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Date Posted: 06:05:17 04/17/07 Tue
Author: Rodrigo Isaac
Subject: Group six: Rodrigo Isaac's Text

ESSAY

The Motivation Factor in Acquiring a Second Language


In the process of acquiring a second language, motivation is an essential factor in students learning. Usually motivation is a product of different purposes and targets because it resides on learners' necessities. Studies in this area of Applied Linguistics are in some sense new and this issue is very connected with Cognitive Psychology. In this briefly essay, I would like to analyze motivation concerning with its nature and theories that are been studied by scholars. The main points in this discussion are: a general explanation of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation; theories that permeates this issue such as behavioristic and humanistic theories.


The psychologist Robert Gardner (1985) stated that motivation in learning a language is the “combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitude toward learning the language.” Based on this well structured definition we can assume that attitudes are essential in relationship with the degree of motivation to a learner adopt to acquire a language. This attitude comes from two types of motivation that are called intrinsic and extrinsic.


This first type of motivation called Intrinsic by Deci (1971) is when the learner is motivated by internal factors to do something because it brings pleasure and he thinks that his learning is significant. In other hand Extrinsic motivation comes when a student is obliged to do a task or act a certain way because external factors motivates him, in this case the learner claims a reward like grades for example.


That are a lot of theories frameworks of motivation issue, but in this essay, I choose two to debate. The first one is the Behavioristic theory that was proposed by Skinner and is concerned with motivation as a reinforcement. In Skinner point of view the learner behavior is formed and maintained by the consequences that the student gets. So, with a good reinforcement, behaviors can be preserved, and with bad or wrong reinforcements, they can be less effective or destroyed. This approach sometimes acts emphasizing rewards and punishments as a way to control the learning process of a student that is more suitable with an extrinsic motivation.

Humanistic theory, hardly studied by Maslow (1943) states that the human mentality is robustly influenced by leading forces in society and in the unconsciousness, and that some of these are harmful. To learners of a second language this factor is strongly determinant, as we could see competence and self-respect are the kernel to give learners motivation. Maslow (1943) also proposed a motivational design called “Hierarchy of Needs”.


Humanistic theory, hardly studied by Maslow (1943) states that the human mentality is robustly influenced by leading forces in society and in the unconsciousness, and that some of these are harmful. To learners of a second language this factor is strongly determinant, as we could see competence and self-respect are the kernel to give learners motivation. Maslow (1943) also proposed a motivational design called “Hierarchy of Needs”. In a pyramidal form, in the base level, Maslow proposed the physiological needs as the main and essential necessities that must be fulfilled by human beings to achieve motivation, only after this stage another more relevant features could be gained, like for example creativity that is on the top of the pyramid.


Concluding this essay, we saw, that motivation is probably the central factor that will determine the success of language learning by a student. As we could see, intrinsic motivation is the pillar inspiration, which is resulting from the sensation of being skilled. Usually people are motivated when have their skills approved by others and it made them feel capable. While intrinsic motivation is fundamental for successful language learning, it does not seem robust enough, and extrinsic motivation adds the rest of learning amount to complete and motivate properly the learner of a second language.



References



Deci, E. L. (1971). Intrinsic Motivation. New York: Plenum Press


Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London: Edward Arnold.


Learning Theories Knowledgebase (2007, April). Behaviorism at Learning Theories. Retrieved April 11th, 2007 from http://www.learning-theories.com.


Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370–96.


Skinner, B. F. (1969). Contingencies of reinforcement: a theoretical analysis. Nova York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

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