2.2 Motivation and confidence among language learners
“Confidence comes from not always being right, but from not fearing to be wrong.”
-Peter T. Mcintyre
Today we’re going to play around with the idea of confidence, which, in my opinion, is at the converging point between language learning, life and self-realization. This is such a deep and complicated topic, but let’s start with the simple definition. According one online dictionary, the meaning of CONFIDENCE is:
“belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance”
As language, confidence is fundamental to communication, and an important catalyst to the whole process and the enjoyment at every step. As human beings, it transcends and includes the way we communicate, perceive others, and are perceived by them. Confidence is the most tangible expression of who we are.
It defines not only how we express ourselves (in any language), but how we perform at work, how we interact with people, and the vigor with which we pursue our goals and dreams. If it is such a crucial component to success in life and communication, how can we apply this to language learning?
CONFIDENCE VS GRAMMAR IN LANGUAGE LEARNING
Where does confidence come from? Does grammar come from confidence or does confidence come from grammar? It’s kind of like the chicken and the egg analogy (which came first, the chicken or the egg?.
I personally think they are equally important, but the problem in English learning (and teaching) is that people tend to ignore the more complicated internal dimension that CONFIDENCE suggests. This is where the great teacher inspires, opening the door to the enthusiasm of more dynamic forms of learning.
Beginners think to themselves: “Someday I’ll learn enough grammar to be able to speak English.” Why? Because they don’t have the confidence to use it now. They are insecure. They’ve learned that fluency will come from understanding the technical aspects of the language. They forget the human element of confidence that can only be realized or developed by finding the courage to open your mouth and make mistakes.
Whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced learner, perfection isn’t nearly as important as believing in who you are as a human being, and feeling okay with your place in a language learning process. If you feel okay with yourself, people will feel okay with you. This is not a question of your English as much as it is as what you believe about yourself. How do you feel when you speak English?
For me, as a native speaker of English, it’s a lot easier to speak English with a non-native speaker who makes a lot of mistakes in a relaxed, confident manner than it is to speak with someone has perfect grammar but lacks a basic sense of confidence.
CONFIDENCE TRANSCENDS & INCLUDES LANGUAGE
We all intuitively know this. Sometimes we think that the really fluent English speakers simply have a natural ability to learn languages, but if we sit back and observe, we start to realize that a lot of them are just naturally confident people. They have supreme confidence in everything they do, and they have simply applied this to learning a language. Of course it’s more complicated than this, but confidence can fix a lot of things.
I know the psychological aspect of language learning is a puzzle to many people. I mean, it’s not easy to measure confidence. To diagnose yourself, you need self-awareness, and for most people it’s a deeply personal and complicated process. Although it is hard to teach and even harder to diagnose, you can look into yourself and explore how you can improve your confidence, not just to speak and learn a language more effectively, but to improve your life.
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Non-English speaking students lack the confidence and preparation to be verbally actively engaged in the classroom. Students may frequently display hesitation in learning to speak English, and may also lack a teacher's guidance in becoming proficient English speakers. The purpose of this research is to examine how teachers build academic confidence in English language learners. This study also examines how teachers can develop active and confident English speaking students, and improve home-school communication. Research questions include the following: What are factors that contribute to confidence among ELL students in gaining English fluency? How can classroom teachers help develop self-confidence in ELL students? How can classroom teachers enhance home-school communication with families whose primary language is not English? The research approach includes gathering peer-reviewed information from articles, journals, and online databases. Additionally, a qualitative study is designed where several teachers were purposely selected to participate in a one-hour interview. Secondly, parents of children in a Spanish speaking community are being asked to participate in a focus group that addressed communication issues between home and school. Interview questions are appended.
CONCLUSION
Instrumental motivation, on the other hand, kicks in where people primarily want to learn a language for practical reasons, such as a salary bonus or getting into university, similar to extrinsic motivation. It has been shown to be less powerful in language learning success.
Of course, people's motivation can change. Professor Zoltán Dörnyei from Nottingham University has pointed out that "every different psychological perspective on human behaviour is associated with a different theory of motivation". His own model is known as the "L2 motivational self system", and it focuses on learners' abilities to envision an ideal future for themselves as positive, competent and successful second language speakers.
Dörnyei's model also recognises that motivation is dynamic rather than static. So, motivation fluctuates as it is impacted by various factors in real time, moment to moment. A learner's motivation levels can go up or down depending on how motivated, or interested, or involved their conversational partners are (these might be native speakers, or fellow learners and their instructors in classrooms). In other words, motivation can be contagious.
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It can also be influenced by the task that learners are undertaking and how interesting and engaging it is. Deborah Tannen, professor of linguistics at Georgetown University and author of several bestselling books, says that "each person's life is lived as a series of conversations". When asked how this applies to learning language, Tannen notes that "wanting to have certain kind of conversations, with people one knows or wants to know, can be a huge motivator in learning a new language". She follows this up with a personal example. Although her first husband, who was Greek, spoke English fluently, Tannen had to learn Greek in order to communicate with his mother, a woman she came to love deeply.
Dörnyei and his colleagues have recently carried out classroom research, finding that learners who can construct ideal self-images as successful second language speakers are better able to reach their goals.
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