This article examines the problem of motivation for learning a foreign language in teaching and the role of motivation in this process. Also, psychological and pedagogical bases of teaching a foreign language at a younger school age are considered.
Keywords: pedagogy, psychology, language training, motivation, junior schoolchildren, games in class
Modern psychologists and teachers are united in the fact that the quality of the performance of an activity and its result depends, first of all, on the motivation and needs of the individual, his motivation; it is a motivation that causes purposeful activity, which determines the choice of means and methods, and streamlining to achieve the goal. Motivation is therefore the «launching mechanism» (I. Zimnya) of all human activity: be it labor, communication or understanding.
Students without motivation for learning simply do not exist. Any cognitive activity of students along with operational components (knowledge, skills) includes and motivational (motive, interest, attitude). Motivation is the source of activity and orientation of the individual to objects and phenomena of reality, as a result of which activity arises. External motives, lying outside the educational activity, can be both positive and negative. Positive motives are due to a sense of duty to their loved ones, ideas about learning as a way to mastering the great values of culture, to getting an education. Negative motives are caused by threat, punishment, reprimand, blame, bad evaluation.
Formation of the motivation of teaching at school age without exaggeration can be called one of the central and fundamental problems of the modern school, as well as the problem of both domestic and foreign psychology. Its importance is connected with the analysis of sources of human activity, the motivating forces of its activities, behavior.
For many years, the issue of motivation has been the subject of research by educators and scientists. At present, this problem is very relevant for the school. Satisfaction of the needs of younger schoolchildren affects their desire to learn, which in turn affects the success of learning activities.
Of particular importance is the question of motivation at the initial stage of education, as the basis for the children to know how and have the desire to learn is laid in the younger school age. It is the motive that is the source of activity and the function of motivation and sense formation. [2 — p.192]
Motivation is an internal psychological characteristic of a person, which finds expression in outward manifestations, in relation to a person to the surrounding world, to various activities. The educational and cognitive motivation of junior schoolchildren is their activity approach to study, the realization of the desire to study well. To ensure that the child has a strong inner motivation «I want to learn well», it is necessary that everyone says to himself: «I can! I will achieve it! "
There are five types of motivation:
- Target motivation — what is needed for this activity is well absorbed, what it is directed at and by what means it is implemented.
- Motivation for success — if the subject is successful, then it is studied with a renewed interest. Motivation in the study of foreign languages significantly increases if the prospects for the use of knowledge are realized not only in the classroom, but also in extracurricular activities.
- Country-specific motivation — language reacts quickly to all social changes in the life of a country. It reflects the customs and customs of the country. All this is of great value for understanding the social nature of language.
- Aesthetic motivation helps to transform language learning into pleasure.
- Instrumental motivation takes into account the temperament of the students and enables each student to express himself in the kind of work he loves. [1; — p.95]
There are questions about why one child learns with joy, and the other — with indifference? What should be done to make the teaching for each student fun and successful? The answer to these questions is the solution of the problem of motivating the student's teaching.
The formation of motivation is not a «shift» by the teacher into the pupil's head of ready-made, out-of-the-box motives and goals of the teaching. In practice, the formation of the motives of learning is the creation of conditions in which internal motivations (motives, goals, emotions) will appear to teach; Awareness of their student and further self-development of their motivational sphere. In this case, the teacher does not act as a simple observer of how the motivational sphere of students develops, he stimulates its development by a system of psychologically thought-out methods.
Under the motive that motivates the student to learn, it means not one but a number of motives of different properties that can be divided into the following groups:
– Educational and cognitive (interest in learning, desire for knowledge, cognitive need, curiosity, etc.);
– Directly-motivating (brightness, novelty, entertaining, Fear of punishment, etc.)
– Perspective-impulsive (responsibility, sense of duty, etc.) Numerous studies show that for the formation of a full-fledged educational motivation for school children it is necessary to conduct purposeful work. Educational and cognitive motives, which occupy a special place among the groups represented, are formed only in the course of active development of educational activity.
In the pedagogical and psychological literature, the problem of using various methods as a means of increasing the motivation for achieving success in junior schoolchildren in English lessons has been well studied. The study of this problem involved: A. S. Makarenko, Vygotsky L. S., Matyukhina M. V., Yakobson P. M., M. N. Skatkin and others.
Motivational sphere or motivation in a broad sense of the word from this point of view is understood as the core of personality, to which such properties as orientation, value orientations, attitudes, social expectations, claims, emotions, strong-willed qualities and other socio-psychological characteristics «contract».
Cognitive motivation is defined as a particular type of motivation included in the activity of the teaching, educational activity. Like any other kind, cognitive motivation is determined by a number of factors specific to this activity. Cognitive motivation is systemic. It is characterized by direction, stability and dynamism. Cognitive motivation, representing a special kind of motivation, is characterized by a complex structure. Essential are the characteristics of cognitive motivation, such as its stability, its connection with the level of intellectual development and the nature of the educational activity.
Recognizing the leading role of motivation in teaching a foreign language, the teacher needs to clearly understand the ways and methods of its formation in the conditions of this educational institution. When considering the problems of motivation and finding ways to form it, it is unacceptable to simplify its understanding, since the formation of motivation is not a teacher's shifting to the heads of students of ready-made, out-of-the-way motives and goals of the teaching. The formation of motives is, first of all, the creation of conditions for the manifestation of inner motivations for learning, their awareness by the students themselves and the further self-development of the motivational-value sphere. At the same time, when mastering a foreign culture, it is not at all indifferent to what motivates the learner to carry out activities.
With increasing motivation for teaching students a foreign language in high school, an important place is taken into account the age and psychological characteristics of adolescents. Leading role in the development of a teenager is played by communication with peers and features of his own learning activity. This is a very difficult period — this is the period from childhood to adulthood. The specific social activity of the adolescent is to be more receptive to the assimilation of norms, values, behaviors that exist between adults. Correct selection of educational and communicative tasks, thoughtful formulation of educational material allows optimizing the process of communication while learning a foreign language, and also it is necessary to develop the personality of the student.
To create adequate motivation, various methods and means are used: verbal, visual, practical, but search and research today play a leading role. The formation of a strong motivation for the teaching is facilitated by the game with its active use in the lessons. An effective method, a kind of game, with increasing motivation to learn a foreign language is the use of a business game.
The use of these methods and techniques is effective if students have an interest in learning a foreign language, it is possible to provoke their cognitive interest, to awaken them spiritually. All children are close to the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of communication and collectivism, and they need to express themselves in creativity, imagination, play, competition.
Thus, summing up the work done, I want to say that the formation of cognitive motivation to learn a foreign language is facilitated by the use of active teaching methods: problematic, research, gaming and the use of innovative methods.
References:
- Iskrin S. A. Modeling of situations of communication in the process of teaching a foreign language. Foreign languages at school. — 2004, No. 2. — p.95
- Markova A. K. Formation of the motivation of the teaching: A book for the teacher. M.: Enlightenment, 1990.-p.192
