Motivation strategies in the language classroom

I have taught English at junior and senior high schools in Japan for more than decades.   

My teaching philosophy is to create a successful classroom.   

The term “successful” means that students can enjoy learning English and use what they have learned during the class and eventually in the real world.   

In order to create this condition, I have tried many sorts of teaching methods.   

I have to admit, however, that some of my students do not seem to be satisfied with my English classes.   

What are the reasons for this situation?   

One of the reasons may be my teaching styles.   

I have just tried the methods that seem to be interesting and effective for my students without associating the methods with theories.   

Because of that, I still cannot have confidence in my teaching styles.   

Then what is another reason?   

I have noticed that how little I have been concerned about my students’ motivation despite the fact that motivation must be one of the most critical factors for a success-oriented classroom (Dőrnyei & Csizēr, 1998). 

I will talk about motivation on the upcoming blog post. 

On the final blog post on motivation series,  I will suggest some ideas of how teachers might increase learners’ motivation to acquire foreign languages . 

REFERENCE 

Dőrnyei, Z., & Csizēr, K. (1998). Ten commandments for motivating language learners: results of an empirical study. Language Teaching Research, 2,3, 203-229.