As an English teacher who has worked in many different learning environments and with many types of students, I am able to distinguish 5 levels of student motivation in two different English learning environments, ESL (English as a Second Language) in English-speaking communities and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) in non-English speaking communities. Listed from the most motivated to the least, there are:
1) ESL students who are newly-arrived immigrants in a majority English-speaking country and who need English to work and thrive,
2) ESL students who are studying abroad for less than a year who have nonetheless invested a lot of time, money, and energy into their experience, but who may sometimes feel lonely, bored, and culture-shocked during their time abroad,
3) EFL students at the elementary school level who are often excited by the novelty of working with English instructors from foreign countries, but who may also feel nervous about practicing a new language,
4) EFL students at the university level for whom learning English may or may not be a dream come true, and who may be enrolled in university only because their parents are forcing them or because they don’t know what else to do, and
5) EFL students at the high school level who feel like they have discovered themselves already and who can’t always readily understand why they are being forced to study a foreign language.
Language Learning as Imitation:
Regardless of which situation an English teacher is in, there is an aspect of language learning that can be applied to help motivate students to pursue their language study enthusiastically. As languages learners work to build vocabulary and develop communication skills in the target language, they also tend to adopt mannerisms, gestures, and even facial expressions of the native language speakers that they have experience with because they tend to imitate these models. This is not to say that mastering a language requires people to change their personalities, but rather to discover and expand another aspect of themselves. After all, how did any of us become native speakers of a language except by observing and imitating the modellers of our own native languages?
Language Learning as Self-fashioning:
Students who are learning English should be encouraged to discover and expand another aspect of themselves, the English aspect. This starts with adopting an English name and taking an interest in aspects of English culture, like finding a TV show or sport that are popular in the so-called Anglosphere. This tactic has been associated with the teaching methodology called “Suggestopedia” or “Desuggestopedia”, in which the instructor attempts to ease students emotionally through the very challenging task of language learning. However, this initial self-fashioning can be enhanced an innovative way. In addition to leading students to discovering their English selves, the instructor should design learning objectives and activities that allow students to open up their creative sides and their leadership skills. For example, students could be led through role-play activities in which they might: start a student club and then invite their classmates to join; imagine themselves opening a new business, like a restaurant or store, and then try to promote it among their classmates; plan and promote a trip for a tour group to a local or international destination; prepare and present a movie pitch for a film studio in Hollywood; compose and tell a crazy story that may or may not be true; plan a party or special event; and many more. Such activities will allow students to practice targeted words, phrases, and grammar, as well as spurring them to use their imagination and take the initiative perhaps more than they would in their daily lives, thereby leading them to self-fashion a new English identity that will keep them engaged in their language learning adventures.
