DEMOTIVATION

MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES TO
OVERCOME IT IN THE FOREIGN
LANGUAGE CLASSROOM IN HIGH
SCHOOL
Jon Iaki Mendizabal

GRADUA/GRADO: Ingeles ikasketak/Estudios Ingleses

TUTOREA/TUTOR: David Lasagabaster
DEPARTAMENTUA/DEPARTAMENTO: Filologa Inglesa y Alemana
y de Traduccin e Interpretacin/Ingeles eta Aleman Filologia eta
Itzulpengintza

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT.........................................................................................3
1) INTRODUCTION..........................................................................4
2) DEFINING DEMOTIVATION.....................................................5
3) RESEARCH ON DEMOTIVATION............................................6
4) MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES IN THE FOREIGN
LANGUAGE IN HIGH SCHOOL.............................................10
4.1) THE TEACHER..11
4.1.1) Teachers personality and behaviour..11
4.1.2) Relationship with students.......12
4.2) CLASS ENVIRONMENT..13
4.2.1) Atmosphere....13
4.2.2) Group Cohesiveness..14
4.3) INTRINSIC DEMOTIVATION....15
4.3.1) L2-related values...15
4.3.2) Students expectancy of success...17
4.3.3) Reduced self-confidence...18
4.4) KEY ELEMENTS FOR CLASSROOM MOTIVATION..19
4.4.1) Materials....19
4.4.2) Activities/Tasks.........20
4.4.3) Grades, Feedbacks and Rewards........21
5) CONCLUSION.............................................................................23
6) REFERENCES.............................................................................26

DEMOTIVATION: MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES

TO OVERCOME IT IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE
CLASSROOM IN HIGH SCHOOL
Jon Iaki Mendizabal

ABSTRACT

Until the last few years, the field of second language (L2) motivation has mainly
focused on the motivational influences that have a positive effect on L2 learning and has
neglected the negative forces that are detrimental to learners motivation. For this
reason, in spite of being as influential as motivation in L2 learning, demotivation is an
issue that has started to gain relevance fairly recently. The former is considered one of
the key forces that determine the success of L2 learning, and the latter may be the main
responsible for L2 learning failure in most of the cases. Therefore, the introductory
section of this paper attempts not only to explain what demotivation is, but also to
provide evidence to demonstrate its importance. Then, the most common and influential
demotivating factors, also known as demotives, are identified after reviewing the
literature on this topic. Although most of the studies come to the conclusion that
teachers are the main source of demotivation, they present different findings, for
instance that teachers are not aware of the fact that they are demotivating, or that the
absence of demotives in the classroom has a more positive effect on motivation than the
presence of motives. Next, the demotives of the research are listed in a troubleshooting
guide which aims at explaining to teachers how they should behave and teach in order
to be efficient as teachers and as motivators, and which motivational strategies they
could use to avoid the negative influences that are under their control and which would
contribute to overcome demotivation. This paper reaches three main conclusions: (i)
more research studies on demotivation should be conducted; (ii) universities should
offer L2 teaching programmes which include the development of skills in motivating
learners in their curriculum; (iii) different motivational strategies can be summarized in
a more general one. Last but not least, the possible limitations of the paper are
explained, while some possible solutions to these limitations are provided.

1) INTRODUCTION
Although the word motivation is used and heard regularly in our everyday lives, it is
such an abstract concept that even expert theorists in the field of psychology do not
totally agree when providing an exact meaning to it. Nevertheless, probably because it
is derived from the Latin verb movere which means to move, we all agree that the
term motivation approximately refers to a factor which moves people to behave and
think as they do; in fact, the Oxford Dictionary Online defines it as a reason or reasons

for acting or behaving in a particular way. As Drnyei (2001) puts it, it is related to
what one wants or desires (conative functions), to what one rationally thinks
(cognitive functions) or feels (affective functions) and it determines human behavior
by energizing it and giving it direction. In the majority of the cases it is a decisive factor
in achieving success or experiencing failure in ones objectives. Therefore, over the past
decades the study of motivation has been a relevant area not only in the field of
psychology, but also in the field of second language acquisition (SLA). Almost all the
learners who really desire to learn a foreign language and devote enough time and effort
into it, master quite an acceptable knowledge of the target language, irrespective of their
language aptitude. Thus, there is evidence that motivation can override other factors
which are also relevant. For this reason, it is considered one of the key forces that
influences the rate and success of L2 learning, which is why a great deal of research has
been conducted focusing on the motivational influences that have a positive effect on
L2 learning.
In contrast, there also exist negative forces that have a detrimental effect on learners
motivation, but although some researchers have started to concentrate on this issue
named demotivation fairly recently, unfortunately very few studies in the literature of
L2 learning focus on it. Their findings may also be interesting, on the one hand for
researchers, because examining their cause would help them understand theories on
motivation better and, on the other hand, for teachers in order to avoid factors which
could be the source of their students demotivation.
In the foreign language (FL) classroom the negative forces may be more frequent than
the positive ones, because, as in the case of Spanish EFL (English as a foreign language)
learners, students are forced to study a language which they have not chosen, or even
worse, a language that they probably find boring or useless, and that they may even
dislike. In addition, other innumerable factors (e.g. the teacher, the materials, etc.)
which are going to be analyzed later, may also contribute to the detriment of the
students motivation. Because of that, it is believed that the number of demotivated L2
learners is high and this could explain why language-learning failure is such a salient
phenomenon in the Spanish educational system.
Moreover, the presence of demotivated students in the EFL classroom can be
devastating for the whole class, because as one highly motivated student can influence

the others positively, a demotivated one can have just the opposite effect, first affecting
other students motivation, then their teachers efficiency and consequently deteriorating
the quality of the lessons.
For all these reasons, the first aim of this paper is to give a better explanation of the
neglected or dark side of motivation, that is to say, demotivation, and identify its main
causes reviewing the different research studies that have been conducted on this topic.
The second aim is concerned with another aspect that has not attracted the attention that
it deserves. Although there is a great deal of theory concerning L2 motivation, there is
not much information about how a teacher should put this theoretical knowledge into
practice in the actual FL classroom. Therefore, after having identified the most relevant
sources of demotivation, this paper will attempt, firstly, to explain teachers how to avoid
those negative influences and, secondly, to provide them with some solutions to those
problems by putting forward some effective motivational strategies.
2) DEFINING DEMOTIVATION
Demotivation is defined by Drnyei (2000, 143) as specific external forces that reduce
or diminish the motivational basis of a behavioural intention or an ongoing action.
Hence, he clarifies that there are some influences which, in spite of being negative, are
not considered demotives, for instance, the gradual loss of interest or performing
alternative actions that serve as distractions. The former is not a proper demotivating
event according to him, because it is not caused by a particular trigger, and the latter,
because they do not reduce the motivation, they are just more attractive options that
have a distracting effect (e.g. playing with the mobile phone in class instead of paying
attention to the teacher.)
However, it may be affirmed that this definition needs further elucidation, as he does
not explain the reasons for considering demotives only the external forces and rejecting
the internal processes that diminish the motivational basis of a behavioral intention. In
fact, in another publication Drnyei (2001) includes internal factors, such as lack of
self-confidence and negative attitude towards the language, as sources of demotivation,
so he should justify why they cannot be considered demotives.

Moreover, he points out that demotivation does not mean the nullification of all the
positive influences, in other words, some other positive motives may still remain
operational.
To conclude, he adds that sometimes the term demotivation is used to describe every
unsuccessful learner, which reflects the general belief that motivation is the key
determinant of success or failure. Nevertheless, there are some students that, although
they have sufficient motivation, they are underachievers because of their low language
ability, so Stradling, Saunders, and Weston (1991, as quoted in Chambers 1999) provide
the following characteristics to distinguish demotivated learners:

Non-completion of assignments;
Lack of persistence and expectation of failure when attempting new tasks;
High level of dependency on sympathetic teachers (needing constant attention,

direction, supervision and reassurance);

Signs of anxiety, frustration and defensive behaviour;
Disruptive or withdrawn behaviour;
Apathetic non-participation in the classroom;
Non-attendance and poor attendance;
Frequent expression of view that school is boring and irrelevant.

3) RESEARCH ON DEMOTIVATION
As previously mentioned, few studies have focused on learners demotivation, in spite
of playing an important role in learning a language, especially in the classroom context.
The first researchers attaching demotivation the importance it deserves were Christophel
and Gorham (1992, 1995, as quoted in Drnyei 2000), two researchers of instructional
communication. This subfield of L1 communication assumes that the classroom may be
an important context for the study of communication in the L1, and also that relevant
theoretical and practical implications can be obtained from the analysis of classroom
interaction and instructional outcomes. The cited researchers conducted two different
investigations in order to identify which factors were perceived as demotives by college
students attending lectures on communication. The conclusion drawn from these studies
were very enlightening.
First, the research findings revealed that 79% of the reported sources of demotivation in
these studies were associated with the teacher. On the one hand, 43% concerned the
teacher directly because they were factors related to their behavior (e.g. being boring,

not having credibility, etc.). On the other hand, 36% of the factors regarded them
indirectly, because they were related to structure or format (e.g. materials, grades, goals,
instructions, etc.), and only 21% of the demotivating factors were out of teachers
control (e.g. the subject, length of classes, etc.).
Moreover, they presented a rank order of the frequency of the demotives and, four out
of the first five, were also related to the teacher. So, the findings reveal clearly that the
main source of students demotivation is the teacher.
Christophel and Gorham (1992, as quoted in Falout, Elwood, and Hood 2009) also
found that the absence of demotives in the classroom had a more positive effect on
motivation than the presence of motives. Thus, they concluded that students motivation
could be stimulated by preventing demotivation.
As was the case in the previous research, almost all the investigations that have been
conducted in the field of L2 learning also conclude that the teacher is the main cause of
students demotivation. Chamberss (1993, as quoted in Drnyei 2000) study was the
first important one that was fully devoted to this neglected topic. The research was
based on a questionnaire that 191 grade-nine pupils were asked to fill in, and showed
that pupils blame their teachers for their demotivation, because of their not giving
instructions that are clear enough and easy to follow, not explaining things sufficiently,
or criticizing students and shouting at them when they do not understand something.
Two studies that may be considered classics in this field, that is to say, the analysis of
essays carried out by Oxford (1998, as quoted in Drnyei 2000) and the interviews
conducted by Drnyei (1998, as quoted in Drnyei 2000) confirm this tendency of
viewing the teacher as the source of demotivation in secondary school students. The
four broad themes that Oxford (1998, as quoted in Drnyei 2000) distinguishes in the
content analysis of the data are related to the teacher: (a) their personal relationship with
the students (lack of caring, patronage/favoritism, hypercriticism, etc.); (b) their attitude
towards the course or materials (sloppy management, close-mindedness, etc.); (c) style
conflict between them and the students (degree of seriousness of the class, amount of
structure or detail, etc.); and (d) the nature of the classroom activities (irrelevance,
overload, repetitiveness, etc.).
Drnyeis study (1998, as quoted in Drnyei 2000) differs from the others, because he
focused specifically on learners who had been identified as being demotivated, although

the results of the analysis are entirely consistent with the previous investigations. Again,
the largest category of demotivators (40%) concerned the teacher, on the one hand,
directly because of issues like their personality, their commitment to teaching, attention
paid to students, competence, teaching methods, etc. On the other hand, another 15% of
the demotivators regarded them indirectly, due to the students reduced self-confidence
that is related to classroom events that are under the teachers control, such as a too
strict marking system or demanding a level that students do not consider attainable.
This last investigation encouraged several researchers in Japan to start analyzing the
demotivation of Japanese learners of English and nowadays it is becoming a more
recurrent topic. Sakai and Kikuchi (2009) reviewed the most important studies, which
are Arai (2004), Falout and Murayama (2004), Hasegawa (2004), Ikeno (2002), Kikuchi
(in press), Kikuchi and Sakai (2007), Kojima (2004) and Tsuchiya (2004a, 2004b,
2006a, 2006b). Based on their findings they provided a list of the main demotivating
factors, in which it can be seen clearly that the teacher is once more the main
protagonist, as they are the first factor, the second being the characteristics of the
classes, third the experiences of failure and, finally, the class environment and materials.
However, in spite of not being as influential as the teachers, these studies also present
other external forces that have a detrimental effect on the learners motivation and that
are not under their control. Inadequate school facilities and negative attitude towards the
L2 are quite significant (more than 10%) in Drnyeis (1998, as quoted in Drnyei
2000) study, and the compulsory nature of L2 studies, the interference of another
foreign language being studied, the negative attitude towards the L2 community, and the
attitudes of other group members are also considered less frequent but still potent
demotivating factors in all the researches.
Apart from the negative influences, there are also very interesting conclusions drawn
from these studies regarding demotivation. For instance, in Chambers study (1993, as
quoted in Drnyei 2000) it could be considered eye-catching the fact that teachers were
unaware of how their behaviours, relationships and methodologies demotivate learners,
because they were asked to fill in a questionnaire about demotives and they did not
consider themselves a cause of demotivation. This was supported in Gorham and
Millettes (1997, as quoted in Falout, Elwood, and Hood 2009) study, because although
teachers associated students demotivation with many external factors, they were not

included among them, and in addition, they praised themselves for being the cause of
their students motivation. In contrast, learners considered that motivation is a learnerowned state and demotivation a teacher-owned problem (Christophel and Gorham,
1992, 1995, as quoted in Falout, Elwood, and Hood 2009).
Chambers (1993, as quoted in Drnyei 2000) and Oxford (1998, as quoted in Drnyei
2000) also agree with the fact that many learners feel demotivated due to a low selfesteem and they seem that they not to want to study. Nevertheless, what they really want
is extra attention and praise for what they are good at, because in spite of their behavior,
they need to be encouraged. However, the researchers remind us that this may not work
properly with some students, as in many cases the problem is with learning in general,
not with learning languages.
Moreover, Ushioda (1998, 2001, as quoted in Falout, Elwood, and Hood 2009) observed
another significant finding in her study. The demotivated learners in her sample
managed to revive their motivation, despite the various negative experiences, thanks to
the use of some effective self-motivating strategies, such as, setting oneself short-term
goals, positive self-talks or indulging in an enjoyable L2 activity that is not related with
the classroom context (watching films, listening to music, etc.)
Once the most demotivating factors have been identified and having seen that teachers
are the main source, the aim of the next section will be to explain teachers how they
should behave and teach, in order to avoid the negative influences that are under their
control and to motivate their students.
4)

MOTIVATIONAL

STRATEGIES

IN

THE

FOREIGN

LANGUAGE

CLASSROOM IN HIGH SCHOOL

As argued earlier, motivation is one of the key forces that influences the rate and
success of learning a language, therefore, it may be considered that the person who is in
charge of teaching the L2 is the main responsible for their students demotivation.
Although focusing just on the preparation for tests may produce better immediate
results, learning an L2 is a long process and, consequently, every teacher who cares for
the long-term development of their students, instead of just teaching the curriculum they
are expected to teach, they should pay more attention and spend more time enhancing
their students motivation.

Unfortunately, the fact that an L2 cannot be learned successfully without motivation is

ignored even by many of the most prestigious universities, because Drnyei (2001)
asserts that he is not aware of any L2 teacher training programme that includes the
development of skills in motivating learners in their curriculum.
For these reasons, rewards and punishments are the only motivational strategies that
most of the teachers use consciously, in spite of the fact that there are plenty of other
techniques which can be more effective. Students motivation can be promoted in
manifold ways, as almost all the forces in the classroom context may affect their
behaviour. Every technique that a teacher utilizes consciously with the purpose of
achieving an enduring positive effect on the individuals attitudes and behaviours is
considered a motivational strategy. Their purpose is not only to increase student
motivation, but also to maintain it and protect it from distracting actions, because
motivating learners is a permanent process that is achieved little by little, as there is not
any motivational technique that can boost the students motivation from one moment to
another.
Considering the aforementioned issues, it may be assumed that the best motivational
intervention could be to improve the quality of the teaching, as teaching and motivation
work together. A skilled motivator who lacks proper teaching techniques, for example if
a teacher is not able to give adequate explanations and learners cannot follow the lesson,
would be a significant demotive, the same as a teacher with efficient skills but that is
not a competent motivator.
This section will be an attempt to explain how to behave and teach in the FL classroom
in order to be efficient both as a teacher and as a motivator. For that, mainly based on
Drnyei (2001), a troubleshooting guide has been designed, in which the most
influential demotives found in the different researches on demotivation are listed and
strategies are provided on how to control these detrimental forces.
4.1) THE TEACHER
As previously mentioned, motivating students is a process, but, first of all, it needs to
be generated. However, Drnyei (2001) mentions that, in order to do it effectively, there
are three crucial interrelated motivational preconditions that must be fulfilled. To begin

10

with, the teacher must have an appropriate behavior and a good relationship with the
students.
4.1.1) Teachers personality and behaviour
As Brophy (1998) puts in, teachers personality and everyday behaviour in the
classroom may become the most powerful motivational tool. Therefore, they should
display, firstly, the attributes of individuals who are effective as models and socialisers
and, secondly, characteristics which make people well liked, such as friendliness,
cheerful disposition or sincerity.
Regarding appropriate teacher behaviours, the American psychologist Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi (1997, as quoted in Drnyei 2001) tried to argue that enthusiastic
teachers are the most influential ones, which is a belief that is shared by many scholars.
The ones who demonstrate their passion and dedication for the L2 they teach influence
their students significantly, because as the psychologist argues, they feel admiration
towards that passion and this encourages them to learn that language. Thus, sharing
personal interests in the L2 with students and showing that L2 learning is a worthwhile
experience are believed to be very effective motivational strategies, if they are used by
an enthusiastic teacher that may be considered a role-model by some of their students.
However, it is also essential not to be too excessive in showing enthusiasm, as students
may consider you the laughing stock of the class, which could be a demotive.
Drnyei (2001) also claims that the more commitment the teacher shows towards the
students learning and progress, the more likely it is that students will act likewise.
Therefore, teachers should exhibit their care about their students learning success,
offering them concrete assistance and meeting them individually as soon as possible to
explain things whenever help is requested, correcting tests and papers promptly, and
doing other things that express commitment towards them.
A further influential factor that is presented is teachers expectations. Many researches
have concluded that it is more probable to have success in learning a language if a
teacher believes that their students can reach a high level of achievement, because they
will also think so. Per contra, low expectations affect student motivation inversely, as
the level they attain is rarely higher than expected.
4.1.2) Relationship with students

11

The claim that an effective motivating teacher should have a good relationship with the
students on an academic level is more than obvious, but having it on a personal level is
also undoubtedly beneficial as they are related. Teachers whose relationship with their
students is full of respect and confidence and, besides, they succeed in establishing a
friendship with them, in spite of being their teacher, are considerably more influential in
academic matters, because a great deal of students learning effort is energized by the
affiliative motive to please the teacher, and a good rapport between the teacher and the
students is a basic requirement in any modern, student-centred approach to education
([Rogers, 1983], as quoted in Drnyei and Csizr 1998).
As Brophy (1998) suggests, teachers should try to socialize and get to know students by
sharing their background, life experiences, interests, and opinions, because this may
help inhibited students to become more open and to express their own thoughts too,
creating a relationship of mutual respect and admiration.
In order to establish a good relationship with the students, Drnyei (2001) highlights the
following three factors. To begin with, it is essential to accept them, as acceptance is
considered one of the key elements in teaching by several psychologists. As Drnyei
(2001, 37) puts it, it involves a non-judgemental positive attitude, something like the
way we may feel towards a relative, for example an aunt or uncle, who has his/her
shortcomings but whom we know well and is one of us. Moreover, he differentiates
acceptance from approval, as a person can be accepted without necessarily approving of
everything he/she does.
Apart from that, students also take satisfaction in being given personal attention. This
may seem impossible for many teachers, as most of them have to give lessons to more
than fifteen students at the same time and there is not enough time to pay attention to
everybody. However, there is a great deal of small details or gestures which may be
appreciated by the students and which may increase their motivation, e.g. learning their
names quickly and using them frequently, noticing interesting features of their
appearance, asking them about their lives outside school or hobbies and incorporating
them in topics or exercises, recognizing their birthdays, etc.
Another issue that would contribute to establishing a good relationship with students is
the availability of teachers for personal contact. Once again, the problem of busy
schedules and pressure of time arises. Nevertheless, considering the importance of their

12

students motivation, teachers should try to make time, give their e-mail address
encouraging them to write and set some tutorial hours, in order for them to see that their
teacher is available whenever they have a doubt or need something.
4.2) CLASS ENVIRONMENT
According to Drnyei (2001), the other prerequisites that must be satisfied in order to
generate motivation are related to class environment, which is another factor that may
undermine students motivation. Firstly, there must be a pleasant and supportive
classroom atmosphere and, secondly, the learner group must be a cohesive one with
appropriate group norms.
4.2.1) Atmosphere
The classroom is a context in which many demotives can be found every day, therefore,
it is crucial to create a pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere, because, as
Drnyei and Csizr (1998, 215) put in student anxiety created by a tense classroom
climate is one of the most potent factors that undermine L2 motivation. Besides the
motivational strategies that have been argued until now, Drnyei (2001) presents three
potent factors that contribute to achieving that.
The first one is tolerance, because it is really important to elucidate students that
committing mistakes is a natural part of learning and that every learner of a language
has gone through it, even the teacher. This way, students will dare to use the L2 and will
not feel anxious because of having made a mistake.
The use of humour is another applicable strategy that helps to generate a pleasant
atmosphere. Yet, this does not mean that the class should be like a stand-up comedy.
What is important about humour is that students need to feel that, although education
and the learning of a language are considered serious issues in life, they can be done
with a relaxed attitude and fun.
Finally, the physical environment also supports in creating a friendly atmosphere. Thus,
learners should be encouraged to personalize the decoration of the classroom according
to their taste, giving them the opportunity to choose some posters or funny objects in
groups. Moreover, listening to the music they like while performing some L2 tasks

13

could also be helpful. The more comfortable they feel with the appearance of the
classroom and the environment, the more appealing learning the language in it will be.
4.2.2) Group cohesiveness
The fact that a demotivated learner can diminish other students motivation and finally
cause the deterioration of the quality of the lesson has been argued in the introduction.
This happens because the group as a social unit influences the behaviour of its
members, so there are some issues that are directly related with motivation.
Group cohesiveness is an aspect a teacher should bear in mind during the whole course,
as student motivation is more likely to be high in cohesive learner groups. However,
Drnyei and Csizrs (1998) study reported that there is a need to raise teachers
awareness about its importance, as none of the teachers of their study used a strategy
related to consciously building a cohesive learning group.
In order for a group to be considered cohesive, to begin with, the members have to be
united by showing commitment and providing support to each other, and, to continue,
they have to be happy to belong to that group and to form it along with the other
members. These positive attitudes contribute to making the learning of a language more
effective. It would be a good start to use ice-breaking activities at the beginning of new
courses, because students share their personal information and they get to know all the
other learners better. Moving students round regularly in order to avoid rigid seating
patterns and performing small-group tasks and games from time to time would also be a
good strategy, as they would be mixed with different learners each lesson.
Moreover, it is assumed that to make the learning of a language possible there must be
some rules in the classroom which determine what students can do and what they
cannot. However, teachers are also part of the class and there may be some conducts
that are considered unacceptable by the students, e.g. just giving three days to prepare
for a test and taking a whole month to correct them. Taking this into consideration, all
the learners who have to adopt the rules should also have the right to propose their own
ones for the teacher and to discuss the ones that are supposed to follow. Research
findings have concluded that the sets of class rules that are accepted mutually by both
the teachers and all the learners are most efficient.

14

After having established the norms, there are two other relevant things that have to be
done. First of all, enforce them, especially the teachers, because they are the leaders of
the group and a model of behaviour for their students in the classroom. If teachers do
not obey them, the learners will realize that they are not important and they will also
disobey them. Secondly, the consequences for violating some of the established rules
should also be specified by the members of the group, and the teacher or the students
themselves should discipline the one who disobeys a rule, discussing why he/she has
failed the group and what can be done to engage him/her in more positive behaviour.
4.3) INTRINSIC DEMOTIVATION
Once having tried to put the motivational preconditions discussed in the previous point
in place, teachers can make an attempt to start generating positive student attitudes
towards learning the L2. This is really necessary, because many of the high school
students feel reluctant to go to school to spend many hours in a classroom learning a
language they do not consider important or useful. Besides, it is considered one of the
most boring and monotonous activities by many adolescents, so, they just go because
attendance is compulsory; if they could freely choose to do other things, language
classrooms would more than likely be deserted places.
4.3.1) L2-related values
In order to succeed in motivating students, teachers have to discover what can
encourage them to learn and to perform the classroom activities, in spite of not being
the most enjoyable thing to do. Enhancing the learners positive language-related values
and attitudes towards the L2 may be the right beginning to build motivation, as they
determine our basic preferences and approaches to activities. This may be achieved by
presenting students a role-model with an interest in foreign languages that they could
follow, because role-models in general have been found to be very influential on
student motivation ([Pintrich and Schunk, 1996], as quoted in Drnyei and Csizr
1998). In section 4.1.1. it has been mentioned that teachers may become a prominent
model in the classroom by demonstrating enthusiasm and commitment, so they should
also share their interest in learning a FL.
Apart from the teacher, there may be other role-models that could be more influential.
For instance, Chambers (1999) mentions that after having listened to a radio programme

15

in which a local first division football player said that he had been studying for a degree
in French and German, he decided to invite the footballer to provide his students with
an insight into his foreign language learning experience. Although he said nothing that
their teacher Chambers had not said to them about the relevance and benefits of learning
languages, this time the learners paid attention and started to give more importance to
foreign language learning.
However, not everyone is lucky enough to have the possibility of inviting a local hero,
so someone who is similar to the students but whose attitudes and behaviours are
respectful and admirable, such as an older student who has positive learning experiences
and is respected, could be presented. Besides, joining demotivated students with peers
who have positive values and attitudes towards the L2 could also be influential.
The last strategy that has been explained could help in promoting three different values
regarding L2 learning that Drnyei (2001) highlights, that is, the intrinsic, the
integrative and the instrumental value. However, there are some other strategies that are
specific to enhancing solely one of the values, so now this paper will attempt to provide
useful techniques for each of the values.
The intrinsic value is related to students that learn the target language for satisfying their
curiosity to understand something new, to cope with challenges as a way of surpassing
themselves or because they are interested in that language and they feel joy in learning
it. Learners intrinsic interest in the L2 learning process may be raised by highlighting
challenging or satisfying aspects of its learning that they might enjoy, or by
demonstrating that there is a great variety of activities in the L2 that can be enjoyable or
of interest to them.
Then, holding positive integrative values towards an L2 means to have a predilection
towards the language, its culture, speakers, influence and all the other factors that the L2
is associated with. In order to inspire a positive disposition towards these factors,
teachers should try to introduce aspects of the different cultures and countries where the
L2 is spoken that students might find interesting or relevant, and they should also be
encouraged to discover them by themselves. Besides, contact with L2 native speakers
can be promoted by organizing exchange programmes to the L2 community, but as not
all the schools and parents could afford it, teachers should try to find L2 speaking
friends for their students to chat with them via internet or draw attention to internet

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chat rooms. In addition, nowadays it is quite ordinary, in Spain at least, to have a

native language teaching assistant. In many cases, students sympathise with them,
firstly, because they have more things in common with these assistants than with
teachers, as they are normally young people that have just finished their university
degrees and, secondly, because students spend less time with them than with teachers,
so they may form a friendship instead of a teacher-student relationship. Taking these
into consideration together with the fact that they are native speakers, it may be
assumed that native language teaching assistants can also contribute to promoting
positive integrative values by showing the most attractive places of their countries or the
most stimulating aspect of their culture, music or customs.
The last value is the instrumental which is associated with the potential pragmatic gains
that the learning of the L2 may yield, for example, having more opportunities to study a
degree, going on a course to a country where it is spoken, etc. The appreciation of the
benefits that a high proficiency in the L2 might entail may be stimulated by encouraging
learners to apply their proficiency in real-life situations, such as using internet facilities
or having access to more information about subject matters that are interesting for them.
4.3.2) Students expectancy of success
It has already been argued that teachers expectations play an important role in the
motivation of their students, but their own expectancy of success is as important as the
teachers, or even more. We humans have a tendency to refuse to do something if we
believe that we will not be able to succeed, owing to that, it is a salient phenomenon that
students abandon the learning of the L2, when they are confronted with demotives that
make them believe they will not achieve success. Considering this, it is clear that
demotivation and learners expectancy go hand in hand, thus, increasing learners
expectations and encouraging them to have a more positive view is another relevant
motivational strategy. First of all, learners should be given tasks whose difficulty is
equivalent to their ability level and to the preparation they have received in class,
neither much easier ones nor much harder ones. Then, teachers should make as clear as
possible what success means in that particular task. After that, students who know how
to perform the activity successfully should make a live demonstration, in order for the
others to have a model. Finally, in spite of doing all these things, if someone cannot

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perform the task properly, they should be helped while they are engaged in the activity
by the teacher or by a peer student that has understood the task perfectly.
Following this procedure whenever students are asked to perform a task may help them
to feel success and this would contribute not only to increasing their expectancy of
success, but also their self-confidence, which is the next demotive that is going to be
discussed.
4.3.3) Reduced self-confidence
This aspect of motivational teaching practice is closely related to the previous one,
because, as Brophy (1998) demonstrates by providing different researches as examples,
effort and persistence in achievement situations are greater when people have a sense of
self-confidence that they have the ability to succeed in their goal if they invest the
necessary effort. For this reason, students who do not believe in themselves as learners
are more likely to abandon the learning of the L2 when they encounter frustration or
failure, while, students with high self-confidence continue making an effort and engage
in tasks persistently, even if they face obstacles.
Adolescence is a period in life in which because of manifold pressures some teenagers
feel insecure. Therefore, teachers should try to protect their self-worth and increase their
confidence with the utilization of the following motivational strategies.
As Littlejohn (2008, 219) puts in the corollary to avoiding face-threatening situations
in the classroom is the provision of opportunities which enhance feelings of success,
because feelings of success fuel motivation, as achievement enhances self-image and
confidence in an upward spiral in which increased levels of achievement enhance
motivation which in turn leads to further increases in achievement. Thus, providing
students regularly with favourable tasks or assignments in which they can perform well
may lead to higher self-confidence in students, because as he mentions tasks which
reveal students strengths, rather than expose their weaknesses, are especially important
in cases of low levels of motivation. However, it is not recommendable to ask them to
perform too easy tasks, because they may believe that it is not worth doing them, so the
level of difficulty should be adapted to the ability of their students and, besides, they
should try to establish a balance between challenging tasks and easy ones. In the same
manner, tests in which everybody is likely to do well can be designed. In spite of doing

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all that, students might fail, so, providing feedback that helps them to achieve success
may also help. How to provide feedback to these learners will be provided in the section
4.4.3.
Confidence is a quality that changes accordingly to the opinions and beliefs of others,
that is, the more they believe in you, the more you will believe in yourself. Taking this
issue into consideration, it may be assumed that teachers can increase students
confidence significantly, as they are an important figure in their students life. Thus,
encouraging learners with reduced self-confidence, firstly, by pointing out their
strengths and, secondly, by demonstrating them that they are believed to be able to
succeed if they continue making an effort can help them to feel more confident.
4.4) KEY ELEMENTS FOR CLASSROOM MOTIVATION
Learning and enjoying may seem opposite words for most of the high school students,
because they are used to remaining seated in a classroom the whole morning doing
monotonous exercises that they are not interested in. Nevertheless, there are many other
activities which give them the opportunity to learn many things without even realizing,
and, besides they enjoy doing them such as playing computer games in a language that
is not their mother-tongue or watching movies about something that happened in the
past that could help in learning history. This fact suggests that the two terms can be
compatible, in fact, there are numerous motivational strategies that may make the
learning of an L2 quite interesting or, at least, less boring.
4.4.1) Materials
Research on demotivation shows that teaching materials are not only a significant
demotive, but also a common one. As Brophy (1998) puts in, most of the teachers
follow the teaching suggestions that come with their textbooks, so students have to learn
something they might not be interested in or they might think it is not worth learning.
Thus, teachers should improve much of the content and activities suggested in these
books to make learning more pleasant, firstly, by discovering what topics are considered
interesting by their students and what their L2-related goals are, via questionnaires,
essay writing assignments or group discussions. Secondly, they should take their
responses into account and introduce them in the curriculum establishing a balance
between what the students want to learn and what the teachers believe they should learn,

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and, thirdly, substitute pointless questions and activities for those which will be more
interesting, apart from supporting progress toward major goals.
4.4.2) Activities/Tasks
A further strategy teachers should utilize is to break the monotony of learning, because
it may be considered a universal fact that even the most enjoyable activity losses its
interest, if it becomes a routine. Monotony is synonymous with invariability, therefore,
innovation is needed in every aspect of the teaching of a language, for example
language tasks can vary in the linguistic focus or in the language skill they stimulate,
the channel of communication can also be alternated, the organizational format, the
presentation style, etc. Teachers should also bear in mind the amount of effort required
by the different activities they perform, for instance, starting a class with a light activity
or game if the students have made an exam in the previous subject.
In addition, it is relevant to make the tasks interesting, because varying them would not
contribute to motivating students, if the change is made from a boring activity to an
even more boring one. To have success in doing that, teachers should make tasks
challenging by introducing a competition in which there are no losers, make them
attractive by including intriguing or humorous elements, enlist all the students as active
participants creating specific roles and personalized assignments for them, etc.
To finish with the motivational techniques that support in making learning stimulating,
the importance of task introductions should be highlighted, as they also influence the
way students perceive them. Apart from describing how the task will be and how it will
be graded, a proper motivational presentation should be enthusiastic and intense and
should explain why they are performing that activity and why it is important. Besides,
teachers should demonstrate the task by themselves or by asking a capable student to do
it and, moreover, they should provide effective strategies that may help them to
complete it and to avoid confusion.
4.4.3) Grades, feedbacks and rewards
Grades are not only the most well-known motivational technique, but also one of the
most influential demotives according to the different research studies that have been
conducted in demotivation. Moreover, there is a debate concerning their utility, because
on the one hand, psychologists think that they do motivation more damage than benefit,

20

and on the other hand, most of the teachers believe they are helpful in rewarding
students for their attitudes, efforts and academic achievements. As reported by many of
the former scholars, students just concentrate on the grades, in other words, on the
results. Grades become their ultimate goal of learning, thus, the real point of learning a
language and its process loss importance. In contrast, teachers support the idea that it is
better learning a language to achieve a goal which is different from mastering a
reasonable level in the L2 than not doing absolutely anything to learn it. In addition,
society in general gives a significant importance to grades, because they are taken into
account to differentiate good students from bad ones, when awarding grants or when
admitting students in colleges and universities.
Grades may be considered a demotive, because when grading, most of the teachers tend
to give importance only to ability, without taking into consideration the effort or the
improvement they have made. This could be considered unfair, because it would be like
asking a lion and a snail to participate in the same race. In order to motivate students
and make them work harder in the process of learning the L2, teachers should elucidate
from the very beginning of the course that the grades will also reflect the two neglected
factors that have been mentioned, that is, effort and improvement, and not just the
objective levels of achievement. If they are not taken into consideration when grading,
students may believe that they are not important and, obviously, they are.
Moreover, to consider students effort the teacher is obliged to take into account other
actions, such as participation in the lessons or homework, and this would avoid grades
that rely only on the results of one or two pencil-and-paper tests, which is another
influential demotive. The more importance the exams are given, the more pressurized
and anxious the students may feel, because they believe that all the effort made during
the course will not be worth if they are not able to pass it. Moreover, giving too much
importance to tests may induce students to memorize the material they are asked for the
tests, instead of trying to understand, and this leads to forgetting what they have learnt
more easily. Therefore, applying an ongoing process of evaluation may also be useful in
motivating students.
Apart from grades, providing motivational feedback is also important, because in order
for students to know how to progress, students need to be told in which areas they need
improvement and what they can do to achieve that. Besides, if they are praised for the

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accomplishments, progresses or attitudes, their satisfaction and motivation will increase.

Providing this type of feedback regularly can play a very important role in the learning
process of the students, but for that, the praises should be accompanied by spontaneity
and warmth in order for them to be more credible. Apart from that, teacher should also
keep in mind that some students may find it embarrassing or irritating to have the
attention of all the classmates.
In addition, rewarding students for their efforts and accomplishments may not only
contribute to boosting their motivation and supporting their learning process, but also to
establishing a good relationship with them. Rewards do not have to be necessarily
material, like sweets or school prizes, as many teachers think. Students can also be
given the opportunity to select the kind of activities they can do in the next class, for
instance, games or choosing the songs they like in order to do a fill-in the gaps activity,
which, apart from rewarding them, may also help to make the lesson more enjoyable.
However, rewards may be demotives instead of motives if they are not dispensed in an
appropriate moment and manner, so teachers should take into account when and how to
offer them.
Regarding the moment, Brophy (1998) suggests that rewards should be delivered with
specific intentional learning tasks that are performed ordinarily, because they influence
learning more positively when the goals and strategies to follow are clear. Moreover, as
rewards are motives only for students who think they have a chance to get them,
teachers should ensure that all their students have a reasonably equal access to them.
This difficult task might be achieved, on the one hand, rewarding low level students for
improving their less satisfactory performances and, on the other hand, high achievers
for taking on challenging work that stretches their abilities, even if this induces them to
make more mistakes. This way, rewards might be effective for increasing the intensity
of effort of almost all the students.
Concerning how rewards and praises should be delivered, he suggests that they should
be dispensed in ways that encourage students, firstly, to appreciate their developing
language and skills and, secondly, to take pride in their accomplishments. Brophy
(1998) also summarises that teachers should highlight that rewards are verifications of
significant and worthwhile achievements and not their goal, because if students focus on
the rewards rather than on the tasks and they consider them the whole point of their

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effort, their extrinsic motivation would be raised, but their integrative values would be
undermined.
5) CONCLUSION
After having made an attempt to explain what demotivation is and why it is so
important, my review of research on demotivation has shown that the most common and
influential detrimental force is the teacher, which is followed by other demotives such
as class environment and self-confidence. Then, this paper has tried to provide a guide
in which these demotives are listed, together with the possible effective motivational
strategies or solutions that teachers could use to control them. With this in mind, some
main conclusion can be drawn.
First of all, there is plenty of evidence in the paper that demonstrates how relevant
demotivation is in the language learning context and, therefore, more attention should
be paid to this topic, as it is still not given the importance it deserves. Firstly, more
researches should be conducted, especially in Europe, as there are few current studies
focused on demotivation. Secondly, all the universities that offer a L2 teacher training
programme should include the development of skills in motivating learners in their
curriculum to make future teachers realise of their importance. Pre-service teachers
would take great advantage of learning how to use the aforementioned motivational
strategies together with other techniques that can be found in books concerning
motivation, such as those by Brophy (1998) and Drnyei (2001).
It should also be highlighted that some different demotives could be solved by applying
the same technique, that is, taking into account the students views about those
particular factors and establishing a balance between their opinion and the teachers.
This strategy would help to increase learners motivation in two ways.
First, as students would be given more control over some factors of the learning context,
their locus of control might be influenced positively. This concept refers to peoples
belief about where control over their actions lies, and the impact this can have
(Littlejohn 2008, 217) and it can be internal if they believe they have direct control over
event, or external, if they believe that factors beyond their control determine events. An
internal locus of control goes hand in hand with high levels of motivation, so if students
feel they have control over those factors and that they are also engaged in the decision-

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making, they are more likely to feel committed to it and their motivation might be
increased.
Second, as there would be a smaller mismatch between learners purposes and likings
and what is done in the class, the learning experience would be less unpleasant than
classes in which only the teachers opinion counts.
However, it needs to be emphasized that, as many teachers already know, the issue of
motivating students is not as simple as it may seem in this paper due to different
reasons. Firstly, the provided strategies are not theories that assure teachers that their
students motivation will be increased if they apply them; they are tips that could
contribute to motivating them. Each class and each student is different, because they
have their own personality, attitudes, language ability and other several aspects that play
a relevant role in the learning context. For this reason, some techniques may work better
than others depending on the learning context, which is why it is important to
implement numerous different strategies that could suit the characteristics of the class
and to take note of their effects. Then, teachers should list the ones they have used
together with the generated effects, on the one hand, in order not to reapply those which
had a negative effect, and on the other hand, not to overuse those which influenced
students positively, because they would not have that effect anymore.
Secondly, there are some students that might be demotivated, even if teachers apply
every single motivational strategy, because they simply do not want to learn anything. If
the fact that going to school and learning is not only important but also their duty is not
taught at home by their parents, teachers cannot do much with these reluctant learners,
but they should keep on trying to encourage them to learn by using the aforementioned
techniques.
Thirdly, it cannot be forgotten that motivating students is not the ultimate function of
teachers, but rather an intermediate goal that teachers should set themselves in order to
achieve their main function, that is, teaching the foreign language effectively. In
addition, FL teachers do not normally give lessons for more than two/three hours a
week, thus, teaching adequately by using different resources, preparing materials and
keeping in mind all the motivational strategies that have been proposed is easier said
than done.

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Nevertheless, it is not necessary to apply many techniques in each class in order to have
a highly motivated classroom. Attention should be paid to the quality of the strategies,
in other words, to their effectiveness in influencing students motivation positively,
rather than to the quantity, because using only a few efficient techniques that suit the
characteristics of the class and the students could make you a satisfactory motivator.
Moreover, the issue of having little time could be solved by dedicating more time to
thinking over motivation outside the classes. For instance, a convenient option would be
to ask students at the end of the school year about their opinions on the design of the
syllabus and materials, in order for the teachers to devote time to prepare them during
summer, as high school teachers may be the ones that have the longest summer
holidays. Teachers who care about their students motivation and their future language
proficiency should try to do this in order to have more time to focus on the motivational
strategies during the course.
Many teachers may disagree with this point of view, because they may be the ones that
are demotivated and they do not care about their students motivation and their future
language proficiency. It is almost impossible to have a motivated EFL classroom and
learn English efficiently if the teacher is demotivated, because, as mentioned above, the
teacher is the most common demotive. Thus, teachers should be asked to attend
motivating courses sporadically in order to make them realise how important it is for
their students to have a motivated teacher.

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6) REFERENCES
Brophy, Jere. 1998. Motivating Students to Learn. Boston, Massachusetts: McGraw
Hill.
Chambers, Gary N. 1999. Motivating Language Learners. Clevedon: Multilingual
Matters.
Drnyei, Zoltn, and Kata Csizr. 1998. Ten Commandments for Motivating Language
Learners. Language Teaching Research 2: 203-229.
Drnyei, Zoltn. 2000. Teaching and Researching Motivation. Harlow: Longman.
Drnyei, Zoltn. 2001. Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom. Cambridge:
Cambridge University.
Falout, Joseph, James Elwood, and Michael Hood. 2009. Demotivation: Affective
States and Learning Outcomes. System 37: 403-417.
Littlejohn, Andrew. 2008. The Tip of the Iceberg: Factors Affecting Learner
Motivation. RELC Journal 39(2): 214-225.
Sakai, Hideki, and Keita Kikuchi. 2009. An Analysis of Demotivators in the EFL
classroom. System 37: 57-69.

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