The formation of higher education students’ intrinsic motivation to study communicative English course in a blended learning environment

Анотація

Формування внутрішньої мотивації здобувачів вищої освіти до вивчення комунікативного курсу англійської мови в умовах змішаного навчання

Світлана Слободяк Викладач, Ізмаїльський державний гуманітарний університет

Мета цієї статті - описати шляхи формування внутрішньої мотивації здобувачів вищої освіти немовних спеціальностей до вивчення англійської мови в умовах змішаного навчання. Традиційно, мотивація в освіті представлена двома типами: зовнішня мотивація та внутрішня мотивація. Зовнішня мотивація зумовлена зовнішніми факторами. При зовнішній мотивації ви навчаєтесь для того, щоб отримати зовнішню винагороду. Внутрішня мотивація йде зсередини. При внутрішній мотивації ви займаєтеся навчальною діяльністю тому, що вона вам подобається і ви отримуєте особисте задоволення від неї. Багато експертів в галузі освіти впевнені, що внутрішня мотивація є більш продуктивною з точки зору досягнення академічних успіхів. Тому для викладача дуже важливо використовувати всілякі методи і прийоми викладання іноземної мови, щоб внутрішньо мотивувати студентів до вивчення англійської мови.

Перше, що потрібно для того, щоб внутрішньо мотивувати та заохотити студентів немовних спеціальностей до вивчення англійської мови, - це зробити процес навчання цікавим. Цього можна досягти за допомогою інтерактивного навчання, впровадження елементів гейміфікації, використання різноманітних додатків для вивчення мови, онлайн-платформ та освітнього програмного забезпечення у змішаному навчальному середовищі. Другою можливістю посилити внутрішню мотивацію здобувачів вищої освіти немовних спеціальностей є створення ситуації успіху, що можна зробити за допомогою освітнього тестування. Створення сприятливої атмосфери в аудиторії та заохочення самостійності студентів також є дуже важливими факторами для успішного навчання. Третім способом внутрішньої мотивації здобувачів вищої освіти немовних спеціальностей до вивчення англійської мови є запровадження професійно-орієнтованого навчання шляхом використання контекстуалізованого навчального контенту, впровадження рольових ігор, що імітують професійні сценарії та надання доступу до англомовних професійно-орієнтованих ресурсів.

Ключові слова: здобувачі вищої освіти немовних спеціальностей, викладання англійської мови, зовнішня мотивація, внутрішня мотивація, академічна успішність, змішане навчання.

Abstract

The aim of this article is to describe the ways offorming the intrinsic motivation of higher education students of non-linguistic specialties to learn the English language in the context of blended learning. Traditionally, motivation in education is represented by two types: extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is driven by external factors. When you are extrinsically motivated, you study in order to receive an external reward. Intrinsic motivation comes from within. When you are intrinsically motivated, you do an educational activity because you enjoy it and get personal satisfaction from doing it. A lot of experts in education are sure that intrinsic motivation is more productive in terms of achieving academic success. Therefore, it is very important for a teacher to use all kinds of methods and techniques of teaching a foreign language to intrinsically motivate students to learn English.

The first thing to intrinsically motivate and encourage the students of non-linguistic specialties to learn English is to make the process of education interesting. It can be done by incorporating interactive teaching or introducing gamification elements, or using various language learning apps, online platforms and educational software in a blended learning environment. The second possibility to boost intrinsic motivation is to create the situation of success, which can be done with the help of educational testing. Creating a supportive classroom environment and fostering the students' autonomy are also very important for successful learning. The third way to intrinsically motivate the students of non-linguistic specialties to learn English is to provide profession-oriented learning by using contextualized educational content, implementing roleplaying activities that imitate professional scenarios, providing access to the English language profession- specific resources.

Key words: higher education students of non-linguistic specialties, English language teaching, extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, academic achievement, blended learning.

Problem statement

The English language knowledge is currently an indispensable indicator of the professional competence of a modern specialist of any field. The desire for practical language proficiency is now driven not so much by the development of the world tourism but by the prospects of professional mobility, the processes of educational migration, the possibility of expanding professional horizons through obtaining the latest information from original sources. At the beginning of their studies higher education students of non-linguistic specialties usually lack the motivation to learn the English language and the possible prospects for its use in their future professional activities are often unclear to them during this period.

The students of non-linguistic specialties are oriented, first of all, towards the disciplines of their specialty, so they often put the foreign language in the last place in the list of important disciplines, not attaching much importance to it. However, being already in their senior years, they begin to understand that English is becoming a means of gaining experience and advanced knowledge, a necessary tool for professional development, one of the ways to prepare oneself for a career through academic mobility. That is why, from the list of elective disciplines, the students of non-linguistic specialties of the Izmail State University of Humanities often choose language disciplines related to the study of various aspects of the English language. One of such disciplines is Communicative English Course, aimed at developing students' communication skills in the English language.

Having chosen the language discipline, students of non-linguistic specialties are faced with the problem of the complexity of the English language, the study of which requires considerable effort and time. Therefore, it is very important for the teacher to apply all kinds of methods and techniques of foreign language teaching to motivate the students to learn the English language despite all the difficulties.

Recent publications overview

Motivation in the process of education is one of the determining conditions for the success of educational activities. Proficiency in learning a foreign language will never take place if the learners are not strategically motivated. Scholars have different approaches to the definition of motivation in education. American researchers Marilla D. Svinicki and Jane S. Vogler in their article «Motivation and Learning: Modern Theories» define motivation in a broad psychological sense. According to their point of view, motivation is understood as «a process of interaction between the learner and the environment, which is marked by selection, initiation, increase, or persistence of goal-directed behavior. It has been thought of variously as a quality of the individual, the situation, or the activity in which the individual is engaged» (Svinicki & Vogler, 2012).

Other experts are more specified in their definitions of motivation, emphasizing only such features of motivation that they believe are the most essential for learning. For example, Hannah Hawthorne, a learning designer with a primary focus on education for high speed training, associates motivation with our enthusiasm as the necessary factor for doing something. «It is the `why' behind every action. Motivation is the reason - or reasons - for acting or behaving in a particular way. It helps us to set a goal and reach it» (Hawthorne, 2021). Andrea Cox, a high school teacher, is of a similar opinion stating that motivation can be seen as our willingness to do something, which encourages people to set goals and then to take an action to work towards achieving these goals (Cox, 2022).

Becton Loveless, a long time contributor to EducationCorner.com, is sure that «students will only be motivated to learn if they acknowledge the need to learn, believe they have the requisite skill set needed for learning and also recognize the importance of learning in their lives» (Loveless, 2023). Claire Chuter, one of the authors at theeducationhub.org.nz, shares the related point of view, considering motivation as an orientation towards learning. «Therefore, it impacts how likely a student is either to give up or push forward, and how thoughtful their reflection on their learning will be» (Chuter, 2020). There are many other definitions of motivation, highlighting different aspects of this complicated notion. Whichever aspect is emphasized, it is evident that motivation plays an important role in learners' academic achievements because «lack of motivation leads to lack of effort and ultimately lack of success» (Ramirez, 2014: 697).

Aim and objectives

The purpose of this article is to describe the ways of the formation of intrinsic motivation of higher education students of non-linguistic specialties to learn English in the context of blended learning. Achieving this goal involves solving the followin g tasks: to describe the types of students' motivation to study; to highlight the importance of intrinsic motivation in the process of education; to discuss the possible methods to be used in boosting higher education students' intrinsic motivation in a blended learning environment.

Main research material presentation

Students may have different types of motivation, which can change over time depending on the learning and teaching environment. But most often researchers single out two types of motivation: extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation is related to your personal desire to do something. «Intrinsic motivation is defined as the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfactions rather than for some separable consequence. When intrinsically motivated a person is moved to act for the fun or challenge entailed rather than because of external prods, pressures, or rewards» (Ryan & Deci, 2000: 56).

Extrinsic motivation appears under the influence of outer factors. «Extrinsic motivation is obtained from sources other than the self. Extrinsic motives involve fiscal and academic advantages, as well as pressure and the possibility of punishment. In general, competition is extrinsic since it motivates the performer to win and defeat others rather than enjoy the action's intrinsic gains. Extrinsic reasons include a crowd cheering on the individual and trophies» (Hanif, 2021).

Though most of the activities people do are extrinsically motivated (Ryan & Deci, 2000: 60), intrinsic motivation is more important in education. A lot of experts in education agree that students who are intrinsically motivated are much more likely to be successful in their studies (Hawthorne, 2021). Those who are intrinsically motivated don't require sanctions or rewards. They are driven by their innate curiosity and interest. And the task of a teacher is to awaken this interest to learning.

There are different ways of doing this. The first thing to intrinsically motivate and encourage the students of non-linguistic specialties to leam English is to make the process of education interesting.

You can incorporate interactive elements into your lessons. Interactive activities shouldn't be very complicated, like debates, for example, because the English language level of the students of non-linguistic specialties leaves much to be desired. Simply teach them to ask questions in an informal setting. Before, during or after a lesson encourage them to ask questions, no matter whether they are related to the topic being studied or not. When students who are not specialized in studying languages are engaged in asking questions, it's not only a good way for them to learn the structure of English questions, but also a wonderful opportunity to get involved in the learning process and build confidence in their ability to communicate in a foreign language.

It's possible to introduce gamification elements to create a sense of competition and fun in the classroom. You can implement language-learning games, quizzes, or interactive online platforms that offer rewards and incentives for students' progress. This approach can boost engagement and motivation. For example, at our lessons of Communicative English Course, while revising the formation of the Past Simple Tense, we often play the game «Guess what happened...». The students are shown a part of some picture and asked to answer an alternative question, for example: Did he ride a horse or a bike? Students have two tasks: 1) to guess what action happened in the picture; 2) to use the correct form of the verb in the Past Simple Tense. If both answers are correct, a student gets 2 points, if there is only one correct answer - 1 point, if none - 0 points. The student with the largest number of points is the winner and gets an excellent mark.

As a break from traditional classroom activities it is recommended to use various language learning apps, online platforms, and educational software that offer interactive exercises, personalized feedback, and progress tracking. These tools can make learning English more interactive, accessible, and tailored to individual needs. At our lessons we sometimes utilize a game-based learning platform Kahoot! Every teacher has an opportunity to use the ready-made resources at this platform or create their own educational materials. At our lessons of English we often use this platform for formative assessment in the form of a quiz. It's a multiple-choice quiz with four options and one correct answer, but the procedure of quizzing at this platform is like a game. Students join the game in real time by going to https://kahoot.it. The questions are presented on the teacher's screen and the students are given an allotted time to choose the correct answer by using their smart phones. Each multiple-choice answer has a certain colour and the learners have to select the correct answer by tapping on it. After answering each question, the participants are given points depending on the speed with which they respond correctly and a leaderboard displays the top 3 scoring players. At the end of the game the winner board shows the first, second and third prize winners who are awarded with excellent marks by the teacher. The use of Kahoot quizzes shows the students their level of knowledge on a certain topic, as well as motivates them to study better to become a winner in the next Kahoot session.

The second possibility to boost intrinsic motivation is to create the situation of success while learning English, because «students who experience more successes then feel more empowered and motivated to achieve more» (Loveless, 2023).

A teacher should create a supportive classroom environment for the students to feel safe while trying to express themselves in English. Open communication, active participation and respect for different perspectives should be encouraged, no matter how many mistakes students make in the process of their attempts to produce an utterance in English. Error correction should be done only when mistakes prevent students from understanding each other. When students feel supported and valued, when they are not afraid of making mistakes and are praised for correct structures, they are more likely to embrace challenges and succeed in their language learning endeavors.

In a blended learning environment it is reasonable to apply educational testing online, the purpose of which is not to assess the level of educational achievements of higher education students, but to motivate them for self-education and self-examination in order to detect their mistakes and get rid of them. For example, when studying Communicative English Course, higher education students have an opportunity to take an online test on the Moodle educational platform after each practical class. Such educational online tests have three attempts at an answer with the «average grade» method of assessment. However, online testing has no academic grade value, which means that the grades received have no influence upon higher education students' academic achievements. But such educational testing is very motivating for effective self-learning. The students can do testing in convenient time and place, they are not afraid of getting bad test results because they do not influence their academic performance, they have several attempts to find and correct their mistakes to succeed later, they have the feeling of achievement satisfaction which encourages their further studies (Slobodiak, 2023: 204).

With the help of the Moodle platform it is easy to foster the students' autonomy and encourage them to take responsibility for their own success in learning English. The teacher can guide the students in developing their effective studies by relocating on the Moodle platform useful resources or links for selfeducation, such as recommended websites, apps, or language-learning communities, that they can use outside the classroom to support their language development.

The third way to intrinsically motivate the students of non-linguistic specialties to learn English is to provide profession-oriented learning.

In order to ensure that learning is accepted by students and provides them with motivation, it is necessary to achieve the active participation of students in the profession-oriented activities of mastering the English language. Creating motivation requires that the training should not be abstract, detached from life, it should reflect the elements of future professional activity, explain and show the necessity and possibility, as well as the prospects of learning a foreign language as a useful subject in terms of future professional activity.

If you want to implement profession-oriented learning of English, use contextualized content. Develop or adapt English language learning materials and activities that reflect real-world professional contexts. Incorporate profession -specific vocabulary, communication skills, and relevant tasks that mirror the challenges and expectations of the professional field.

If possible, it is advisable to create simulations or role-playing activities that imitate professional scenarios. These activities can involve job interviews, business meetings, negotiations, or presentations. Students can practice using English in a professional context, improving their communication and language skills.

The recommendations concerning professional development resources in English are also very useful. Provide access to resources such as profession-specific websites, journals, podcasts, and videos that allow students to stay updated on current trends and developments in their chosen professions as well as enlarge profession-oriented vocabulary. Encourage students to engage with these resources to enhance their language skills and develop professional knowledge.

As an example of profession-oriented learning is role-playing the situation, connected with job interviewing. Using the elements of flipped learning in education, the teacher gives the homework for the students to watch a video on the Moodle platform associated with positive and negative job interview experience. This video is given with subtitles for the students of non-linguistic specialties to be able to translate unknown words and understand the context of the video better. It is very important to give this task to be done at home for the students to watch the video as many times as necessary in order to catch the details. The students are asked to write out the typical job interview questions and possible answers. At the next lesson in class the video is discussed, special attention being paid to the reasons of the interview being good or bad, as well as the vocabulary used by the speakers. As the final step, the students are asked to role- play the situation, related to job interviewing. They are encouraged to ask the same questions as in the video, but to give their own answers, depending on their future profession. By acting out scenarios like this, the students learn English in context, which helps them to remember the vocabulary better. In addition, they gain experience and confidence in dealing with job interviewing in real life and develop quick and instinctively correct reactions to the situation. Some students may feel threatened or nervous when asked to do a role play because it involves acting. To make the role play less threatening, it is better to start with a prepared script given to two "shy actors," who are afraid to speak English because of making mistakes. And then "sociable actors", capable of language fluency and improvisation, should be involved. The correction of students' mistakes is advisable only when these mistakes prevent them from understanding each other in the process of role-playing, the purpose of which is to establish the English language communication in a profession-oriented environment.

Conclusion

Thus, the role of motivation in the learning of English by higher education students of non-linguistic specialties is of paramount importance. Both types of motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic, influence the process of education. The majority of higher education students are extrinsically motivated now, because they understand the importance of the English language knowledge in our modern world. Extrinsic motivation is predetermined by social motivation as the necessity for a specialist of any field to know English which is now an effective means of achieving future professional success. But it is intrinsic motivation that makes students strive to master the language. Different approaches are used by teachers to develop the students' inner desire to study. Among them, the use of interactive and game -like methods of teaching proved to be the most effective in a blended learning environment. Besides, it is important to create the situation of success for the students to enhance their motivation for further studies. Profession-oriented teaching also strengthens the students' cognitive activities in gaining the English language knowledge necessary for their future professional development.

motivation english language learning

References

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2. Chuter C. (2020, January 20). The Role of Motivation in Learning.

3. Hanif I. (2021, December 31). Motivation and Types of Motivation - Educational Psychology.

4. Hawthorne H. (2021, November 17). Understanding the Importance of Motivation in Education.

5. Loveless B. (2023, April 13). The Complete Guide to Motivation in Education.

6. Ramirez N.O. (2014). The Influence of Motivation in the Foreign Language Learning Process. Forum de recerca. P. 695-707.

7. Ryan R.M., Deci E.L. (2000). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology/ № 25. Р. 54-67.

8. Slobodiak S. (2023). Online Testing as an Effective Tool for Learning English by Higher Education Students in the Context of Distance Learning. Scientific newsletter of the Izmail State Humanitarian University: collection of scientific works. Series: Pedagogical sciences. Izmail: RVV IDGU. № 64. Р. 201-206.

9. Svinicki M.D., Vogler J.S. (2012). Motivation and Learning: Modern Theories. In: Seel, N.M. (eds.) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer, Boston, MA.

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