THE TEACHER AS THE MOST IMPORTANT MOTIVATIONAL FACTOR IN THE EFL CLASSROOM

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to highlight the issue of motivation in foreign language learning and to focus on the links between students’ motivation and the teacher. By involving students, arousing and maintaining students’ interest and providing effective feedback, teachers can build students’ intrinsic motivation which is a key to learning a foreign language. For example, teachers can motivate students by allowing them to choose more frequently. Teachers may employ various strategies in order to create a positive learning atmosphere that enhances students’ self-esteem and motivation such as cooperative learning techniques/activities, higher-order thinking skills or even games. Finally, by developing students’ language learning strategies teachers can build learner autonomy which leads to sustained motivation in learning. To illustrate the above-mentioned points, examples of self-evaluation, use of games, use of higher-order thinking skills, a written feedback form and a marking rubric have been provided.