that can promote communicative language teaching practices.